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Sunday, May 31, 2009
Perhaps Sunshine causes Global Warming After All!
The best vindication for the Budget yet!!
I've just picked up a paper copy of the Sunday Star-Times.
By the top of the masthead of the business section was a pic of Bill English and the words 'The Budget. Rod Oram Doesn't Like it.'
Well, what better vindication can you have!
Anyway, Bill Ralston seems happier with it.
Herald Wrong Again
Here's a sample of the nonsense:-
"With other homicides, the police establish who is responsible and lay charges. The courts decide whether or not the homicide was culpable - whether the person responsible is guilty of manslaughter or murder."
Weeeeell no. That's not actually how it goes.
The first thing the police do is establish whether there is a reasonable chance of a conviction - any conviction. THEN and ONLY THEN do they lay charges. The unknown Herald scribbler might not quite comprehend the possibility that, given all the circumstances, the Police consider a conviction, any conviction, unlikely in this particular case.
Does The Herald wants us to clog the already overloaded courts with prosecutions for every death which occurs? No matter what?
The answer probably is 'yes.' Then the Herald can print more anonymous opinion decrying the inadequacies of our justice system to deal with cases in a timely manner.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Orbs? Spirits or a load of old balls?
But they did like Mair Park in Whangarei, Parnell Cathedral, Auckland Domain, the pa site near Kerikeri's Stone Store, the graveyard on the Paihia waterfront, and the cemetery out in the bush about 12kms away from here. They also liked Waiwera, just north of Auckland.
But also it seems they did not like the Waikumete Cemetry in West Auckland, at least in the daytime!
I tend to be quite sceptical about such matters, but my mate has alterted me to something quite interesting, something I cannot fully understand or explain.
Some time back with my other maori mate, I went to his nan's tangi on the East Cape.
The lights in the marae kept flickering on and off, to signifiy the arrival of visitors, I was told.
My mate kept saying Nan was telling us people were coming, but I believed it was the dodgy electrics.
During the burial the next morning it absolutely pissed it down but moments later as Nan was finally laid to rest, the rain suddenly stopped and the sun came out. I put this down to the passing of a rain-bearing cold front. My mate said it was Nan finally accepting her place in heaven.
Either way, the timings of such happenings fitted either explanation.
So what can we say about these orbs. The times and places they appear seem to fit the ghostly spiritual argument too, even if there might also be a more rational explanation.
But have you seen them for yourself and what did you think?
So many questions
1. Who really gives a toss?
2. Is this the begining of the end for Sue Bradford?
3. Will Turei also now have "mainstream" delusions like Norman?
4. Will the small lifeline that Key threw them be enough for survival in 2011?
5. Or has Key just flogged their environmental blanket and left them holding the red baby?
6. Will they finally replace that missing "n" in Co_leader?
7. Who really gives a toss?
Obamerica: Corrupt Banana Republic or Marxist Basketcase??
Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.
The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.
Perfection - By Accident
Today saw a trip to the fish market and the acquisition of a Blue Moki for $20.00. These fish are cheap, man. $8.95/kg compared with snapper at $17.00.
For his money, Adolf went home with a kilo of fillets and a chopped up head for the cats.
The Cook buggered off for unspecified Cookly activities so Adolf was left to contemplate the highlight of the day, LUNCH.
The 'flap' portion of a fillet was diced into sashimi and tried with a blend of a desert spoon of soy sauce and juice of half a lime. Not very successful. The flesh was too hard.
Oh well, another failure.
So on to the smoking hot fry pan with a chunk of fillet, 15 seconds on either side and turn down the heat. As an afterthought, dribbled the remains of the soy sauce lime dip over the fillet and let it poach for two or three minutes.
Out of this world!!!!! Absolutely bloody amazing.
Succulent, tasty, glorious.
Well, you'd expect that, wouldn't you when you find out this species' staple diet is crayfish.
I'll just have to have another glass of sav blanc and an afternoon nap.
It takes no time for the concept of "racism" to appear.
And always from the left side of the debate.
This always gives me a good laugh, because the Left have always been the ones to ram multiculturalism down everyone's throats. But when things don't go their way, they pull out the "you're a racist" shot gun and let off a couple of cheap rounds.
The left may have achieved their multicultural utopia, but I suspect that they don't enjoy it quite as much as they eagerly anticipated. Mostly because it arrived with a suitcase full of competition as well.
Their special place in history, regardless of race, is being shoved to the side of the road and bypassed.
Personally, I have no problem with multiculturalism because it just brings us new challenges, but more importantly, new opportunities. I judge the people I deal with daily on their actions rather than the colour of their skin.
"Racism" is yesterday's word. It has had it's time and place.
People that cling to it like a lifebuoy, to keep their own racist aspirations afloat, should realise that the tide of time is just carrying them further out to sea.
John Armstrong Continues To See Trees
Mr Armstrong is an excellent writer with an astute political mind (He would have been a bloody good cricketer.) but for some reason he seems to have made it his task to paint one of the most outstandingly successful budgets as a potential disaster for National.
The first glaring but not obvious example is his continuing focus on tax cuts and Labour's futile pursuit of their deferral. Here is Mr Armstrong on Labour and tax cuts.
"Labour has also put much effort in the past couple of days into slamming National for promising tax cuts during the election and legislating them into law under parliamentary urgency before last Christmas when it already knew the cuts were unaffordable."
However, the priceless pearl of information is here.
"The Treasury estimated a downgrade would push up the cost of borrowing by 1.5 per cent."
Repeat after me:
A credit downgrade would push up the cost of borrowing by 1.5 per cent.
Got that, have you? Well get this. A credit downgrade was widely expected but we got instead, a surprise credit UP GRADE. That means a net 3.0% reduction in the cost of borrowing compared with where we would be under Labour or a 'tax cut induced' credit downgrade..
Armstrong (and National) should now be talking about mortgage interest cuts of up to three percentage points. They should be leaning hard on the banks to pass on this windfall reduction in their costs of borrowing.
(This windfall far exceeds anything related to recent RBNZ cuts in the OCR because the banks borrow most of their money overseas and the gummint's sovereign credit rating largely determines the price the banks will pay for their money.)
This budget's surprise credit upgrade will put more cash money in the pockets of middle income voters than the tax cuts they were not really expecting anyway. The budget is a bonanza for salary and wage earners - all those middle class people who live in My Albert electorate. The message needs to be hammered home before voting day. Melissa Lee's party just gave you the mother of all tax cuts. She not only saved you from a $170 per week hike in your interest bill, she reduced it by a further $170 per week. That's cash back in your hand. Far more than you were going to get from some lousy tax cut the country can't really afford, thanks to Labour.
Three points off the interest bill for Adolf's $80k salary Mt Albert voter with an LAQC investment property and a $600k loan (There will be thousands of them because that's where BlueChip went prospecting for sales) means this guy gets an immediate benefit of $346 per week! Yes I had to double check - it's not $34.60 per week. It's a whopping eighteen grand per year.
The second glaring example is this already worn out furphy
"...........the big clanger in the Budget - the suspension of Government contributions into the Superannuation Fund for the next decade and possibly longer."
Michael Cullen himself prescribed this very measure in his introduction of the fund to the Parliament. It is Michael Cullen's woeful extravagance in government spending and parsimony over tax cuts when they WERE affordable which brings us to the point when we must implement HIS remedy which is to suspend contributions.
Get over it please, Mr Armstrong. Get over it Labour.
The as yet unrecognised political genius of this budget, Mr Armstrong, is that it is designed to win the seat of Mt Albert.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Maoridom's rich legacy!!!
There I was last week, outside the grounds of the Waitangi Treaty House with a mate debating whether to go inside.
New Zealand residents don't have to pay, I noted.
My mate said he had no ID with him, but since he's half-caste, I joked his face was his ID!
He commented this might have been the only good thing his Maori father had ever done for him!
Indeed, later on, he railed on about his useless drunk of a violent father who abandoned him and his Pakeha mum while he was a young child.
My mate is into ghosts and as darkness approached, he got the digital camera out and called out for any ghosts or spirits to appear.
None did so and he commented that since the ghosts would probably be Maori, they were obviously too lazy to appear. He attacked Maori for their drinking too.
It certainly does seem odd to see someone attack their own race, even if you are actually of mixed race.
But another mate of mine, who is also part-Maori, has also at times condemned his race for problems like alcoholism, lack of work ethic, etc, etc, with him having a similarly useless drunk of a violent father.
So, while the younger Maori generation pay for the sins of their fathers, what was the issue exciting Maori elders and leaders this week? The Auckland Supercity and their demands for guaranteed Maori representation.
In the meantime, their sons and daughters grapple with the issues caused by their parents and grandparents, and the issues of drunkenness, violence and family breakdown are tossed aside.
How will guaranteed Maori representation on the Supercity Council help these victims at all?
And aren't all these Maori leaders continuing to fail their youth and their own people?
What would Liarbour have done?
And the embarrassment applies to both parties too.
As I noted yesterday, the dire state of the economy and the debts left by Liarbour meant National had to renege on a promise.
The issue was, which promise? The promise on taxcuts, its central electoral plank, or promises on spending or 'selling the family silver.'
Sadly, Bill English chose to break the main promise that separated the party from Liarbour, taxcuts. So no wonder righties like me are a little upset, much as we might be happy with other aspects of the budget.
And all this comes as government spending continues to rise, as National promises; hardly the talk of 'cuts' the media seems to focus on. There is no slash and burn as English freely admits.
Instead, as other blogs have noted, we have seen a strange development in government language- the use of the word 'entitlements' as if the claims of the beneficiary class to other people's money counts more than the entitlements of those who actually make the money to keep a little bit more of it for themselves.
This presents an interesting debate for the country and for National to decide what kind of party it is. Is it the party of enterprise, the party of the workers, the workers that actually work, or it is the party of bludgers and beneficiaries?
Looking at the budget like this, and the language Bill English used, you can now see why Whale Oil and Not PC are not happy. This is a debate the party as well as the country needs to have, to decide who is more important, the worker, or the shirker, the productive or the non-productive.
Now, National apparently chose pragmatism, believing cancelling taxcuts was the less harmful policy. Well, today's Stuff poll shows a majority saying the government should have lived up to its promise of taxcuts!
Of course, we should look at the underlying cause of National's broken promise. The dire state of public finances under Liarbour, how Liarbour's spending binge created the deficit, how their policies brought New Zealand into recession 18 long months ago, long before other countries. Imagine, as Homepaddock said yesterday, how New Zealand might have fared over the past decade without Cullenomics.
So it does seem strange that Liarbour should be attacking National as they are. Yes, there is an irony in seeing Liarbour berate National for dishonesty and lies over tax. But what would Liarbour do?
There's David Cunliffee shouting away, but what would he have done as Finance Minister? Might we have seen actual tax increases? Might Liarbour have deepened the deficit even further, thus removing the credit upgrade from Standard and Poors that looks set to benefit businesses and mortgage holders.
Or would Labour have delivered the very same policies it is now so loudly condemning?
No wonder it is staying silent now it has been challenged by National.
It certainly seems rich for Liarbour to capitalise from a crisis largely of their own making. It certainly is rich to see Cunliffe and Goff having their political cake and eating it.
Instead, we have all to look at Liarbour's role in creating the mess National inherited. The high spending of Liarbour, Cullen and the budget busting initiatives like WFF, Kiwisaver, interest-free students loans, etc, etc. These were policies the country could ill afford in the long run, but Liarbour delivered them all the same, putting National into a dilemma over whether to dismantle them.
Thus National is effectively locked into Liarbour's policies thanks to the spendthrift scorched Earth policies of Cullen, deliberately leaving a financial black hole for National to grapple with. Clever politics from Liarbour to hamstrung its successor.
Which brings us back to the taxcuts. How else can National create a difference with the opposition? How else can it get the country on a new track if it effectively mirrors Liarbour in practice, having swallowed so many dead rats.
Remember, National had a mandate, it remains well ahead in the polls. And as the polls show today, the party staying honest over taxcuts might have earned it more support, as well as deliver the policies that would generate more economic growth in the long run!
Free shuttle to airport
If the world owes them a living, let the world provide it.
Greener grass on the other side of the fence is really only for cows and sheep.
But, I guess many political and social science lecturers would fall into that category anyway.
Armstrong Flat Out Wrong - And FFM
"The big black mark against the document is the almost cavalier gutting of the Cullen superannuation fund and with it what was left of the shallow consensus on pension policy."
Sorry John, try and get it through your head that If Cullen had been delivering yesterday's budget he would have done the same thing AND he would have suffered a credit downgrade. (Just for being the perpetrator of the mess.) Yes, the English upgrade is a major political coup for National because now we will see the cost of overseas borrowing for trading banks decline and that decline flow on to borrowers - personal and business. That alone means hundreds of new jobs but Mr Armstrong seemed interested only in pessimism.
Remember it was Michael Cullen, who sold the fund to parliament AND the public on the basis that contributions would be made ONLY in years of fiscal surplus.
FFM, Steven Joyce was right. New Zealanders don't want and won't tolerate Roger Douglas's recipe for recovery. They don't want the forty or fifty farmer suicides which were the unreported legacy of his last turn at the economic oven.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Damned if you Do, Damned if you don't budget
And at best I can only own up to mixed feelings. Whatever Bill English did, he was bound to upset someone.
This is the dilemma he faced and it is a result of the mess he inherited from Liarbour, added to a recession and global prospects that worsened during the election campaign and afterwards.
So it was obvious National had to break an election promise to someone.
It either broke a pledge to the beneficiary class, or it broke a pledge to the productive class, the workers rather than the shirkers, or National worsened the red ink situation inherited from Liarbour.
Fortunately, Bill English's improvement in tightening up the financial deficits means that he has been rewarded with an improved credit rating from Standard and Poors and for that he should earn our praise.
But to gain this, Bill English either had to shit on the workers, or shit on the shirkers. Sadly, he chose to shit on the workers, the ones who pay for the shirkers.
That is where Bill English has gone wrong today. He has sucked up to those who contribute little to the economic renaissance that this country needs. He has instead turned his back on the productive sector.
Now, Bill English justifies this in saying people need security, that spending decisions might have been factored in at current benefit levels. Etc.. The same might have been done by the taxpayers who were counting on the last round or two of taxcuts.
Now, the cost of keeping this promise was a mere $900 million a years. Surely, Bill English cannot be saying that such savings could not have been found from somewhere?
I had to smile when I heard Liarbour talking about National breaking its pledge on election taxcuts. How could they say this with a straight face when Cullen cancelled his own chewing gum taxcuts and Liarbour would surely have cancelled any taxcuts it might have promised.
Now, National made many promises in the election campaign. And yes the budgetary position has worsened since then.
One promise it made was not to 'sell off the family silver'. I heard some chappie on Newstalk ZB saying how National could have done such a thing, say on public-private sector financing of things like roads.
Steven Joyce has announced some wonderful new road schemes and some of these could have been PPPS. They do not necessarily need tolls to fund them. PPPs could have been used to bring the roads now, while allowing the government to maintain debt levels that would protect the credit rating and allow taxcuts. Creative accounting maybe, but one that has been tried overseas and is allowed.
Alternatively, there are a few SOEs, say in the energy sector, that might raise a few billion.
But as English replied to Newstalk ZB, National promised not to sell off the family silver.
But National also promised to cut taxes!
So that is my beef with National and Bill English tonight. The economic mess it inherited from Liarbour meant that an election promise had to be broken and in my view Bill English has chosen the wrong one.
It does seem that National is acting Liarbour-lite. Of course, I am sure the seasoned strategists of the party played the expectations game very well. They seasoned up everyone to expect the taxcuts to go, so when they did go, people are not surprised and may well not blame the government, so its support is maintained.
Trouble is, what will generate the wealth to help us close the gap with Australia, what will kickstart a change in attitudes towards enterprise and create a productive economy. I doubt it is the tinkering here and there that we see from Bill English today.
And this is why I offer National only faint praise today.
I also look at the ideas from Roger Douglas. We have to realise how government spending rose under Liarbour and for little benefit. New Zealand also needs a clean break from the past. We need some kind of vision.
This was a political budget, one that will keep people on side with National. It will miminise the loss of any support to Liarbour.
But that is why , as Roger Douglas says, where it lacks courage. There is not the courage to tackle the deep seated problems in the economy, of too much welfarism. But there again, radical policies, necessary as they are, will only turn people off and perhaps cost National the next election, unless 'sold' properly.
However, if we don't have the budgets that generate growth, how can National go to the voters with a record of success?
I fear part of the problem is our 3 year electoral cycle when it should be 4 years or 5. Allowing a government more time to deliver the economic goodies might allow it to make the brave decisions we need.
Sadly, with the system we have, we see a finance minister have to choose between principle and pragmatism. Pragmatism was the winner and principle was the loser, as was choosing the policies that would have delivered economic success.
I fear that despite their decent majority and their success in the polls to date, National still lacks the courage of its convictions, to deliver what its rank and file want. David Farrar says John Key delivered what he campaigned on, being a centrist, but I feel the crisis we face does justify a shift to the right, and National delivering on its prime policy of taxcuts.
I know there is nothing gained by being pure and being banished back to opposition but I feel the seriousness of the times might well have allowed for more radical and braver action, and there are few things more radical in politics than keeping faith with the voters on your main election pledge!
So I will leave giving Bill English praise for the good news from Standard and Poors and stick for the taxcuts betrayal. I can only hope National can pluck up the courage to be bolder and braver in future. It truly needs to hammer home the message of Liarbour's failed legacy of the past and how we need a clear break from it, if we are to succeed in future. And that why I feel so let down tonight.
Highly Successful
Few of the loud mouthed imbeciles in Labour would understand the profound adverse effect upon wage and salary earners which would have resulted from a further downgrading of our sovereign credit rating.
Neither do the dopey imbeciles from the right, lead by the economically challenged and naive Not PC.
Full marks to Bill English.
Whaleoil needs to pull his silly head in.
Herald Harassment Continues
Today it tries to dream up a story by revealing (quelle horreur) that 'officials' did not recommend Ms Rankin for the position. (Note the habitual use of the most uncomplimentary picture of its victim.) When you read the story, however, you find her name WAS listed by these same officials as one of 'those deemed suitable.' Hellooooooo?
So the real story is that officials supported the appointment.
The fact that the officials' four 'recommended' individuals were overlooked is a good sign. It means the gummint is NOT pandering to socialist politically correct officials who have been indoctrinated for nine years in the ways of Labour and it's gang of crooks and frumps.
It looks as though it's time to set up a weekly Junk Journalism Award to go with Home Paddock's annual Mediocres.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Who's that fat bastard?
Gist of my comment was that although obesity is correlated with type 2 diabetes and with heart disease (note: not "obesity causes type 2 diabetes and heart disease"), it would be foolish to try and combat these "negative externalities" through excise on foods believed to contribute to obesity, for reasons basically the same as those the previous Labour govt gave for not cutting GST on foods believed to be "healthy:" complexity of administration and the likelihood of bizarre unintended consequences.
It's not clear to me in any case why exactly we might impose excise on one high-calorie food item which consists largely of highly processed carbohydrates with a high glycaemic index rating and significant fat content (eg, a chocolate bar), but not some other high-calorie food item featuring a similar level of highly processed carbohydrates with a high glycaemic index rating and a significant fat content (eg, a filled roll). The whole thing seems to come down to nothing more than assigning moral values to food.
For this I was declared "ignorant" by a fellow commenter, who went on to say:
One of the big problems in New Zealand is that people do not realise they are overweight because everyone else around them also has a weight problem. So it is hard to inform the public because they don't even think there is a problem to fix.
This is certainly plausible - I recall my wife (at 175cm and 72kg) saying on a visit to Singapore that the women there made her feel like a sweaty hippo, and there's no denying that NZers are a bunch of lard-arses for the most part. As an argument though, it's seriously begging the question - that is, it's working on the basis that stating the problem is an argument for your solution: "People in NZ are fat, they don't even notice they're fat because everyone else is fat too, so it's important that we all adopt my proposed solution."
Er, well, no, not really. It may be evidence that we should adopt a solution, but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be yours. The S59 debate was characterised by similar logical failure, in that a lot of people seemed to imagine the fact NZ has a child abuse problem was an argument for repealing S59.
When we consider taxpayer-funded lobby groups like the Obesity Action gubbins or proposals to ban advertising of certain foods or even to impose excise duty on them, it's worth considering the following: look at photos of your grandparents when they were young, or just photos in general from 50+ years ago. In my case, I have plenty of photos of relatives hanging out in the 1940s and 1950s, and there isn't a fat-arse to be seen - and this in Lancashire, with a diet consisting to a great extent of lard, dripping and beef suet. Compare that with a look round your own workplace lunch-room, in which tubby middle-aged women starve themselves on their nutritionist-recommended low-fat diets and wonder how they can possibly have gotten 30 kilos overweight. I smell bullshit - now, if only we could tax that...
ACC Slash and burn
Great headline BUT when you actually read the details it actually is saying that overall ACC are taking on an extra 30 people.
About 70 jobs will go in a restructuring of the Accident Compensation Corporation's head office.
Dr White said with the proposed changes, a total of about 180 positions would be affected but many of those people would move into new roles. However, the new structures did have about 70 fewer positions than previously existed.
"Second, the proposed new structures would better support changes to some other parts of our business, including putting more focus on the front line where we are adding another 100 roles. They also recognise the fact that some programmes of work have been completed, de-scoped or stopped.
So the final completed, de-scoped (for some wierd reason I like that word),stopped end result is
-180+110=-70 +100=+30
So really the headline should be
ACC to add 30 Gobs in restructuring
Budget advertising
Isn't the lefty Moon-Bott the true racist?
Council for Civil Liberties chairman Michael Bott said the measure was racist, as Maori and Pacific Islanders were the most heavily represented in the court and prison system.
That's the trouble with lefties. They are such bigots and they cannot help but shoot themselves in the foot by coming up with crazier comments that undermine what they are trying to achieve.
I can only guess what the row might be had a right-winger , say a government politicians, had branded polynesians as criminals like this!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Goff Asleep, Gower Illiterate
Making cold pills prescription better than ban - GoffNow ask yourself what is the difference between banning OVER THE COUNTER sales (as John Key proposes) and 'making cold pills prescription' as the little jerk from Labour proposes?
Is Patrick Gower so desperate for something to report that he doesn't read a press release before he puts his stupid name to it?
Will The Herald print every word of inane gibberish which flows from the mouths of Labour?
Exquisite Timing
Adolf looks forward to a Dorothy Dixer question today.
