7 posts tagged “government”

[Cross-posted] The Office of Government Commerce, part of HM Treasury in the UK, unveiled its new logo, which cost British taxpayers £14,000.

And it didn’t take long after the unveiling for employees to see the problem:

   I am sure it is possible for all of us to be caught out from time to time, because we didn’t study all the angles (ahem) to a problem.
   But one principle I do abide by in logo development is internal review—not just to see if the client can identify problems, but to cover our own rear ends.
   The Daily Telegraph reports that staff have removed items with the logo and expects a rush on to Ebay.
   It states, ‘The logo … was intended to signify a bold commitment to the body’s aim of “improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement”.’
   That sounds like a bunch of wank, even if I didn’t see the logo—though one branding professional thinks, as quoted in the Telegraph, ‘They’re going to get more column inches than they could ever have expected before. If I were them, I would be pretty pleased.’
   Please, let’s not bring inches into this.

American Infidel posted an excellent piece from Cross Action News on how the US political system has been compromised, by Carl Parnell. Some excerpts:

   However, as seen in these different opinions, politicians have been blamed for the failure of America’s political system. But, one respondent to the survey voiced a strong opinion that put the blame on average Americans. Her opinion was:

Our Constitution frames the best form of government on the planet. The balance of powers and the system of checks and balances provided a framework that allowed our young country to grow and develop and remain despot free for the last 220 years. The government itself is not what I have lost faith in. “We the People” is what I have lost faith in.

   And advice for the electorate follows (my emphasis), and I have to agree with it as I have never, in the elections I have participated in, voted for personal gain. Even for those who do not believe in God or in prayer, the remaining advice is still useful:

   “Of the people, by the people, for the people” means the people should educate themselves and elect leaders at all levels that work for them. The people should watch what those elected officials do and boot them out of office when they no longer work for the people. The caliber of citizens and politicians has declined in the last 220 years.
   Therefore, America’s political system is at a crossroads in 2008. When the American electorate votes for the President of the United States and for any members of Congress in November 2008, they must absolutely know the true facts about each candidate. Citizens of the United States must not permit the race, gender, or political party of the candidate be a determining factor in who wins the election. Citizens of the United States must not let personal economic gain become the deciding factor in which candidate they vote for in any election. Citizens of the United States must vote for candidates who have the true qualities of great leaders, such as those possessed by America’s forefathers. Some of these qualities would be honesty, integrity, morality, faith in the nation they serve, faith in the people they serve, having the character of a statesman instead of the character of many modern-day politicians. Of course, true representative leaders of the United States should always pray to God before voting on any legislation that affects the greatest nation in the world.
   However, if America continues to elect people to office that assume the role of a politician instead of a statesman, America may lose more than just the faith of its citizens toward its political system. America may possibly lose its status as the greatest nation in the world.

   There is still support for the US around the world—but they need a beacon to look up to rather than to criticize. In November, vote to make America great again—not just in economic terms, but in terms of the true leadership and morality that it can stand for.

Not a lot of people in New Zealand will publicly say this, even if they think it: thank you to our troops.
   The fear from both the Government and the Opposition is that this simple expression of gratitude will upset the anti-Americans in the country and make them sound like Bushites. We have some chicken-s*** politicians.
   What an intelligent person will work out is that regardless of one’s political stripes, our men and women in Afghanistan are fighting terrorism admirably and have even been recognized by the US Government for their valour. There are those in Iraq helping with the rebuilding efforts.
   I would even go so far as to express my thanks to the entire Coalition of the Willing, wherever the troops are based.
   Again, this should not be a political matter. Even Democratic politicians have expressed this wish. These people are willing to pay the ultimate price for a cause they believe in.
   I remember the civilians who have lost their homes, family members and their own lives in conflicts globally. I remember those whose family structures have been demolished by tyrants. I hope you find peace in 2008 as the human spirit cannot be extinguished unless we let it.
   It may be naïve to say that I wish for world peace, but on a deep level I do.
   Until we are ready to achieve that, we should be able to recognize good from evil and just what values contribute to a strong, prosperous and safe society where we can say to our children, ‘Be happy. Be yourself.’
   In many western nations I wonder if we can make the distinction between right and wrong.
   When we are clear about it, we can defend what’s right. And sometimes, men of peace must become men of war in order to stamp out villainy.
   This need not just be with guns. In the corporate world, in our everyday lives, we sometimes must “wage war” on impropriety and corruption. When we vote for our governments, we are not voting for who gives us the biggest bribe, but who will either restore, defend or build our values, to create the society that we say we want our children to grow up in.
   And to begin, I give thanks to all those who defend those values—whether they are values based in our faith or in our philosophy.

