Gazza4D

National take election.

2008-11-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

The election 2008 is over, and the Labour axis hydra will not be able to form a government. National will lead the 49th parliament after they strike a deal with thier natural coalition partner Act.

In the end, I broke with my traditional National vote and put my party vote behind getting a strong Act infuence in the next government. They will now get Sir Roger Douglas and John Boscawen to boost their numbers, fantastic news.

Finally, Winston First is gone. Winston Peters should have been more up front with the media, and sonce he has been cleared of wrongdoing, he might have been returned had he just fronted with the truth. NZ First disappears from parliament and time will tell if wieter Winston Peters or Ron Mark can brign the party back into parliament, or languish off stage like the Alliance/

Congratulations to prime minister John Key and National. Boy I have waited patiently to say that!

Election Mood.

2008-11-07T02:28:00.000-08:00

This has been a most interesting campaign. From National's "{brighter future" Act's "tough on crime" and Labour's "Get John at all cost." Yes, that was their big thing.

I'm thrilled that Labour chose to run this election on trust and attack John Key. It was a masterstroke of capmaigning that worked wonders... for National. I onyl wish they had more time to launch more Neutron bombs, we could have been looking at a landslide here had they gone with more smears an innuendo.

WARNING: If you detest being told what lightbulb you can use, what pressure to have your showers, what you can eat kick this lot out!

Crunch Time

2008-11-07T02:19:00.000-08:00

In just under 6 hours, the polls for the New Zealand general election will open. It's crunch time and all four main polls point to National forming the next government. Only the Roy Morgan poll is acting like a stick in the mud and predicting a closer race, the Morgan poll was, however, conducted in lacte October and does not cover the time period in which LOabour's much vaunted "neutron bomb" against Key backfired.

How Labour retain any credibility is beyond me. They are a venal, corrupt lot who are more interested in their smears than debatign what really matters to this country. Helen Clark must be annoyed that thier only election platform this tear, "get John" has backfired. If onyl they had more to offer than "John Key is anti-Christ, eats babies and will sell you down the river" unsubstantiated claptrap, maybe Clark would have mor eof a shot at a historic fourth term.

Labour Slaughters National in Shock Poll

2008-10-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

A Shock poll result has Labour leading National with 36.9% of the vote. National has plummeted dramatically into a disatrous slot with 7% and is barely keeping itself above the 5% threshold. Little known party the Liberals will make up the opposition with it's near-Labour matching 30.9% with the Greens taking in a respectable 13% with anothe rlittle known party the Democrats polling in at 5%.

On this result Helen Clark wins a fourth term, National is gutted and neither Act, the Maori Party of the Progressives make it back in. NZ First is also goneburger unless Winston Peters pulls fo a Lazarus election comeback in Tauranga.

The twist in the sordid tale of the horror poll? It's a Muffin Break coffee bean poll. which accounts for the latt'e drinkign caf'e liberal set already joined at the hip to a Labour hydra AXIS.

Meanwhile Hub Hornby's bean poll bucks the trend with Labour taking a pasting on the hustings.

Give that girl an award!

2008-10-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Oh dear. According to the SST, Hannah Hodson's interview with singer Pink was so bad, Pink ended up storming off and Hodson's career may be in jepoardy (and not the nice, game showy type either.)

The pink one apparently stormed off when asked by Hodson about her sister's workign relationship with the singer. Going from the little evidence the SST has provided, Hodson may have forgotten to let her cooler head prevail.

This incident has eerie similarities to rival TV3's sitcom the Jackie Brown Diaries, in which Jackie interviews fictional rapper Bizzy Trickle, and handles it so disastrously the rapper walks out of the interview. Must be more than coincidence. TV3 must have known something. Coincidences this grand don't just fall from the sky.

Jim Anderton gets cantankerous

2008-10-27T04:11:00.000-07:00

Jim Anderton got quite cranky in the TVNZ minor party debate tonight. When asked by host Mark Saoinsbury if his only bottom line was a cabinet position, he took offense, and then berated him for asking the question wrong, then proceeded top rattle off his bottom line.

