Writing To The Right

We must stay alert about nuclear dangers!

2011-04-01T11:25:00.000+13:00

After being alerted to the looming nuclear dangers by the tragedy in Japan, ACT on Campus feels it is our social duty to alert the public to the next imposing nuclear catastrophe to hit us: bananas.

The average banana contains around 450 mg of potassium and will experience around 14 decays each second!

The radiation dose from consuming only one banana is greater than that sustained from living near to a nuclear power plant for a full year. This has raised concerns because of the well known dangers of living near nuclear reactors.

People who overdose on banana by eating by eating one every day for a year take in 3.6 millirems during that year! We feel it is especially important to reach out to the triathlete community about this fact and other athletes.

As a multi time Ironman athlete myself, I'm guilty of frequently overdosing on bananas (ate two this morning for breakfast before I discovered this news!). We sports people used to view bananas as perfect food, packed with all those carbohydrates to power us during our long training sessions. Niftily contained in a convenient biodegradable wrapper which you can open and eat with just one hand (good for while you're cycling!), and tasty too!

But no more! We call for the government to scan ALL bananas for signs of radioactivity, then to ban all these bananas found to be radioactive (and should open an investigation as to what further dangers their country of origin poses). We must do this far the sake of all our whānau, and especially the tamariki.

Greenpeace and the Greens Party in NZ are especially objecting to the fact some radioactive bananas have been coming into NZ "by stealth", when NZ is meant to be a nuclear free country! This is quite outrageous, and makes a mockery of the nuclear ban David Lange put in place in 1984 which we as NZers are all so proud of.

There is good news on the horizon however, since NZ is once again leaping to the front in farming technology with special genetically modified bananas being researched that will be guaranteed to always be free of radioactivity. To give consumers peace of mind, the new, safe bananas will be destingulishable by their blue skins.

Exclusive: Judith Tizard resigns before taking up her seat

2011-04-01T08:48:00.001+13:00

Judith Tizard has announced she will not take up her list spot as MP (once Darren Hughes resigns of course...) due to an incident early this morning at 4:30am in Wellington when a young naked female student was seen running into a waiting Police car in front of camped out paparazzi.

She has also had any portfolios she would have received removed, effective immediately.

Phil Goff says while he can not confirm or deny if a Police investigation has started due to legal reasons, he says he is pleased at how very quickly the Labour Party has resolved this current incident. "The fact we got this sorted out well within 24 hours shows how much stronger the Labour Party has grown since the Darren Hughes case which bodes well for the November Election" says Phil Goff.

Reform Party: the new party to right

2011-02-23T20:45:00.000+13:00

Was I right or was I right? ;-P

A new party to the right *is* being formed (here follows countless sources...):

Party Website: Reform New Zealand Care - Choice - Confidence
Scoop: New Party seeks “thinking” New Zealanders
NBR: New right-wing party formed
New Zealand Herald: New right-wing party now shopping round
Matt McCarten Far right sneaked new party in under radar

The question to ask is... "what now?"

Between National and ACT is there any space for a party to the right of center?

I highly doubt it. Especially as they're still lacking a visible and strong leader.

However it is within the realms of possibilities, as you just have to look at how well the Christian Right has done in the past (yes, they've always failed to get elected but have came very close once or twice).

Thus I think their best shot is to angle for the Christian/Conservative vote. Those people who are dissatisified with the blandness of National, but are uneasy with some of ACT's social policies (pro-gays, pro-drugs, etc...).

Hone Harawira has left the Maori Party

2011-02-23T18:32:00.000+13:00

Hone Harawira and the Maori Party have split for good, odds of a far left party are becoming increasingly real. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/harawira-quits-maori-party-4039175

Hone Harawira quits Maori Party

‎"Mr Harawira said he had promised not to stand against the Maori Party in any
other electorates in November.
In return its leadership had agreed not to stand a
candidate against him in Te Tai Tokerau, he said."

That quote is very telling, it strongly indicates he will not stay an independent but will form another party around him otherwise why else would he agree not to stand outside Te Tai Tokerau?

Because obviously he would choose to stand in Te Tai Tokerau himself! Thus the agreement is referring to any future party he might be part of creating.

And unless Labour (or National! ha) can take Te Tai Tokerau then any new party that decides to form with him will be able to bypass the 5% threshold (which I personal believe should be abolished).

John Banks to lead a new conservative party, he will contest Epsom!

2011-02-11T04:50:00.000+13:00

A little birdy (I jest! It was a much much more reliable source than that... from deep within the inner workings of Wellington) told me that not only is a new conservative party being formed but also John Banks will be leading it.

BUT... the biggest piece of news of all is John Banks will be contesting Epsom! Now this has certainly been said before, for instance this NZ Herald article: Epsom tipped as place for Banks comeback

Although I thought this was always slightly unlikely? As John Banks is a much tougher political competitor than Richard Worth has been. And would National really be so silly as to risk knocking out the only political party than can rely upon to support them in forming a government? Possible but quite unlikely.