'My question is to the Minister for Health. Has he seen any recent reports which would indicate that money spent on anti-obesity campaigns does not represent good value?'
Minister: 'Yes, the most recent report is languishing on the opposition benches.'
Monday, May 25, 2009
Did your daughters turn you into a lefty???
Passionate or Pushin' It?
When I hear some person extolling the virtues of a CEO as being passionate about the business I immediately rush off to make sure there are no stocks held in that person's organisation. If I recall correctly Mark Bryers was 'passionate' about property investment and Rod Petricevic was 'passionate' about using other people's money. By Hell, those finance company entrepreneurs kicking their heels up in Turkey were surely passionate about fleecing the turkeys who were their customers.
When I hear some autocue reader telling the world he is passionate about the news, I wonder why? Could it be the real passion is for the next $50k increase in his annual emoluments?
Instead of so much faux passion spilling out all over the place, Adolf would prefer to see a return to some sober common sense and respect from within banking, commerce and journalism.
Speaking of quality journalism, I happened to watch an hour or so of Maori TV yesterday. A seafood programme fronted by Pio and a sports programme fronted by Glen Osbourne. Both programmes were superb. Refreshingly original, unpretentious, interesting and informative.
Ten times better than the tired junk served up hour after hour on TV 1,2 and 3.
They didn't need to TELL YOU they were passionate about their jobs. You could see it in their faces - even when they were sea sick.
Hikoi and Hope
It is bold.
There are too many comfort zones out there that are unaffordable. Councils are like turkeys. They will never vote for an early Christmas.
They would carry on rearranging rates, like deckchairs on the Titanic, knowing full well that they have a guaranteed place in the lifeboat.
The rates under a Supercity may not be cheaper, but the real value of them will be the message they send to people, that change in how we do things is possible and can work.
It is also an opportunity to tell the Maori that they are actually just New Zealanders like the rest of us. The seperatism charity that they want from us because they happen to be a different colour is wearing a bit thin. I am very happy to see elected Maori representatives on the council along with any other race that may care to stand.
Our politicians have the opportunity to get us one step out of the economic and racial quagmire that we now inhabit.
Bring it on and then take the thinking to Wellington.
Moral Decline
Auckland motorists warned of hikoi delaysWhen you can't get your own way you disrupt the lawful activities of ordinary people who need to use the motorways to earn a living.
Protest group threatens more harbour bridge action
When you can't get your own way you disrupt the lawful activities of ordinary people who need to use the motorways to earn a living. You lie to the police when you say your gang won't force their way onto the bridge. And then you threaten to do it all again.
Not RNZ but elsewhere on the week-end, I see over 75% of the people who voted in a survey think the bloke who stole $7 million from Westpac is a good guy.
A large section of the populace sees nothing wrong when a jilted pork promoter breaks into his ex employer's place of business with the intention of seriously damaging his lawfully operated business.
I'll bet all of them are under the age of 35 and have only Clark and Cullen's example as recent and formative barometers of honesty.
It struck me as a fine example of how different others are from oneself, and yet how the world is somehow finely in balance because of it.
The chap described in the story, Regan Frost, is indeed most unlike me. (NB: I'm aware many of our dimmer readers consider the phrase "not like me" to be a pejorative term indicating contempt and hatred, but for most of us this is not the case.) He appears to be living testament to the truism that there's one thing money can't buy: good taste. The posessions on sale mentioned in the sidebar of the print edition were a veritable catalogue of grotesque vulgarity - so ludicrous in fact that it would hardly have seemed credible were it not also mentioned that Mr Frost had inflicted the names "Porsche" and "Jag" on his children.
(I couldn't help but ponder whether Porsche will grow up to be overly heavy at the back end and very unforgiving, Jag to be sexy but annoyingly unreliable, and both of them to be unreasonably high-maintenance.)
But I digress - back to the point of this thing. Mr Frost is selling all this unspeakable shit for the following reason:
"We can sell the piano, the spa pool, we don't need that stuff, it can all be replaced but the business can't."
Here we have a clear indication as to why Mr Frost is (or at least was) a successful businessman, while I, someone who couldn't sell water in a desert, remain a mere hireling: he recognises the relative worth of his posessions compared with his business, and acts accordingly. I couldn't do this - my posessions are in many cases very fine if not particularly expensive things that I care a great deal about and couldn't give up lightly, especially my house. This is one reason I'm prepared, unlike Mr Frost, to settle for job security on a modest salary, rather than setting out to make myself rich through enterprise.
(Further digression: I know many of our readers apply moral values to matters such as this and will consider Regan Frost to be indisputably my moral superior for pursuing an entrepreneurial career, rather than offering specialist skills to a large organisation in exchange for security and a regular paycheck. Such moral judgements are foolishness - it makes no more sense than for me to consider myself Regan Frost's moral superior because he lacks good taste.)
Back to the point - again. Consider how beautifully it balances: Regan Frost sensibly cares less for his posessions than for the much more important matter of actually making the money to be able to buy such things, which is very fortunate because his posessions are over-priced tat that no-one should ever care about; Psycho Milt on the other hand devotes taste and thought to his posessions and would never fling money at over-priced tat, which is also very fortunate because he will never be in a position of having large amounts of money to fling at anything. There is something very fitting about this, which left me satisfied with the story in a way I wouldn't have imagined in my initial eye-bulging horror at the sheer vulgarity it.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Aaaaaah. Now The Truth........
- 4 Couple flee country after bank error (Audio - duration: 3′14″)
- Police in Rotorua are trying to track down a couple who've fled the country after Westpac mistakenly deposited ten million dollars into their bank account.
Focus on the word deposit, folks. Adolf has been struggling to figure out how anyone could actually transfer that amount of funds into another person's account without there being some systemic warning bells sounding and red lights flashing. Further, I have been trying to figure out how anyone could physically transfer such large amounts of funds (over $6 mil) out of the banking system and tuck them away overseas without more and different bells and lights leaping into action.
Now it turns out the bank did NOT credit any funds to the fellow's account. It formalized an overdraft facility which is an entirely different thing. Adolf wonders if the bank might struggle to recover these funds legally as there is a big difference between 'making a deposit in error' and 'authorising an overdraft.'
My guess is that the gentleman concerned will have himself a bloody good holiday, acquire some assets in countries where Westpac can't touch them, deposit some cash there under an assumed name and then come back to New Zilnd to face the music. As Westpac seeks to call up its ten million dollar overdraft and the interest owing thereon, he will smile as he declares himself
bankrupt and walks away. There is no chance his passport will be confiscated and even if it is, it's not too difficult, with the right contacts and a few dollars, to get a new passport under an assumed name.
Let's face it, these Asians all look the same, don't they?
He will tell all his friends in Hong Kong - 'you can bank on the Wales.'
Saturday, May 23, 2009
A quiet saturday afternoon
Should list MP's be banned from standing in Byelections?
No out of Parliament candidate would EVER say that they are only there to come second.
Will we ever have an Asian PM?
It's early days yet for Asian MP's, as Lee has shown, but what will the future hold.
Has Rodney Hide signed his political death warrant by being the face of the Supercity?
Seems to me that he is either going to end up either hero or zero. Most politicians tend to avoid extremes at all cost. But then Rodney isn't your typical politician. I take my hat off to him. Personally I think that we need to restructure our local government, so we may as well have a decent crack at it. Chipping away around the edges is a waste of time. Rodney is the James Bond of reform and Bond always survives to make a new movie.
Is "give it a go Bro" really the new "number 8 wire" motivation for this century?
It has a smack of desperation about it. The banks may not respond positively to "I'm just giving it a go".
The best motivation is allowing people to do what they love. Then don't fleece them with high taxes and having to provide a safety net for anyone but the truly needy. People in charge of their own destiny are generally unstoppable.
Our worst enemy in achieving our goals is fear. Mostly the fear of failure, but it can come in many forms. My experience is that your worst fears generally only happen in your head.
That is why I hate with a passion, people like the Greens who only thrive by creating fear out of any situation, whilst trying to convince us that they have our best interests at heart. As if they have been given some special divine wisdom. At the end of the day, fear is control and they know it.
Will this economic crisis end up like the sugarbag years of the great depression?
The new world economies, China, Brazil, India etc still have a long way to go with growth. Is the crisis really just Western countries adjusting (mostly downwards) to a changing world? Life will go on. We just may not recognise it's new face. Of course, as things change, new opportunities arise. It is just a matter of spotting them. Life only throws up a few real opportunities so don't miss them. And now there is a lot more competition for them.
Do we need a new approach to how we run NZ?
Now we have a government spending its time and our money parking ambulances at the bottom of the cliff, to treat "victims".
This is a lot different to us all standing at the top, enjoying the view, with a small sign warning us of the dangers of getting too close to the edge.
Will the mighty Crusaders win tonight?
Well done the Chiefs last night. I actually thought the Canes would win, so shows what I know.
Bugger all.
MPs expenses: What are they hiding?
Friday, May 22, 2009
How Rodney Honihoni'd Pita
Nobody else seems to have noticed that in doing so Rodney has severely fucked over Pita Sharples.
Tomorrow, the good people of Auckland might wake up to the fact, yes it's a fact, that their transitional authority contains twenty percent Maori representation. The problem for Pita is, this huge percentage of Maori representation was achieved by merit, not by allocation according to race.
Good on Rodney. Good on Mr Walden.
Tasers Locked and Loaded
I am picking that much of the minor crap that cops have to deal with, drunks, fights etc, might show a marked decrease when someone is looking at the business end of one.
Of course there will always be people who will ignore them and create further trouble.
Just like "smacking" was labelled "beating" by Bradford, expect Locke and Co to cry "torture" everytime one is used.
Green Party human rights spokesperson Keith Locke said the Government should take note of concerns raised about the use of the Taser.
"New Zealand politicians should listen when a reputable UN committee says this 50,000-volt stun gun inflicts 'a form of torture' on its targets," Mr Locke said.
Don't want to be run the risk of torture, behave yourself in public places and don't commit crime.
And Russel the mus wants the Greens to be taken seriously in Mt Albert?
Just remember that "Mr Mainstream" is a front.
Who's Minding Melissa?
Are you serious about this Mt Albert by election?
Why did you hang an almost totally inexperienced candidate out to dry?
Is there no communication between ministers, party and candidates?
Who is the party president? Has your arse been kicked?
Have you made changes to ensure there are no more unnecessary stuff ups like the 'motorway' debacle?
Adolf is reminded of the Australian Labor Party's folly in mismanaging it's prime ministerial aspirant and loose cannon Mark Latham in 2004. He, like Melissa, was a bright young shining star, albeit unhinged. Like Mallard he would resort to fisticuffs when his limited mental faculties were stretched.
Latham looked a shoe in to beat Little Johnny but during the last fortnight of the election he slipped away to Tasmania, shot his mouth off with some foolish statements about the forestry industry and lost Tasmania for Labor, thereby killing the ALP's chances of victory. Remarkably, the glowing Wikipedia account of his political life carries not one word about this memorable debacle.
Now to National's mismanagement of Melissa Lee.
She is a high flying list MP with almost no experience campaigning for an electorate seat, yet she seems to have been left to her own devices.
She was allowed to appear at an important televised multiparty event without being briefed on the next day's motorway announcement. Worse, she was allowed to assume the whole damned thing would be above ground. Imagine the PR triumph for National if Melissa Lee had been allowed to let slip that National was going to put in a tunnel AND save a billion dollars. Mallard and Goff would have absolutely shit themselves. As a political issue in Mt Albert, the motorway from that moment would cease to have existed.
Adolf has been ferociously critical of Helen Clark but one thing is for sure. She never would have allowed her party machine to stuff up as National's has done here.
We are lucky our party has three weeks to recover from this near fatal mistake.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Vote No...... Getting organised?
I received one of those "***** is following you on twitter" emails a few minutes ago from vote_no
They appear to be organising themselves early. Whoever "they" might be.
Personally I will not be bothering to vote, the last time I voted Michael Cullen was given a new shiny job, and I definitely did not intend that to happen.
The web address for these guys is voteno.org.nz
Please do not read this post as an endorsement of their viewpoint. I simply do not care enough to campaign for either side, and as I a feel like punching almost every single person I ever come into contact with I might not be the right fit for either camp
Click on the pic to embiggen.
If you are a twitter user I can be followed by adding user name barnsleybill via your home page.
How Cullen used his power to make us all pay!!
New Zealand needs a more efficient market delivering lower prices.
A Brash and Stupid Move By the Police!!!
The day after the police release details about the Tony Veitch case, we naturally see Don Brash calling for a Commission of Inquiry into the rpolice investigation of his email theft.
Didn't the police leadership realise that releasing the full sorry saga about Tony Veith would make people realise the inconsistency of releasing a heavily censored report on a major political scandal?
No wonder Don Brash has timed it well with this media release today.
It certainly makes you wonder about the buffoons in charge of the police hierarchy.
They should have seen this public relations fiasco coming.
Now, as ever, it begs the question, what are they hiding?
And if they can reveal all about Tony Veitch, why not Don Brash!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Veitch gets another kicking
The police have released the file, laying out in excruciating detail what his spurned ex alleged. As this is the crown statement of facts none of it has been tested and the only part we can believe as fact is the section covering the "broke back evening". And then only because he plead guilty to try and end the nightmare.
I bet Veitch wishes he was a cop, if he had been it would have all been sorted
Quite why any of this needs to be aired is beyond this blogger. But on the bright side it may give National an undeserved respite from fat guts garner tonight.
Where is Poneke on the sexist bigotry of the left!!!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Pig and whistle.
There has to be a Tui advert in there somewhere.
Can anyone guarantee that the vast amounts of dead pig imported into NZ has come from better conditions.
We can move onto the next story now, like making criminals out of Fathers
UPDATE Just for the record. It seems it was Mike King doing all the whistling
Righties are happier too!!!
Most young people start out as naive, idealistic liberals. But as they get older, that changes. They get more conservative, usually because they grow up. But just imagine that you never get out of that liberal mindset.
And while we are on the subject of filth and pigs
Cops response; " Push a little harder, you might get the rear number plate in as well".
Meanwhile, half the police force are out writing tickets to keep the whole malignant system running.
Meanwhile, we will keep letting them shit in our faces.
My contempt for you all (and myself for putting up with it) is total.
Pork and game pate
2lb each belly of pork and leg of veal
1½lb of back pork fat
1 wild duck or pheasant
2 teacups dry white wine
1 tbsp salt
8-10 juniper berries
1 large clove garlic
10 peppercorns
2 tbsp stock made from the duck carcase with a little extra white wine or Madiera
1. Here is a pate on a somewhat larger scale, suitable for a party or for a buffet supper. It will be sufficient for twenty - twenty-five people, and is all the better for being made three or four days in advance.
2. Quantities are, 2lb each of belly of pork and leg of veal (the pieces sold by some butchers as pie veal will do, as these are usually oddments of good quality trimmed from escalopes and so on), ½lb of back pork fat and 1 wild duck or pheasant. For the seasoning you need 2 teacups of dry white wine, 1 tbsp of salt, 8 to 10 juniper berries, 1 large clove of garlic, 10 peppercorns, 2 tbsp of stock made from the duck carcase with a little extra white wine or Madeira.
3. Mince the pork and veal together, or to save time get the butcher to do this for you. Partly roast the duck or pheasant, take all the flesh from the bones, chop fairly small and mix with the pork and veal. Add 5oz of the fat cut into little pieces, the garlic, juniper berries and peppercorns all chopped together, the salt. Pour in the white wine, amalgamate thoroughly and leave in a cold place while you cook the duck carcase and the trimmings in a little water and wine with seasonings to make the stock. Strain it, reduce to 2 tbsp, and add to the mixture (if it is necessary to expedite matters, this part of the preparation can be dispensed with altogether; it is to add a little extra gamy flavour to the pate).
4. Turn into a 3-pint terrine; cover the top with a criss-cross pattern of the rest of the pork fat cut into little strips. Cover with foil. Stand in a baking tin containing water, and cook in a low oven 160C/330F/Gas3 for 2 hours. During the last 15 minutes remove the paper, and the top of the pate will cook to a beautiful golden brown.
5. One wild duck or pheasant to 1.75kg/4lb of meat sounds a very small proportion for a game pate, but will give a sufficiently strong flavour for most tastes. Also the seasonings of garlic, pepper and juniper berries are kept in very moderate proportions when the pate is for people who may not be accustomed to these rather strong flavours, and with whose tastes one may not be familiar.
6. To serve a large pate for a party the best plan is to slice it down just before the party, but leaving the terrine in its original shape. In this way the appearance will not be spoilt, but the slices will be quite easy to lift out.
Pigs are food. It always amazes me that we manage to get all knotted up about meat.
If you don't like it don't eat it, or better still pay top dollar for food that has been raised with daily massages, therapy sessions and a full and satisfying life...
I will be buying the cheap bacon for Sunday breakfast again this week and I don't give a toss where it came from. I do however care about the price. But hey what do I care really. If these cardigan wearing wankers and their tame crap comic make domestic bacon to expensive I will just buy the foreign stuff.
Many more mouth watering dishes made with DEAD PIG can be found here
Making a pig of your SAFE pork campaign!!
Inuendo, Half Truths and Bias
John Armstrong, for whose writing Adolf has great respect, lets himself down with a couple of unsubstantiated assumptions. The Herald editorial is worse. Straight tabloid crap full of innuendo, bias, invective, sanctimony and pious bullshit.
Readers should search the Heralds's archives and wonder why the same invective was nowhere to be seen as day after day this sorry rag reported each killing of a Maori child. Then write to Tim Murphy and ask him why.
Here's John Armstrong:-
".....despite further questions about her suitability being raised by disturbing revelations about her private life carried in last Sunday's newspapers."
The 'disturbing revelations' have been soundly booted into touch by Ms Rankin and people close to the family.
"Still also in question is the damage this episode has done to the Families Commission's credibility, given most people will now assume the organisation is about to become a mouthpiece for Rankin."
Not true, Mr Armstrong. This Commission never had any credibility. Most people will assume the Commission might now find the gumption to stand up and actually make the hard calls which are necessary if we are to solve our outrageous problem of child abuse in Maori families.
Similarly, Audrey Young does herself no favours with this gem:-
"It is understood the Government has been shocked by the fallout over her appointment which, instead of dying down, intensified after murky details of her private life became public at the weekend."
Murky? Goodness me. I can find allegations about almost every cabinet minister since the Crimean War which could better be illustrated as 'murky.'
Here's what passes these days for serious editorial comment.
"If Ms Rankin had been appointed Children's Commissioner, it might be appropriate. But this four-times-married woman has been appointed to a body whose brief - providing a voice for New Zealand families - is altogether different."
The Herald fails to tell us why it is altogether different. It's as though we are meant to believe that somehow children are things which have no place, let alone pride of place, in families. To be spouting this nonsense indicates The Herald has succumbed to the social engineering of the last nine years. Ms Rankin's appointment already has gone someway to undoing the damage.
Then we are told she achieved nothing of note while she was at WINZ or since.
What the writer actually means is that his media bloodhound colleagues reported nothing of note, other than the much publicised Wairakei Resort conference which, as a matter of interest, was a relatively inexpensive affair compared to private industry functions at the time. (And Adolf can attest to the fact that the so called 'luxury resort' in fact was and is pretty ordinary and would not have rated more than four stars.)
The piece de resistance however, for which she must pay the ultimate price, is the sin of 'being seen dancing WITH HER HUSBAND' at the National Party election night do at Sky City.
What an absolute scarlet bitch she must be. You'd even suspect she paid for her own ticket to the ball!
There's No Justice
Monday, May 18, 2009
Labour Joins National Rugby League
Back then, prominent members of the NRL sexually abused women groupies and patted themselves on the back, congratulating themselves on their superior prowess and stamina.
Today, prominent members of the Labour party and their literati groupies verbally abuse women, congratulating themselves on their superior intelligence and perspicacity.
Unfortunately for Labour, they haven't got a clue what message they are sending to voters when they open their raucous mouths to deliver their salvos against Christine Rankin, Melissa Lee, Anne Tolley and Paula Bennett.
The mental image they are creating is of de facto leader Trevor Mallard and his rag taggle team of cowardly bullies, screwing over every female MP or personage within sight, while not daring to take on the big boys Key, Hide, Brownlee, Ryall and Power or the tough political operators like Collins and Roy.
The women voters of Mt Albert will be watching carefully.
More and more Adolf is becoming convinced the Greens will defeat Labour in Mt Albert. More accurately perhaps, Labour will defeat themselves. It is though they are flailing around with no clear strategy and even less tactical competence while The Greens are simply walking over the top of them with better strategy and excellent tactics.
Blamange Squeezes Rock
Well, actually it's the headline writer who wrote the rot.
Squeeze goes on to dump RankinWhen you read on down, you find the 'squeeze' is being applied by none other than the cotton wool cowlicked Dunny and The Man Who Never Is, Filk Goff.
John Key will know that out where the votes count in 2011, Ms Rankin's appointment will be worth at least two percentage points of party vote. If he forces her outbecause of the mewling of outraged social engineers, he will lose big time within the constutency which put him in. Country New Zeealand.
Tracy, she won't be dumped. Barnseley, she doesn't have to 'perform on TV' You'd think from all the screeching that she had been appointed the Chairman or CEO of this useless outfit. She is just one lousy member of a hitherto do nothing board on a hitherto useless outfit born out of the hermaphroditic dreams of Peter Dunne. (For those who are thick, there was only one parent.)
Adolf awaits the announcement from the Families Commission that it will focus it's energy on the endemic cancer in Maoridom of family violence and child abuse. Only then will Dunny's lovechild be of any use to the country. By triggering the resignation of the fat Druid, Christine Rankin has achieved a major step toward that goal before she even gets her feet under the table.
If her appointment serves to remove Dunne from his coalition arrangement with National then the Family Commission will have acheived it's second success.
More strength to her arm.
As a one-time publisher of car-crash photos myself, I have some thoughts on the matter. The fact is, a lot of people are interested in car crashes - hell, J.G. Ballard wrote a whole book about it. I'm one of those people. The fact also is, a lot of people are interested in seeing severely or fatally damaged human bodies. To some extent I'm also one of those people - wouldn't go looking for such photos, but look with interest if I come across one. I don't see any moral problem with that - given the number of people into this stuff, I believe an interest in violent death is hard-wired into us. However, I do think there's a moral line between publishing pictures of severely-damaged cars, which are simply interesting objects, and publishing pictures of severely-damaged people, who should not be treated as objects (even when dead, at which point they are objects - objectively speaking). At bottom these photos are all about death and serious injury, whether there's a human in them or not, but the ones with a human in them are a gross abuse of the human involved and anyone who cared about them.
That said, I don't think there's a right not to be photographed, and the world's photojournalism books are full of pictures of dead Third Worlders who are different from Ms Catsouras only in that their families don't have easy access to lawyers and TV news crews. It's easy to understand the Catsouras family's pain, but a court-enforced ban on publishing photographs of people who haven't signed a waiver would be an unjustified curtailment of freedom of expression.


