Alden Bates' Weblog

Recently John Key took some time off from flying around the country in helicopters so he could organise the NZ government to, well, basically bend over and take it from US copyright trolls. Starting in September, we'll have a law whereby the entertainment industry can accuse someone of copyright violation and have them cut off from the internet, guilty until proven innocent.

But don't take my word for it, Christopher Wood goes into it in more detail in 13 reasons why the Infringing File Sharing Act is bad for you.

I'm so glad the New Zealand government is spending its time on important things.

At least here in New Zealand it is. So what are the political polls saying at the moment as regards the political mood?

"Well, sure, under National our troops hand Afghan prisoners over to known torturers, our economy is on the verge of collapse, and John Key takes personal rides in Air Force helicopters at the taxpayers expense, but that Phil Goff fellow is a bit boring, so I'm voting National!"

I note that Labour have done little to capitalise on the situation, what with their own petty infighting and midnight antics. If NZ wasn't so set into the 2-party system and we had a third party which wasn't just a one-man party or one-issue party, we might have an alternative.

So the NZ government has made a right hash of things supporting various bids for the screening rights for the rugby world cup. After toing and froing between various people, it's decided that TVNZ, TV3 and Maori TV will essentially share the rights and games will be broadcast on all three channels. After all this, hypothetically, the All Blacks are knocked out in a shock result in the first round by Tonga.

How funny would this be on a scale of 1 to 10?

The results of the "Anti-Smacking referendum" were published in the paper this morning. Summed up, they are:

1. Sue Bradford thinks New Zealanders are stupid and were confused by the question.


2. Jonkey is going to have another coffee and let a committee consider the ramifications.


3. Oh, and one bunch of idiots wrote abuse on the ballots, which would have only been read by the electoral counters who had nothing to do with the referendum in the first place.

Another triumph for democracy!

I'm not saying it was a total waste of time, as it does prove once again that politicians only care what the public thinks if it's an election year.

So Burger King, though they have the Revenge of the Fallen toys here, haven't introduced the BBQ Double Stackticon. Luckily my favourite burger chain Burgerfuel have come to the rescue with BURGERTRON.

The primary ingredients are a 1/3 pound Optimus Prime beef patty, Philadelphia cream cheese, mango, and prosciutto. I'm... not quite sure what those ingredients in particular have to do with Transformers, but what the hey. They're tasty.

According to a news story on TV3 news tonight, smoking rates are up, despite the government spending money on trying to encourage smokers to quit. Tariana Turia, Associate Minister of Health, says that the government doesn't care about the revenue from tax on tobacco, as the health costs are outstripping revenue from same taxes.

But hey, then she's talking about increasing the taxes on tobacco to encourage people not to smoke. Because that worked sooooo well last time.

Here's an idea: BAN TOBACCO! If the government really doesn't care about the taxes from it, then ban the stuff.

Turia herself says in her speech that she wishes tobacco was a relic of the past, yet she doesn't seem to have considered making the stuff illegal at all - surely a vital first step.

BAN TOBACCO!

Two of the stories on the front page of the Dominion Post are about how Palmerston North has an obscure bylaw which makes house numbering skip the number 13, and about how the winner of last weekend's Lotto jackpot bought Chinese takeaway for dinner.

I mean, kudos to whoever managed to spin the latter out to a couple of hundred words, but how did that make the front page? Are they trying to take our minds off the looming recession or something?

So, perhaps spurred by the massive change in American politics, New Zealand has also swung massively, though in this case it swung from left to right.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark: Gone!
Finance minister Michael Cullen (no relation): Gone!
Mischief-maker Winston Peters: Gone!

In the latter case, Winston's party, NZ First, didn't reach the 5% vote threshold or win any seats, so they got no MPs in, unlike ACT, United Future, The Jim Anderton Party, and the Maori Party, who all got fewer party votes but won electorate votes. You can see the complete party votes and MP tally on TV3's Decision '08 site.

Much as I don't like Winston and was actually quite pleased he didn't get in, it somehow seems unfair that NZ First's party vote should theoretically have gotten them 5 MPs in parliament but didn't due to the 5% threshold. I can't argue with the results though.

Though politics may be a bit more boring for the next three years, I hope this allows the government to actually get something done, rather than messing about trying to keep Winston in line.

No, not the American ones, though they've started voting today.

We're only a few days out from the NZ general election and predicting a winner is not as clear cut as it once might have been. National isn't polling high enough to form a clear majority, and neither is Labour, so if the votes follow the polls, ultimately they'll have to rely on the support of minor parties. At the moment this looks like it may be down to whoever the Maori Party is willing to team up with, so at the moment both Helen Clark and JohnKey* are trying to outdo each other with platitudes in the hope of making their respective party a more attractive prospect.

I'm still largely undecided on who I'm going to vote for. I'll probably decide on the day (if I bother at all).

*One thing I have decided on is that "JohnKey" should be pronounced the same way as Donkey from the Shrek movies.

Continue reading "Wordless Wednesday: Stay Frosty"

Yeah, another political post. This will be the last one for a while, hopefully. I hate politics.

Recently the NZ government has been working towards a Free Trade deal with China. A bunch of people, including the Green party, have said the Trade deal should be thrown out due to the way China keeps killing Tibetans, and their crumby human rights record in general. Also, there's talk of boycotting the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Leaving aside the fact that the Olympics are actually nicely bringing attention to Tibet (and I'm sure some of the athletes will defy the ban on mentioning Tibet), I point you to Statistics New Zealand's External Trade Statistics page.

In 2005, New Zealand imported 3.67 billion dollars worth of stuff from China. In 2006, it was 4.44 billion, and the projected total for 2007 is listed as 5.28 billion. For contrast, in 2006 we exported only 1.74 billion dollars worth of stuff to China, and in 2007 the projection was 1.88 billion. So we're already dropping a fair amount of money into the Chinese economy, and whether or not we get a free trade deal with them isn't likely to change that. We'll go on buying their stuff and giving them money, and they'll go on doing what they're doing.

Or is there something I'm missing?

No, not the US elections, the New Zealand ones. For while the Americans try to decide whether they want Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John "Dubya II" McCain as president, New Zealand is gearing up for the 2008 elections. Unlike the US elections we vote all at once, so the buildup is purely campaigning.

Last election I posted about the current political parties so I guess it's time I did so again...

Continue reading "Predicting the election outcome"

Why is the focus necessarily on cutting personal tax rates. If they took some of the tax off petrol, or necessary food items such as bread, they could probably help a lot more...

A thing of the past - this old-style NZ phone box graces Post Office Square in Wellington. I took this picture on Saturday, after the book launch for Newtons Sleep.

I should start a photo blog category, really.

I've noticed a few of these along State Highway 2 on my way home:

Not the 2 shield, the thing under it that looks like a bunch of grapes (Yes, I stopped and took a picture. Because I could).

I couldn't find anything about it on the LTSA's page concerning signs. On the back was a sticker indicating it had been manufactured by Approach Signs Ltd, as did the 2 shield. I couldn't find anything about it in their catalogue, but brown appears to be the colour for touristy signs.

Current best theory is that it's a reference to the Wairarapa vineyards as there aren't any vineyards in either Upper or Lower Hutt. I would have thought that the Wairarapa would be a bit far for informational signs like that though...

Second best theory is it means "1,000 point Pacman bonus ahead".

Edit: Aha! It looks like it's The Classic New Zealand Wine Trail!