Hard News: Anatomy of a Shambles
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..put a digital lid on it, and viola!
...fiddling about in the cellos...
I plead the fifth!lol. You have an eagle eye, Mr. Dalziel.
And I must go back to schoolroom basics: o before i, except in an orchestra. :)
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Lovely to see the middle class...
Hey! I take offence to that. I'm not "middle class" *sniff*, I'm filthy dirty rich!
(Well, I am in spirit, anyway.)
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Hobbit Amendment Act
HAA haa haa haa!! Nah nah nah nah yah.
I remember the cries of anguish from the (any) NZ Gummint over countries (eg USA) we export to having subsidies (arghhhh...sound of choking on the word) put in place to protect their (eg) beef farmers.
Hmmm...whats the difference between Hobbit tax break and a US beef subsidy. From over here? Not a lot. And here we have the Free Market playing the game that totally abhors them. Sheesh. Goosed and Gandered.
From NY Times
After meeting in Wellington with Hollywood studio executives, New Zealand officials including the prime minister agreed to an extraordinary deal under which they will contribute special financing and introduce labor legislation to keep Warner Brothers’ and the filmmaker Peter Jackson’s two movies based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” from slipping off to another country.
Extraordinary...but writ from a kiwi source. Can't spell labour but. SubEds.... phooey.
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- Caused anti-union demos on Labour Day.
They were not anti-union rallies.
weak soft socialists
The countries that rate highest highest on "happiness" and "prosperity" and "great places to live" ranking thingies, are those that have a good, balanced mix of socialism and capitalism. Now why is that, I wonder?
I am proud to call myself a "weak, soft socialist". But then I'm not a screaming left/right ideologue; one eyed and bitter. I'd like to think I'm more pragmatic than that. Besides, hardline ideologues tend to be too authoritarian for my tastes.
The winter's passed,
The summer's here.
For this we thank
Our party dear! -
@SimonG
Sorry - need to be clear - I'm aware there was much handwringing here on PA about the earthquake legislation. And I'm of the opinion that it was bad process.
But I don't recall Labour doing much handwringing - in fact they supported the bill, with Phil Goff stating ".. this isn't business as usual"
But for this legislation - Mallard comes out with the "it's bad process" defense. I'd humbly suggest that losing the income from not just this film project, but the collapse of the wider film industry might have had some impact on "business as usual".
I know in politics, you can be one and then the other - but at the very least respect the intelligence of some of us, by not being quite so obvious about your expediency.
How exactly would the Left have spun their position if the Hobbit and the film industry had gone offshore, and the many thousands of people who'd rely on income from that project been hurt financially? Seriously - could you still honestly be seen as the party of the workers and families - when that many workers and families would have been broken?
As Danyl said on one of the other threads (or it might have been this one) - it's the lack of a half decent opposition that's causing despair.
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Going through the usual - ordinary process would not have kept the movie in NZ - that is why as a solution it is ugly.
Simon g - I did really say that. They can do it under extreme urgency if the Speaker of the House consents - it is not as if coup d'etat assisted by a hobbit and elf army has taken over the house.
Who was the Govt from 1999 through to 2008 and what where they doing?
1999-2002 Parliament, passed laws under urgency 22 times and under extraordinary urgency twice. 23 bills passed third reading under urgency.
2002 - 2005 Parliament, urgency 19 times and a 78 Bills passed third reading under urgency.
2005-2008 Parliament, urgency 10 times and 48 bills passed third reading under urgency.
Oh I see – the sky is falling on my head.
To go through the full parliamentary process would have not kept the Hobbit in NZ - The solution is ugly and it is what needed to be done.
The mass debate in the house will be held under extreme urgency and will be to the usual high standard we have come to expect. I am just glad they are not coming to my "house" to get it done.
In any event Govts are adept at introducing late amendments at the third reading and often one suspects these are sponsored ($).
In a house of whores I don't expect any of them are saving it for an imagined marriage.
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Hey we humans have been doing this shit [bartering, doing deals] for millenia cant change now, its in our DNA.
And the alternative is..?
Personally, I'd like to see The Warehouse, Rebel Sport, Briscoes, McDonalds, etc, fuck off and die. I'd love to see small businesses thrive in local communities like they used to. And those small businesses will still need to do deals...the baker needs to get the best deal he can in flour, the dressmaker needs to get the best deal he can on fabric, the grocer needs to get the best deal he can on fresh produce...
I also think there needs to be much more transparency in many business (esp corporate) dealings. That's why I'd like to see NZ publish a register of lobbyists, for example.
The consumer should be protected, as should the environment.
I'm also mad that the government sold the people of NZ's assests. They should have stayed in public hands so the profits could better benefit us all.
I think Eric Watson et al should be in jail.
But I digress...what's the alternative to business? Where would we be without it, do you think?
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@DexterX
I did really say that. They can do it under extreme urgency if the Speaker of the House consents - it is not as if coup d'etat assisted by a hobbit and elf army has taken over the house.
No, but I don't back down from my view that avoiding a by-election in New Plymouth nobody really wanted was a piss-poor justification for retrospectively amending the Electoral Act under extreme urgency. If you want to talk about setting mad, bad and dangerous precedents...
The Electoral Act, Dexter -- I don't think it is hyperbole to say that's the very foundation of our democracy, how we elect our legislature. And in my view, that's something you don't fuck around with lightly or with undue dispatch, and certainly not to suit the political and financial self-interests of the Labour and National Parties.
