Posts by Bart Janssen
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Hard News: The sphere of influence, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Incidentally, and this is a pet gripe, I’m a little tired of Chinese giving me these phoney names on the pretext that I wouldn’t be able to pronounce their Chinese name
Well, bully for you Chris. Perhaps you’d like to check that white privilege a notch or two, and consider those Anglicized names can be a more pleasant alternative than having your name offensively mispronounced on a daily basis.
Same. My Chinese colleague at work chooses to use Luke because he is understandably unkeen to hear us butcher the name his parents gave him. We've tried and we can get reasonably close but in the end it's his choice (we've asked) to hear us say Luke correctly rather than his given name incorrectly. We have other Chinese colleagues who choose to use their given names and we do our best to get them right, as they do with our names.
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What strikes me about all of this is that Collins and the rest of the National caucus management team behave as if nothing they have done should be viewed as wrong. For them this is all just good business … the way things get done in the “real world”.
This particular National government is very clear that they believe NZ is a business and they are the management team. They do deals the way deals are done in business.
But government is not a business, there is responsibility and restrictions on behaviour that go along with the power. And this particular group just don’t naturally accept those restrictions.
For them the press is just a marketing department … no wonder they react with such shock when the press dare to actually do the job of being the public’s watchdog.
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Hard News: The sphere of influence, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
1) Strengthen the Register of Pecuniary Interests, including independent control and real penalties for playing fast and loose with the rules.
2) Registration for lobbyists – all of them, whether the unions like it or not – and full public disclosure of their interactions with all politicians and civil servants.
3) Stronger reporting/public disclosure of hospitality, and a whole less fucking cuteness around sitting in corporate boxes and pretending politics is never discussed.
That all sounds like good government to me. I'd happily vote for a party that committed to doing all of that. But forgive me if I don't hold my breath.
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Hard News: A Big Idea, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Like say, working for families (which apparently National invented /sarcasm) and something else for those who choose not to have families.
David Parker says, it helps everyone
I was specifically referring to assistance for low income workers who don't have families and will need help to cover the increased cost of the KS for them. That assumes they use Working for Families to assist those with families to cover that gap.
I recognise that the package is meant to help all low income workers.
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Up Front: Just Like Unicorns, in reply to Lilith __,
Welllll…but also the sudden horniness just before menstruation, when conception is impossible?
Just worth pointing out that men have cyclic horniness as well. It's just a diurnal cycle instead of monthly.
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The situation in Christchurch makes me so sad. It feels like we (New Zealand) have failed in a fundamental obligation of care to our fellow citizens.
When the government should have stepped in and made sure everyone got the insurance that they were owed they instead cut a deal. When the government should have helped the local bodies get it right by providing resources and expertise from all over the country and worldwide if necessary it has instead played politics and made Fletchers rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
And there seems so little we can do to make our representatives in parliament just do the right thing.
Thank you for this Greg, it’s saddening but so important.
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Hard News: A Big Idea, in reply to BenWilson,
a drop in income tax at the time
NO. God no. Don't even think about it. The drop in tax is one of the major factors in the US federal budget crises.
Much better to use one of the other existing tools to raise income for people living close to or below the budget line. Like say, working for families (which apparently National invented /sarcasm) and something else for those who choose not to have families.
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Up Front: Just Like Unicorns, in reply to Russell Brown,
(seriously some of that stuff is just so wrong :)).
Links??
Just google it ... go on ... I dare you
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Up Front: Just Like Unicorns, in reply to Lilith __,
Most sex anywhere in the animal kingdom does not lead to conception
That's mostly biology, which is what I guess you meant by the second bit. Specifically, humans are quite unusual in the animal kingdom as being fertile all the F*ing time. Most animals are fertile only at limited times, which means for most of the time the heterosexual "standard" sex they have is just for fun.
As for all the other stuff animals get up to, yeah you're absolutely right there is a whole bunch of kinky stuff animals do apparently for fun that have nothing at all to do with procreation (seriously some of that stuff is just so wrong :)).
I do think there is some socially derived "sex-as-procreation" in most human societies. Just none of it has any relevance to 21st century life.
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Hard News: A Big Idea, in reply to BenWilson,
It will have exactly the same impact on you, until the day you retire.
I can see your point but you are arguing semantics for the sake of it. A tax goes to the govt which spends it for your benefit or saves it for your benefit (Superannuation). Kiwisaver goes to a fund management company that saves it for your benefit.
BUT
There is a key difference. Whereas tax gets spent on a whole range of things, over which you have very little control, Kiwisaver gets invested in a specific set of investments, mostly in NZ and none into the housing market. That money has a real and positive effect on the frequency with which startup companies can develop and their success (or at least it does in other countries too soon to tell in NZ for KS).
I, and many others, believe it is critical for innovation in NZ to have such an investment fund.
So yes in both cases you have money taken from you (tax or KS) but in one case you get to see how it specifically benefits NZ and you personally (if you live that long).
Some people believe the government should leave all such decisions to the individual, trusting that individuals will behave sensibly to the benefit of the country and the individual. The evidence shows that such a belief is the absolute height of stupidity.