text:
This morning I had the Frigid 5K on my schedule as part of the MDRA Grand Prix Series. The race didn't begin until 10 AM at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, only an hour drive away so I had a ton of time before the race to run with Topaz.
A beautiful morning! Snow snow snow and a nice mild temperature of 19F. Topaz and I began at 5 AM. I didn't go out to the snowshoe trail as I knew that would wipe me out and figured I should at least try to race the 5K in a few hours. Instead we ran the gravel roads through the refuge. I didn't realize it was snowing until I was outside and felt it fall upon my face. The sky was pretty cloudy so there was no moon shine.
A mix of jogging and running, I ran 14 miles and circled back for home. The boys were still sleeping so I was off the hook for breakfast, I decided I'd cook a nice brunch after I returned home from St. Paul.
A quick shower - otherwise I freeze to death - dry running clothes and off to the races!
Originally Valentine 5K was scheduled as the February race for the Grand Prix, but they don't time the race, so instead they decided on The Frigid 5. It was cool being on the State Fairgrounds in the winter without a million people milling around. Parking was a breeze and we were able to use the Collesium for changing/warming up.
The route was pretty flat-inside the fairgrounds-past the Cheesecurds, French Fries and Sweet Martha's Cookies! It seemed as though Troy and I were just here but it was 7 months ago. I was suprised how WINDY it was as I felt no wind in Orrock when I was running just a few hours prior.
I finished the race in 25:15. My goal was under 30; goal achieved. Made me wonder how much faster I could have gone if I hadn't run a few hours before? Probably not faster at all. Running faster causes me to gasp and get a side ache-heaven forbid I should try to run faster!
When I returned home the boys and their friends were awake and I prepared them a brunch of Belgian waffles, sausage and cinnamon rolls. They enjoyed it immensely.
Now we are off for a day at the ski hill.
Next race: Human Race 8K

