Socialists must have had deprived childhoods with no toys. We have the Finance Minister who never had a trainset and now wants to own a real big one and Ruth Dyson, who probably got shoved around in the sandpit, now meddling in operational issues at ACC.
They are like the proverbial disobedient child who when told to keep their hands off the levers just has to play.
How to make NZ a better country – Sunday Star-Times – Sunday Star-Times
The Sunday Star-times ran this article. There are some brilliant comments.
BOB JONES, 68, property developer, Wellington
Everybody would be better off if we had a Roger Douglas-style 15% flat tax. Everyone would be richer, and everyone would be happier. It works. We’ve seen it in Slovakia they were in desperate straits, banged in a flat tax and the place is jumping. The lower the taxes, the richer the society and the more the government gets. I’d love to see that.
Amen to that Bob.
Dr PETER DADY, 63, cancer specialist, Wellington
My wish would be for an outbreak of common sense in the administration of the health system in this bloody country. A break in the relentless grinding stupidity in the way the health system is run. A nuclear device on the Ministry of Health would have too much fallout for the good people of Wellington, but it would make me feel a lot better. I used to sit in the offices of the Cancer Society, which overlook the Ministry of Health, and imagine the effect of setting up a mortar or a heavy machine gun and traversing through the health department. It made me so happy but I must not even think these things. It’s sad to see your life’s work deteriorating. I wish I could see some light at the end of the tunnel but you see boy wonder Cunliffe grandstanding in mortal combat with Hawke’s Bay Health and you think `oh God, it just goes on and on’.
Well, what more can one say? A Health professional in despair despite billions extra in Health funding.
BRIDGET SAUNDERS [no age], gossip columnist, Auckland
I would make it a corporal offence, punishable with a beating and huge fines, to drop cigarette butts in the street, or anywhere at all. They poison the little piece of earth they fall into, and there are millions of them going into the harbour every year.
Bridget the ever-green Greenie is becoming conservative as she nears 30.
RAYBON KAN [no age], comedian, Auckland
A more expressive, less inhibited culture … think Carnival in Rio, everywhere, all the time. And everyone stop asking what it means to be a New Zealander. The question stultifies. If we can have all that done by Wednesday, I’ll be happy.
Raybon as usual is completely irreverent. Meanwhile Nicky Hager is in la-la land.
NICKY HAGER, 49, writer, Wellington
Make housing affordability the top political priority. Most younger New Zealanders cannot afford to own a home and rents are crippling. Legislate strictly to control house price inflation permanently and start a massive programme of building secure, long-term public housing like modern cities in Europe.
I love the next one. Fantastic attitude of striving higher.
KEVIN BIGGAR, 39, ocean and polar adventurer, Auckland
Steeper mountains, spongier rocks. Bigger waves, softer water. Snowier winters and sunnier summer.
Barry Coleman for President for Life I think based on his wonderful comment.
BARRY COLMAN, 60, publishing multimillionaire, Auckland
Reintroduce the death penalty for anyone caught guilty of negative thinking, because that’s the biggest risk to New Zealand. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy you’ve got people talking the country down, talking prospects down, where in fact we live in a very lucky country and our prospects are extremely bright. We’ve got nothing to be negative about, and these people should be put in the square and hung.
This is well worth listening to – it’s how they play politics in Zimbabwe – no doubt Helen will have NZ embassy staff doing the same thing later this year on her behalf.
It is ten years since the last X-files movie and now there is a sequel due out on July 25.
Can’t wait, I was a big fan of the X-Files when the show was on.
The Herald editorial calls out the Churches for the utter hypocrisy of their call to reverse the benefit cuts of 1991 and draws attention to their deafening silence since the Hikoi of Hope.
Now the collective social conscience of the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian and Salvation Army leadership will be mobilised in a “call to action” for the restoration of benefit rates that were cut in 1991.
That would be ludicrous. Much has changed in the past 17 years, not least the level of unemployment in an economy that has enjoyed constant growth for the past decade. What point, other than a political one, would be served by restoring any facet of the economy to a position it was in 17 years ago? And why now? The church leaders surely have not been waiting nine years for the Labour-led Governments to heed the hikoi staged in National’s last term. It is hard to escape the suspicion they have recovered their energy this year in anticipation of National’s return.
