Hard News: Masters of Reality
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On a lighter note, headline in early online Herald...
Kiwi fugitives Simone Wright and Paula Bennett arrested in Australia
Now corrected, or is it a cover-up?.
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izogi, in reply to
@DeepRed: Still, I do think SkyCity could be a tipping point
@Steve Barnes: It may well be but Sabin will be the final nail in the coffin.I hate to sound cynical, but I've seen (and made) any number of similar optimistic statements over the past few years about how this administration surely must crumble now, after [whatever it's just done]. I can happily accept that National offers a different ideology which some people prefer, but what's most dismaying is the distasteful way in which it's been run politically over the past while, and the way in which that attitude has translated into government.
Anyhow I'll believe that people are ready for a change when I see it happen. I hope it will, and I think the best chance is probably for a credible opposition to present itself as a credible alternative. Until it happens, though, I'll not underestimate voters' ability to consider the status quo as their least-worst option.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
Wishart did quite a good job of exposing corruption in the banking industry in the eighty’s, Fay Richwhite et al, but these people ruin their own credibility with their over the top rhetoric and, sometimes, outright defamation. No wonder they hide behind anonymity.
The knockout blow came when Wishart drank the fundy Kool-Aid around 15 years ago.
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Sacha, in reply to
the best chance is probably for a credible opposition to present itself as a credible alternative
yes. which is not helped by tired antics like this.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
I hate to sound cynical, but I've seen (and made) any number of similar optimistic statements over the past few years about how this administration surely must crumble now,
Hopefully the "Power of Positive Thinking" will win in the end. ;-)
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
The knockout blow came when Wishart drank the fundy Kool-Aid around 15 years ago
Yes, a shame because up until that point he was an atheist and a damned good investigative journalist, if a little prone to subjecivism. He seemed to change when he met his current wife while researching a book on a bloke called God.
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izogi, in reply to
Hopefully the “Power of Positive Thinking” will win in the end. ;-)
Hopefully the power of positive doing would have something to do with it. I doubt positive thinking is much more effective than negative thinking. :)
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Rich of Observationz, in reply to
I was kinda hoping that this was referring to one of our leading politicians.
(BTW, USD6 billion will not get anyone to Mars. The Boeing 787 cost $30 billion to develop, and it gets you to California. Subsonically).
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BenWilson, in reply to
The Boeing 787 cost $30 billion to develop, and it gets you to California. Subsonically
Sure, but that's quite a different thing. Flying millions of people around the world safely has quite different economics to sending a couple of crazy buggers on one mission.
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That said, it's hard to see the point of sending people there. We'd probably get a lot more exploration done with the same money spent on more rovers.
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Rich of Observationz, in reply to
Well, you presumably want it to actually get there with the crew alive at the far end, and with enough oxygen, energy, water and food (or the means to make them) to be able to live for a few years (or at least weeks) while the means to retrieve them is crowdsourced, or they breed themselves a new Martian civilisation.
Just in mass terms, that's hundreds of tons of stuff - so far no more than a few hundred kilos of rugged equipment have been delivered to Mars. Plus all the yet-to-be -tried technologies to master.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
Still relevant: Matt Nippert's 2013 story A licence to print money:
How good was SkyCity's winnings from that deal? An Australian casino consultant believes the Government significantly undervalued the gambling concessions it finally granted to SkyCity.
The Government's own officials consistently raised concerns as far back as 2010 that the nub of the deal - the 27-year extension of SkyCity's exclusive Auckland casino licence - was being similarly undervalued. Across the ditch, casino licences have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.
There is an error in perception here. Most reasonable people think Key and his team are acting to make the best deals for the country. That is very obviously a false perception.
John Key and his close team are acting to make the best deals for themselves and their personal friends AT THE EXPENSE OF THE COUNTRY.
They have correctly identified a flaw in our system wherein providing you can retain an absolute majority in parliament you can do anything you like - in this case as in many others - what they like is making buckets of money for themselves and their mates.
