Posts by Kumara Republic
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
When housing demand outstrips supply, and land is at a premium, the obvious solution is to build taller. It won't suit every corner of NZ, and it's not a trouble-free task, but there'll always be faux-greenies from the Kingdom of Suburbistan who take the quarter-acre section as gospel - not so much out of eco-altruism, but out of property value egotism. WellUrban provides some enlightenment on the issue, as does David Owen in the New Yorker.
-
The difference between Auckland and Wellington is that not only is it much smaller, but everyone walks everywhere, whereas Aucklanders generally drive.
Currently living in Mt Vic, I've managed not to use my car for the last 2 weeks.
-
Reminds me of this gem from Jim Peron (a libertarian, for the record):
-
Juha - it *is* Hainan ji fan, also Hainanese chicken rice. That's why the rice tastes all chickeny. Unless you add Deborah Coddington instead. Then I don't know what it would taste like.
Warning: Metaphor reaching maximum extension levels. Do not extend further.
I'd say it would be extremely bitter and sour. :D Copies of North & South/Herald on Sunday will make ideal fuel for the pot.
Extension levels well & truly breached.
-
Good on ya, Tze Ming & Co.
Tze Ming: ...we also discovered during the complaints process that Coddington cannot spell 'xenophobia'.
If Ms Coddington had written an article called "Polynesian Peril", she wouldn't just be taken to the Press Council - she'd either be doing a Salman Rushdie, or nominating herself for a Darwin Award.
On a side note, here's a novel solution for race-hate offenders: maroon them in Tokyo or Hong Kong for a couple of weeks, and they might understand what prejudice is about.
-
If it really was Brendhan's writing... I'm pretty sure Mike King managed better than that.
-
On a related matter, Imogen Neale supposedly pointed the finger at bi-culturalism. I wager what she advocates is a Canadian/Australian multicultural system, and if it's indeed the case, who could blame her?
-
Michael: these are good points. Unfortunately, Marxian rural idiocy will go out of its way to skewer them with pitchforks.
It also brings to mind the Prohibition Era, when the well-minded temperance movement ended up driving an entire industry into the arms of the blackmarket.
-
I can recall Irfan Yusuf's commentary from the Granny Herald in 2006:
"Australians pay less tax. We also pay more in living expenses. Imagine buying your first Sydney home in a passable suburb at an average price of $750,000. Imagine then paying stamp duty (say, $20,000), not to mention legal fees. Then there are state taxes, rates and a host of other hidden taxes."
"Even if Aussies pay lower tax than Kiwis, is that good enough reason to move to Bondi or Byron Bay? If tax is so crucial, why aren't the Packers (or indeed the Finns) moving to Monaco?"
Marcus N:
"If NZ business is too shortsighted to do this, then I think that it is a task of Govt to make them do this - Kiwisaver is a start, but frankly it is a little half-assed in comparision to elsewhere."
Could the real reason for private sector lobbyists bleating about public sector salaries be less related to State spending per se, than the perception that public sector pay rises make them look cheap & nasty?
-
This is less related to efficiency than it is to automotive sociology, but if there's one way to reduce the number of Remuera tractors on the road without punishing drivers who actually go dirt-bashing, it would probably take the form of a new driver's licence type for SUVs.
Motorbikes, passenger vehicles, trucks, and what have you, all have separate licence classifications, so it would be logical for SUVs to have the same.
A deliberately hard-to-pass licence test would certainly sort the dirt-bashing men from the status-symbol boys.