However the big twist here is an entirely new political party being formed AND contesting Epsom. Why? There are not many reasons you could explain here... other than the intention to knock out Rodney Hide and with that the whole of the ACT Party!

But perhaps with the intention to slide up the middle between the split vote between Rodney Hide and the National Candidate? With the intention of this new conservative party to take the place of ACT? Very risky, but the only thing that makes sense?!

John Banks is known as a very good fundraiser, and he is wealthy in his own right, so one thing is sure: this party is sure to be well funded for such a new party on the scene (a bit like the New Citizens Party too huh? Funded from Beijing... !). Thus the new conservative party poses a thread, to both ACT and National. ACT could get knocked out for good, and steal a few of their voters away. National could get far more voters stolen away than ACT, which would be a disaster for it if the new conservative party fails to reach 5% or win an electorate as that means wasted votes. (one of many reasons why I personally think the 5% threshold should be got rid of!)

Interesting times are ahead for sure!

PS: a word of warning to this new party, although you follow along to conservative politics, don't pick that as you party name! The last NZ Conservative Party didn't do so well.... ! And it is recent enough too that people who are not as young as I am can still have this fresh in their minds.

Don't the Greens believe in modern technology such as "watches"?

2011-02-08T19:30:00.000+13:00

Greens get stuck in traffic, miss Botany by-election deadline

The Green Party has missed out on a chance to run in the Botany by-election for failing to register its candidate in time.
The Electoral Commission has released the details of who is standing in the March 5 by-election and where people can vote.
The Greens announced in a press release late last night that it had selected former staffer Richard Leckinger to stand, but Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden said Leckinger had not made it.
"A completed nomination form from the Green Party was not received before the legal deadline of noon today and therefore the Electoral Commission could not accept the nomination," he said.

Maybe he partied too hard "late last night" after successfully becoming their candidate? That would be *my* mostly likely excuse if I was in his shoes...

However you have to ask why hadn't the Greens selected somebody well before a few hours before the cut off time? (as if you haven't even selected a person then it is going to be tough to get the nomination in early!)

With this brilliant display of forward planning it is no wonder we don't trust the Greens with economic planning for the country.

I will however suggest next time he cycles rather than drives, he is a Greenie after all!

Botany by-election candidates:
Al-Saady, Hussain - Pirate Party of New
Zealand
Biggs, Leo Aotearoa - Legalise Cannabis Party
Bright, Penny -
Independent
Caithness, Robin - Join Australia Movement Party
Goh, Robert -
Independent
Murphy, Lyn - Act New Zealand
Ross, Jami-Lee - National
Party
Wood, Michael - Labour Party
Young, Paul - New Citizen
Party
Young, Wayne - Independent

I guess The Green Party is just not as serious political contender as "Pirate Party of New Zealand" or "Join Australia Movement Party"! Let's not forget "New Citizen Party", "Legalise Cannabis Party", and Penny Bright! As they're all jokes too, but at least they've been around for a while, but it is telling even those first two (Pirates and Australians!) which have no experience as they are brand new (?) could still get their shit sorted on time! (plus the "New Citizen Party" which is also brand new)

THE FAIREST DEAL FOR EVERYONE

2011-01-27T19:54:00.000+13:00

AoC supporter D.P. today unveiled an action plan to create jobs and grow the economy, including a major overhaul of the tax system.

“AoC will rebalance the tax system so that everyone pays their fair share. We will provide some financial relief for all New Zealanders and crack down on welfare dodgers who exploit the system, leaving the rest of us to pay the price for their actions..”

AoC’s fairer tax plan includes:
• introducing a new tax-free zone so that in important economic zones people won’t pay any tax on the first several thousand dollars they earn. Naturally Auckland will be this tax free zone, being the center of NZ's economic production. (note: oh, I suppose as we're all about equality we'll have to include the rest of the country too!)
• cracking down on work avoiders and the loopholes they exploit.
• creating a flat tax system with a new low rate for EVERY earner.

“We know many New Zealanders are feeling the financial squeeze as they face skyrocketing grocery bills and rising petrol and power prices. Prices are the highest in 21 years because of National’s GST hike and are far outstripping any increase in wages.

“AoC will help ease the pressure by giving all New Zealanders a break. We’ll do that by giving everyone the same tax rate, no matter what your income or what you do for a job."

“It’s a tax plan that benefits everyone, not like the current tax rate under John Key where the vast majority of the tax is paid by a few." (for more info read "Ten Men Went to Dinner: Tax Cuts Made Simple")

“ACT on Campus will not borrow for its tax cuts and we will decrease GST, and additionally make sure our assets are used most effectively.”

ACT on Campus will help pay for its new tax-free zone by putting the squeeze on work dodgers, such as those who structure their affairs to avoid paying their fair share by working under the table. Or another example is those who claim not to be living together when they are to further exploit the welfare system.

“ACT on Campus will target welfare abusers who arrange their affairs so they can rip off the tax system and leave other taxpayers to carry the load. This kind of avoidance is bludging. It is wrong and it’s bad for the economy.”

