The Hobbit - I'll Write No More Until Production Is Well Underway In NZ

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Best write up: http://publicaddress.net/default,6916,anatomy-of-a-shambles.sm

Best line (Jeremy Eade): Bloody Actors. How do we know this isn't just an act. It might be a workshop. [source]

Best suggested video [source]

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Regulatory Standards Bill: Explanation & Submission [Updated]

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You've done your Treaty Principles Bill submission , and that was a piece of cake eh. If that's what all Bill submissions are like then bring it on, the voice of the masses can be finally heard. Hmmmm, seems it's different for each Bill, which sort of makes sense. The Treaty Principles Bill is something that's not going anywhere no matter what happens, so it's been made very much a, "Tell us what you think and what could be done", expecting a tsunami of, "It's crap, throw it away". The response is gonna be, "Ok, we asked and we're gonna throw it away, as we were gonna anyway." There are Bills that have some substance to them, and the relevant Select Committee really do want to know what "we" think. In particular they want to know what the view of experts on that Bill's subject. This is the majority of normal Select Committee work, and tbh most of us just let that chug along coz, well, they know best and it's fo...

Regulatory Standards Bill: Submission Guidance & Assistance [Updated]

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Submission form: https://consultation.regulation.govt.nz/rsb/have-your-say-on-regulatory-standards-bill/consultation/intro/ *phew*, this is hard work. Unlike the Treaty Principles Bill which has a tonne of templates and publicly available submissions for you to copy/amend/submit, the Regulatory Standards Bill has very little out there. Which is unexpected as this is the fourth time this Bill has been put forward. But riding in to save me all the hard work is the  Proposed Regulatory Standards Bill : Explainer & Submission Guide , written by Jen Bennett and Melanie Nelson with contributions from several others. I found this via RenRen and my new online friend (she doesn't know it yet), Melanie Nelson and her Substack posts . To get your submission juices flowing here's two to have a read of: 18. The ACT Party has tried to pass this legislation three times and has failed. As a fervent supporter of a “three strikes” approach when dealing with sentencing, it should apply the s...

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Regulatory Standards Bill: What Is A "Person"

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"Right Wing" Comedians

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The Cookie Time DC-3, I Found It

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Every Kiwi that has ever been on a roadtrip up / down State Highway 1 knows about the Mangaweka Cookie Time Douglas DC-3 café. You may stopped off and had a look around inside, the kids and I certainly have. But in 2021 it was suddenly gone, what happened? Well, it seems the plane was owned by two Mangawekan (?) business people who had a falling out. One dark and stormy night one decided to ship it away without the knowledge of the other (sort of). Shifting the plane meant they had to take the wings off first and now the body lives in Shannon at 2 Ballance Street, just next to the Club Hotel / bar.  Apparently it's being restored and will go back .. it won't. The wings, well who knows where they disappeared to but I understand they're not gonna be joining the body anytime soon. A little history lesson for us all: ZK-APK was delivered to the RNZAF in August 1945, then sold to the newly-formed National Airways Corporation (NAC) in 1947 and given the name Poaka. NAC was New Ze...