Jim "Wont let them sell KiwiBank." Duh. like we didn't know that. Anderton propping up a Kwiibank selling party would be like a mother hiring a kidnapper to look after her baby.

National wont sell Kiwibank, and the only party that looks like wantign to do that is ACT, and they wont have enought of a mandate to get that kind of ploicy concession from National.

Jim will be back after the election despite being a one-trick-pony. Wigram is joined at the hip to him.

Anderton: Peter Dunne should resign

2008-10-27T04:05:00.000-07:00

Wigram MP Jim Anderton and Labour Hydra AXIS member Jim Anderton has called on Peter Dunne to resign, following Dunne's assertion that United (No)Future will only work with a National government.

No he shouldn't resign. but stay the full term. It serves the Labour-led AXIS right for cosying up to a straw in the wind, one that bends to either the lef tor right in so much as a breeze.

United (no)Future barely represents anyone beyond Ohariu-Belmont electorate and it is a farce that they can affect the outcome of an election with a pathetic 1.5% of the total vote only because they hold one electorate.

John Key should rule out working with Dunne. Who knows when the breeze might change direction again?

Peter Dunne quits the AXIS

2008-10-27T03:51:00.000-07:00

Peter Dunne, United Party leader, has confirmed that his party would, after six years propping up a Labour government, be opening the door to National exclusively. Dunne will not entertain the idea of going with Labour again, and will sit in opposition rather than work with them again.

t Peter Dunne can see the folly in associating his party with the "Axis of Hydra" and is intent on not being taken alogn for the ride, the one where his voice would be lost amongst the hissing of the other attention starved heads of the hydra AXIS..

The Ohariu-Belmont electorate should can Dunne and United (no)Future respectively, even if that means another electorate goes to Labour and the AXIS. Dunne's party is polling an abysmal 1 or 2 pecrent and is a hair wagging the tail wagging the dog. It is the folly of MMP that a party can poll so dismally yet prop up a government, by holding one seat.

It's National or the AXIS

2008-10-27T03:43:00.000-07:00

This election is shaping up to be a very interesting one indeed. One one hand we've got the vote for a change of government with National and Act poised to form a coalition government, or a five headed Hydra government of Labout/Green/Maori/Progressive coalition that would just smack of desperation to keep the baubles of office at whatever the cost.

It may well cost all involved with the "hydra" their credibility. If they cobble together some mutant government to outbid National should it win the most seats in the huse, they will face a backlash from the public. &0-odd percent of those polled by Co,mar Brunton for TVNS said they would not like to see a Labour led Hydra axis steal the election away, and firmly believe that the party with the most votes after the election should get first crack at forming a government. That's the way democracy should be.

Pick your side NZ, National/Act, or the Hydra AXIS?

Billboards

2008-10-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

Niw that the election is well underway, lets look at the billboards and how they stack up.

Narional

National's billboards look like the off cuts from the 2005 campaign, with a slight (and i do mean slight) hint of the contrasting messages they did so well in 2005.

Those red/blue billboards were so successful in 2005, I would have run them again. Instead we get the brighte future campaign which features National's plan in white on a bright blue background and the contrasting, apprent darker present, in navy blue undernearh.

This doesn't work on so many levels. Any graphic designer worth his/her salt would tell you that bright backgrounds and bright text are not good friends. Secondly, the graphics in the backgrounds (planes for the taxt and brain drain message, crosses for the health etc) make the billboard tacky and overly busy. Thirdly, the pary logo and party vot message is in the bottom right corner and is very small, while the message is bigger but near the top right, this leaves alot of waste

2008-10-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Gazza4D, version 4, ironically.

This version has been a long time coming, and it is by far my most advanced layout for this blog yet. You'll notice that the top image is now made in flash, with the new Gazza4D mascot, name suggestions welcome. What you should do now is hover your mouse over him, there is a funny animation hidden there.