No top tax rate will be introduced to ensure everybody pays a fair share. If we break our promise (as politicians tend to do) then the threshold will be set be set so high it will impact nobody at all, infinity dollars per year as been proposed as a reasonable point at which to have the top tax rate. The detail of ACT on Campus’ overall tax policy will be released later this year.
ACT on Campus is also announcing today a new five point package to create higher incomes and better jobs.

The action plan includes:
• Making research and development a priority by removing excess red tape, particularly in the clean tech sector.
• Will re-introduce the youth wage (and maybe get rid of the minimum wage entirely) so that our young people don’t end up on the unemployment scrapheap.
• Reduce debt, by ensuring our strategic publicly-owned assets are used effectively and including private management/ownership where desirable.
• Changing the way the Reserve Bank works and making sure monetary policy serves growth in business (and thus employment) and our export sector.
• Actively managing the economy and working closely with industry to grow quickly, sell more to the world and bring jobs home.

“I want to build a country that is prosperous for everyone. I want to create one New Zealand, not a country increasingly divided by the growing gap between rich and poor. I want to lead a country in which everyone pulls their weight, pays a fair share and gets a fair go.”

This has been a serious press release, for a more amusing press release which as a joke shouldn't be taken at all seriously check this out: A FAIR DEAL FOR EVERYONE by Phill Goff

Random Commentary on the Day's News 19/1/11

2011-01-20T19:49:00.000+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/4557375/Kiwis-chubby-but-drinking-less
"New Zealand heads the Asia Pacific region in spending on health - nine percent of gross domestic product - against Australia's 8.8 percent."We spend MORE than Australia on Health, clearly the solution to any health problems we are having is not to be dumb and throw even more money at it. Instead we need to become more efficient with the money we are currently spending by being more competitive.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4555775/Stand-off-at-Auckland-art-deco-houses
This is so wrong. ACT strongly supports property rights, and as such we believe it is wrong for other people to try and force you to do what they want with *your* property.This comment is insightful from one of those who wants to "save" the houses:"If I had the money I'd buy the three houses and thumb my nose at the rest of the world," Mrs Burnes says.That sums it up well, she doesn't have the money thus she wants to use another person's!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/east-bays-courier/4333948/Dreams-demolished
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10700742
There is a lot of talk of Hone Harawira, Sue Bradford, & Matt McCarten forming an extreme far left wing party. I don't see this as a bad thing, as the new party would should how very moderate (or should that be left?) National actually is. Which could then give them the flexibility to strike a truly "right" path due to the contrast with the nonsense this new extreme left party would spew.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/4553740/Climbing-companions-take-barbecuing-to-new-heights http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/4555264/Summit-cook-up-offends
Could you believe a small segment of Maoris got upset over this? (I do find it a bit disgusting he tries to cast these intrepid extreme BBQers in the same light as the graffiti vandals) Looks epic to me! Good on them.

Gang Influence and Corruption in the Maori Party?

2010-11-24T21:59:00.000+13:00

Minister was warned gang would re-occupy seized HQ

Papers released under the Official Information Act reveal that Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples stepped in to try to stop any demolition because the gang pad caters for the "spiritual and cultural needs" of Maori.

The MP wrote to the Auckland City Council asking staff to ignore the illegal structures and to grant a waiver for breaches of the district plan.

At the time, the new owner was in negotiations to sell the property to a trust connected to Dr Sharples' Tamaki Makarau electorate manager, Martin Cooper.

Mr Cooper is a former Black Power president who used to own the Jolson Rd property through the Piki Mai Trust.

In the letter, the Maori Affairs Minister said he attended a hui at the Black Power headquarters in 2005 with Tariana Turia as co-leaders of the Maori Party and that "the whare catered for the spiritual and cultural needs of our hui".

Paul Henry & 'Racism'

2010-10-07T04:42:00.000+13:00

This whole incident I have found shocking. Not from the statement, but from the reactions. For instance a TVNZ staff member resigning over DOING HER JOB?!?! Ludicras, that is what PR people are MEANT TO DO. They have to defend whatever stupid things might happen in their company to the press/public, even if they might have personal misgivings about the situation. Or rather they are meant to make their clients look good, which is generally by defending them. Ok perhaps you can say she failed in this case due to the public reaction, but is this a significant enough failing to resign over? No.

It gets worse to then read: "while an MP went as far as suggesting New Zealand could do with multi-cultural legislation". Oh great, what MP was this? I'm going to go out on a limb here and propose this legislation he imagines would be:
a) racist legislation.
b) infringing on our right to free speech.

TVNZ PR manager offers resignation - NZ Herald News

David Garrett and the ACT Party (comments)

2010-09-17T17:20:00.000+12:00

In recent news it has come out that David has been a naughty boy in the past. How serious is this? Naturally the press have been having a field day in going in to every little detail.

