tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:58:39 +0000Michael Ellis is a political junkie. He OD's on Parliament. His favourite hit is National.http://www.ellisnz.com/noreply@blogger.com (Michael)Blogger796125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-1637150932429966749Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:48:00 +00002008-11-12T20:49:13.701+13:00http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/11/pm-redhead-and-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-8049791974810897065Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:29:00 +00002008-11-10T19:36:10.747+13:00I was wondering which candidates did the best at the election, so had a look at how the majorities had changed. I didn't factor in boundary changes, and took out Botany (a new electorate) and Ohariu (where the candidate was endorsed by another party) and got the following list: (click to enlarge) All the candidates are National Party. If Ohariu was included then Charles Chauvel of Labour http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/11/best-candidates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-6220337282360123418Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +00002008-11-07T13:38:59.593+13:00 SeatCandidateParty Auckand Central Nikki Kaye National Bay of Plenty Tony Ryall National Botany Pansy Wong National Christchurch Central Brendan Burns Labour Christchurch East Lianne Dalziel Labour Clutha Southland Bill English National Coromandel Sandra Goudie National Dunedin North Pete Hodgson Labour Dunedin South Clare Curran Labour East Coast Anne http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/11/who-is-going-to-win.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-5756093311653703778Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:04:00 +00002008-11-04T22:11:05.970+13:00A neighbour told me this - Trevor Mallard advertised a street corner meeting opposite my home for Monday at 5.15pm (I didn't get an invite - must be the National Party sign on the fence) and no-one turned up apart from Trevor Mallard. What's really bad is that he didn't even organise supporters to make it appear like he was popular.http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/11/what-if-there-was-meeting-and-no-one.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-7922890932473809220Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:20:00 +00002008-10-20T21:22:46.374+13:00http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/10/free-poverty.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-8221311552189504775Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:07:00 +00002008-10-18T21:10:28.761+13:00I didn't have a camera with me, but guess what is missing from Ron Mark's hoardings in Rimutaka. An authorisation name and address? Nope, got that. A slogan? That's there too. A photo? Larger than life. The thing that is missing is the words: "New Zealand First" It shows how damaged NZ First is that the candidate at number 3 on their party list won't even campaign as their candidate.http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/10/whats-missing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-1384304178194747563Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:06:00 +00002008-09-20T12:27:17.359+12:00Yest 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 http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/09/labour-2002-vs-national-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-3731520562610101891Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:36:00 +00002008-09-17T19:38:56.902+12:00I 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 AddictingGameshttp://www.ellisnz.com/2008/09/who-will-win-us-election.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-8402848862957566170Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:51:00 +00002008-09-09T19:58:53.715+12:00For 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 http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/09/winston-peters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-1906690411066876661Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:42:00 +00002008-09-09T19:50:30.757+12:00... 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 http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/09/it-was-twenty-years-ago.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-7368462882307294609Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:33:00 +00002008-08-26T19:36:29.832+12:00Aucklanders 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 grownhttp://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/aucklanders-and-their-trains.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-3094309892453180058Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:29:00 +00002008-08-26T19:32:46.803+12:00Community 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.http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/who-ate-all-pies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-4554151140488786437Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:32:00 +00002008-08-23T17:37:52.384+12:00Jacque 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 http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/jacque-rogge-vs-usain-bolt.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-521137673910926723Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:03:00 +00002008-08-20T20:45:20.224+12:00Take 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 http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/changes-for-olympics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-1721538910932261760Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:18:00 +00002008-08-07T21:42:15.563+12:00Every 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 recordshttp://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/boycott.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-3111037526046361806Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:06:00 +00002008-08-03T16:41:53.206+12:00Final 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: http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/even-pro-efa-protesters-dont-like-efa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-4225497317730931134Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:09:00 +00002008-08-02T22:22:42.630+12:00For the past two months I've been unable to catch the train from the closest station - Epuni - as it has been closed due to asbestos being found in the roof. It has been due to reopen in "Late July", but was still closed when August began. On Friday I rang TranzMetro and spoke to the manager responsible - shortly after my first call, a news article on the progress of remedial work was placed onhttp://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/re-opening-of-epuni-station.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-5219109177545259285Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:12:00 +00002008-08-02T21:19:11.936+12:00I've spent the day at the National Party conference in Wellington. Labour had their conference earlier this year at the same venue, and there were rowdy protests against the EFA, support for US by having troops in Afghanistan, against the police raids in the Ureweras, and probably a dozen other causes. Outside the National Party conference - not a single protester. Oh well, tomorrow is anotherhttp://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/its-just-not-like-old-days.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-8326870913566989095Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:34:00 +00002008-08-01T20:38:14.031+12:00Okay, you've probably seen this by now, but ... http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/harry-potter-and-half-blood-prince.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-246984473737596913Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:13:00 +00002008-08-01T20:24:14.264+12:00Winston Peters has started tossing the dirt around in Parliament, with his first target being ACT Leader Rodney Hide. The dirt he's throwing is all old news, and not very good - some of it not even true. (I've never heard any ACT staffer call any group of donors 'the girls'.) To someone like me who follows politics closely, it looks like a desperate attempt to divert some attention away from http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/i-think-winston-is-being-brilliant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-1224231720987606515Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:06:00 +00002008-08-01T20:10:22.389+12:00Beer and Books! What a great combo - Sign me up!http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/08/first-in-line.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-3314047746040773112Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:20:00 +00002008-07-24T19:29:52.426+12:00Over at Kiwiblog and The Standard, there is debate over whether the Electoral Finance Act covers the half page advertisements the EMA ran in todays papers criticising proposed legislation that means renumeration cannot be different because of the Kiwisaver legislation. Essentially, the cost of the advertisements will certainly exceed the Third Party limit - so if the advertisements were http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/07/election-advertsiement.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-5890697931783140663Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:50:00 +00002008-07-23T21:19:34.400+12:00News that Radovan Karadzic has been arrested and will probably face War Crimes in The Hague is welcome. During the 1990s I watched the war in the former Yugoslav republics from afar and thought it was a mess of factions and paid little attention to the issues behind the conflict. But two years ago I went to Bosnia and Herzegovina and saw things in a new light. What struck me the most was http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/07/good-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-1449479884072669327Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:28:00 +00002008-07-23T20:35:52.193+12:00Spoil Yourself in Wellington Lose Yourself in Melbourne http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/07/compare.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9927125.post-8335058099734252005Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:32:00 +00002008-07-18T20:51:37.948+12:00The past two weekends have seen two damning articles for New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. First the Dominion Post revealed that Parlimentary Staffer Tommy Gear was the over-entuastic supporter who displayed unauthorised signs in Tauranga. But more interesting was the questions that relate to Tommy Gear's employment and duties, and the reports that many within NZ First do not know what http://www.ellisnz.com/2008/07/just-who-has-it-in-for-winston.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Michael)0