They are utterly corrupt and all the analyses of their actions fail because people keep assuming they are decent human beings.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
There is an error in perception here. Most reasonable people think Key and his team are acting to make the best deals for the country. That is very obviously a false perception.
Key also appeals to the ‘temporarily embarrassed millionaire’ in a lot of us. It's a pattern also seen among Howard battlers in Australia and Essex Men in England.
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Sky City at their “last AGM” described the Convention Centre deal as having "nailed it" - the form of the "it" is still percolating - Sky have the TVNZ site which they have coveted for quite sometime – my question is what is the "real" next step or series of step.
The apparent funding back down fronted by Joyce comes after a poll result on Campbell Live attracting 10,000 votes, of which 97% were against further Govt funding of the Con Centre.
Does that make Campbell Live the effective opposition, I ask?
The tipping point will come, but only at that time where Labour present as a credible opposition.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
but only at that time where Labour present as a credible opposition.
Something they have set back considerably with their 'just-the-two-us' approach to the Intelligence Review Committee (as Sacha mentioned above) - sidelining the Greens looks suspicious as well as niggardly.
What are they thinking? -
Joe Wylie, in reply to
their ‘just-the-two-us’ approach
That’s it, sho’ nuff. They hear the crystal raindrops fall on the window down the hall.
Just the two of us
Building castles in the sky. -
Bart Janssen, in reply to
What are they thinking?
I suspect it's two fold. First they don't feel that the close relationship with The Greens has helped them win votes for themselves and it certainly hasn't been the magic bullet to kill NACT. Second with the loss of Russel Norman it's more difficult to find someone reasonable/respectable/serious enough - seriously Steffan Browning?!?!?!
My bet - expect to see even more distance between Labour and The Greens over the next three years.
Not sure if that's smart but I expect it will occur.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Not sure if that’s smart but I expect it will occur
One wonders how they'd hope to form a coalition then - gambling on an outright victory would seem to me to be a mug's game in the current political climate...
I'd have thought Kennedy Graham would have been a good choice - and him and Mister Key could chat about Helensville politics in the down time...
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I suspect it’s two fold. First they don’t feel that the close relationship with The Greens has helped them win votes for themselves and it certainly hasn’t been the magic bullet to kill NACT. Second with the loss of Russel Norman it’s more difficult to find someone reasonable/respectable/serious enough – seriously Steffan Browning?!?!?!
I can see the reasoning on the latter part. Shearer does have the background for the role, more so than anyone in the Green caucus. But it does breach an informal (albeit fairly recent) convention, so failing to tell the Greens is either provocative or stupidly clumsy.
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Mr Little said Dr Norman's decision to step down as leader and scale back his political involvement was a factor in his decision. Potential future coalition arrangements also had a part: "The risk is, of course, as we're trying to build the coalition, if I chose somebody from the Greens, NZ First might be affronted. If I chose somebody from NZ First the Greens might be affronted too."
He said he stood by his decision, but admitted he could have told the Green Party of it in advance rather than letting the party find out from the media.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
I can see the reasoning on the latter part.
I'm not saying I believe the first part to be true just that I suspect a goodly portion of the Labour party are looking for anyone to blame for their failures other than themselves ... the relationship with The Greens is an obvious scapegoat.
either provocative or stupidly clumsy
Agreed. Certainly it's hard to argue that Shearer isn't a good choice.
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Sacha, in reply to
This move sidelined NZ First as well. Seems likely to be just the usual foot-in-mouth stupidity which I was hoping Labour might have gotten over by now. Lively discussion on Danyl's post about it.
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Why can't they just make the committee bigger and have wider representation? It's MMP after all.
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Sacha, in reply to
I guess to some voters/party members it looks 'tough' and 'manly'.
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
Exactly. If I had the choice of just one other I'd still pick Shearer (who has been there before as has Norman but he is leaving so that puts him out) . The fact that National had 3 from themselves and Labour got to choose one from all of the opposition seems unfair for all so make the committee bigger and solve the problem . Whoever Little chose would have always put him between a rock and a hard place. I noticed though that Winston wasn't kicking up a stink about not being chosen .
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