Sunday, August 30, 2009

The 'Death Panel' Woman

Betsy McCaughey is said to be the catalyst of the idea of Death Panels when it comes to Obama's health care plan. Below is an interview she had last week with Jon Stewart. The day after this interview she lost her position on the Medical Board she was an advocate on. Oficially the press release says she resigned, many think she was pushed

Part One
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Betsy McCaughey Pt. 1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealthcare Protests


Part Two
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealthcare Protests


Part Three
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 2
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealthcare Protests

Friday, August 28, 2009

Texting while driving

A new series of adverts are currently playing in the UK to discourage teens from texting while driving, TVNZ ran an item on it and showed a part of the shocking footage.

See the story here

Many people have now been saying they want to view the entire video, so here it is.

Never said this before but...viewer discretion is advised



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Confusion surrounding the power bill crisis

I am confused at the moment surrounding the ongoing debate about power costs. We are being told that people’s bill are doubling and flats of girls in Dunedin are paying over $700 a month.

It’s being inferred that the cost of power is doubling…but no report is talking about the cost of power per kWh.

For this to be an outrage, we would expect to see the cost per kWh to have doubled…but it hasn’t.

I can’t say this with ultimate authority, as there may be case out there that fall outside what I about to say, but from doing talkback last weekend on this exact subject, the most people seemed to be able to show in increase per kWh from June last year, to June this year is 10%. And no one said that their daily charge had changed.

So, if your cost of power per kWh has gone up 10%, your daily line charge is unchanged…but your power bill has doubled, the only logical reason is your power consumption has increased significantly…isn’t it?

So if your power bill has doubled, I would bet that your consumption has also…use more power, pay for more power.

Now the other question is, “are we paying too much for our power?” in other words, are the companies charging us too much for our power. Not meaning as an increase, but is 22c per kWh (an average NZ city charge) too expensive. That is a valid question, so what do we see around the world.
USA – LA, price per kWh is 19c (NZ26c)
Australia – Brisbane, price per kWh is 16c (NZ19c)
UK – London. price per kWh is 14p (NZ32c)
SA – Johannesburg, price per kWh is 25c (NZ125c)

So it would appear from our bigger cities, to other western larger cities it’s not that different.

So, we are not hugely different on a world scale, we know our price per kWh has not increased a huge amount, yet our prices are “double”.

Rather than signing protest forms and making complaints, wouldn’t it make more sense first of all to stock take in our own homes and see why our consumption has gone through the roof. If, for example, it’s because the days are colder this year shouldn’t we blame God as opposed to the power companies, or is this just a case of us not being able to afford the amount we now need to pay, and someone needs to take the balme?

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Monday, August 17, 2009

Fox News and Glen Beck…versus clever satire

The debate on health reform in the US goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. How any American can believe what goes out on Fox News makes me scared for common sense and logic.

Below is a clip from The Daily Show that shows Glen Beck turning 180 degrees in that space of 16 months. For this media wing of the Conservative Party to be taken as anything close to ‘Fair and Balanced’, is an insult to intelligent people everywhere…which is maybe why so many hick Americans believe it.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Glenn Beck's Operation
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorSpinal Tap Performance


From Jon Stewart to his ‘understudy’ Stephen Colbert, who has also pointed out very cleverly the distance between Glen Becks comments…and sanity. In the below clip, Beck points towards a possible eugenics programme run by the Obama administration.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Glenn-Harried Glenn-Lost
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorMeryl Streep


Now I know this is just a small blog run out of NZ, but please, if any Americans read this email me, the link is to the left at the bottom of the page, I truly want to know why shows like Beck, Hannity and O’Reilly are just so darn popular. Is it because so many people watch to get informed…or is it why I watch it…it’s nice to see trained (barely) monkeys wearing people clothes

Sunday, August 9, 2009

The TV3 Telethon and the KidsCan Charity

I am confused by the mean spirited selfish attitude of many New Zealanders that I have heard over the past few days with reference to the KidsCan charity.