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It's that time a year and if your like me, both your email and your mail box is getting flooded with catalogs & random offers. I generally throw most of this junk away, but this one I felt the need to share. I don't know if it was intelligent marketing or just pure luck, but Cuisinart just sent out an email promoting their recipe contest winner – who won for the recipe listed below. What makes it interesting to me is that it's a chile based recipe, sent to me, a guy that love chile peppers and also someone that has been wanting one of those mixers for quite sometime (though I have no need for it).
One chile ancho
One chile mulato
Two chiles de Arbol, Japanese chiles or similar fiery chiles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 Egg yolks
6 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 ½ cups low fat milk
8 to 10 oz bittersweet chocolate cut in small pieces*
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
*Get the best chocolate available such as Valrhona or Callebaut bittersweet. If not available use Lindt 72% or a similar high quality chocolate.
Using rubber gloves, cut chiles open; remove seeds, stems, and veins. Place chiles in a small pan and pour enough boiling water to cover. Set aside.
Place chopped chocolate in a double boiler and heat gently until just melted. Set aside.
In a Cuisinart Stand Mixer using the Chef's Whisk attachment whip the egg yolks, sugar, and starch until very thick and foamy
Put milk in a sauce pan and bring to the scalding point
With the mixer at low speed add the hot milk to the egg mixture pouring it near the side of the bowl
Once completely mixed place mixture back in the saucepan and cook until thickened, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Remove pan from heat and mix in the melted chocolate. Set aside to cool. For faster results place pan in an ice bath and cool rapidly while stirring.
While custard cools, put the chiles and brown sugar in a Cuisinart Blender. Blend to a smooth paste. Run the paste through a fine sieve. Discard solids. Taste for flavor. The paste should be pungent and slightly sweet. There should be about ½ cup paste. Set aside.
In a Cuisinart Stand Mixer whisk the cream until very thick but not to the point where it forms peaks. At low speed mix the custard with the cream. Place the custard into a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and begin churning. When custard is slightly thickened add chile mixture two or three tablespoons at a time. Taste after each addition, allowing enough time for the chile paste to mix with the custard. The custard should taste of rich chocolate with a smoky, slightly pungent finish. Continue adding chile paste until desired taste is achieved. Finish churning. Place in container and freeze for two hours.
Low Glycemic index alternatives for diabetic users: Replace sugar in custard with Stevia Extract. Add it to the custard after it has cooked and it is slightly cool. Add it 10 drops at a time until desired sweetness is achieved. Replace the starch in recipe with ¾ teaspoon gelatin. Bloom the gelatin in a bit of water for five minutes and then heat gently to dissolve. Add the bloomed gelatin to the custard immediately after removing from the fire. Replace the brown sugar in the chile paste with Stevia Extract. Add it ten drops at a time until the chile paste tastes slightly sweet but still a bit pungent


