OnPoint by Keith Ng

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OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey

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  • BenWilson,

    Had some really nice days here recently. But there's virtually no conditions where you can just hang around outside and feel comfortable. The sun is too damned strong. In Thailand, with a lovely smoggy haze above ... oh, that's right they killed that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Not when I visited the Gold Coast in the autumn of 1995. Talk about thermal shutdown.

    heh..it's really a matter of acclimatisation. Welly to the Gold Coast is a shock at the very best of times. Very few of those living there seem keen to move to cooler climes which mostly says it all.

    I had to calm an English friend last week who was having to return to Brighton after 4 months in Asia and Queensland. It took some persuasion to get him to the airport..

    In Thailand, with a lovely smoggy haze above ... oh, that's right they killed that.

    Thai winter at the mo' . As you say, a balmy 25-28 most days.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Absurdities abound, the first of which was the appointment of people like Dr Brash and Mr Caygill who, along with their soulmate, Act Party seat-warmer Roger Douglas, are not just yesterday's men but last century's men.

    Ya know who said that? Garth George.
    Given it's Garth George calling you "last century's men" that means 18th Century.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    heh..it's really a matter of acclimatisation. Welly to the Gold Coast is a shock at the very best of times. Very few of those living there seem keen to move to cooler climes which mostly says it all.

    I lived in a very hot summer climate all my life and couldn't wait to get the hell away from it.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I lived in a very hot summer climate all my life and couldn't wait to get the hell away from it.

    There's always one :-)

    I'm always amused by the Scots moving from the bitterly cold north to the UK, to, ahhh, Dunedin

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    So yeah, I have a collection of vintage winter coats. I'm not planning on moving anywhere that's 25 degrees in *winter*. Jesus Christ, Simon! The horror. :)

    (I suppose 'the world don't move to the beat of just one drum/ what might be right for you may not be right for some', as the Diff'rent Strokes theme song says...)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    So yeah, I have a collection of vintage winter coats.

    Same, well not vintage, but winter coats, and I have to admit a snowy day in Central Park is rather hard to beat, but what I like about it is tempered positively by the happy fact that I'm not stuck there for more than a week or so. It wears thin as do the endless rain drifts in Auckland between April and October.

    The 25 is rather cooler than it sounds. The Thais all cover up in jackets and jumpers. It's perception.

    All topped off by the acres of fake snow up for Xmas across Asia....Orchard Road has machines that pump it out. Bangkok has sleighs, elves and drive-you-crazy Christmas tunes along the length of Sukhumvit and Chit Lom. I think non-Christians tend to do Xmas rather well because they ain't burdened down by the faux significance of the occasion and just indulge in the garish imagery for it's own sake.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    Ya know who said that? Garth George.
    Given it's Garth George calling you "last century's men" that means 18th Century.

    Come on, fair's fair. This was Garth George in a kick-ass mode we knew nothing about. As in the last par:

    The description of the report by Finance Minister Bill English as "too radical" is the final absurdity. The report is not just too radical; it is economic and social bullshit, a serious waste of taxpayers' money, and every copy should be recycled into toilet paper.

    If he hadn't described Mike Moore as venerable and captivating, I might have said I loved every word of it.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    I've always said that it isn't the weather, it's the cold, draughty, damp, leaky homes and huge electricity bills that are the killer. We're slowly fixing that up, and when we do we're going to feel a lot more comfortable.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    if our national character is not to generate wealth, then as a nation we simply won't have the tax take/private income of other nations

    In terms of public spending, that assumes that we continue on the same path in two areas:

    - our taxes are maintained at the low end of the OECD. If we increased them to British, let alone Scandinavian levels, we could have much better public services, as well as a fairer society.

    - we spend a fortune on the apparatus of social authoritarianism. Measures such as closing prisons, cuting police numbers and legalising and taxing drugs would free a substantial "freedom dividend" that could be spent on more useful public services. (Interestingly, California is being forced to start along this route by their near bankruptcy. They can't afford to pay the jailers and they need the taxes from dope).

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    we spend a fortune on the apparatus of social authoritarianism. Measures such as closing prisons, cuting police numbers and legalising and taxing drugs would free a substantial "freedom dividend" that could be spent on more useful public services.

    Now we're talking.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Oh I certainly agree we could attempt to achieve a similar level of public spending, the fact remains that would need to be at higher-percentages of taxation than nations that are producing greater wealth.
    I'm not the guy who says wealth is everything, we have to sacrifice every 3rd child of a Decile 1 school to achieve it. But at least let's recognise that either public or private spending is going to need to be at a lower level than comparative nations. Rather than this dream that we can continue to have top-notch public spending at a 30% tax rate.

    And hell yes we waste spending on historical moral crusades.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I'm a Southerner and
    I suffer in hot weather.
    I hide from the noonday sun
    come out with the early moon-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Come on, fair's fair. This was Garth George in a kick-ass mode we knew nothing about.

    Oh come on... when it comes to the evils of filthy secular humanism Garth never takes his hob-nailed boots off. If this country ever turned into the fantasy land in Garth's head, I'd throw myself under the nearest bus.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Oh come on... when it comes to the evils of filthy secular humanism Garth never takes his hob-nailed boots off. If this country ever turned into the fantasy land in Garth's head, I'd throw myself under the nearest bus.

    Sounds remarkably like Disneyland With The Death Penalty. Must catch up on Willy Gibson.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Disneyland is in California, so doesn't it already have the death penalty?

    (Me, I'm more of a Baudrillard kind of guy. It's not Disneyland that it's a simulation of the US, Disneyland is real. It's the US that are a simulation.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    I'm always amused by the Scots moving from the bitterly cold north to the UK, to, ahhh, Dunedin

    didn't Billy Connelly have a joke about that? Scots immigrants landing in Auckland and going 'Nawt cald enough! Move further Sooooth!'

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

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