Posts by Rich of Observationz
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The government and a large number of people in the UK are delusional.
All 27 EU states need to approve any deal, transitional or otherwise. They won't do anything against their real or imagined interests (Irish border, status of Gibraltar, French aircraft manufacturers, German and Czech car manufacturers, etc).
Britain's interactions with continental Europe depend on a range of agreements dating back to 1945 and before, almost all of which have been subsumed by the EU and require an agreement to reinstate/continue. These range from simple taxes, through importing regulated goods like car and aircraft parts, through simple things like flying or driving to the continent.
The most likely situation is a cliff edge exit. As of 29 March 2019, all freight leaving the UK will be unpacked and examined. Taxes (maybe 30%, or 60% if the EU decided to recoup the UKs debts through import tariffs) will need to be paid. Anything safety critical or requiring approval (car parts to food) will simply be refused.
As a result, much of the UK's industry and distribution sector will simply shut down. Unemployment will increase, probably to the point where the government will be no longer able to pay benefits.
Assuming the UK still gets to vote, then it's likely that a government will be elected with a mandate to fix the problem at any price. I'd see the resulting treaty as being based on re-acceptance of the full EU acquis. Maybe the UK will have a status somewhere between Greece and Bosnia, with European supervision of and veto over their government's actions.
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Ok, so this might be difficult for people with the reasoning power of a powerful AI. I'll try to speak slowly.
If I want to take heroin, I'm concerned about the effect. I know the actual experience of jabbing the needle in bit is going to be unpleasantly painful.
I'm only interested in the purity of the drug.If I decide I'd like a glass of the Chateau Musar, it's about $200 a 70cl bottle. That works out at about $2380 a litre of alcohol, of which about $29 is tax.
If I was, as with the smack, purely in there for the buzz, I could drink industrial ethanol at around $30/litre (almost entirely tax - industrial ethanol is about 40c a litre). Obviously there are some very irrational drug users out there. -
Hard News: Lorde, the council and the…, in reply to nzlemming,
alcohol as a drug
So, why bother with craft beer and vineyards and maturing single malt whiskies for 20 years? It's just a drug, why don't we just inject pure industrial ethanol into our eyeballs for a quick and cheap hit?
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It seems to me that it's not so much National doing their job of putting a spoke in the wheels of government as that Labour didn't really bother for much of the last nine years. Did they ever question whether National were entitled to rely on Todd Barclay's vote when he was away on "leave", just as a for instance?
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Hard News: Out of sight, out of mind:…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
involuntary manslaughter/criminally negligent homicide
No such crimes exist in NZ law: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/128.0/DLM329302.html
[we do not live in the USA, or the movies]
Also, why is the best way to deal with a tragedy to create others?
And drug taking is a voluntary act. In many years of hanging out with dodgy people, nobody has ever "pushed" me to buy their drugs (and I think you'll struggle to find a court case where this was proved as an aggravating circumstance against a dealer).
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It comes down to a vote, right? 2/3 majority in the Senate, which has never happened, and probably won't, unless a substantial group of Republican senators decide to ditch Trump.
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Hard News: What we learned yesterday…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
US civil service, I thought. They have a set system of pay grades like military ranks.
(as opposed to agreeing with the SSC that because their department has a similar number of employees to Google, they should be paid accordingly).
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It does seem odd to have a referendum. Shouldn't a decision on the best way to deal with drugs be evidence based, within a framework of political philosophy (such as whether people's bodies are their own, or chattels of the state? You could have a referendum on that.)
We don't have referenda on the speed limit, or the base interest rate?
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Hard News: All Change, in reply to linger,
They conflated refugees with net migrants. They also know fuck all about NZ, it's population or its immigration policies.
We aren't perfect by any means, but compared to most other countries, and especially the US, we are one of the most migrant friendly places:
- our primary migration pathways are neutral as to the country of origin
- we select on an empirical points system based in theory on ability to successfully settle (and we work on improving settlement outcomes)
- we grant qualified migrants permanent residence at an early stage
- migrants are able to vote after 12 months permanent residence
- migrants have a clear path to citizenship -
My view, and this applies to all healthcare, but it could be piloted on mental health, is that we should apply the ACC model, which generally works, to non-accidental health issues.
People would be able to present to any accredited mental health provider, or their GP, the provider would file a claim and they'd get treated. Resources expand to meet demand (like there are usually an adequate number of physios around to get an appointment quickly).
You'd have a "Healthcare Commission" that would pay the providers and set levies to cover their costs across a range of tax types (as ACC levies income, vehicles, and employers based on risk).
Then, having removed funding from the political sphere, you can look at the most effective modes of provision.