This is the future, and where we are going, we wont need roads.

National Steady on 50%

2008-10-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

The latest Colmar Brunton poll on One News shows that National is steady on and around the 50% mark while Labour is polling steadily in the high 30's, lower 40's.

If the election were held tomorrow National, on 50% would get 61 seats in the house, enough to govern alone. Labour would recieve 44 from their 36%. They would not be able to form a coalition and hang the parliament because the ACT party would push the center-right vote above the 50% mark.

Of course there is stil a long way to go in this election, but these polls have been steady for some time. Even the opening ceremonies of the two parties, a raft of policy announcements and a fiercely contested TVNZ debate have not swung things for either party. It's not too much of a stretch to say by and large, the electorate has made up it's mind, and barring a disastrous slip by John Key or Helen Clark, figures are likely to stay where they are.

Nats Tax Cuts.

2008-10-08T03:10:00.000-07:00

National's tax cuts are a bit more modest than we've been expecting, but given the fact that we're in a recession, one could expect that.

Funding them out of Kiwisaver was a good idea too. Slashing both employer and employee contributions makes the scheme more affordable for both parties and while I'll be happy to continue with my 4%, I'de expect Kiwisaver numbers to increase as those on tighter budgets find that they can afford a 2% contribution.

Well done, National.

Truckies Tour de Force

2008-07-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

Today in cities across New Zealand the truckies were telling the government where they could go. Motivated by the sudden increase in road user charges, when they were told they would get a months notice of such a move, the truckies formed convoy's and rallied against the move.

No doubt the government is looking rather red right now, and not because of it's party colors. This is the party of the union movement, of the grassroots protester, facing a good dose of their own medicine.

The Christchurch convoy was impressive. I stood at the intersection where both routes met, and it was a sight to behold. Trucks wall to wall in both directions, flashing lights and tooting horns. I'm glad I got out to see this happen, it was a truly neat experience.

What this out of touch government may not realise is that there is decent support for the truckies, from people who have had an absolute gutsful of the way the government handles such price increases. The people know that with this heightened road charge they will inevitably pay more for their goods, and the people are not happy.

Labour are gone, toast, fin. It is only a question of when.

Then and Now

2008-06-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Nowadays they get the bus to stop in the middle of traffic, using bus stops that jut out into the road. Back then they had this little yellow sign that said "please let the bus go first" and it was sufficient.

Cartoons used to be funny, original and entertaining. Now they all look the same, go for the same laughs, and are uninspiring cookie cutter trash.

Video Games, while still cool, are all going for realism. Everyone is either a) making Grand Theft Auto or b) Making Grand Theft Auto Clone. Where's the visionary who will step up, and make a totally unrealistic, simple and fun game like "alien cyborg seagulls from Mars?"

Cars have to pretty much drive themselves.

People used to show leniency at lights when they turned green. now if you're not accelerating one millionth of a microsecond after the lights turn green you'll get a big fat HONK for your efforts.

Everyone runs orange lights, and then the people behind them, who cannot stand to luck out, will take an orange/red or even a desperate more red than orange. No-one, I repeat, no-one can hack being the person who just misses out on getting through on a set of lights. Bring back red-light cameras.

People used to get to know their neighbours. Now we're quite content not knowing them at all.

Friday Night family viewing has been replaced by America's Next Top Model and other such trashy shows. Where's the game shows? Were are those shows you could watch as a family, while trying to guess the correct answer?

Where are the telethons and the charity they promoted? Now we can't miss the regular Saturday programs for one week? Perhaps it's the potential to miss revenue gathered from Bowflexx and "text blahblah to blahlbah" ads.

Yesterday's solution to dead mall: Put on a fun event, notify the community, promote shops in the process. Today's answer? Plough a slow road through it, because no-one can be bothered to walk anymore!

Funtimes joke post.

2008-06-13T04:50:00.000-07:00

Some jokes found while looking through the wide world of the internet. I hope you enjoy them.

