Posts by Pharmachick
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to BenWilson,
Really? That's very cool!!!
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
I know a self-employed Plumber in [small town NZ] that makes 120K after costs.
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
No harm, no foul kiddo.
Also, your points about being unemployed after Uni etc are well taken (and the ridiculous rent thing too). To address those points I would say the following:
(1) Not everyone can afford to live in Auckland. Get over it and move where the work is. I have done this multiple times in my life out of necessity,
(2) I don't understand why anyone thinks they're *entitled* to a house in Herne Bay or Khandallah right out of School/Uni. Our parents *aspired* to that and worked their way up the ladder.
(3) Working in the trades is beneath precisely *nobody* I mean, my God do yo know what plumbers earn? They work very hard, but they do well. So perhaps instead of all this Uni/NCEA nonsense, for some people we need to re-emphasize the Trades.
(4) Build more housing. The Auckland chokehold is ridiculous. Yes, I understand that rampant expansion cannot continue, but as Kiwis we have more land than we pretend to.
(5) There are winners and losers in life. I have been both a winner and a loser in my time. Learn this. learn how to pick yourself up when you "lose" and don't throw a hissy fit (well, not for more than the "allowable 24 hr pity party") then go back at it - this applies to current grads and the Labour party.Cheers
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
No, I'm not Josie. I've been around for a while (although I'd never have guessed 2009 - where does the time go!). I read the posts and comments here far more often than I write/reply and usually have to feel pretty strongly about something to reply. In this case, I'd like to see Labour try some new things to win voters. I have voted both Labour and National in my time (not that it matters) and there have been some stellar Labour politicians and governments. At this point, I think National has been a bit disingenuous with the public in some cases and that at the *very* least, a strong Labour opposition will hold them to account. I also think we need to look after our weaker/less able members of society in NZ and that seems to be eroding. It concerns me. So I was hoping this group of people, although what they're currently saying won't be popular within Labour, might at least start a debate and bring back some more moderate Labour voters - who, IMHO have left in droves as the hard left has become a bit strong within the party.
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to Sacha,
Yes, I agree this parallel process thing isn't the best way of going about it. But seriously, Labour isn't getting any traction right now - cant hurt any worse than e.g. Trevor's Moa gaffe? So maybe will attract some new eyes and votes. Also, with respect, I think the whole neolib/neocon labels are really unhelpful. Most Millenials don't' even know what it means.
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I think that it would be a real pity if Labour dismissed this new group out of hand. Sure, they're ruffling feathers, but at least they are trying to roll out some new policies and ideas to talk to the electorate about. Right now, Labour needs to re-attract the swing vote and same-stuff-different-day won't do that.
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"Compulsory" and "Freedom" do not belong in the same sentence.
Your arguments tend to fail in principle.
An open democracy is just that, and if people are not voting for whatever reason (disaffection, anger, protest, apathy etc) then they are exercising a democratic right to remove themselves from the process.
If you want them to vote, then work harder to engage them and make them care, it's lazy in the extreme to try and compel them [largely for your own ends].
North Korea also has compulsory voting and their "Dear Leader" tends to win by impossible landslides.
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Speaker: On the upland road, in reply to linger,
Hager … either "defender of the people" or "opportunist" - as I said earlier, I'm conflicted, but I actually have a bob each way on that one, leaning towards $1.50 on the latter, 0.50 on the former.
Slater … stated and self confessed agitator. 'Nuff said
Cunliffe … refuses to answer questions about whether staffers or friends talk to Slater and/or journalists and/or post on The Standard (gasp … a BLOG) or other blogs. Actually, has problems answering questions full stop (sorry guys, I know you'll be angry about the latter, but its true. He obfuscates waaay too much, a simple "yes", "no", "maybe" or "IDK" won,d often times be better)
Key … got caught short on the talking to bloggers and journalists. Probably ought to have fired Judith sooner. Still helping the ship acceptably well (ish) from an economy POV, but lots of other [potential] leadership questions.
Winston … blatant dog whistling about immigration (FOR SHAME!) and giving lollies to retired people that the middle income taxpayer (who will be taxed for it) cannot afford.
Dotcom … not a Kiwi, but a resident so absolutely has a right to vote. But, I'd rather he didn't try to subvert our democratic process because of his [stated] dislike of the incumbents (although I agree he's been treated shabbily). Instead, go ahead and try to build something, if you really intend to be/saty here. The IMP seems to me to be more destructive than building.
Okay all, not to pop off in the middle or anything, but I have things to do now.
Thanks for the discussions.
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Speaker: On the upland road, in reply to Rob Stowell,
Yeah, I feel pretty bleak too. Thanks for that. Its like NZ suddenly became Texas or something, just for an election.
As far as I'm concerned, there's a LOT of manipulating (or faux-manipulating or attempted manipulation) of the political process in this election. Neither Hager nor Slater nor Cunliffe nor Key nor Winston (of course) nor Dotcom are blameless.
But this is a very new low.
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Speaker: On the upland road, in reply to ,
I was, and am, outraged.
I thought that Kim Dotcom deserved far better than having his privacy egregiously invaded by NZ police acting as stooges for the FBI. Who BTW, are supposedly an INTERNAL agency in the US (the external one is the CIA, and don't get me started - I lived in the US for ~13 years until relatively recently). And don't get me started about an Armed Offenders Squad call out (for all intents and purposes) in a house with the many young children and women in it. Utterly disgraceful.
All this being said, I also have some grave concerns about Mr. Dotcom's role in our electoral process this election.