by frog
Gosh the weather sucks, do keep warm and dry.
Published in THE ISSUES by frog on Sat, July 23rd, 2011
Tags: general debate
General debate, July 23, 2011
Published: July 23, 2011
Comment via Facebook
53 Comments
Hide comments with a score of
or less
Hide comments with a score of or less
Leave a Reply
Please use 
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
What affect will the US debt ceiling crisis have on NZ if not resolved before the 2 Aug deadline?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Obama’s talking about cutting “defense” spending by $800 billion. Could mean a reduction in the wars for oil.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
New Ministry of Education CEO is an advocate for Free Schools, is this the end of public education as we know it?
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/07/moe-appointment-may-challenge-quality.html
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
“These past two weeks, I have been thinking of what it was like to work for Murdoch, what was wrong about it, about the use of power by proxy. For Murdoch could never be blamed. Murdoch was more caliph than ever, no more responsible for an editorial or a “news” story than a president of Syria is for a massacre – the latter would be carried out on the orders of governors who could always be tried or sacked or sent off as adviser to a prime minister – and the leader would invariably anoint his son as his successor. Think of Hafez and Bashar Assad or Hosni and Gamal Mubarak or Rupert and James. In the Middle East, Arab journalists knew what their masters wanted, and helped to create a journalistic desert without the water of freedom, an utterly skewed version of reality. So, too, within the Murdoch empire.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/robert-fisk-why-i-had-to-leave-the-times-2311569.html
Like or Dislike:
3 
0 (+3)
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/roswell-ufo-controversy-former-air-force-officer-says-gen-ramey-lied-to-cover-up-space-ship-crash/
“…The Roswell UFO controversy may be 64 years old, but it shows no sign of heading into retirement.
One thing we know for sure: On July 8, 1947, the front page of the Roswell Daily Record proclaimed that a flying saucer had been captured by the Roswell Army Air Field.
The U.S. Air Force had issued a press release that day stating that a flying saucer had been “captured,” and photos were released of soldiers examining metallic-looking objects, presumably pieces of a crashed balloon.
Then the controversy began. At a press conference later that day in Ft. Worth, Texas, Air Force Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey essentially recanted the entire story, announcing instead that the debris was simply pieces of a fallen weather balloon.
Speculation of what really happened has never truly ended. George Filer, a retired Air Force intelligence officer, told The Huffington Post that he believes Ramey was forced to lie about the Roswell incident.
And, in news that will come as a shock even to ardent UFO researches – he told The Huffington Post in an exclusive interview that Ramey’s wife told him he was “embarrassed about having to lie about the weather balloon.”…”
(whoar…!…eh..?
so we can now take it as a given that aliens have visited earth….
..i wonder when they will be back…?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
mind you..would you come here…?
earth..the l.a. central of the universe…
(this place would have a warning/advisory in any galactic-guide book..)
warning:..natives extremely dangerous/belligerent..they’ll blow you away as soon as look at you…
..remember roswell ’47..!
do not approach..!
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
0 (+1)
Asshole of the Week Award – Peter Whittall
Yesterday, the Pike River Mine inquiry revealed that Peter Whittall did not even attend a test evacuation to see if somebody could escape up the 100 metre-plus vertical ventilation shaft, which is the mines only means of escape other than the main 2.3km tunnel. Whittall said he was on the road doing a shareholder briefing, showing exactly how highly Pike River Coal viewed the safety of it’s workers.
Like or Dislike:
1 
4 (-3)
“Pop the champagne corks. The Texas Board of Education has unanimously come down on the side of evolution. In an 8-0 vote, the board today approved scientifically accurate high school biology textbook supplements from established mainstream publishers–and did not approve the creationist-backed supplements from International Databases, LLC.”
http://ncse.com/news/2011/07/victory-evolution-texas-006802
Like or Dislike:
4 
0 (+4)
Like or Dislike:
3 
0 (+3)
(some good poll-news….on this sunday morning…)
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/latest-poll-leftright-groupings-kneck-and-kneck-just-0-1-seperating-them/
“…Prime Minister John Key’s National government is trouncing Labour, according to the latest Horizon poll.
National has 10.2% more support than Phil Goff’s Labour, and is continuing to widen the gap, with its support up 2.2% since May against a 0.9% rise for Labour.
