New Ideas & Other Stuff

Why is nothing black and white
Decisions made once and for all
Is the the greater good more important than the individual?

There is day and night
Sun and stars and moon
A time to work and time for rest...Time out for some

Age will come for all in time
We all come closer to the line
Look back and see its all been done there is lots to celebrate

The world is full of goodness
Though some times hard to see
Be open and receptive
Look for beauty and the positive
Then your life will be happy & carefree

A sunset a rosebud
The song of a thrush
A little bit of nature
Makes us value who we are
Part of the universe a link in the chain

A minute a second an hour
Its all it takes
To pass`the time away
We can't get it back
So we need to ensure
That we treasure every day

Time is an age
You must all agree
We need to plan and scheme away
To get the most from every day

One day time will run out
Opportunities lost or gained
You've run the race
Its time to look back
To enjoys our memories and dreams

Today I smiled, and all at once things didn't look so bad.
Today I shared with someone else, a bit of hope I had.
Today I sang a little song, and felt my heart grow light,
And walked a happy little mile, with not a cloud in sight.

Today I worked with what I had and longed for nothing more,
And what had seemed like only weeds, were flowers at my door.
Today I loved a little more and complained a little less,
And in the giving of myself, I forgot my weariness.

Author Unknown

Melissa Lee the National party candidate for the current by-election has “put the cat among the pigeons “with her inappropriate comments at an election meeting last night. Her remark that the proposed new motorway  “would help keep criminals out of the area “ has upset a large sector of the community, add to this the decision by the National government to bowl hundreds of homes to build a new Motorway has divided the community. Many now feel this has opened the door for Labour to win the by-election and for the green party to gain some of the National vote.

Well we have just had one of the coolest days this year. We have been very lucky to date and had lots of sunshine and an "indian summer". People have been getting out the winter warm clothes and I noticed people buying hot water bottles and heaters. Hope it will not be a prolonged period of cold weater and there might be a few good days still to come.

Well the signals are going out to say the future tax cuts may not eventuate. The reason being given is the economic down turn. There seems to be some sort of irony in this as the tax cuts were one of the major planks put forward in the last election campaign. Another inferred justification is that the initial tax cuts which were meant to be the first of three are not stimulating the economy as it was thought they would. People have not rushed out and spent their extra money preferring to save the money or use it to service debt. I also think that many have used the money simple to help bridge the ever widening gap between the out goings and the income received.

Well the fall out continues with even wider dissatisfaction in the Maori community. A large protest is planned for the 25 May and many of the Maori comunity feeling they should have direct representation on the council as of right based on the treaty. The current regional Mayors seem less than satisfied with the proposed super city and are in discussion with the minister of local government.
As an aside there are also calls for a separate prison system for Maori as the current system is said to fail Maori. During all of this Mr Key Prime Mister is out of the country and the acting Prime Minister is extreemly low key, no pun intended.

Well the National Government has backed the Super City proposal and Auckland will become one of the biggest cities in the southern hemisphere. Many small councils will disappear. The public seem to be far from unanimous about the decision. Government has also removed the option of Maori representation. This has angered the Maori party and all in all there seems to be a lot of people dissatisfied with the decision. It seems that Auckland will be the “guinea pig” and the same process may be applied to other cities.
The whole process will be a very expensive and although there are predicted cost savings in the long term. There are some questions that can only be answered by implementation and many predicted outcomes are by no means certain. A number of prominent academics feel that in the current economic climate a decision such as this is badly timed and will not in any way assist New Zealand’s economic recovery.

April 1 is the date for the implementation of Tax Cuts. This was a major plank in the National parties election manifesto. There now seems to be a large number of low income earners who will get no tax cuts and may even face tax increases. The tax cuts are aimed at middle and high income earners and are meant to stimulate the economy.