text:
Polluters along two of China's main rivers have defied a decade-old clean-up effort, leaving much of the water unfit to touch, let alone drink, and a risk to a sixth of the population, state media said on Monday.
BEIJING -- Polluters along two of China's main rivers have defied a decade-old clean-up effort, leaving much of the water unfit to touch, let alone drink, and a risk to a sixth of the population, state media said on Monday.
Half the check points along the Huai River and its tributaries in central and eastern China showed pollution of "Grade 5" or worse -- the top of the dial in key toxins, meaning that the water was unfit for human contact and may not be fit even for irrigation, national legislators were told.
Years of crackdowns and waste treatment investment have reined in some of the worst damage to the Huai and Liao Rivers, but industrial pollution remained far too high, Mao Rubai, chairman of the National People's Congress environment and resources protection committee, said in a report delivered on Sunday.
The rivers posed a "threat to the water safety of one sixth of the country's 1.3 billion population", the China Daily said.
The pollution on the Huai threatened the massive South-North Water Transfer Project to draw water from the Yangtze River through the Huai basin to the country's parched north, Mao said.
"Large volumes of untreated domestic effluent and industrial waste-water are dumped directly into the river," Mao said of one of the Huai's worst polluted tributaries, according to the NPC Web site (www.npc.gov.cn).
"To judge from the inspection, the quality of water used for the South-North Water Transfer Project is threatened by pollution, and this must attract our vigilance."
In Zhoukou city in central Henan province, 15 of 23 factories inspected were found to be illegally dumping waste, Mao said.
Ma Kai, the chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, which steers industrial policy, said meeting energy and pollution reduction targets would be made a major factor in considering promotions for provincial-level officials, the China News Service reported.
China has promised to cut emissions of major pollutants by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010, but last year failed to meet the annual goal.
Mao's call for stricter standards and enforcement came as government leaders promised to lift ceilings on fines for polluters. But Mao went a step further, warning that even factories that met pollution limits were still dumping too many chemicals.
"This situation is directly related to the fact that water pollution standards for some of our country's industries are too low," he said.
Even if standards were met, the volume of toxins entering the Huai "far exceeds the capacity of the river basin to replenish itself and will inevitably create pollution", he said.
Pollutants have also tainted underwater supplies down to a depth of 300 metres in places along the Huai.
The eastern route of the transfer project is scheduled to begin pumping water in 2008, but plans to reduce pollution in Jiangsu province have not been implemented.
"The quality of the transferred water will be very difficult to ensure," said Mao.
The Liao River in China's northeast also remains beset by polluters, with large volumes of untreated waste flowing through it into the sea.
Mao said that officials along both rivers had only used some of the funds set aside for pollution treatment projects.
Source: Reuters
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text:
Here's the latest article from the Deafness site at BellaOnline.com.
Otosclerosis is a common cause of deafness, particularly for women. What is it?
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Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
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One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