However, it’s a different story when coalition support is tallied.
Among those who know who they would vote for if an election was held tomorrow, as well as undecideds who express a party preference, the governing National, Act, Maori Party, United Future coalition would secure 44.4% support.
A Labour, Green, New Zealand First, Progressives coalition is only marginally behind at 44.3%, with 7.6% remaining undecided.
Hone Harawira’s Mana Party recorded 1.9% support – down from 2.9% in May, and the Maori Party 0.7% – down from 1.2%…”
(cont…)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
The weather sucks?!
The skiing is fabulous, you crazy amphibian.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
and the bad news is that amy winehouse is dead…
those unaware of her awe-inspiring talent should be inspired to seek that out by this interview from 2004..
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/amy-winehouse-interviw-from-2004/
“…Two days before our sex ‘n’ sangria night out, Winehouse plays her first major hometown headline show at Bush Hall, west London.
It’s a public showcase for her management company’s roster and she’s supported by male soul singer Tyla James, who gave Amy her first break at the age of 16.
Manager Nick Godwin and A&R man Nick Shymanski were looking for a jazz singer.
‘It was around three-and-a-half years ago,’ Godwin recalls. ‘Tyla James brought us in a cassette and said, “This is a friend of mine. You should have a listen.”
We put it on and there was this amazing voice, fantastic lyrics … they were eight- or nine-minute poems, really.
Quite awkward guitar playing – but utterly breathtaking.’
Felix Howard, co-author of a number of tracks on Frank and a former writer for the Sugababes and Tom Jones, heard one of those recordings.
‘It was unlike anything that had ever come through my radar.
When she showed up for our first session she was wearing a pair of jeans that had completely fallen apart with “I Love Sinatra” embroidered on the arse.
That’s so Amy.
I just fell in love with her.
Also, she has the power to scare the shit out of very seasoned, salty jazz people.
I was doing her session with some very serious players.
And when she started singing…
…they were like, “Jesus Christ!”‘..”
(cont..)
(she was only 27…)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Frog
Financial default is a gun aimed directly at Wall-Street. There is no way in hell the money people will let their Republican employees pull the trigger.
BJ
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
“DID I mention that I’ve signed a pledge — just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage? My pledge is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge — thereby abdicating their governing responsibilities in a period of incredibly rapid change and financial stress. Sorry, I’ve signed it. Nothing more I can do.”
Like or Dislike:
3 
0 (+3)
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/commentwhoar-the-nation-a-review/
both of the bombastic males were off doing something else..
..and i don’t think anyone missed them..(more on that later..)
the host of tv3s’ breakfast-news show was more than up to the task…
..she interviewed brash…
..and he just cemented his reputation as an intransigent old man..
..(his argument against capital gains tax being especially laughable…being that those making profits ‘will be taxed twice’..
..um..!..news don…!…most are taxed more than once…tax on wages/salaries..and then g.s.t.. being the obvious one..)
..and his attempted beating of the race-drum is becoming increasingly like looking at historical footage of some bigoted sheriff from the deep south in america..back in civil rights days…
…of course he will have a hardcore rump of support for his racism from the particularly narrow-eyed provincials…
..but his continued maori/race-bashing ignores the fact of how intertwined pakeha are with maori…
..in both inter-marriage/family…and in our culture…
..and those denying the benefits of that inter-twining are the fools…
..really ‘yesterdays’ men’…
..another punchy piece from the nation was an expose on the influences lobbiests have on our political-processes/life..
..and this was an eye-opener..
..and makes sue kedgeleys’ bill to force transparency on this process a matter of some urgency…
..this one had a laugh-out-loud moment…in the same vein as that roomfull of millionaires going all sullen/silent/eyes-downcast/foot-shuffling when paul holmes asked them how many of them supported labours’ plans for a capital gains tax..
..this moment came from a ‘top-lobbyist’…who in his own words..is in and out of parliament/the beehive/ministers’ offices ‘a couple of times a week’…
…he had a whinge/moan about how much more influence those volunteer-staffed pressure-groups have…
..with a ‘poor-me’ thrown in for good measure..
..(those same groups that get no access to parliament/beehive/ministers..)