-A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt."

His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

-A man was walking home alone one night when he hears a BUMP...BUMP...BUMP... behind him. Walking faster, he looks back, making out an image of an upright coffin banging its way down the middle of the street towards him...BUMP... BUMP... BUMP...

The man begins to run towards his home, and the coffin bounces quickly after him, faster...faster ... BUMP ...
BUMP ... BUMP. He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, and locks the door behind him. However, the coffin crashes through his door, with the lid of the coffin flapping... BUMP... BUMP... BUMP... on the heels of the terrified man.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding. With a CRASH, the coffin breaks down the door. Coming slowly towards him, the man screaming, reaches for something, anything...

All he can find is a box of cough drops!

Desperate, he throws the cough drops at the coffin ...

...and...of...course,

...the coffin stops!

-Nelson Mandela is at home watching TV when there is a knock at the door. A Japanese deliveryman is clutching a clipboard, pointing to a truck full of car exhausts in the driveway and yelling: "you sign, you sign".

The bewildered president will do no such thing and slams the door. The next day, the man is back, waving a clipboard under the great man's nose, gesturing to a truckload of brake pads and insisting: "you sign, you sign".

Nelson gets rid of the man again, but next day he's back with two truckloads of car parts, once again insisting that the president sign for the goods.

Mandela loses his temper and yells: "look, I don't want these. Do you understand? You have the wrong name".

Puzzled, the Japanese man consults his clipboard and asks: "You not Nissan Maindealer?

-A little boy was in a relative's wedding. As he was coming down the aisle he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd (alternating between bride's side and groom's side.} While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar..so it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step ROAR, all the way down the aisle.

As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. The little boy, however, was getting more and more distressed from all the laughing, and was also near tears by the time he reached the pulpit. When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said, "I was being the Ring Bear."

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered.
They discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.
The first said: "I built a big house for our mother."

The second said: "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver."

The third said: "You remember how our mother enjoys reading the Bible.
Now she can't see very well.
So I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible.
It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him.
Mama just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot recites it."

Soon thereafter, their mother sent out her letters of thanks.

"Milton," she said, "the house you built is so huge.
I live only in one room, but I have to clean the whole house.

"Gerald," she said, "I am too old to travel.
I stay most of the time at home so I rarely use the Mercedes.
And that driver is so rude! He's a pain!"

"But Donald," she said, "the little chicken you sent was delicious!"

A new pastor moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his parishioners.
All went well until he came to one house.
It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several times.
Finally, he took out his card and wrote on the back: Revelation 3:20 and stuck it in the door.

The next day, as he was counting the offering he found his card in the collection plate.
Below his message was the notation Genesis 3:10.

Revelation 3:20 reads: "Behold I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."

Genesis 3:10 reads: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked."

A preacher, who shall we say was "humor impaired," attended a conference to help encourage and
better equip pastors for their ministry. Among the speakers were many well known and dynamic speakers.

One such boldly approached the pulpit and, gathering the entire crowd's attention, said,
"The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman that wasn't my wife!" The crowd was
shocked! He followed up by saying, "And that woman was my mother!" - The crowd burst into laughter
and delivered the rest of his talk, which went over quite well.

The next week, the pastor decided he'd give this humor thing a try, and use that joke in his sermon.
As he surely approached the pulpit that sunny Sunday, he tried to rehearse the joke in his head. It
suddenly seemed a bit foggy to him.

Getting to the microphone he said loudly, "The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of
another woman that was not my wife!" The congregation inhaled half the air in the room. After standing
there for almost 10 seconds in the stunned silence, trying to recall the second half of the joke, the
pastor finally blurted out, "...and I can't remember who she was!"

A minister told his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying.
To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17."

The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the minister asked for a show of hands.
He wanted to know how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up.
The minister smiled and said, "Mark has only sixteen chapters.
I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying."