There are thought were the most interesting/insightful/amusing comments made on the articles on the NZHerald.co.nz website:

RichMac said: "If it's good enough for the court to discharge him without conviction and permanent name suppression who are we to conduct the witch hunt? Leave him alone."

John said: "While I may not like Mr Garrett and I certainly don't favour the Act Party, I don't condone the media and public habit of "hunting and shooting down" public figures for minor transgressions.

"Be fair, look at the specific charge in this case and the resulting $10 fine. It arguably was self defence and even though he was convicted the magnitude of the fine indicates it was not serious. Why would anyone want to put themselves forward for public service in this petty environment?"

Davedog thought the conviction had been blown out of proportion. "We are not talking about some malicious criminal act here, we are talking about a confrontation that escalated, someone's work against someone else's, and a dubious conviction in a 3rd world country."

And Hugh wrote: "We have a Minister of Work & Income who was on benefits, so why not a spokesman for Law & Order who has an assault conviction? The best gamekeepers are reformed poachers as the saying goes.

Wayne reckoned "perhaps the mindless "three strikes and you're out" law Mr Garrett was pushing for offers some help to us in determining whether he should still be the ACT spokesperson for law and order. By my count that's two strikes against him in the last day. One strike to go, David."

Ray offered a slightly different view. "Maybe David Garrett, in proposing his "three strikes", has carefully planned so as to have one up his sleeve?"

korknutt said: "That's two strikes so far Mr Garrett. Hope your policy works and can keep you on the straight and narrow from now on."

PR said:

Is the NZ Herald guilty of breaching the permanent name suppression granted to Mr Garrett?

Even if Garrett had told Parliament what he had done the suppression order would have meant that no on could have reported that? Parliament TV could not have broadcast it etc.

So do we expect to see a mass of broadcasters prosecuted for breaching name suppression order. This has since been lifted at Mr Garretts request but the media were reporting it long before that.

Are the NZ media going to continue to breach the court order and publish the name of the dead child, and add further stress to the family?

William said: "Whats David Garrets REAL indentity ? (....if hes' done it once!)"

KC said: "A leader and deputy pairing of John Boascawen and Heather Roy (the order to be voted on) will go a long way to restoring the member and public faith in the Act party. Anything less is a Rodney Hide farce and we have already seen to much of that."

overdahz said (in reference to Rodney Hide would be beaten in Epsom if National put up a strong candidate): "The obvious candidate is the National MP who lives in the Epsom Electorate - John Key."

Milk And Cheese

2010-08-31T20:35:00.000+12:00

These laws don’t go far enough. Dairies often sell milk and cheese and these are known to cause obesity and heart disease. The government must do something! This is what I propose:

1. Dairies be banned from selling milk and cheese, so that they can only be purchased in supermarkets. Except in tourist areas where foreigners have come to accept eating dairy products freely, where local councils we be allowed to permit dairies to sell milk, cheese, or both milk and cheese.
2. There should be special rules to allow dairies and Party Central to sell milk and cheese over the Rugby World Cup, because we don’t want the rest of the world to realise that we’re governed by miserable nanny-staters. But the cheese at Party Central must be sold in cubes with a toothpick through each in order to reduce the rate of cheese consumption.
3. Sale of cheese at Party Central be restricted to people 18 and over. Sale of cheese in supermarkets be restricted to people 22 and above. Sale of cheese in dairies (where permitted) be restricted to people 19 and over, unless the person is a tourist in which case they only need to be 17 or over. Sale of milk to be restricted to people over the age of 20 in all cases.
4. The government to tell milk manufacturers what percentage of fat they’re allowed to include in their milk.
5. Under no circumstances will supermarkets, dairies, or Party Central be allowed to sell alcohol and cheese together in case drunk people eat too much cheese.
6. Cheese flavoured potato chips will be banned. So will cheese and onion and other cheese derived flavours.
7. There will be a special tax on dairy products sufficient to cover the cost of heart disease and diabetes treatment, and to cover the cost of the milk and cheese licensing system.
8. Cheese will only be sold between the hours of 10am and 4pm, except on Fridays where it can be sold between 10am and 5:30pm. And Sunday when it can only be sold between 1pm and 4pm so that people will not be tempted to blow off church attendance in favour of cheese buying. Milk will only be sold on Tuesdays between 2:30pm and 3:30pm, because why do retailers need to be open any longer than that?
9. People will only be allowed to buy milk and cheese from one retailer each week. They’ll have their hand stamped after each purchase and council inspectors will conduct random checks outside supermarkets. Retailers will be fined up to $500,000 for selling dairy products to someone who already has a hand stamp, or outside the permitted hours.

These simple rules will certainly solve NZ’s diabetes and heart disease problem. Only child pornographers could possibly be opposed to them. Think of the children!

The cheesy sauce: http://www.actoncampus.org.nz/blog/milk-and-cheese

Musings on Global Warming

2010-08-03T19:28:00.000+12:00

Had little chat about this online, and Mat said a very common defense used by supporters of global warming:

There is general consensus among the scientific community that human activity is at least partially responsible for climate change. However, assuming we don't know for sure, isn't it better to take action now? If we are to blame, our action will abate climate change. If it is just natural fluctuations, we're not really losing anything.