…it is quite the moment…
…as he tries to persuade us that a steaming pile of cow-shit is not actually cow-shit…
..it is a sweet-smelling bunch of flowers…
..and that ‘there is nothing to see here’..
..now…back to not missing the bombastic-ones….
..for a little while now i have been really tiring of the interviewing styles used by the two networks’ prime political interviewers/reporters..
..espiner and garner…
..both of them never let a questioner finish an answer…
..they don’t view the interview as the opportunity for us..the viewers..to gain some enlightenment/understanding of the politicians/politics on offer…
..it is more about them..and their battle with the interview subject…
..with them staggering away at the end..asking compatriots..’did i win..?’…
..can i really emphasise..that for the viewer…
..this is really fucken boring…
..and both of these ambush-interviewers should look to two of their media colleagues…
..for some guidance in the interviewing skill of teasing out revelations/information from interview-subject…
..the host of the nation today..rachel smallie…is one..
…in her interview with brash…she let him self-indict…
..letting his words hang in the air/envelope him…
..the other they should watch/learn from is the host of ‘native affairs’…
..he also is very good at the art of asking a question…
…and letting the interviewee answer…
..and thus provide illumination/explanation for us…the viewers…
..it isn’t all about him…
phil@whoar.co.nz.
Like or Dislike:
2 
3 (-1)
“most are taxed more then once……..tax on wages/salaries” oh please Phil you will have me reaching for the tissues. Why shouldn’t people be taxed on salaries/wages?. Or is it just those nasty rich pricks that should contribute? I guess you can take comfort that at least you don’t have to pay tax on wages, salaries etc.
Like or Dislike:
4 
2 (+2)
to put this entity in context..
..side show bob…who i call ‘bloody hands bob’..
..wd be one of the top five worst examples of peddlers of hate/bigotry..that lurk in that fetid swamp called kiwiblog…
..he also owns/runs an animal concentration camp…a cow one..
..and he boasts that he has his income/assets running thru trusts..
…for two reasons…one to avoid paying tax…
..the other to ‘qualify’ for working for families welfare..
(he is..b.t.w..in his hate-peddling/bigotry…particulary hard on bludging sole-parents..)
..and he will be particularly gutted at the prospect of a capital-gains taxing/trust-bludgers-busting centre-left govt…
…now that we have the context in focus..
..what was that question again..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
2 
4 (-2)
amazing how these people are screaming about having to pay 15% on their profits…
..(leaving them 85%…)
..whereas for those beneficiaries they revile…
..the exact opposite is the fact of the matter..
..in that any income over $100 that is earned by any beneficiary..
..has a clawback-tax of 85 cents in the dollar…
..and this after ‘normal’ tax…
..they get to keep 15%…15 cents on the dollar..
..(that all seems ‘fair’..eh..?..)
..it is one of the more kafkaesque aspect of the poverty-trap..
..that one..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
2 
3 (-1)
Oh dear, that’s done it I’m crying now. Poor beneficiary only getting 85c in the dollar. What a load of horseshit Phil. Pray tell sir where a beneficiaries income comes from. Please save your crocodile tears. Beneficiaries don’t pay tax because they don’t earn the bloody money to start with despite the horseshit you would have us believe, it’s simply the bloody state shuffling money again and making people like you feel they are doing their bit. Oh and I will continue to avoid paying as much tax as I can, you see I would be over the moon if I only paid 15c in the dollar. But then again I’m a bad evil bastard, sadly for you you couldn’t live without people like us. I could get by without you by the way.
Like or Dislike:
5 
3 (+2)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-20-2011/accountability-in-the-u-k—david-cameron-kills-it
Like or Dislike:
4 
0 (+4)
his one eye does also cause him to get basic facts wrong…
as in his claim i said salary/wages shouldn’t be taxed…
..and now his not comprehending that beneficiaries get 15 cents in the dollar…
..not the 85 cents he claims i said..
..that’s two for two…
..and of course his animal concentration camp..
..where he hurts/abuses/brutalises the animals he makes his blood-stained money from..
..(hence his name..’bloody-hands-bob’..)
..then of course…like all those concentration camp owners..
..there is the environmental havoc he wreaks…
..paid for/subsidised by the rest of us/our children..
