Author Archive

As Nero Fiddles…

Written By: Bill - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 13th, 2010 - 74 comments

Climate change and a shoals of dirty little red herrings would seem to go together like salt and pepper or cheese and pickle.

Managing Addiction

Written By: Bill - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 6th, 2010 - 32 comments

We’ve had numerous prescriptions claiming to tackle ever growing numbers of social ills, but the elephant in the room; the underlying cause for our problems as a society is always, assiduously ignored. And that means that many of our resources are being wasted (perhaps deliberately) on illusory problems.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Written By: Bill - Date published: 1:10 pm, October 29th, 2010 - 22 comments

28% of the population raised out of poverty.

50% growth over a five and a half year period

8.2% growth per annum

Unemployment down from 21.5% to 8.5%

Inflation adjusted wages up by more than 40%

As The Dust Settles

Written By: Bill - Date published: 10:06 am, October 26th, 2010 - 8 comments

It appears that Bob Parker is about to kick up a storm by insisting that commercial buildings be either repaired or demolished by 31/01/11. He should be reaping a whirlwind.

A Case of IHG?

Written By: Bill - Date published: 11:30 pm, October 6th, 2010 - 31 comments

Seems these days that when people get in to financial strife, the Government is all too happy to offer a helping hand loaded down with wadges of cash. Sometimes…

And then sometimes something altogether more short and sharp is offered. Depending…

Que CERRA, CERRA?

Written By: Bill - Date published: 6:30 pm, September 29th, 2010 - 63 comments

After picking up my award for worst ever ‘Standard’ post title, I’d just like to say that there seems to a penchant these days to leave too many things up to higher powers, or perceived authorities. And authorities and those who are ideologically aligned with them or reliant upon them, naturally enough encourage such a giving away of agency. It’s not always deliberate. And it’s certainly not a conspiracy. It’s just the way it is and is borne of habit. This morning afforded a fairly clear example of it.

Meanwhile, in some good news…

Written By: Bill - Date published: 7:40 am, September 28th, 2010 - 12 comments

While the Anglo – Saxon or English speaking left seems unable to shake a deep malaise that began afflicting it some thirty years ago, the left in the Spanish speaking world is making some remarkable strides forward.

Asbestos City

Written By: Bill - Date published: 7:40 am, September 26th, 2010 - 20 comments

In the aftermath of the twin towers, the dust that accompanied their collapse gave rise to a health crisis in the medium/long term that continues to play out to this day. And given the prevalence of asbestos in Christchurch buildings, it just might be that the earthquake will result in a number of preventable deaths after all…

Pause For Thought # 1

Written By: Bill - Date published: 7:25 am, September 24th, 2010 - 30 comments

The suspension of normal democratic processes in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake should be an occasion to pause for thought in the light of likely future events.