A child came home from Sunday School and told his mother that he had learned a new song about a cross-eyed bear named Gladly. It took his mother a while before she realized that the hymn was really "Gladly The Cross I'd Bear,"

A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE:

"Doctor, I have an ear ache."

2000 BC - "Here, eat this root."
1000 BC - "That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1850 AD - "That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."
1940 AD - "That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."
1985 AD - "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000 AD - "That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!"

Amazing Grace (My Chains are gone)

2008-06-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

My new church oftens sings this version of the classic hymn, it's by Chris Tomlin, who has added a chorus to the original and then restored the original ending. Did you know that the ending most familiar with the hymn (Beginning with "When we've been there ten thousand years") was added about 100 years later?

I like the original ending:

The earth will soon dissolve like snow,
the sun forbear to shine.
But God, who called me here below,
will be forever mine
You are forever mine.

(Un)sceintific Evolution pickings

2008-06-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

So I can never debate the science of evolution. It's not because I can't it's because I don't want to. Frankly, there are plenty of people that God has called to this mission that are far more equipped and knowledge sassy than I am so I'll leave them to it.

I'm going to deal with the simple things, little observations that I believe declare the glory of the Lord.

Let's start with eyes.

We all have eyes. Most animals have eyes and If there are animals that are fully functional without eyes then I've yet to see them. Eyes are a constant. They don't vary too much in design and do basically the same thing, the only difference might be the notion that animals can only see in black and white and that's only a small difference, a hypothetical one at that. I mean, have you ever tried asking a dog what colors it sees? I digress, small point.

The fact that so many animals have eyes is surely a staple of not evolution, but design. We have a designer that is constant in his craft. Evolution by it's bloated explanatory contraption labelled "time" and "chance" would suggest that some animals would evolve differently as in not all mammals or at least most of them would have the same eye structure for goodness sake.

Now on to bones.

Mammals have the same bone structure. Bones are basically made up of the same stuff, so why has evolution managed to achieve such uniformity in design between say a bird and a tyrannosaurus? Of course one can fly but look at the bones, the joints and well, how the thing is made. They both have eyes too. Design? I think so.

Fur? Alot of animals have fur and it's basically the same thing on a fox as it is on a wombat. And they evolved out of the soup independently? Fur keeps animals warm, sure, but how did they evolve to the near same standard as in most have this thing we call fur? Did the fox look at the wombat and say "my, you've evolved something good there in that fur stuff, how'd ya do it?" Of course not, the simple explanation, Occam's Razor, is that they had a common creator, namely God.

Yes animals have differences. The giraffe has a long neck so it can reach it's source of food for example. This doesn't mean that it didn't have a common creator, namely God, it means that that God knew what the giraffe was going to eat, and equipped it with he ability to do so. What kind of God would give the giraffe a stubby neck and place its source of food up high? Probably a God who wanted to see the giraffe stack a dangerous crate staircase up in an attempt to satiate its hunger, but I digress.

Put simply. Evolutionists see variations in design and claim adaptation, or that they evolved with their food source or some other kind of baloney. Creationists see a God who knows how to provide the necessities of life and acts more like a God than the kid with the magnifying glass burning ants that his detractors seem so keen to paint him as. God is not some kid playing SimCity building things willy-nilly while paying not attention to the money meter until he cannot build anymore cause he's run out of money. Evolutionist seem too keen to take his design genius away from him and attribute it to the great ingenuity plagiarists Time, Chance and Primordial soup."

^Title

2008-06-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

Well, tonights service was exceptionally moving. It dealt with prophecy and all the great things that God has instore for those who follow him, and the great things he has planned for those who have yet to find his grace.

The speaker tonight was engaging, his sermon was delivered with plenty of wit yet what he spoke of was quite dense. He was often amazed that the audience was not reacting candidnly but they were probably as deep into his message as I was, too involved to think about token reactions.

I got to thinking that how we Christians are called to impact this world, and that how we act and react can be the difference that leads a lost person to the Lord. The speakers allegories were intense, he spoke about leading people to Christ, the sort of people I'd normally give a wide berth, the ones I'd just shrug and say to myself, "well, they wouldn't want to hear anyway." God forgive me for I am blind!

