Labour 2002 vs National 2008

Yest another opinion poll has shown that National is miles ahead. I am always cautious of complancency, and thought that National's lead mirrors the posistion Labour was in when Helen Clark called a snap election in 2002, when Labour led by a substantial margin.

Here is a graph of the One News Colmar Brunton polls for the last twelve months before the 2002 Election, and for the corresponding period for the 2008 Election (to date).



As you can see, National in the last 12 months has been in a better posisition than Labour was in 2001-2002, but the last two One News polls have National with identical results to Labour at the same period before the election.

As voters became more interested in the policies of all parties before the election, the vote split from the main parties and made it's way to the smaller parties - Labour losing 10%, and National losing 15%.

Food for thought for all those in the National party - and encouragement for all those in other parties.

Who will win the US Election?

I have no idea. But found this game for a bit of fun. See if you can get the Terrorists out of Dubya's underpants, stop Hillary from knifing Barack in the back, and keep McCain from having Vietnam flashbacks.


Play Games at AddictingGames

Winston Peters

For all that's been written, said and broadcast about Winston Peters, I'm sure that it has passed a lot of the public by.

Most people who despise him haven't changed their minds about him, most people who were ambivilant probably interpret the scandal as more about politicians point scoring and behaving badly. And there are those who would vote for Winston no matter what - and this has been no matter what.

About the only person who can hold their head up high in this is Owen Glenn. After having his name dragged through the mud by both National and Labour, he has shown himself to be an honourable person by having the guts to front up and give documentary proof of his actions.

As an aside, why the Labour Party want to burn their bridges with Glenn is beyond me!

It was twenty years ago ...

... and I was at school for the last term.

Last week about half the year of students I went to school with got together and reminisced about the good ol' days. I was surprised at what a diverse and sucessful bunch of people we've all become - included in my class are people who've become leaders in their professions, those who have travelled, and those who are raising families - some have even managed all three!

Of course most of the people I went to school with stayed on for Seventh Form, so next year will be their 20th anniversary of leaving Viard College.

Thanks to Graeme and Janette for organising the dinner!

Aucklanders and their trains

Aucklanders are complaining about some of their trains being overcrowded.

Meanwhile, Wellingtonians are regularly catching trains that are up to 60 years old -and the most modern trains were purchased in the 1970s, packed in sardines, with services regularly late.

Only difference is - Wellingtonians have put up with this for 10 years. It's a new phenomenon in Auckland, but something we've grown used to.

Who ate all the pies?

Community Service workers in Taranaki don't want pies for lunch. It's unhealthy, one of them says.

I'm unsympathetic - If you don't want Department of Correction pies for lunch, then don't commit any crime.

Jacque Rogge vs Usain Bolt

Jacque Rogge thinks that Usain Bolt's antics during and after winning races are unseemly and unsportsmanlike.

I say that if Usain Bolt has enough time to showboat and fool around before finishing a race, and still win, then he has every right to tell the world that he is number one.

Personally, I think it is a good sign that an athlete enjoys winning - after all, Vince Lombardi once remarked that when it comes to sport, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."

And if other athletes want respect from Bolt, then it's up to them to earn it - by going faster.

Changes for the Olympics

Take out:

Soccer - the Olympics is a third rate competition behind the Word Cup, and the various regional championships.
Tennis - Who won the last Olympic Gold for Tennis? And who won the last four majors?
Baseball - The sport is big in North and Central America, but a complete nothing everywhere else.


Then add:

Kabaddi - the politically correct may have banned Bullrush, but this is as close as you can get to it.

Boycott...

Every day there is a news story about the Chinese Government imprisoning dissidents, forced evictions, and other human rights infringments - all to prepare for the Olympic Games.

As an event, the Olympic Games is reliant on the money from sponsors to pay for the infrastructure and running of the games. If the sponsors refuse to support future Olympics in countries with poor human rights records, then the IOC will have to listen.

So during the Olympics I will not buy the products of the Olympic Games sponsors - no Big Macs, no Coke (or Powerade or Pump Water), no sponsors products at all.

Even the Pro-EFA protesters don't like the EFA!

Final proof that the Labour Party don't like the EFA - Otherwise the Labour Party protesters distributing the flyer outside the National Party Conference would have added an Authorisation to this anti-National flyer: