Posts by Jeremy Andrew
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Hard News: Superannuation: Back to the Future, in reply to Moz,
I suggest that super should count as income, and retirees should pay income tax.
Super does count as income, and is taxed. Retirees pay income tax on their income just like anyone else.
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If you don't think that what didn't happen yesterday in Sweden can't not happen here, you better think again!
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A shiny gem from in the comments on John Oliver’s video:
"Funny, isn't it, that our world needs Clark Kent a lot more than Superman." -
Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to BenWilson,
My own approach is mostly to make the facts available, and aim for them to be widely known, to show that the Uber price model is simply exploitative. Since IRD rates the cost of running a car at about 74c/km, to be paid only $1.35/km less 25% Uber cut = $1.08/km means the driver gets about 32c/km. They also get 30c/min. It’s hard to work out the real average pay rates from such stats, though. The best I can do (and am doing) is to take a large sample of drivers and their payouts, kms travelled, and hours worked, to get a picture. So far it’s coming in somewhere in the range $10-$15/hour.So if we want them to make, say, a living wage of more like $20/hour, then prices are going to have to roughly double, without demand dropping off.
Correct me if I'm wrong, and I probably am, but from your numbers above, rates don't need to double, just the portion of the rate that goes to the driver. If only 32c/km of the $1.35/km gets to the driver, then the rates only need to go up by 32c/km to double the drivers actual pay - so $1.67/km.
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Speaker: The Government you Deserve, in reply to Nick Russell,
Because we don't have social class in NZ? At least they admit it in Britain...
Because everyone knows their place well enough to be trusted to self-report it?
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Hard News: This. Is. Crazy., in reply to Kumara Republic,
My father, who is not homeless, but lives in a house bus so is of no fixed abode, is registered on the electoral roll at my house.
Which, of course is not necessarily an option for many homeless, but is a way around many of the 'must have a postal address' issues for those who can find a friend or family member with space in their mailbox. -
Hard News: Friday Music: Got Knox?, in reply to Joe Wylie,
This has been for sale in Grey Lynn for a while now with no takers. Unfortunately it has pre-USB SCSI or parallel connections, which could require somewhat advanced computer smarts. From memory, if it’s still working as claimed a mid 90s Mac should happily drive it. Apart from it lacking a USB port it appears the same as my old A3 size X12USL, which passed away around 3 years ago.
SCSI to USB adaptors are a thing, we have an ancient densitometer that connects nicely with one of these: http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/U2SCX.html
As with anything SCSI, it can take a bit of fluffing around, but it does the trick. -
Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
BTW they also point out that almost all the “probiotic” foods/pills etc are just large doses of brewers yeast (Saccharomyces) which is kind of pointless and usually quite expensive compared to just eating brewers yeast (which I don’t think is worthwhile either).
Being a home brewer, I get plenty of brewers yeast in my diet, plus plenty of fermented product. :-)
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Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to Lilith __,
While it’s true that food makes us fat, food also keeps us alive.Sugar is a nutrient, not a poison.
Sodium is a nutrient, vital to our health. I don't recommend eating refined chunks of it.
(he says as he sips a can of Mountain Dew) -
Legal Beagle: Fact-checking Parliament:…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I don't really see the problem, as long as its not one vote per property within the local authority.
In theory Bob Jones could have (and possibly has) bought a property in every city and district in NZ. That gets him one vote in every city council and district council election. That's not significantly more power than anyone else has.
If it was one vote per property even within the area, then Bob would have distinctly large block of votes towards the Wellington City Council, which would be disproportionate, and could lead to abuse.