…and poisoning our waterways/future..
..i think most would agree..that we could get by without the ilk of him..
..we could replace him with farmers/people who grow real food…
..now..what was that question again…?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
4 (-4)
Thanks Valis, very good, that guy cracks me up.
Oh dear Phil, don’t you think it’s time for some fresh insults, I mean you’ve being using the same ones for at least five years now.
Like or Dislike:
3 
1 (+2)
they aren’t insults..
they are the facts of the matter..
..what have i said that is not true..?
..and as for ‘fresh insults’..
when have you ever had more than yr sole-parent-sneer…?
..most of what you are/do…is what is wrong with new zealand..
..and don’t assume everything will stay the same..eh..?
..you are in a sunset industry…
..the combination of animal rights awareness/meat/fat causing cancer..and the rise of healthy/cruelty-free warehouse-grown meat…
..will see to that…
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
4 (-3)
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/online-commenting-the-age-of-rage/
“…The worldwide web has made critics of us all.
But with commenters able to hide behind a cloak of anonymity – the blog and chatroom have become forums for hatred and bile.
On parts of the internet it has become pretty much common parlance.
Do a quick trawl on the blog sites and comment sections about most celebrities and entertainers – not to mention politicians – and you will quickly discover comparable virtual rage and fantasised violence.
Comedians seem to come in for more than most, as if taboo-breaking was taken as read, or the mood of the harshest baying club audience had become a kind of universal rhetoric.
It’s not quite heckling this, though, is it?
A heckle requires a bit of courage and risk; the audience can see who is doing the shouting.
Lee’s detractors were all anonymous.
How should we understand it then: harmless banter?
Robust criticism? Vicious bullying?
The psychologists call it “deindividuation”.
It’s what happens when social norms are withdrawn because identities are concealed.
The classic deindividuation experiment concerned American children at Halloween.
Trick-or-treaters were invited to take sweets left in the hall of a house on a table on which there was also a sum of money.
When children arrived singly, and not wearing masks, only 8% of them stole any of the money.
When they were in larger groups, with their identities concealed by fancy dress, that number rose to 80%.
The combination of a faceless crowd and personal anonymity provoked individuals into breaking rules that under “normal” circumstances they would not have considered.
Deindividuation is what happens when we get behind the wheel of a car and feel moved to scream abuse at the woman in front who is slow in turning right.
It is what motivates a responsible father in a football crowd to yell crude sexual hatred at the opposition or the referee.
And it’s why under the cover of an alias or an avatar on a website or a blog – surrounded by virtual strangers – conventionally restrained individuals might be moved to suggest a comedian should suffer all manner of violent torture because they don’t like his jokes, or his face.
Digital media allow almost unlimited opportunity for wilful deindividuation.
They almost require it.
The implications of those liberties, of the ubiquity of anonymity and the language of the crowd -
- are only beginning to be felt…”
(cont…)
(i am actually an advocate of commenters having to use their real names…
..of making them stand behind/beside their words…
..and the ‘i am too important to reveal my own name’-excuse..
..is usually just a pile of horseshit…)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
..many would be too ashamed to say what they do..
..if forced to use their own name..
..those who just fling shit from behind fake-names..
..i consider a modern benchmark of craven cowardice..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
4 (-3)
when that sideshow bob gets over-excited at kiwiblog…
..he likes to fantasise about getting his gun and blowing away some lefties..
..and is always quick to respond to other calls for vigilante-gun-action..
…from the nutjobs on view..
..he really is a sick fuck…eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
3 (-2)
Wow!
http://www.wtfnoway.com/
Like or Dislike:
1 
0 (+1)
i can recommend clicking on the link provided by samiam…
..(i’ve knicked it for whoar..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
2 (-2)
Jumping to Conclusions
Speculating on things without enough information is a dangerous practice at the best of times. You run the risk of appearing the fool if that guess work is later shown to be incorrect.
Like or Dislike:
0 
3 (-3)
It seems everybody – Key, Keith Locke, Jackal etc, are jumping onto the bandwagon to use the not-yet-buried victims in Norway as a political footballs.
Like or Dislike:
4 
2 (+2)
For side show bob’s benefit
People are taxed on their wage and salary and professional investor income and spending (excluding financial services and buying homes) because of GST.