Firstly let me say that I am not an advocate for this charity, I have nothing to do with them, I have neither spoken to them, nor do I speak for them.

The idea that people should not support this charity, and/or telethon because parents should be looking after the kids themselves flies in that face of logic for supporting any charity.

The basic argument is that parents who send children to school are dirtbags who spend all their benefit on alcohol, dope and pokies. In other words this charity shouldn't exist as this need should be covered by the parents taking responsibility for their kids and themselves. At a basic level this argument is totally correct (although I don’t believe that all children that benefit from this charity would have that same back story) this charity shouldn’t exist, there shouldn’t be a need for it…but there is.

Three quick things…

If we take the line that we shouldn’t need to provide for these children, their parents should do it, then actually no charity should exist. Just as there shouldn’t be kids without shoes and breakfast, there also shouldn’t be children in 3rd world countries starving…there’s plenty or food to go around…but the kids are still there. There shouldn’t be people losing their sight but for a $25 procedure (in Australia for God’s sake) but there is. There shouldn’t be a gap in our healthcare system for kids with cancer…our public health system should cover everything needed…but there is. So World Vision, The Fred Hollows Foundation, The Child Cancer Fund all exist…they shouldn’t need to, but they do. If we take the attitude that we are not going to give because other’s “should be responsible”, then by definition, no charity should exist…or get our support.

Secondly, in all these examples, and other charities, we provide a temporary solution for the problem, not seek an answer for the issue…we step into the gap, hopefully temporarily, to make those hurting the most a bit more comfortable. In the case of KidsCan, if we try to teach the ‘deadbeat parents’ a lesson…it’s still the kids that get hurt. If you saw a hungry kid in the street, you'd give them your spare sandwich...you wouldn't ask to check his parents fridge to see if beer was there, you'd just go straight to the solution.

Finally, and this is more aimed at any charity, there is this argument that goes around that, “I’m not going to give because a third of what I give doesn’t go to the cause, it gets eaten up in administration”, I would pose these questions…how else are the kids in Rwanda going to get fed? How else are the doctors going to work on the man’s eye in Tibet? How is that girl who lives in South Auckland going to get the shoes? Have you been to Rwanda with a packed lunch recently? Are you off to the foothills of the Himalaya’s with some eye wash? Are you a regular visitor to Otara with boxes of Charlie Browns? No? Well someone’s got to do it, and those people operate better, and more efficiently when they have an office, and full time staff committed to the cause.

If you don’t want to support KidsCan…then don’t support it, but don’t try to justify the decision with silly illogical arguments but I would also encourage to support them, and other charities. It's good to give.

Michael Laws wrote a piece that stated “If you’re looking for charity don’t call me”, I would also suggest you shouldn’t call him if you are looking for compassion, logic, talent and good radio ratings…you will find him also a void on any of these topics as well.

Theft in the music industry?

Did celebrated director Taika Waititi steal the idea for the latest Phoenix Foundation music video from an unknown Christchurch musician, Thomas Coffey, as stated in the SST this morning?

You decide...

Thomas Coffey - A Memory of You



The Phoenix Foundation - 40 Years


A very close coincidence? Or theft???

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

MPs housing allowances

The idea that we can compare different sectors of business as a justification for the MPs getting housing allowances and other perks is nonsense.

You choose to be in an area of work, therefore your’re hamstrung by the conditions around it.

Saying that MPs could earn much more in the private sector, firstly is nonsensical as there is no proof that they would get any of the high profile, high paying jobs that they are being compared to. And secondly it’s a silly argument because if we did that we could compare any two sectors as a justification for high, or indeed low salaries.

The CEO of a major charity could claim that the money you give to support the charity needs to fund their exorbitant salary because “…I could get much more in the private sector”, we wouldn’t accept it then, neither should we accept it as an excuse for our MPs ‘double dipping’

As for the MPs themselves claiming that they are ‘keeping their families together’ and having that ludicrous claim backed by the Prime Minister, just shows how out of touch with us lowly citizens. A salary of $275,000 should well enough keep a family together. I keep mine together on well less than one quarter of that.