flowers

i've posted this morning at the hand mirror on issues of class and colour.

the mayor of invercagill, mr tim shadbolt, seems to continuing his move towards the right with this dicussion on radio nz this morning. he's now proposing elected sheriff's in nz, following the american model. without showing any actual need, nor any reason why this is a better system than the present one. the comments from len brown were great though, especially when he said he would be happy for south auckland to be in the position invercagill is, when it comes to crime.

at this rate, when the next election comes around, i expect mr shadbolt will be supporting the ACT party. and in 2014, he will no doubt be supporting the libertarianz. just goes to show that wisdom does not necessarily come with age.


and while i'm having a moan, i hate how various companies in the transport industry are now trying to justify keeping prices high even though the price of petrol has come down considerably over the last coming month. their behaviour is consistent with that of the banks as the OCR was dropping. somehow in the private sector, there is always an excuse to not drop prices. yet in the public sector, i recall a time when nz post had dropped the price of stamps, and even had a free post day when they were in profit. i know that the companies office has consistently been dropping rates for incorporation and various other services.

which is not to say that i support the public ownership of all industry. just that i hate how the "free" market fails to work for the benefit of the majority so often.


an just to end on a positive note, i'm loving november. the magenta rhododendrons outside my window never fail to cheer me up every morning. the roses are out as well, in their various shades of pink and yellow. walking down to the river (which is about 5 mins from my house) is a wonderful experience. the whole neighbourhood is in full bloom, lots of bright colours and natural beauty in every garden. it's a daily reminder of how lucky i am to be living in this country, in this city, and in this neighbourhood.