Posts by Moz
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these "culprits" should be denied social support for the rest of their lives
Yeah, because that will help a lot. Take a petty criminal who desperately needs social support, and give them the choice between dying and becoming a career criminal. Gee, I wonder what will happen?
I would love to see the PM and Parliament House tested for "meth contamination". I predict that we would hear a lot more about false positives afterwards :)
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Up Front: I Swear, It's True, in reply to nzlemming,
Has anyone else had the Mockers going through their heads
I assumed the title referred directly to it, even though the lyrics don't really apply.
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Legal Beagle: It’s Carter/Docherty Day;…, in reply to Steve Todd,
I know one candidate who is having a party at his place on election night, ... You have to have handed out his how-to-vote cards that day.
Isn't that fairly normal? Seems like every election there's a Greens party somewhere, as well as some candidate parties (and it can be fascinating seeing the houses!). Except for some more popular candidates, who have bigger parties. One of my first Reclaim The Streets parties was officially a "throw a Spanos in the works" (the local anarchist candidate) post-election party, I think. Or pre-election, it's all a bit of a blur.
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Hard News: Friday Music: The Gaffer Departs, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,
Perreaux used to be in the speaker game
They seem to think they still are :) I was quite impressed by their amps back in the day, but my current audiophile budget is limited to headphones. Would still like a nice pair of speakers etc in a dedicated listening room, ideally with a pair of young ears to appreciate them with.
"packed weight 152kg per crate"... that's forklift territory.
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Womble is an excellent suffix for swearing, and I'm not sure why. Cockwomble, cuntwomble, fuckwomble, douchwomble, you can fucking womble free the fuck all over that shit. Yeah, ok, I'm swearing just because I can. I'm still an arse man at heart, though. Arsehole, arse-licker, arse-emptying-dickhead.
Oh, and motorist. It's one of those terms of abuse that many people don't understand, whereas calling them a planet-raping, child-murdering arsehole takes more syllables and is somehow considered more offensive. Perhaps if I said moron instead of arsehole?
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Polity: Hekia's waynebrave, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
the idea she is motivated by a desire to make things "cheaper and easier" (whatever that means) is certain to be arrant nonsense.
It would seem from the "$883m for new schools & classrooms" budget announcement that you're correct that Parata isn't trying to make education cheaper or easier for the government, and doesn't anticipate a fall in the number of children physically attending schools.
Or it might be that rather then being the product of a considered, costed, researched policy development process over some months (thus, starting before the last budget) this is, as Russell suggests, more of a fain-brart. I'm sure a simple request of her department, or if necessary a FOIA demand will shortly produce the extensive documentation required to produce this policy.
You could also be referring to the charter schools program, which appears to be following the overseas route of being both more expensive and of inferior quality compared to public education. But to do that would raise questions over her "intention to make the system better for everyone".
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Polity: Hekia's waynebrave, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
unless you want to argue large numbers of parents are desperate for an alternative to the traditional model.
The traditional model isn't an option any more, things have changed. It's quite possible that large numbers of parents will regard the Paratonline option as better than the current model, and both as vastly inferior to the traditional model. I/S shares my suspicions that this isn't about new and improved so much as it's about cheaper and easier.
I have to ask, what makes you think Hekia Parata is a competent minister diligently working to make the NZ education system better for everyone?
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Polity: Hekia's waynebrave, in reply to Julienz,
I believe we are talking about choice not compulsion.
That doesn't affect the economics at all. Every child who isn't in state-funded education saves the government money up front, regardless of the quality of that education (just as every child in state-funded education costs the government money, regardless of the quality of the education). IMO Key et al are much more swayed by money now than any question about what happens to the poors, now or later. Your experience may be different.
Likewise, without frequent checks, "home schooling" is going to be the first choice for the worst abusive parents, because it greatly reduce the number of people likely to ask "where is child X" with any authority.
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Polity: Hekia's waynebrave, in reply to Deborah,
It's the word "I" that makes the difference. Yes, kids with committed carers can and do thrive with home schooling
So we're replacing one teacher per 20-odd pupils with one parent per 2-3 pupils. That sounds like the sort of economic good sense I associate with the National Party and Key in particular. I mean, shave costs all you like by not training or resourcing the "home teacher", it's still hard to get around the raw numbers. The benefit to the government coffers is that the home teacher isn't paid by them, and for the edumacasian depardmen in particular is that even the parents on benefits are not paid out of their budget. Better, the costs are unlikely to become obvious for *years*.
As with all home schooling, part of the load falls on whoever deals with at-risk children, because very single one needs to be checked regularly to make sure the "carer" is not an abuser who can't afford to let outsiders see their kids.
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Access: Patients X, Y and Z, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Yet in our mental health system we seem to go straight to punishment, seclusion or other negative reactions.
I suspect "mental health" could be replaced by "government" without losing anything. The only people Parliament regularly consider in need of positive reinforcement are themselves, in the form of money and perks. Everyone else responds better to the lash.