Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: More Wikipedia Scanning

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  • BenWilson,

    I think I'll vote on the Auckland Mayor with my feet. Particularly if it's Banks.

    STV? Why bother? Referenda for everything. Those *might* actually be votes worth having.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    and regarding Mayoral politics:

    as the last Auckland election showed, it really doesn't matter who the Mayor is -- it's the party vote that counts. The Mayor is the Mayor but it's the party with the most seats on council who will determine what the council does (and how ratepayers money will be spent).

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    Russell... thanks for the Salon sub-prime primer... its cleared things up substantially for me...

    Ditto that. Also liked the If Meetings Were Blog Comments clip. First.

    Oh yeah, and now the housing market is supposedly in decline, meaning I'm going to get less for my current house. Bummer. That's another 75k down

    Sorry to hear that... The housing market debate raises interesting income and wealth distribution issues. Not that I begrudge him this, but even with the latest correction, my landlord has made almost three times what I have been able to save over the last five years, tax free.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    Yeah, my Sydney friend sold her Arch Hill 2 bedroom cottage for 300k more than she paid for it 5 years earlier at Easter. Kinda puts Kiwisaver into perspective!!

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    If Auckland puts Banks back in again, I think the rest of the country will have to cut it off. A hoofin' big canal across the island somewhere near Drury. And a DMZ with mines.

    But we'll start up a ferry service to connect Northland back up, because it's nice up there. And their rugby team is good fun too.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    Heh. I sold an Otaki property for 350k more than I bought it for 5 years ago.

    Otaki - the new Sydney! You heard it first here.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Then on Friday the market started to rise, on the back of the US Fed intervention that no-one predicted. If I'd sold this morning, I'd only be 4k down, and probably even better off if I waited til tomorrow when the US market re-opens and they take off again too.

    That really is a bum rap, man. A learning experience sounds like the best thing you'll get out of it now. In the long run that might be very valuable. I got burned by 50k on my first property deal and spent the next 5 years paying it off to get back to zero. But I still invest in property, I'm just more careful now. Learned a great deal about who you can trust, and how NOT to go about big development projects.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    Yeah, my Sydney friend sold her Arch Hill 2 bedroom cottage for 300k more than she paid for it 5 years earlier at Easter. Kinda puts Kiwisaver into perspective!!

    Nice. Its prolly better to look at the housing market and share markets in the long run terms.

    http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/12/100_year_bull_b.html

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Nice. Its prolly better to look at the housing market and share markets in the long run terms.

    For sure, although that doesn't stop a loss now hurting like a bitch, or a big win feeling sweeeeet. But yes, long term is the ONLY way to look at serious investments.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Span .,

    Kyle I think the good people of Manukau and Waitakere cities, and parts of Franklin district, may have issues with you cutting them off along with Auckland City if you dig at Drury. Severing the bridges at Mangere and Pakuranga would be more effectively targeted at Banks ;-)

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 112 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Andrew,

    Severing the bridges at Mangere and Pakuranga would be more effectively targeted at Banks

    Lets do it, blow up the bridges and build a wall.
    Then the rest of the country can send its dregs and criminals there for safekeeping (a bit like chch now).

    After a while we might need to get Kurt Russell in to clean house.

    Hamiltron - City of the F… • Since Nov 2006 • 900 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    But yes, long term is the ONLY way to look at serious investments.

    Which is how I looked at it. I started 5 years ago when Cullen started making all his noise about property=bad , shares=good. And whilst I know 5 years is not a long time it's still a MEGA bummer when the time you actually need the money is the time the market takes a dive. And having been in the market 5 years I haven't seen my stocks go up by 15% a year, despite what the commentators have been claiming. I really would have been better off if in the property market.

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    It is a mega bummer. You should have sold up your stocks before you locked in your property bid. During that brief time you were massively exposed. But live and learn.

    Stocks will make a comeback, as will property. You just won't know when, until it happens. I'm personally thinking cash is looking like a good investment at the moment. But which cash? Maybe gold would be better. Strange times.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Michael Fitzgerald,

    "Ross says the Mongrel Mob didn’t seem to care about being caught, with prison no deterrent.

    “Going to prison is not a downside for the gang. Other than the fact they can’t be with their families, they have simply changed addresses, from Wilsons Road to Paparua Prison,” he says.
    Detective Sergent Ross Tarawhiti

    My friend just bought in Wilsons Road (opposite Lancaster Park - no other names will be acknowledged) - great for property values.
    The council are beautifiying this poorer area of Christchurch and it's starting to look nice.

    The Rough Streets of Compton LA err I mean Christchurch.
    Incidents involving a paint ball gun
    2:55pm 4 May 2007

    Two recent incidents involving a paint ball gun are likely to be connected say Christchurch Police. Both incidents occurred on Wednesday 2 May.

    9pm

    A white vehicle with two occupants fired a paint ball pellet at female sitting at the bus stop outside Christchurch Public Hospital Oxford Terrace. She suffered a minor leg injury.

    9.10- 9.15pm

    Two occupants of an older white square shaped sedan fired a paint ball pellet at a pedestrian walking north on Colombo Street between Peterborough and Kilmore Streets. He was not injured.