Yes we are losing something... billions and billions of dollars, pushing ourselves even faster into 3rd world status. Do you really want to risk that?

You can't just say "assuming we don't know for sure, isn't it better to take action now?"

I've heard grass could damage the environment... some people regard certain types of grass as a weed!

Now of course we are not quite sure which are causing damage, or even if damage is really being done but isn't it better to take action now?

From now on I declare that NZ shall be grass-free!

I understand some people will moan and complain about that, as apparently they think grass is needed for their business?!

So for them I've came up with the GTS (Grass Trading Scheme), it is all very complex involving grass credits and research funding for grass substitutes but a rough rule of thumb is you can expect to pay a yearly tax of NZ$1 per blade of grass.

Thanks folks, and think of the good for the planet Earth!

Maori "History" in NZ

2009-06-20T20:21:00.001+12:00

I'm sick of this whole "we were first", pffftttt... NZ has virtually NO history. Compared to European History for instance (or Chinese History for that matter, etc... take your pick of many civilisations around the world) the Maori arrived in NZ a mere blink of the eye ago. And as has happened all over the world, other settlers followed after them... Read More. Here is an interesting titbit on Moriori on the Chatham Islands (which I'll point out is a territory of NZ, the same laws and general principles should apply): "Moriori have received recognition from the Crown and Government and some of their claims against those institutions for the generations of neglect and oppression have been listened to and acted on. Moriori are recognised as the original people of Rekohu. The Crown also recognised the invading Maori tribe: Ngati Mutunga as having "indigenous" status in the Chathams by right of 160-odd years of occupation. Both groups have been given settlement packages of fishing quota."

Fascinating, it only takes a hundred and sixty years for a Maori to go from invaders to "indigenous". As my ancestors arrived as peaceful settlers in NZ back in the mid 1800's I expect it should take them even less time before Norwegians get recognised as indigenous people of NZ, but even if we take the full 160 years then I still expect to be recognised as an indigenous NZer before I die.

When do I get my billions of dollars of lands and in particular fishing rights? As a soon to be indigenous NZ Norwegian this is very important to me, as Norwegians have a very long and proud history of fishing.

I also expect to see changes to NZ laws to recognise my indigenous NZ Norwegian right to freely rape, plunder, and sack any seaside NZ towns whenever we feel like it. (our Viking heritage has been constantly oppressed while we have been in NZ!)

I've only been touching on the forthcoming changes I expect to see for indigenous NZ Norwegians, I expect to see the same respect for all the other European races as has been shown to the Maori (that is of all European races which have been here about 160 years or longer, as shown by the precedent in the Chatham Islands). For instance the Dutch should be considered immediately, as they first came across NZ back in 1642. For those who struggle at maths, that is *more* than a hundred and sixty years ago. It is THREE hundred and sixty years ago, easily passes the "160 year rule".

Backbenchers in Auckland!

2009-06-11T19:22:00.001+12:00

Went along to it last night (in Mt Albert, to cover the bye election due to Helen Clark's disappearing act), even though I arrived 5 minutes early (yes, early. A rarity for me!) I had to stand in a queue outside for ages because they were at maximum capacity. Ah well, got in eventually and got myself positioned close enough inside to see everything. There is times when being tall is very handy ;-)

Unfortunately I was also in the middle of a very noisy bunch of Labour supporters and I could hear even less there than I could when I was outside! So I hope to catch a repeat of Backbenchers on tv during the coming week and I'll give my full impression of it afterwards.

Richard Worth

2009-06-11T18:44:00.000+12:00

I really have to feel sorry for Richard Worth, first of all he gets puts up as the token National canditate in Epsom where Rodney Hide wins to ensure the survival of the ACT party. You couldn't expect an MP to be able to go far under these circumstances could you? (a person who loses a blue electorate...)

Yet he was still a Minster in the Government, having sucess just like in his previous very sucessful career as a laywer.

Then there was the "scandal" of his visit to India, which I really feel is nit picking over details and in my opinion shouldn't be a huge deal anyway (not to mention his visit to the taxi driver which caused another "scandal" in the presses, but really now where is the fire? Even more of a non-story than the visit to India).

Unfortunately now everything has built up and got to the point where he has been "sacked" (techincally he resigned, but John Key said he would have been sacked if he hadn't resigned...) because of the latest allegations from Neelam Choudary. Whch we must keep in mind that is all they are, allegations. We don't know for sure the validity of the statements, we can only merely guess at the likelihood of their truth. And as it stands it doesn't stack up well against her, as you have to suspect this is highly politically motivated. As these are dark days for Labour, the only good news than can find is when they make bad news for National! And this is the best they have done so far in this department. Just take a look at the bias we have seen from Phil Goof (even though he has claimed many times on tv this is not politically motivated. Tui: Yeah rght!), quoted directly from The NZ Herald: Labour leader Phil Goff said last night he was concerned that the woman had been named and that her husband was being brought into the story. His status had "nothing to do with the accuracy or the credibility or the veracity of what she has said was her experience with Richard Worth", he said. "I don't think it is fair for her to be judged in any context other than on her own merit."