People are taxed on their wage and salary and professional investor income and also the income derived from their interest deposit savings.
So if people spend their tax paid income or invest it in bank deposits they are taxed again.
The exemptions from GST are financial sertvices and buying and selling property.
Now CG income derived from borrowed money is often not even taxed at the moment (even though the cost of borrowing is tax deductible against related income). So the obvious response is the CG must be taxable income or the right to deduct mortgage interest cost against rental property has to go.
Of course a CGT would include farms and this explains side show bobs attempt to divert the issue by launching a personal attack on someone on a benefit – and with the ridiculous notion that explaining that so many are taxed twice whereas CG were not even taxed at all was some objection to income tax – trolling at its worst and most banal.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
Should have been
The exemptions from any taxation GST or CG (for many if not all) are financial services and buying and selling property/shares/gold.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
news flash from auckland…!
..snow-fears/panic abates…
..locals walking around wearing snow-shoes…
..are just looking silly…
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
frog..did you delete the comment by sideshow bob at kiwiblog that i posted here…?
..if so..why..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
[frog: Haven't deleted any of your comments today and don't see it anywhere. Remember to stay focussed on the issues and not the personalities so I don't get tempted.]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/for-amy-%C2%AB-russell-brand/
“…I’ve known Amy Winehouse for years.
When I first met her around Camden she was just some twit in a pink satin jacket shuffling round bars with mutual friends -
- most of whom were in cool Indie bands or peripheral Camden figures Withnail-ing their way through life on impotent charisma.
Carl Barrat told me that “Winehouse” (which I usually called her and got a kick out of cos it’s kind of funny to call a girl by her surname) was a jazz singer, which struck me as a bizarrely anomalous in that crowd.
To me with my limited musical knowledge this information placed Amy beyond an invisible boundary of relevance; “Jazz singer?
She must be some kind of eccentric” I thought.
I chatted to her anyway though, she was after all, a girl – and she was sweet and peculiar but most of all vulnerable.
I was myself at that time barely out of rehab – and was thirstily seeking less complicated women -
- so I barely reflected on the now glaringly obvious fact that Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the disease of addiction.
All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom;-
- they’re not quite present when you talk to them.
They communicate to you through a barely discernible but un-ignorable veil.
Whether a homeless smack head troubling you for 50p for a cup of tea – or a coked-up, pinstriped exec foaming off about his “speedboat”-
- there is a toxic aura that prevents connection.
They have about them the air of elsewhere, that they’re looking through you to somewhere else they’d rather be.
And of course they are.
The priority of any addict is to anaesthetise the pain of living – to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief.
It was only by chance that I attended a Paul Weller gig at the Roundhouse that I ever saw her live.
I arrived late and as I made my way to the audience through the plastic smiles and plastic cups I heard the rolling, wondrous resonance of a female vocal.
Entering the space I saw Amy on stage with Weller and his band; and then the awe.
The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius.
From her oddly dainty presence that voice – a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella -
- from the font of all greatness.
A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine.
My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened.
Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse!
That twerp – all eyeliner and lager dithering up Chalk Farm Road under a back-combed barnet -
- the lips that I’d only seen clenching a fishwife fag and dribbling curses now a portal for this holy sound.
So now I knew.
She wasn’t just some hapless wannabe – yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it -
- nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes.
She was a fucking genius…”
(cont..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
Temps me a bit to listen to some of her music.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
bloody hell valis…!..i am jealous…
..you have the delight of discovery ahead of you…
i have a link to what are deemed her top twelve videos..
..there wd be worse places to start…
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=winehouse
it’s amongst this lot…and just looking..i have quite a bit of/on amy winehouse …
…going back to 2005…
..it’s sad how many are celebrating her now/at last…being clean…
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
“..[frog: Haven't deleted any of your comments today.."
heh..!..i must have just not pushed the button...
..idiot..!
..it's sideshow bob talking about how he'd like to get his gun and blow away some 'leftist-scum'...
..is that acceptable..?
..it's all his own words..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
[frog: I'm mot responsible for the sewer. If he says it here, I'll deal with it.]