He also spoke of how God calls the meek, and the lowly, not the fittest or the most holy. It doesn't make sense in our human understanding, but the more I think about it, the more I seem to understand this. God calls the meek because through the he can demonstrate his authority, glory, and power.

He also talked tonight about New Zealand in prophecy, and how people ha had met on travels commented on how they were praying for New Zealand, prophetically, because they felt something wonderful was going to happen in this nation. The speaker tied this to the fact that God calls the meek and New Zealand is a meek country, at the ends of the earth. He also commented on the name of our city, Christchurch, and hopw the name might be more than a link to our colonial past, it may be the calling God has placed on the city, to become a city of Christ's church, a city on fire for God. How exciting!

During times of prayer I could feel the presence of God fill me and inspire me. God showed me my iniquities as a pile of rubbish at the dump, he them showed me a bulldozer clearing that away, which symbolised my new life in Christ Jesus. Sometimes it is hard for me to reconcile that all my guilt, all ym sin and shame, is placed on the cross. The more I think on this amazing grace, the more profound I find it. The more this sinks in, how amazing God is, the less I need a scientific explanation for things, readily willing to be swept away by the sensations of God's grace that science cannot explain.

It's like that song:

I'll never know, how much it cost,
to see my sin upon that cross.

So true.

Faith alive

2008-06-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

It's is interesting to experience revival, by attending a different church, or thinking differently. I have experienced a re-awakening in my spiritual life ever since I started attending a new church.

It's not like my old church was dead, or out of touch, but I had grown disconnected from it, like, it's services were not inspiring me. I had lost my drive to attend church every weekend. I didn't like where it was going but hey, faith is a very personal thing and I'm sure the new direction is working for people, and I respect that.

My new church, well, it works for me. I feel alive. The vibrancy and energetic youth focus is appealing on the face value, and deeper inside, every sermon challenges me in some way. Living and reaching God on a deeper level, acting out a faith beyond the church walls, one that is not arbitrary but relevant in everything I do. My old church had a lot to offer in regards to growing in faith, but I guess it took a shake-up, new setting, and delivery method to knock it into me.

I certainly wont forget my roots, and I'm sure to swing by my old church for a good catch-up at various intervals.

I guess if you feel things stagnating in your own faith, try new things, would be the morale to this tale.

Badger Badger Badger challenge.

2008-06-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

This is the Badger Badger Badger challenge.

1. Go to www.badgerbadgerbadger.com

2. See if you can watch this clip until it ends.

3. Post your best time here. I doubt anyone will get to the end, prove me wrong if you dare. $50,000 dollars to the first person who can endure Badger Badger Badger until it ends.

More Resons why Labour is Screwed

2008-05-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

1. The Budget.

Michael Cullen will not dilute his legacy by introducing lolly scramble tax cuts. Those looking for meaningful tax relief are better off with National with John Key looking at "upwards of $50" as a meaningful tax cut. Doesn't meant that is the Nats tax cut package, mind you, but it is certainly something Cullen has categorically ruled out for his budget, likely to be a repeat of their 2005 one which nearly saw the Nats take office on the tax cut issue, this time they will.

2. Phil Goff.

Never, ever ever, under any circumstances, no. You just don't do it. You don't publicly admit that you're party might lose the election and then go on to speculate about the fate of your leader. It's political suicide for Goff to take charge before the election, so why did he say it? Even if Labour are utterly screwed, it's inconceivable that a senior Labour minister, no less Clark's eventual successor, would publicly concede this.

3. The Nine Year Itch

I heard this one bandied about in 1999 when Clark was certain to oust Jenny Shipley at the election. This is an electorate that has had nine long years under Labour and Helen Clark, and the mood for change might be irreversible. Whatever Labour does now to revive it's flagging fortunes, the voters will be wondering why it took them a decade to do it.