text:
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Silver Heart Blank is made by professional Jewelers in the USA. The difference in quality between our jewelry and other jewelry featuring prints is quite substantial. The secret is our exclusive process. Most jewelry manufacturers use machines and processes meant to make other types of jewelry. We tried using this equipment. The problem was the end result looked very flat and blurred. The equipment works great for most types of jewelry but for print jewelry the finished product did not meet our expectations. We stepped back from the situation and realized it was time to reinvent the machine. After 5 years of software, machine and process development, we ended up here. We can capture the tiniest of details, even from smudged or blurred prints.


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UBS (UBS) said Tuesday that Barry Mitchell–an advisor with yearly fees and commissions of $1.9 million and assets under management of roughly $290 million–joined its New York operations from Merrill Lynch. Mitchell will work in the Park Avenue office, where he will report to branch manager Dan Shepler.
This news comes five days after UBS promoted Bob McCann (left) to the CEO slot for the Americas, which include about 6,900 financial advisors. McCann–a former Merrill Lynch executive–has led the wealth-management operations of UBS in the Americas since 2009 and has successfully recruited a number of managers and advisors to UBS from Bank of America-Merrill during that time.
"I see this [promotion of McCann] as a relatively loud signal of UBS' dedication to its U.S. brokerage business and also to wealth management as its core business worldwide," said Chip Roame, head of Tiburon Strategic Advisors, in an interview with AdvisorOne on Friday.
"McCann is a long-time private client group executive at UBS and Merrill," Roame explained. "The appointment of him as head of the entire UBS U.S. operation says to me that the emphasis will remain on private-client business, as opposed to investment banking, asset management, or anything else."
As UBS has grappled with a number of issues, there has been continued speculation that its U.S.-based operations could be put up for sale and then perhaps purchased by a wirehouse rival, such as Wells Fargo. UBS has repeatedly denied such plans.
In mid-November, UBS shared plans to strengthen its wealth-management units while scaling down its investment bank and introducing new performance targets companywide. This announcement followed the news that UBS had made then-interim CEO Sergio Ermotti the official head of the investment bank.
Meanwhile, UBS rival BofA (BAC) recently reached a $315 million settlement with class-action plaintiffs who had sued Merrill Lynch over claims tied to mortgage-backed securities, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday. Beginning in December 2008, Merrill Lynch was sued by holders of asset-backed certificate holders for alleged "false and misleading" prospectus statements related to $85 billion in securities, Bloomberg reported, based on a brief filed on Monday with the court in New York.


