Posts by Simon Lyall
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I'd like to see a preference system. If your party doesn't make the threshold then it gets transfered to another choice. Would let people vote for smaller parties without fear their vote will be waste if they score below the threshold. You could even keep the threshold at 5%
Another option within the current law is party groupings of smaller parties into a larger "party" that was on the ballot. Similar to The Alliance, Peter Dunne at times and Internet Mana. But personally the actual parties to be on the ballot rather than those sort of shenanigans (or the current ones with the coat-tail electorates) .
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Californian fracking industry used nearly 265 million litres of water in the last 12 months
That sounds like a lot. But, lets check the offical numbers..
* 38 billion gallons of water withdrawals per day were distributed among 8 categories.
* Mining: 0.7% (272 million gallons per day)So mining is 272 million gallons per day, or less than 1% of total usage and your fracking number above is around 1/1000 of the mining total ( gallons vs litres, day vs year) .
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Typical fuzzy NZ Govt copyright status. These are probably public domain since they were taken as part of official duties and crown copyright expired after 50 years.
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The problem with as I see it is that Religion is no longer a source of answers:
A 2000+ year old document telling explaining how the universe was created, the history of the middle east and how we should treat each other (including foreigners, homosexuals, and women) we now find is 2000 years out of date in pretty much all of them.
Unfortunately unlike a science book, law book or a political party manifesto it is hard to update (and while one sect may update the emphasis another won't) .
So while someone like Frances will argue all the smart bits about Jesus and Faith whole glossing over the weird/nasty bits the Real Christians will point out that evolution is obviously a myth since it says in Chapter 1 exactly how the universe and earth was created and populated.
There are plenty of other books out there telling you how to live your life, be a nice person etc. Some of these will even give better diet advice. Following one of them is probably better without the 2000 year old dodgy science , morals and requirement for worship, jihad, etc.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
I’d assume your assessment is correct except… for a few stories, while the pieces themselves may be fluff, they’re probably bringing attention to more serious broader issues.
Agreed. It was a fairly quick check and how different people will rate a specific stories will vary but I think it safe to say the show isn’t thirty minutes of hard hitting journalism every night.
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Bart Janssen says:
In what reality is describing aid to a country hit by disaster = fluff?????
Like I said I didn't look at all the stories but I went back and checked this one. The actual story is 2 minutes of John opening up a suitcase of stuff in the studio. He also tells the viewers they are great people for donating the money to buy it.
Sorry, I'll stick with Fluff.
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I thought I’d have a quick look to see what stories are actually on the show.
Wed 1st
* The Easter Show rolls in to Auckland – fluff
* Guilty sentence ‘right decision’ – crime w/twist
* Quake companies accused of breaching human rights – beatup / semi-serious
* School-in-a-Box helping Vanuatu kids – fluffThur 2nd
* Julio’s first day as a baker – fluff
* Kiwi start-up company heading to Silicon Valley – Fluff / semi-serious
* Mr B’s last day at school – fluff
* Trade Me bunnies travel to new home – fluffTuesday 7th
* Woman shelters unwanted turtles – fluff
* Young conservationists’ trashy kayak – fluff
* NZ’s very own Ebola fighter – serious
* Should retired MPs keep travel perks? – semi-seriousWednesday 8th
* Beckenridge disappearance may be murder-suicide – crime w twist
* Revealed: 2015’s Home of the Year – fluff
* Ed Sheeran performs at Christchurch’s Redcliffs School – fluff
* Changes to zero-hour contracts on the way – seriousThursday 9th
* Turning the tide in Te Teko – fluff
* A bright new smile for Megan – fluff
* Brent Knight wanted by police – crime w/twist – semi serious
* Former legal high addict – fluffSo across five days I found
* at least two pieces of fluff every night.
* 3 “crime with a twist” stories
* 3-4 other stories that you might count as serious.
* The only stories I’d count as 100% serious were the Ebola Nurse and the Zero-Hour contracts story.Note: I didn’t watch more than a few seconds of any of them.
Based off this page
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Hard News: The uncooling of the inner West, in reply to Jack Harrison,
That’s my good conservatism speaking. Don’t get bit in the arse.Like many Auckland civic issues it’s not so much as a debate anymore but a reality. Address Auckland 2014 please.
The answer is build, build, build. Increase supply and the people will have options at prices they can afford.
Personally I hope that a lot of what is built will be townhouses and apartments in the inner suburbs close to good transport. Any train station of major bus routes (espicially the "villages" on Mt Eden Rd, Dominion road, Sandringham Road, Gt North Rd) should NOT be surrounded by single-story villas.
and a little bone for you boomers. Remember that if you allow smaller appartments and units in your area, when you get too old to look after your $2m villa you'll be able to downsize and still live neaby.
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Hard News: The uncooling of the inner West, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
These days it is hard enough even getting a coffee after 8pm anywhere outside the CBD, K Road or Mt Eden.
Areas like New Lynn have the disadvantages compared to Ponsonby:
* Not being central for other areas in Auckland (so can't supplement their own locals).
* Not having ready-built groups of students, workmates already assembled.
* Their own locals get home late if they work/study in town
* Lower density nearby their are not as many locals in walking distanceTo have a hub you have to imagine the what you want ( eg Bars, Music venues, cafes, whatever) and then work out how you can attract (or even physically get) the people there to support them. It is doable but hard to do from scratch somewhere without density or good transport links.
Build up 10% of the city to take 50% of the population who wants the "interesting" stuff and leave the rest of it for the boomers who just want to watch Coro Street and mow the lawns in the $1.5m Mac Mansions on weekends.
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Hard News: Five further thoughts, in reply to Russell Brown,
I think 5 was Labour's big problem this election. The percentage of votes they were on basicily said:
"A vote for Labour is a Vote for a Labour, Green, NZ First, Mana and Maori Coalition".
I'd guess most voters will dislike at least one of those parties and I can't imagine them working togeather well.
Which reminds me, I was looking at the Green's website earlier today and realised that almost all their policies are priced at $100-500 million. Pre-packaged coallition concessions.