Exactly. I wonder perhaps if Labour will be threatening these Churches with the same threats they applied against The Exclusive Brethren. I doubt they will. The heads of these churches are constant in one thing only and that is the toadying and lickspittle fawning towards the Labour Party.
The churches have been silent on these social issues for too long, and now they have been silent on their preferred political solutions for too long – the duration of Labour’s policy leadership. Their return to the fray at this stage can be taken only as an attempt to keep Labour in power and, should that fail, to prepare for a renewed campaign against a National government.
Indeed, where were the churches on Civil Union’s, legalisation of prostitution and the anti-smacking bill, where has been their outrage as an ever increasing number of children are battered to death. Complete and total silence from the mainstream churches. Is it any wonder that not one of the members of this formerly illustrious group are increasing their flock, in fact they seem to be doing their darndest to reduce the flock to nothing.
One must always bear in mind the huge asset base that the Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian churches have that they derive income from and do not pay even one cent in tax. I can certainly remember the Anglican Church whining in the past about State House rentals as they were merrily ratcheting up the leases in St Johns and Meadowbank. Mainstream churches generally make me sick with their hypocrisy.
Public hospitals in staffing crisis – 30 Mar 2008 – NZ Herald: New Zealand National news
About a third of junior doctors are quitting the public health sector to work as locums. WHy because working the a hospital sucks and it pays SFA.
This is what we get after 8 years of Labour meddling and billions extra in Health, s system on its knees despite all the efforts of the hard working frontline staff.
The sick joke of this election year will be the repeated mantra and crap song “You’re Better off with Labour”. Tell that to the junior doctors.
Helen Clark’s Labour continues to flout election laws. This clip contains video from last nights 3 News and shows Helen Clark accepting cash from a supporter and also speaking in from of rather large signs that encourage people to Vote Labour.
Quite apart from her daggy dancing it is illegal for those signs to be up without authorisation from wither the party’s of the local candidate’s financial agent. The evidence is there for all to see that Labour continues to contravene the laws that they passed.
I hope that the donation/bribe given to Clark has been noted in the interests of transparency. I know for sure that many National MP’s do not handle donations and just recently in the house Labour made a big song and dance over accepting cash and signing up members. It is for exactly the reason shown by Pete Hodgson that they do not accept such donations. Now we have the Prime Minister of New Zealand handling cash from supporters.
Labour has released a new campaign booklet. In order to appeal to their supporters they have used the populat “for Dummies” format.
I’m really struggling to shed a tear here.
One of New Zealand’s worst child pornography distributors – sentenced to a record jail term this month – has been moved to a secure unit after being attacked in Mt Eden prison.
Computer technician Stephen John Laing, 25, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment when he appeared in the Waitakere District Court 10 days ago on 56 representative charges of possessing and distributing child pornography.
Put him in a cell with a good length of rope, a wobbly stool and a knot tying book.
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Kerre Woodham is becoming conservative. She has joined the legions of conservatives that hate Greenpeace.
I devoted my time and charity dollar to other organisations. But the clear-eyed earnest things don’t take no for an answer – and I guess you wouldn’t if you’re getting up to $23 an hour for doing God’s work. You have to justify your grandiose hourly rate somehow. “Would you like to sign up to Greenpeace?” one young lovely asked as I charged past, clearly in a hurry. “No thanks,” I said. “Why not?” she asked, righteous indignation lacing her every consonant. “Don’t you want to save the planet?” “No,” I thought to myself. “No, I don’t. Not if you and your poxy, sanctimonious selves are running the bloody thing. Let the orb implode and take me with it.”
I icily informed her that I was happy going about saving the planet in my own way and perhaps she’d like to take herself down to Pak n’Save or the Mad Butcher’s because campaigning outside an organic health food shop seemed rather like coals to Newcastle. And we know how Greenpeace feels about coal.
Amen to that.
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