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Our Search for the Best Gewurztraminer Under $20
Seeking the best value for the buck.
While I'm grateful to the El Niño/global warming gods for taking it easy on us this winter, I've found this summer to be particularly oppressive. And with all the heat and humidity comes several ongoing patterns—pants, dresses, and sleeves get shorter, foreheads and backs-of-necks get redder (or in my case, browner) and wines get colder. I prefer to beat the heat by flying to a private island and sipping Coco Locos on the beach, but when my private jet is undergoing repairs, a cold, crisp glass of white wine in my small New York apartment suffices.
Usually I reach for a dry Riesling or a partially-oaked Chardonnay, but if my notorious sweet tooth kicks in or I'm opting out of dessert for the night, Gewürztraminer hits the spot. Often on the floral side and somewhat effervescent, this wine can be a refreshing alternative to your go-to white, especially when you're looking for something that will go well with food.
Pink Grapes, White Wine
Gewürztraminer grapes produce an aromatic and sometimes spicy white wine (Gewürz actually means "spicy"). They're white wines, but the grapes are pink or reddish in color. In order to achieve the golden, yellow color you typically see, the juice must be pressed off of the skins right after the grapes are crushed, to prevent color from the skins from seeping into the juice.
Where It's Produced
Gewürztraminer does well in cooler climates to prevent the natural sugar levels from getting out of control—and because cooler weather helps to preserve the acid in the grapes, keeping the wine in balance. Most likely, the Gewürztraminer you'll find at your local wine store will come from France, specifically from Alsace on the eastern side of the country (right next to Germany). You'll recognize these bottles as tall and thin, with or without screwcap.
Despite the über German-sounding name, production in Germany is much lower, but you may find a bottle or two from Pfalz or another region. To round out the Old World regions, Italy, particularly Alto Adige in the north, is another source of Gewürztraminer.
In the New World, look out for California, New York, Washington, and even Australia.
How to Serve Gewürztraminer
Because of the slight sweetness of Gewürztraminer, it's best to get a decent chill on this wine to prevent it from tasting too syrupy (50 degrees F or so, a little lower for sweeter bottles)—a couple hours in the fridge should do the trick. Gewürztraminer is typically consumed young, with 4 years of aging or less. It will taste great with food that might make drier wines taste bitter—try spicy Chinese dishes, slightly sweet Thai options, or even pastry. It will work nicely with a cheese plate, as well.
So which bottles should you try? We put a half-case to the test, including a few widely available bottles from Alsace and California.
Seek Out These Bottles
Lucien Albrecht Gewürztraminer Reserve 2010 ($19) from Alsace was very distinct aroma, almost like orange teriyaki sauce. And the characteristic sweetness was well balanced—it's sweet-and-sour when it hits your tongue. Try this apple-pie-like wine with Chinese food or crusty bread and cheese.
Also from Alsace, Hugel and Fils Gewürztraminer "Hugel" 2010 ($20) had a peppery, spicy scent that carried through in the flavor. Bright acidity and a hint of bitterness at the finished worked well to balance out the sweetness of this wine. Try it with pepper crusted tuna or a mustardy chicken salad.
The claim to fame of the Gundlach Bundshu* Estate Vineyard Sonoma Coast 2011 ($18) is that this wine is dry, dry, dry—a reputation which the California bottle certainly lived up to. This was probably the lightest option of the group of wines we tried, with a bright effervescence. Crisp, unripe pear and light lime acidity kept it lively. Drink it on its own as an aperitif, or serve with a salad dressed with a citrus vinaigrette.
*Pronounced like gun-lock bun-shoe as you can gather from their fun t-shirts
Although not a pure Gewürztraminer, the white blend St. Francis White Splash 2010 ($12), also from California, is a light summer sipper (albeit with marginally more Gewürztraminer than Pinot Grigio, Malvasia, and Viognier). The smell of lemonade was echoed by lemony flavors with a hint of vanilla in the juice. This slightly sweet wine was balanced enough that you could imagine drinking it for a while with some light appetizers.
On the Sweeter Side
A few of the other bottles we tried were complex and tasty, but definitely not dry refreshers.
One bottle that really screamed for food was the Dopff and Irion Gewürztraminer 2009 ($17). A vivid apple scent wafted from the glass and hinted at the sweetness to come. You could really taste the residual sugar on the tip of the tongue, so make sure to get a nice chill on this one to prevent the sweetness from being overwhelming.
With its strong lychee aromas, Willm Alsace Reserve Gewürztraminer 2010 ($16) would work well as a post-dinner treat, though you could also serve it with spicy Thai food. There's a slight effervescence and herbal, sage-like bitterness here that we enjoyed.
Add Your Picks
Do you buy Gewürztraminer? Let us know in the comments: which bottles have you enjoyed recently, and what foods do you like to eat with this type of wine?


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i suspect the IDF will strike first , they suspect and rightfully so, the USA is going to be of no help at all.
the IDF will attack on either necessity or political window opening.
i suspect they have held back seeing what irans political situation is in flux , maybe thinking more moderate people can have a little influence there.


text: Regardless of whether you love them or fear them, spiders are pretty much always fascinating. A new exhibit called Spiders Alive! at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City opening July 28 will give visitors the chance to see spiders and their relatives live and up close. The exhibit will feature important information about spiders, detailing their anatomy, defensive behavior, hunting strategies, life cycles, and diversity. Approximately 20 different species will be on display alongside spider models, videos, and fossils. For those who aren't too squeamish, museum staff will be handling live arachnids, giving museum-goers a chance to see them up close. On display will be some of the most impressive arachnid species, including the Goliath bird eater, one of the largest spiders in the world, and the western black widow, one of the most venomous spiders in North America. For those not traveling to New York anytime soon or who are too arachnophobic to check out the spiders live, we'll take a look at these species from the comfort of your computer. Captions courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History Above: Funnel-web wolf spider This spider spins a sheet-like web attached to a narrow tube, or funnel. Sitting at the mouth of the tube, the spider waits to strike after feeling vibrations of prey crossing the web. Image: AMNHR. MickensGolden orb-web spider Found throughout parts of Asia, this large spider has yellow on its abdomen and spins a golden web. Image: AMNHR. MickensWestern black widow One of the few species harmful to people in North America, a black widow often features a red hourglass shape on its underside. Image: AMNHR. MickensGoliath bird eater One of the biggest spiders in the world, it preys on snakes, mice, and frogs but, despite the name, rarely birds. Image: AMNHR. MickensFishing spider Dolomedes okefinokensis Image: AMNHD. FinninMexican red knee Brachypelma smithi Image: AMNHR. MickensRegal jumping spider Phidippus regius Image: AMNHD. FinninOrb weaver Members of this genus are found all around the world and spin large webs that often contain striking designs. Charlotte's Web author E.B. White, who consulted with a Museum curator while writing the classic children's book, named the main character Charlotte A. Cavatica after a common orb weaver, Araneus cavaticus. Image: AMNHR. MickensGooty sapphire Poecilotheria metallica Image: AMNHR. MickensSpider in amber This spider was trapped in tree resin about 20 million years ago. Over time, the resin fossilized into amber, preserving the animal inside. Image: AMNHD. GrimaldiTailless whip scorpion Not actually a scorpion, this arachnid waves its first pair of legs around to feel its way. A tailless whip scorpion makes a cameo appearance in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which one character wrongly suggests that its bite is lethal. Image: AMNHR. MickensWolf spider Hogna antilucana Image: AMNHR. Mickens


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British Go Journal No. 54. October 1981. Page 19.
This issue we present a double page spread of problems to tax you. The range is considerable with some quite easy problems at the beginning and difficulty jumping up severely at the tail. Problem 8 looks really easy but in fact it is the hardest problem we've ever printed and it may take you all evening to solve.
Problem 1
White to play and live.
Problem 2
This position regularly occurs in games between weaker players. Both sides tenuki, both being under the illusion that the white group is 100% alive. See if you can work out why it isn't.
Problem 3
Black to play. Things look desperate as black has only two liberties and white has three. However, this is the corner and Black can find a move but he has to be very resourceful.
Problem 4
White to play. The lower white group seems to be as dead as a dodo, as it is separated from the upper group by a very resilient looking black position. But appearances are deceptive here and black does have a weakness.
Problem 5
White is caught in the notorious "crane's nest" so he can't run away but must win the semeai locally. However, the white stone in pre-atari leaves white with a problem.
Problem 6
This is a good old fashioned 'Black to play and live' problem. Black can, in fact, make two eyes, but it's not easy going.
Problem 7
It looks as though White has plenty of room to make a second eye in spite of being open skirted. Black to play and prove that White is more vulnerable than he looks.
Problem 8
Black to play and kill. This one is rather hard, but there are not many possibilities, so a bit of patience should suffice. You are warned that the marked Black stone is necessary.
The solutions to all these problems are to be found on pages 26 and 27.