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
Have only just scratched the surface with ‘Rehab’. Haven’t whiffed genius yet, though the air is a bit thick with irony. Will keep trying.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
http://whoar.co.nz/2011/why-conservatives-behave-more-like-a-bizarre-religious-cult-than-a-legitimate-political-entity-these-are-people-who-view-objectivism-as-a-legitimate-and-serious-philosophical-discipline-an/
“…It is easy to get caught up in every rivulet of the default crisis as we approach the inevitable cascade of market panics followed byshock doctrine cuts to social services.
It is easy to find fault with the Administration for its many flaws in handling the situation – and with Congressional Democrats as well.
But it’s also important to remember the big picture.
The big picture is that America is being held hostage by a conservative movement that behaves much more as a bizarre religious cult – than a legitimate political entity.
It is perhaps the most dangerous cult to have ever held sway over a major nation-state in modern times.
It is a cult founded on a number of dogmatic beliefs that have no basis in reality.
These are people who believe that the inflection point of the Laffer Curve is somewhere in the low single digits -
- and that cutting taxes to insanely low levels will magically lead to revenue increases.
These are people who believe that government itself is basically unnecessary but for a private property protection scheme – and that the unfettered market will provide all that society needs – and will dole out the appropriate price for all goods, wages and services -
- with zero inflation through the magic of the market.
These are people who believe it is impossible for humans to affect the climate -
- and that it is better for humans to attempt to magically adapt somehow to a much hotter world than to do anything to even curb the behaviors that might be making it hotter.
These are people who believe that the proper way to punish corporate evildoers is to not punish them at all -
- because people will simply stop purchasing from corporations that poison their water and air and crash their economies–
– because the average consumer presumably has the secret market-given wisdom, and magic powers necessary to make financial choices to punish Koch Industries and Goldman Sachs if necessary.
These are people who view Objectivism as a legitimate and serious philosophical discipline -
- and the fictional works of Ayn Rand as gospel to live by.
The fact that no country on earth has attempted to operate by these principles in the modern era is irrelevant.
These people do not operate according to facts -
- but according to a deep and abiding faith in a wholly untested set of principles that can only be put into place upon the destruction of the current order.
As with any cult, the prospect of Armageddon is not troubling to them…”
(cont..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
readers of the previous piece shd note that john key…and many on the conservative-right here..
..are big fans of the (barking-mad) fictional social/economic prescriptions/’solutions’of ayn rand…
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
Just for BJ…
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/07/25/loehle-and-scafetta-calculate-0-66%c2%b0ccentury-for-agw/#more-44052
Conclusions
1) The estimated AGW component matches theory, since the log of an exponential rise in carbon dioxide should give an approximatelinear trend (as in fact the climate models do). The timing of AGW effects (beginning in 1942) also matches expectations.
2) The fitted components match solar model forcings within their uncertainty.
3) The estimated sensitivity matches a no-amplification (neutral) climate sensitivity, or even a slight negative feedback case.
4) Warming due to anthropogenic GHG+Aerosol of 0.66 oC/Century is not alarming, in comparison to the IPCC protected 2.3 oC/Century This 0.66 value is an upper bound in our estimation (due to possible poorly corrected UHI and LULC effects that may explain part of the observed warming trend since 1950).
5) Cooling/flat temperatures till 2030 are likely (as also predicted by others).
6) Our result matches the historical record better than any other attribution study and better than GCM outputs.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1 (-1)
Cactus Kate on the CGT
Last week right wing elitist Cathy Odgers blogged under her pseudonym Catcus Kate about Labour’s CGT policy. Obviously she’s not in favour of the proposal, and has regurgitated one of her old posts again to try and mount an argument. She does more to highlight Prebble’s hypocrisy than anything else. In fact the only argument she manages to extrude from her bigoted little mind is inconclusive and ultimately incorrect…
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
What price the war on drugs?
http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=19086
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
bj – do you have any reliable figures for the same thing (i.e. it doesn’t actually state what country this is for, and has zero indication on what the costs actually cover – i.e is it just police, coutrts jail tc, or does it cover loss of productivity, accidents etc).
These would be interesting figures from somewhere like Portugal, comparing what they are saving previously from police, courts, jail etc, and how much extra they are spending on education and addition and rehabilitation.
I did see some figures for anti-addiction courses, but haven’t seen an independent economic analysis.