Yet if you check out the source itself (supplied by the NZ Herald itself! Don't they bother to check with what they write themselves to work out when the politicians are spinning bullshit?): An Indian national now living in the Auckland suburb of Avondale told the Herald he met Choudary and his wife Neelam in 2002 after hearing about the scheme from a friend back in India who read an advertisement in a newspaper. AND also: The Choudarys claimed it was an immigration mistake and the man was sent another letter offering him a job with Denis Hansen's company Mantech and he was asked for another $3000.

So it is clear she was involved, plus those who you associate with is a reflection upon your own character (and her own character is currently the only basis we the public have to judge the validity of her claims). And who else do you associate with more closer than your own husband/wife? Remember additionally she can't simply write this off as long gone in the past and she now is a changed person, because these laws were being broken very recently... to be specific at the very same time she claims these goings ons with Richard Worth was happening.

The Otago Daily Time provides a very handy overview for those who want more details:

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/59394/the-fall-dr-richard-worth-timeline

Police State?! Don't be silly.

2008-12-15T16:53:00.000+13:00

I'm glad to see the police do not limit the scope of people who they keep under observation when it comes to public lives and property that are at risk from acts of violence.
Just because a group claims to be following a righteous cause does not give them a free pass to do whatever illegal acts they feel like.
I am however surprised to read he got paid $600/week by the police! Does seem like a lot, then again I do have no idea as to what the going rate is for an informer. :s
Just reading through this biased report: http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/76507/index.php , and you can clearly see these are not innocent angels the police are monitoring. But people who at the very least have been previously arrested and vandalise property. You just need to look overseas to see examples of where groups like these have been involved in murder and multi million dollar property damage.

As for people at The Standard who would try to spin this to make it appear the National Government is turning us in to a police state, that is just ludicrous as firstly this is far from "police state" behaviour and secondly all of this would have been happening for years under Labour's watch.

Well Done ACT, Two & Half Times As Many MPs!

2008-11-09T03:30:00.000+13:00

Polling day is over, the votes are in and counted (excepting special votes) . I'm pleased to say John Key is now our new Prime Minster. ACT is much stronger with 3 more MPs, also at this time in writing (nearly 4am on Sunday morning) ACT is the only party to have updated their website today to state their results & thank their supporters.

With two only two exceptions however: the ultra micro party "The Family Party" also thanked their supporters & expressed their disappointment over their result. And another ultra micro party "Alliance Party of New Zealand" has an almost blank web page where it merely states "Maintenance Mode. Alliance Party of New Zealand will be offline for the duration of polling day for the 2008 General Election. We apologise for any inconvenience". Firstly, I'd seriously hope their website is not down for maintenance. As if so that would have to be one of the most badly timed scheduled maintenance ever. Instead I suspect they just used the Maintenance Mode plugin as an easy way to take their website offline for the duration of polling day because they are afraid of The Electoral Finance Act. Just shows how shockingly bad the EFA is that it caused a party to take down their website, of course blame also falls on Alliance that they should interpret the EFA this badly as none of the other parties did this (you would have thought that at least they could have seen all the other parties kept their site up, didn't they check?!).

During my checking of all of the party websites I was unable to find one for "New Zealand Pacific Party" (TV3 confirms this). I'm shocked, in this day and age a party should have a website. They fully deserve the low polling they got (not to mention the far more serious matter of the criminal charges their party leader is currently facing).

Watched the BBC coverage of the NZ election, was very minimal as you would expect yet even so they managed to muck it up. Calling National's potential coalition partner "Aye Sea Tee". Oh dear...

Polling Day: Drink Up!

2008-11-08T18:46:00.000+13:00

Only minutes away until the polls close and election coverage starts, if you are like me and you plan to be inside on a Saturday night glued to the TV watching the votes be counted then you might as well think up a cool little drinking game to go with it. My first idea was to split up the drinking, I could drink for all right wing electorates that are called while my flatmate backs the left. But the party people at the Bill and Ben Party have already came up with a great set of rules:

Electorates To Keep Your Eyes On

2008-11-07T20:50:00.000+13:00

Here is my list of electorates to keep your eyes on, as you may never what surprises they could spring up.

First of all the obvious ones:

Tauranga. Winston Peters has held this one for a long time, but last election he lost it yet got back in as list MP due to NZ First breaking 5%. Thankfully this time around NZ First is unlikely to pass 5% & Simon Bridges is doing fine job campaging for National so it looks clear he will win Tauranga rather than Winston.