    Since May 2007 • 631 posts Report Reply

  • Leigh Kennaway,

    Or that age limit of being under 50yrs and therefore don't give a crap about the biddies on council (& doesn't AKL have a few councils) expressing our true apathy to local politics

    We lefties in City Vision/Labour have a dozen or more candidates aiming for Council, various Community Boards and the ADHB well under the big 50... some are still in their twenties; Michael Wood in Mt Roskill, Arna Metcalfe and Kate Sutton in Tamaki have both youth and a huge amount of talent!

    [__This has been a party political broadcast blah blah....__]

    Western Bays • Since Feb 2007 • 79 posts Report Reply

  • robbery,

    The Rough Streets of Compton LA err I mean Christchurch.

    it was a 750 ml coke bottle with dry ice inside it. thats only just one step up from shaking up a bottle and leaving it for some unsuspecting person to open. then the headlines would be "cleaner got coke stain on overalls" instead of a bruised hand.

    I think chch would like to think it was important enough to be a terrorist target but really, if the best you could do is bomb chch you'd probably get all the other terrorists making fun of you at the next terrorist sunday drinks night.

    chch is just a good indicator for the general lowering of the national intelligence level. how stupid do you have to be to try placing those things in a security camera area.

    There were bigger implications to the removal of free or cheap tertiary education than just saving some tax dollars. we're paying for it now though......

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Someone at Air New Zealand has excised chunks of the Wikipedia article on Flight 901 to Erebus, and at least two people from an IP address range associated with Telecom have removed text critical of Telecom or Xtra. But it would be wise not to go off the deep end about it.

    See tomorrow's Christchurch Press.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Karla Hill,

    I saw your mention of the Salon article on the US sub-prime mortgage market. I found today's business blog on BBC Liar's Loans a really useful dumbie's guide and synthesis on how it all works - from the American mortgage brokers at the bottom to the big banks and ratings agencies. Also adds an international and European perspective.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2007/08/liars_loans.html

    London • Since Apr 2007 • 3 posts Report Reply

  • Spinner,

    MY vote goes to Scruff!!!!

    Remmers • Since Jul 2007 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • peter mclennan,

    Hey Russell
    The Air NZ wikipedia story is front page on The Press, but with no credit to Rob for finding it. Aint it funny that at the recent Journalism Matters conference, the journos in attendence were moaning about how bloggers never do any decent research, and then they rip off bloggers but dont credit them as the source., Hilarious!

    AK Central • Since Nov 2006 • 159 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    The Air NZ wikipedia story is front page on The Press, but with no credit to Rob for finding it. Aint it funny that at the recent Journalism Matters conference, the journos in attendence were moaning about how bloggers never do any decent research, and then they rip off bloggers but dont credit them as the source., Hilarious!

    All too typical, unfortunately, especially on any story that involves a modicum of technical understanding. It's still shitty. I'm sure The Press would be unhappy if I took one of its stories and presented it as my own.

    The likes of The Guardian is much more grown-up about such stories -- it'll actually just say, "spotted by blogger Rob O'Neill". Oddly enough, Rob's day job is with the same media company that owns The Press ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Kyle I think the good people of Manukau and Waitakere cities, and parts of Franklin district, may have issues with you cutting them off along with Auckland City if you dig at Drury. Severing the bridges at Mangere and Pakuranga would be more effectively targeted at Banks ;-)

    I'm with that in principle, but sometimes you just have to deal with the fact that you're neighbours and you'll catch their flak. Besides, it's too difficult to cut off Manukau and Waitakere properly, we might just have to take down the Harbour bridge, and sacrifice west and south Auckland as 'irretrievably infected'.

    After all, every state in America suffers internationally because Florida couldn't count chads. Them's the breaks.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    All too typical, unfortunately, especially on any story that involves a modicum of technical understanding. It's still shitty. I'm sure The Press would be unhappy if I took one of its stories and presented it as my own.

    And just to get really weird, back when I was blogging for NZPundit I got a spectacularly toxic e-mail from a (former) Herald columnist who was more offended that I didn't give up the linky-love, than the fact the post ripped her as a barely-literate imbecile whose grasp of reality was rather tenuous. Ain't the human ego grand? :)

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    After all, every state in America suffers internationally because Florida couldn't count chads. Them's the breaks.

    Yes, Kyle, just as my blood pressure suffers when people who can't be bothered voting in local body elections (which hardly requires standing in line for hours on end on a winter weekday) spend the next three years bitching and whinging about the results. And IMNSHO, the turnout three years ago - and the issues around counting the votes in some parts of the country - doesn't give New Zealanders a great purchase on the moral high ground to patronise the Yanks.

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

  • Kyle Matthews,

    And IMNSHO, the turnout three years ago - and the issues around counting the votes in some parts of the country - doesn't give New Zealanders a great purchase on the moral high ground to patronise the Yanks.

    Well, IMNSHO, the difference there is, while our most recent local body elections were a cock-up, the votes were eventually counted, and the correctly elected people were put into their seats.

    There's plenty of evidence to say that the opposite took place in Florida.

    There's a vast gap between 'not particularly competent with a new voting system in a local body election' and 'stole the American presidential election through having friends and relatives in the right place'. A vast gap.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

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