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1. Mac please!
2. Custom palettes. I currently use Studio Artist and you can import a custom color palette to use to "paint" a photo, so even though the picture may have blues and greens, you can choose a custom color palette of say, red and orange, and the program will extrapolate and use the custom color palette of your choosing.
3. Auto paint feature.
4. Text/type tools.
5. Triangle/shape brushes in coordination with auto trace.
6. Layers and transparent background like photoshop.
Looking forward to the new release!


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The Scottish Prisoner is the first Diana Gabaldon book I've read. So it was tricky to get into the story which involves characters well developed in her many earlier books. And there was the matter of timeslip, mercifully I was clued into that one so I wasn't entirely lost. The friend who assured me I would love Gabaldon's historical fiction is herself writing an excellent historical romance. It includes the same type of timeslip–maybe a convention of the various historical fiction genres? In any case, I caught on and the book caught me so I tackled its 500+ pages in one afternoon/evening. Worth it.
The novel is a complicated eighteenth century spy thriller. Plot is tangled upon plot and Gabaldon skillfuly unravels the twisted yarns as she examines the minds and hearts of the men who march around foiling terrorists and getting themselves bloodied. There is a lot of physical violence, mud, dirt, horrible weather, lack of shelter, acute seasickness and smashed brains. But as much introspection, heartache, desperate attempts at honor and rough friendship. I had not encountered Lord John Grey before nor Jamie Fraser. They head a cast of very colorful characters who covet strange treasures found in a bog, write poems in the old language that are really code for uprisings, betray each other for the slightest reasons at every turn and rush into battle on any pretext. Grey and Fraser have a knotty history. They don't like each other at first, don't trust each other ever, don't hesitate to risk their lives for each other and end up acting more like brothers–if exceedingly contentious ones–than mortal enemies. All for good reason, it turns out.
It's a doable one-day read, if not a sensible one. I can sum the book up at this late hour by saying The Scottish Prisoner is a terrific story. It is complicated enough to keep you guessing and larded with so much period detail you can taste the mud and the flat ale. I can't indulge myself in reading many more of Gabaldon's hefty tomes in one gulp without abandoning the rest of life completely so I may have to wait before attempting another one. But I will explore more of them. 1760 was a very good year for a conspiracy plot and the adventures it took to spoil it. I wouldn't mind spending more time in that world–a kind of timeslip for the reader who can travel back to the messy pages of history trapped in the mesmerizing pages of a book.
The Scottish Prisoner: A Novel (Lord John) Diana Gabaldon | Delacorte Press 2011


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As I mentioned in my original post, Exploring Excel 2013 as Microsoft's BI Client, I will be posting tips regularly about using Excel 2013. Much of the content will be a result of my daily interactions with business users and other BI devs. In order to not forget what I learn or discover, I write it down … here. I hope you too will discover something new you can use. Enjoy!
Adding Calculated Members to the Excel 2013 Workbook
In my last tip (#8), I discussed using calculated measures. In this tip, I will talk about creating a calculated member. The primary difference is that a member becomes a part of a dimension and can be used as a filter, column header, row header, or even a slicer.
In my simple example, I want to created an aggregated set of categories used in my polls called "Cool Cats" which contained the Fun, Entertainment, and Sports categories and puts my new member in the Poll Category attribute hierarchy. I will use this to see how many submissions there were in these categories.
As before, you can create and manage calculated members from the ANALYZE tab in the PIVOTTABLE TOOLS ribbon. Use the OLAP Tools menu and select the MDX Calculated Member option. If you have already created the member, use the Manage Calculations option to edit existing members and measures.
The New Calculated Member dialog is different from the dialog used to edit the member. Let's start with the create dialog as noted below.
(1) Assign your measure a name. It will have to be unique in the context of the the Parent Hierarchy.
(2) Assign the Parent Hierarchy and Parent Member. This establishes where you plan to locate the new member. As you can see you can choose any hierarchy you use in your cube. The Parent Member property lets you choose that first level within the hierarchy. In my case, I am choosing the Poll Category attribute hierarchy and the All member as the parent.
(3) Create your member with MDX. Because you are creating a member, it is important that your MDX resolves to a member. As a side note I used a set initially which passed the Test MDX operation, but displayed as #VALUE in Excel.
(4) Test MDX will allow you verify you have no syntax errors in your member creation. However, as I noted in step 3 it is not flawless, so you may still have issues even though it is valid syntax.
A couple of important concepts. In my situation, the Cool Cats member stopped at the top level. If I put this in the Category hierarchy which has multiple levels, Cool Cats would have no children as it is a stand alone member. However, when applied at a filter level it will filter results properly. The image below shows the filter in use.
Now when I pull the Poll Category hierarchy into the pivot table you will see that Cool Cats is a peer member and has the valid value. By default Excel will not calculate the Grand Total with those members twice.
You will need to be prepared to properly call this out for your users so the understand how calculated members operate in this scenario.
A common use case for creating calculated members is to create date members that aren't easily created or tested. This will allow you to work out the member and how it affects the user experience.


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Apple says China iPhone 5 sales in first weekend top 2 million
Apple Inc sold more than 2 million of its new iPhone 5 in China during the three days after its launch there on Friday, marking China's best-selling iPhone rollout ever, the company said late on Sunday.
"Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a statement.
Continue Reading Below
Apple's latest iPhone, which offers a larger 4-inch screen and 4G capability, was launched in the United States and 30 other countries in September, when the company sold more than 5 million of the devices in the first three days.
The device's highly anticipated release in China, Apple's second-biggest market, failed to stop the recent share slide of the world's most valuable technology company, and analysts said Apple's longer-term China hopes may hinge on a partnership with China Mobile Ltd, the country's top telecoms carrier.


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Enter your model number or a part number and click "Search"
Compactor stuck in lower position
Moved the compactor out from under cabinet and unplugged the powercable.Laid compactor over on its side Removed the top (4 screws) and base plate (3 screws) as well as the coverplate for the motor(3 s...read more
Paper & Plastic 15" Compactor Bags not available
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Trash Compactor ram wouldn't lower
I pulled the trash compactor out from under the counter.I took out the four screws that kept the top cover in place to expose the ram.The gear shafts were turning but the ram w...read more
Bearings went out in the drum.
purchased the bearings at Napa auto parts for 16$. Over all it was a little difficult to get the bearings out and back in. Used a brass drift to drive them out and to seat them back in.....read more
Change out defective switch
Pulled out compactor drawer and removed same, slid the compactor cabinet out and unpluged the appliance. Removed the two phillips head screws to release the control panel. lossened the locking nut fro...read more
Roller was flat
Bought wrong roller. The drawer roller is different than the stationary rollers. Note the difference....read more
Scratches in Surface
This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and din...read more
Light switch broke on refridgerator door.
I measured the part then looked for a similar switch that might work. I was so happy to find the exact part we needed for our 24 year old refridgerator!! I was so impressed with your slection of par...read more
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text: Jacintha Saldanha's children told a mass in her memory her death left 'an unfillable void' [AFP]British detectives investigating the death of a nurse found hanged after she took a prank phone call at a hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate have passed an evidence file to prosecutors. Police said on Saturday that public prosecutors must decide whether the case is strong enough to bring charges over a stunt that was condemned around the world and fuelled concerns about media ethics. Indian-born Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found hanging in her hospital lodgings in London, days after she answered the prank call from an Australian radio station, an inquest heard. She put the call through to a colleague who disclosed details of the Duchess of Cambridge's condition during treatmentfor an extreme form of morning sickness in the early stages of pregnancy. "Officers submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for them to consider whether any potential offences may have been committed by making the hoax call," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement. A CPS spokesman confirmed it had received the file, but declined to comment on the timing or nature of possible charges. "That is what we will be considering," he said. British Prime Minister David Cameron has described the case as a "complete tragedy" and has said many lessons will have to be learned from the nurse's death. Australia's media regulator has launched an investigation into the phone call. Southern Cross Austereo, parent company of radio station 2Day FM, has apologised for the stunt. Britain's own media is already under pressure to agree a new system of self-regulation and avoid state intervention following a damning inquiry into reporting practices. The presenters who made the call, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, have apologised for their actions. SOURCE: Agencies Europe Australia India United Kingdom


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The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
This course offers a thematic and historical introduction to Hinduism for students of theology and religious studies. Focusing on the brahmanical tradition we will explore the textual sources, categories, practices and social institutions that formed that tradition. Primary texts in translation will provide the basis for reflection on issues such as dharma, renunciation, caste, and concepts of deity. We then move on to some of the major philosophical developments of the tradition, with particular emphasis on the Vedanta.
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies 13 - 15 Magdalen Street, Oxford OX1 3AE, UK Tel: 01865 304300Regd Charity No. 1074458
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