Epsom. Rodney Hide must win this won for ACT to survive, & arguable he must win to ensure National can form a government. He is up against National's Richard Worth, there is saying going around: "Worth is not worth it". Bit harsh, but very true that he is not worth voting for as it is of such importance Rodney wins Epsom. Luckily there is little danger of that, so no party votes for ACT will be wasted.

Wigram & Ohariu. Basically the same deal for both of these places. But different people, Jim Anderton & Peter Dunne respectively. Odds are they will win their electorate and will only support Labour or National respectively (as Peter Dunne has already came out & said he will go with National, and we always know Jim Anderton will only be supporting Labour). With both parties it is unlikely they will pick up more than one extra MP from the list, if that.

ALL the Maori seats, for obvious reasons as this is the only way the Maori Party is going to increase their number of MPs. Additionally this could have a major impact on Parliament as they may be Kingmaker/Queenmaker and they are likely to cause an overhang again (which will make it tough for National as it will increase the number of seats required for them to make a majority).

Now I've covered the obvious electorates that most people know about, here is where the real surprises might come from (but due to the nature of the fact it would be such a surprise, these results are also quite unlikely. But who knows?):

Mangere. Former Labour MP Taito Phillip Field is standing here for his new "Pacific Party". While I doubt he will win it, he does have the huge advantage of being the current sitting MP for it and having the entire backing of a "party" in helping him towards regaining. I'd be saddened if a person facing his criminal charges gets elected, but I won't completely rule out the possibility he will win. Guess we will all find out tomorrow.

Rimutaka. This is the one I worry about the most. Last election Winston Peters lost Tauranga yet still got in due to NZ First breaking 5%. This time around their party vote won't get that high as it is now entirely limited to the mentally infirm or unstable (how else can you explain it? Or more likely they are just hopeless uninformed and have been mislead by the media and NZ First). Yet if Ron Mark wins Rimutaka then Winston Peters gets back in again. NZ First / Winston Peters recognises this last gasp chance for them, he has even at one point left campaigning in Tauranga to help out Ron Mark in Rimutaka. If Winston Peters doesn't get Tauranga AND NZ First doesn't reach 5% yet Winston Peters still gets in to Parliament because of this I will be very very saddened. I've said if Winston Peters is in Parliament again by whatever means it happens, then I will spend the entire day afterwards wearing black as I'll be in mourning for NZ.

Hundreds of NZers are Technological Morons

2008-11-07T14:17:00.000+13:00

Anybody who has any experience with tech support will not be surprised by the title of this post, but even so it is still saddening to see more evidence of this. From the NZ Herald:

Winston Peters has been sending direct mail and setting up webpages in the names of random Kiwis, to the horror of some of those targeted who believe their privacy has been invaded.

The really sad fact is that this is not a quote from one of the morons complaining about this, but is the lead paragraph for the story (which incidentally is on the front page of nzherald.co.nz). Shame on you NZ Herald, your journalists should know better.

If anybody seriously believes this that NZ First set up an individual website just for YOU, then please explain this url: http://HelenClark.MrKey.co.nz

Even though I very strongly hope (and believe) that Winston Peters will not get back in to Parliament, I do admire NZ First for their handy use of a little bit of technology that none of the other parties have done. However it is sad to see too many NZers are too stupid to appreciate it.

Beware the Green Party's Hidden Adgenda!

2008-11-06T16:17:00.000+13:00

From the secrete taping of Jeanette Fitzsimons: "I'm Pro-Life"

Oh the Irony, it kills me! (& kills the little unborn babies too....)

Democracy, we don't know how good we have it here in NZ

2008-11-04T17:42:00.000+13:00

I'm watching ABC news and they are interviewing people about what they call America's "dirty little secret" that many of America's voting systems are not designed to cope with up to 80% turn out. Hence is why we are seeing people waiting for hours at polling places? Typically voter turnout is only approximately half in America while in NZ we naturally expect around about 90% to vote (Australia has a comparable percentage, the highest in the world). Still, not a reason to rest on our laurels. Get out there and vote on saturday! (regardless of who are you going to be voting for, is important for democracy for you to get your voice heard)

TV3's John vs Helen debate

2008-11-04T15:51:00.000+13:00

Clearly this debate last night went to John Key. I'm not online in this opinion either, the TV3 poll on the night gave a massive majority of 70% saying Key won versus only 30% in favour for Clark. Life just gets worse for Clark, now all of the debates have clearly gone in favour for Key. Will tomorrow's final debate go the same way? My money is on Key winning once again.

This was a debate that will have swayed undecided voters. My flatmate was a radical mad lefty, yet he pinpoints down this debate as the tipping point for him to now vote National (even if it requires him getting drunk beforehand, as he doesn't like the thought of him soberly voting for National).

In the post debate analysis afterwards on TV3 one of the commentators claimed Helen had a lot more energy about her, supposedly showing that she wants the job for PM more than John Key. While I would hardly debate either point, just see the circus going on with Winston Peters for how much she wants to still hang on to the strings of power, yet I feel she was way off the mark in her analysis. As sure Helen Clark had "more energy" about her, but all her energy was negative energy of being tensed up & frustrated. Not what you would expect for a politician with decades of experience to get so flustered. While John Key was calm and confident throughout with his body language, which TV3's commentator completely misinterpreted. Imagine a debate between a crook and a Police Officer, you wouldn't be surprised with the crook looses her cool and started shouting while you expect the person speaking from a position of authority to remain calm and collected throughout.

