Posts by dc_red
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He’s pretty free with the word fascism, isn’t he?
Actually Redbaiter?
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He just threw illegal immigrants under the bus + "no federal funding for abortions".
Sigh ... America.
Yes, because even legal migrants have such a jolly time with the health care system in New Zealand (see numerous recent reports on those on work and/or student visas being refused maternity care in NZ, even when willing and able to pay for it).
As for the abortion rule, I suspect anything else would transform the proposal from "controversial" to "un-passable". He's got to pick his battles.
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As for his enablers down in the Kiwibog: they really do deserve a good hard dose of parental correction right up the shitter
And the award for PAS pithy insult of the year goes to......
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I have a hunch (or sense of foreboding) that a hypothetical referendum on restoring "the right to thrash" in schools would probably pass, and pass handsomely. Especially this week.
"Schools going to hell in handbasket" "Wild students intimidate teachers" "Third school invasion this hour - view the excitement on Youtube" blah blah moral panic blah blah ... and there you have it. A healthy majority.
With a leading question ("To restore good order and discipline to our schools, and to promote effective learning in your children, while protecting them from the wild offspring of the lower classes, should teachers be able to administer physical correction as part of the latest pedagogical method?") you'd have a super majority.
Now to disinter the advocates of school thrashing, like Jack Elder (not the one who comments here - the former Labour and NZF MP). Another advocate in 1989 - Nat MP McClay - went on to become Children's Commissioner, although reportedly changed his views on the matter.
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Yes, Sharlto Copley, the producer-turned-actor who plays Wickus van der Merwe in D9, is astounding as the lead. He makes a full and convincing transformation from bumbling office bureaucrat to action hero (with various intermediary phases). He also has some of the best comedic lines, like "Get your fookin' tentacle out of my face!"
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I caught District 9 last night. Brilliant. It didn't even really occur to me until this morning how seamlessly integrated the aliens/prawns were. i.e., I completely forgot that they are less 'real' than the humans. A testament to good acting and good CGI, I guess. Stark contrast with some of the abominations inflicted on the viewing public by George Lucas.
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I'm struck by the fact that Mr English receives more by way of a housing allowance than either of the two much-vilified DPB mums receive in benefits to support their families.
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I've sometimes daydreamed that an ideal way to determine MPs' salaries would be to link them directly to the average full-time wage.
e.g.,
"Regular" MP - 2x avg full-time salary
Cabinet minister / Leader of Opposition - 3x
PM - 4x
That way the only way their circumstances could improve would be if the circumstances of their constituents in full-time employment did too.
I have no problem whatsoever with the $14k pa allowance. I've seen plenty of MPs dip into their wallets to grab raffle tickets, buy bottles of wine at charity auctions, and so on.
One of the biggest rorts of all is that the GG, in addition to being paid very handsomely for a job that is all but redundant, and having mansions in both Auckland and Wellington, pays no income tax.
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I'm at a loss to know how it's any of Sir Geoffrey's business if I want to go out drinking at 3am. Now, Mrs_Red on the other hand...
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From yer Dimpost:
Before entering Parliament Tiberius lived on a fruit orchard near Otaki, where his duties included eating algea and protecting a blueberry patch from sparrows. He also served on the Board of Directors for Meridian Energy.
As if such representatives of the rural sector aren't already over-represented in the Gummint. It's an outrage, it is.