(rather than info that comes from someone who blindly defends cannabis use while dismissing all risks and problems associated with it)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
It’s just the weather, unless one sleeps in the Starlight Hotel!
And that same semi-permanent S-W Antarctic flow that drove Happy Feet north, is exactly the reason we shouldn’t expect him to swim home!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
I posted that more as a drive-by than a serious piece, but behind it appears to be the following
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/10budget/tbl_1.pdf
for the feds expenses
and
http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/DrugProhibitionWP.pdf
for the states and the details…
To me this is entirely believable… and my brother once told me it would take him no more than 40 minutes in any city in any part of the USA, to score a supply of heroin (which was his drug of choice for a long time). The war on drugs was always a joke to him.
Now he’s a sick man. Hepatitus… and he may need a transplant and the cost of that to him and his family doesn’t even show up on those numbers. That’s a cost nobody will count. The lost productivity of an otherwise smart and well-educated guy… and the loss to his family.
There are much worse things than someone being an addict, and much MUCH worse things than someone smoking weed…
Like or Dislike:
3 
0 (+3)
bj says “I posted that more as a drive-by than a serious piece”
I realise that. My post wasn’t so much criticising but just pointing out it would be interesting to see an independent economic analysis of all the aspects, including as you point out loss of productivity (and on the other side of the ledger, gains of productivity from recovered users / addicts).
I’ve already briefly looked at the Cato report you link to. The problem with Cato is they have a stated policy to legalise and sell drugs, and are founded and sponsored by someone who owns one of the largest privately owned companies in the USA (with big interests in chemicals).
So while their reports have a lot of useful information, they are strongly lobbying in one direction, and they look for information that supports this, so they’re not what you’d call independent and unbiased.
BJ says “There are …………..much MUCH worse things than someone smoking weed…”
For the majority, yes. But for a significant minority it can cause serious issues and worse. Someone I know is dead beacuse of their dope habit, a friends daughter went from a bright future at uni to regular spells in the psyche ward, and my wife deals daily with kids who have screwed up their lives with it.
The Otago Uni studies showed cannabis has very serious negative impacts on the lives of around 10% of users.
As the Portugal report said, there is a problem with people dismmissing and ignoring real and serious risks involved with cannabis.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
Why a few days skiing made me think about poverty:http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/07/poverty-absolute-poverty-and-skiing.html
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
sprout – if you ever want to feel poor, hang out on a ski field and look at the wealth.
Or buy a day pass for the family – you’ll feel poor then.
There are ways to ski cheaply, or reasonably cheaply. We have some friends who take their kids skiing every year. They’re not well off, but they don’t go out to pubs, cafes, but instead save for skiing – it’s what they love.
Another friend (solo mum) has just taken her boy to the Gold Coast. Again, prioritising that over other spending. Another solo mum I know has no money for any extras, but does have enough for a pack of cigarettes each day which costs her $4000 – $5000 a year – much more than the Gold Coast trip.
Skiing is probably not an option if you’re on very low pay (though some beneficiaries still save enough to do our annual school trip – though that’s pretty cheap), however your “median household income” of $35,000 is way off.
Statistics NZ has the 2010 median household income as $1236 / week after tax – that’s $64,000 per year AFTER tax.
I think you may have mixed up the figure for median income – not median household income.
So are you still on straight skis?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
“..[frog: I’m mot responsible for the sewer. ..”
will the sewer-master be getting his usual invite to the green party xmas-do..?
..nibbles and jolly japes with the rightwing hate-monger….eh..?
..do you wear full body-protection..?..
..to protect from splashes..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
0 
2 (-2)
I work in the ski industry. Surely the money the fat bastards spend is going to pay the wages of the riffraff ski bums. The thing for ‘the poor’ to do is go get a job at the mountain and let the money come to them. Added to that is a very healthy lifestyle…well during the daytime anyway!
So long as that money churns around within the economy its all good. If it goes to overseas owners its a bad thing. Or am I mistaken?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
So why don’t we consider the 90% who can imbibe with no negative consequences, allow them their intoxicant of choice, and treat the 10% who do have issues appropriately, perhaps through the health system, rather than criminalising all of them?
Like or Dislike:
3 
0 (+3)