Helicopters (images)

2008-11-04T13:44:00.000+13:00

A round up from around the internet of Helicopters and that proven liar Winston Peters:

http://www.whaleoilblog.com/?q=content/winstons039s-new-book

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/11/classic-2.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/0a17217.html

Winston has a fine career ahead of him in comedy when he doesn't get back in to Parliament.

How many hours a night is Rodney Hide sleeping?

2008-10-23T15:38:00.000+13:00

If you want a dedicated party leader who is working at all hours of the night during this election, then you need to look no further than ACT's party leader Rodney Hide:

An Avondale reader writes: "I am not an Act supporter but I can't help admiring
Rodney Hide's dedication. Unable to sleep on Monday morning, I switched on Radio
Live around 2am to hear him fielding calls on Ewing Stevens' show. I wonder if
any other politicians are taking the same opportunity to pitch for the insomniac
vote."

From NZ Herald's Swideswipe: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sideswipe/news/article.cfm?c_id=702&objectid=10538712

Why My Brother Will Not Be Voting For Labour

2008-10-23T15:24:00.000+13:00

Got this email from my teenage brother yesterday (in response to my email asking who he might be voting for). It looks clear who he will not be voting for!

As I think you are aware, I will not being voting for Helen Clark and the Labour party. Mainly because she is f**cking ugly. This is not a level of ugliness that is normal, this is the level of ugliness that causes erectile dysfunction. Since I do still plan on getting a girlfriend sometime I feel this could be a huge problem for me some time in the (hopefully) near future.
Having Helen remain as the prime minister would also cause other problems.One of these is that her extremely revolting looks causes an effect similar to "beer goggles". The effect of both "beer goggles" and seeing Helen could cause the situation were an New Zealand male would accidentally hook up with an ugly chick (or, as I call them, an "OMFG-WTF-OHDEARGOD-LOOSE-SOME-WEIGHT-I-THOUGH-I-JUST-SAW-A-COW"). This would be a most unfortunate event, so I feel that it is the best interest of the nation that Labour is not elected for another term. Apparently "beergoggles" is caused by excess consumption of something called "beer". I looked it up to see if it could be excluded from my diet, but sadly it seems to be one of the more important needs of life and should not removed from a healthy person's daily intake.
Helen's level of ugliness is the type that makes me want to grab a knife and cut off my balls in the hope that it will stop me from looking at women in case I ever come across one as ugly as Helen.
So, please, think of my balls and don't vote for Labour.

There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth for the NZ teenage male's reasons for not voting for Labour.

The Future of New Zealand Foreign Policy

2008-10-09T19:48:00.000+13:00

Went along last night to this pre-election forum hosted by NZIIA, here is what I wrote on my phone during it uploaded directly without modification:

www.NZiia.auckland.ac.NZ

arrived while Phil was talking , so missed out on helen's lap dog jim talking & gordon copeland. No biggie.

National guy was mediocre, seemed to ramble along while talking about his decades of foreign policy experience. Nice & easy to listen along but lacks any punch to it. However I liked what he said near the end that the UN is to be treated with a case by case basis as the UN can work well but in other areas it breaks down very badly. (which he repeated this point during Q & A time)

Keith from greens spoke so quietly members of the audience had to speak up & tell him to turn on his mike even though it was already on! lol

Although otherwise he was predictable with rants & raving on climate change , class division (take from the rich to give to the poor) , against americans saying we should not call them an ally because they are the big evil empire yadda yadda

The act candidate sure stood out from the rest, only guy with ponytail! He stood out from the rest too in how he really spoke with punch

A Fascinating Time in Politics

2008-10-08T17:36:00.000+13:00

Is a great time to be following politics with so much going on both here in New Zealand and abroad, primarily the upcoming General Election in NZ and the campaign for President over in America.

Currently as I write this I'm watching on C-SPAN online the repeat coverage of the 2nd Presidential Debate, taking a shot every time either of them says "my friends"! Good times, but initially I had my doubts that together my friend (pun intended) & I would be able to finish off our single can of beer. Channel 7 showed the initial start of the debate but that was only one shot each before back they returned to local news. Grrr.... wireless internet is not the best for watching a live stream due to its high latency, after trying several different sources I eventually settled upon C-SPAN as being the relative best of the lot for me. Of course by this point they were minutes away from the end of the debate.... oh well, if only they showed it on NZ tv. Never mind, bring on the John Key vs Helen Clark debate! (next Tuesday from 7pm till 8:30pm on TV One)

More to come later: details of the debate, billboard counts during my tour around NZ, rants, and more ways to put the fun in to politics! (fpuonlitics?)