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I don't think it is hyperbole.
We do get to elect the people that make the decision on what is getting passed under extreme urgency.
BTW Vote McCarten if you get the chance.
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Tim, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Trevor Mallard (as Minister for various Cups and Movies) had done the same thing, if he'd been in power.
It would have been every bit as wrong. Rushing the CERRA through in a day was wrong, and this is wrong for the same reason.
@Dexter
If you're going to cut and paste en bloc from Kiwiblog, please credit your source.
Once more: it doesn't matter who does it. It's our Parliament. Not theirs.
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Lets raise a Hobbit Army and take control of the state.
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3410,
Personally, I'd like to see The Warehouse, Rebel Sport, Briscoes, McDonalds, etc, fuck off and die.
T-shirt.
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I'm definitely in wait and see mode at the moment until I see details, and more importantly, until I see how things work out in practice.
I'm not very good at this whole "hindsight in advance" thing.
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Hmmm...whats the difference between Hobbit tax break and a US beef subsidy. From over here? Not a lot. And here we have the Free Market playing the game that totally abhors them. Sheesh. Goosed and Gandered.
And how well did the free-market fundamentalism of 1984-1999 work for most Kiwis? How well did the less ideological approach of our Australian neighbours in the same period work?
Is it now the position of the True Left that the free market reigns supreme and interference in the market is the worst sin governments can countenace?
Personally, I'd like to see The Warehouse, Rebel Sport, Briscoes, McDonalds, etc, fuck off and die.
Anecdata: The worst employer I've ever worked for was a small, New Zealand-owned family business where one of the owners would stand in the window of the office and scream about the "asians and their filthy fucking yellow money" buying up New Zealand. The second worst was a New Zealand-owned business that, it turned out, was doing dodgy in-cahoots deals with the Burnese junta. The third worst was a joint US-NZ enterprise.
The place I've worked for that treats its staff best is a wholly-owned subsidiary of an Australian multinational.
Now, anecdata is anecdata, but it's left me not misty-eyed with love for small businesses, you know?
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Lovely to see the middle class celebrating our descent into feudalism. Still, it is all good as long as the noblisse oblige of Lord Jackson ensures there are presents for Timmy this Christmas, eh?
[Deleted - not worth the bother]
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If anyone needs me, I'll be up at his memorial with a bottle of scotch, screaming at the wind.
Beat you to it. Monday was a particularly hard day for me. Found staying at home for the day not celebrating left a sour taste in my mouth.
As simong posted Armstrong above, I think that was how I felt as it was obvious where we were going.
I will say this again
TIMING WAS APPALLING
What a coup for National. -
My only real regret in all of this is the anti-Australian sentiment that has "whipped up". One man does not speak for the entire nation.
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Now, anecdata is anecdata, but it's left me not misty-eyed with love for small businesses, you know?
I've been working in the corporate world for several years now, and while I appreciate the fact that I'm paid good money for what I do (never mind the benefits, which are where working for a corp really shines) I still think that most corporations are dysfunctional messes that would be better off being broken up and sold off in discrete chunks.
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I put it to you, Andre, that the capability for dysfunctionality within corporations is the only reason they are at all tolerable. A truly efficient corporation would be terrifying to behold.
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rodgerd, that's true enough, I agree. Big or small, you just get around the inhumanity of some humans.
My own anecdata is somewhat similar to yours. Worked for a small flower shop in Double Bay, and the boss's wife was such a bitch, I ended up walking out her on during Valentine's Day trading. (Though I'd been wanting to punch her mouthy gob for months beforehand). Worked for WEA Records in Sydney in the 80's and walked out when an incompetent arselicking male employee got a promotion and payrise over me - even though I performed way better than he did for a longer period of time and was more of a team player. They were quite happy to use my ideas, but the credit always went to the boy dumbass. In the end I told the boss that he was nothing more than support system for a penis and walked out on him and into a role at Festival instead. Got many stories like that.
One of my best employers was an Arab duo in Tel Aviv that ran a very cool performance cafe. They paid me well (and on time, a rarity in Israel), treated me with respect and kindness, and I felt valued. Great guys.
Also worked casually for GTV and Dove Video a few years back - the boss was also awesome. During down periods, he'd shut up shop and take his staff out to the Luge or indoor cart racing or something fun, and he often put on barbecues at his place at Mt. Tarawera for us, including boat trips across to the hot springs and stuff. We felt valued and so we worked hard for him.
But why I'd like to see small local business thrive is more for the benefit of local economies. Dunno if you've been to Rotorua in the last few years, but The Warehouse et al have gutted this town. So many empty shops in the CBD it's heartbreaking. Local biz just can't compete.
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A truly efficient corporation would be terrifying to behold.
Such as Toyota, particularly in the 1970s & 80s?
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Prison rates are expected to rise by 3.7% per year for three years. So over 10% during the next 3 years of this recession.
See, no social sector has been forgotten.
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And here's a tweet from Bernard Hickey:
James Cameron has started writing 2 sequels to Avatar, WSJ reports here http://bit.ly/aXqWlK Will we have the Hobbit fight again?
I'd not only pay to see Simon Whipp trying to play hardball with an infamously cold-blooded, hot-tempered SOB like James Cameron - I'd volunteer to help dispose of the body. :)
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A few (more) words on The Hobbit:
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