MMP Referrendum under Nats

2008-05-19T01:44:00.000-07:00

National is promising a referendum by 2011, to determine if New Zealand wants to keep the MMP Election system.

This is great news. I lost faith in MMP when the coalition deals needed to stitch up support ended up giving minor parties a bigger say than they were afforded. Under this system, parties like the Greens, NZ First or Act are able to put their support up for the party that promises them the cosiest deal. In other words, it's a classic case of the tail wagging the dog, and it's flawed.

I'm not too sure about a return to the "first past the post" system, but MMP, in trying to give minor parties a fairer say, has given them far more than that. Minor parties under this system hold the balance of power in their hands, with little actual voter investment.

It's time to make a change to the system.

Labour is Totally Screwed

2008-05-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Things are going from bad to worse for the Labour government, and it's not going to get better any time soon.

Labour must now be wodering just what it has to do to get the voters listening. Perhaps Michael Cullen will have to deliver a big-bang lolly scramble budget, even if it is through gritted teeth.

In the end however, Labour's own smug arrogance is going to cost them this election. They have rammed through unpopular legislation, such as the anti-smacking bill and the electoral finance act and they've created a dog of an emissions trading scheme in the rush to get it through before anyone else. The voters demonstrated the disapproval but in Labour's eyes, this was nothing more than a Tory conspiracy against their landmark initiatives, they smugly brushed away dissent, believing that they knew best.

Now, the voters are set to brush them aside, and get a breath of fresh air into the Beehive.

Loose Change

2008-05-11T03:39:00.000-07:00

The online video "Loose Change" is not worth your time, it's nonfactual, emotionalised pap that panders to the tinfoil hat wearing brigade. It's so-called facts are well presented in the video, but rational explanations are not.

This is where people like Michael Moore succeed. Their views sound compelling because they are the only views put forward. They shine out like apparent rays of truth simply because the opposing side is not given the light of day to displace their theories and dish up some humble pie. I can understand why. It wouldn't be a great expose if you had your theories slapped down, would it?

Here are some quick tips to refute the 9/11 conspiracy brigade and all their nonsense about America attacking itself (absurd.)

Claim: Explosions just underneath the falling rubble indicate the existence of bombs place throughout the World trade Center

Fact: Since the towers' floors fell on top of each other, the air between them was condensed to a point where it's density exceeded the strength of the tower structure. The result was the air exploding from the tower at random intervals, not bombs.

Claim: The removal of bomb sniffer dogs, and the relaxation of security just days before the attacks proves that the government planned to lace the buildings with explosives.

Fact: What they didn't tell you was the bomb sniffer dogs and heightened security was the result of several bomb threats made against the WTC, since these pranks had abated, the security was stepped down. It was merely returning to business as normal, and the ground was still patrolled.

Claim: Put options, the investment in the prediction of falling share prices, was significantly higher int he days leading up to the 9/11 attacks.

Fact: While this is true, what they didn't tell you about was the many times in the past where put options had spiked at random. This is a mere coincidence, like the Lotto numbers that spelled out 9-1-1 days after the tragedy.

Claim: The towers fell at free-fall speed, impossible for the official story to refute

Fact: I timed the falling towers to have collapsed in 11-15 seconds. Had the fell at free-fall speed, they would have fallen faster. 9/11 truthers like you to believe the towers fell in 9 seconds. Count it for yourself, and also note that the inner core of tower 2 is still intact, meaning the entire tower didn't fall, and it still took longer than free-fall speed. Hmmm....

9/11 Truthers will also use language to make you feel like you've been ignorant. They'll berate you to "stop listening tot he mainstream media" or "don't just believe anything you're told by the almighty talking box." The purpose? To make you feel dumb and get you susceptible to their way of thinking, because they are so intellectual and you're not.

Yes, think for yourself, yes, don't believe everything you're told and yes, research it yourself - it's healthy. Just remember thinking for yourself doesn't mean taking videos such as Loose Change for gospel.