Ford has complained about this TVC from the New Zealand Land Transport Safety Authority. I have to say I agree with its complaint. The car is clearly identifiable as a Ford Falcon XR6 or XR8 model, resembling the one still on sale. Even those who do not know much about cars may subconsciously register the vehicle’s shape and think negatively about the XR6. And there is some literature on how cars are judged not just by their badges, but by the way they look.
   I would have used, maybe, the previous-shape ’01s, or something not on regular sale. In the past, a lot of LTSA advertisements have used older model year cars.
   Even even now that I know what this TVC is for, my first thought is, ‘Damn, this is a good Ford ad.’ Judge for yourself below.

   Ford s’est plaint à l’Administration de la Securité des Transports de Terre en Nouvelle-Zélande après ce pub, parce que cette voiture est leur modèle Falcon. Je pense qu’il ressemble à un pub pour la Ford Falcon, jusqu’aux moments derniers.

Further to an earlier post: so how did the New Zealand Government get us folks, happily driving around in natural gas cars with a huge natural-gas network of stations nationally, back into petrol (or gasoline to our American readers) in 1996? Well, there was this ad:

If you’re going to drive a gas guzzler, shouldn’t the birds and the trees know? Sure, you can use LPG and CNG. But they don’t even smell strong. Let ’em feel the power of petrol—good, healthy petrol that really say you’ve arrived. Let your V8 make your winters warmer. There might not be many tigers left out there, but you can stick them in your tank. Petrol. In 91 and 96 octane.

   OK, so there wasn’t that ad. It was pretty easy though: the National Government had been raising the tax on natural gas for a few years. When that didn’t sway New Zealanders from using domestically made natural gas and not depleting our foreign exchange reserves, they plain turned off the tap.
   In 1996, it was announced to all the gas stations that there would be no more CNG. LPG would continue, but the stations—all with the warm, fuzzy names of Shell, BP, Mobil and Caltex (part-owned by Texaco, which forms the Tex in the name)—were somehow hazy about its availability. Panic ensued. We got rid of our gas-powered Ford Sierra. (You could switch between CNG and petrol. Most converted cars since the late 1970s were dual-fuel, since the hybrid term had not been coined for cars then. Can someone please tell me or any New Zealander why the Toyota Prius is novel?)
   As it turned out, there were still plenty of LPG stations around, but by then we were driving around and letting the birds and the trees know.
   These days, you tend to see cab drivers use LPG but preciously few other people. This is a far cry from the 1980s and early 1990s, when natural gas-powered cars were normal. All of a sudden, the Labour Government thinks E10 is revolutionary. E10, in this country, is not revolutionary.
   Since 1996, we now happily pay 50 per cent more for petrol, polluting our environment and using US dollars to do so. Go, petrol! Yay, OPEC, New Zealand politicians love you!

My friend Zak Klemmer and I met online about 10 years ago, and in person seven years ago. He wrote me with this interesting anecdote recently and gave me permission to publish it. I can understand why Americans dislike their government’s bureaucracy: I can’t blame them. It’s particularly amusing for us in a country that abandoned 1¢ and 2¢ pieces 17 years ago.

My Miata wouldn’t pass the emissions test with out having mechanical work done. Had I realized what the problem was I could have had it fixed under the warranty when I bought the car in April of 2004. I ended up replacing 2 oxygen sensors and the catalytic converter in the exhaust manifold. I was 9,000 miles over the 8 year, 80,000 miles of coverage on the emissions equipment. But I digress.
   Since it wouldn’t pass and I didn’t have enough time before the registration expired I mailed the registration to Arizona’s Motor Vehicle Division with out the emissions certificate. They mailed it back to me with my un-cashed check and an extension of time for 5 weeks. So I had part of the work done namely replacing the oxygen sensors. The old trick of having a mechanic turn off the error on the sensors and thereby turning off the check engine light always worked in the past both in California and here in Arizona. However, Arizona must have upgraded their software this year and the test read that the sensor was turned off and wouldn’t pass or fail the test with out driving a certain amount of miles, which of course then the sensor would show a failure of the emissions equipment. An important point is that postal rates only increased May 14th and back in March a first class stamp was still only $0·39.
   So I run it through the emissions test again and it finally passes whaa hoo! Then I drive over to the MVD and present my documents to the clerk. The clerk is a 60ish white woman, a very large turquoise ring on the first finger of her left hand and very large earrings which were about 1¼” square dangling diagonally from one corner on short chains. She doesn’t look at me, say hello or anything at all, just starts typing away on her computer processing my registration.
   My registration fees were $118.00 and when she asked me for $136.00, I asked her “why?” She informed me that I was late! I questioned her, informing her that the registration fee was mailed in on time and that I had obtained 2 extensions the second of which cost me $15.00. My out was that it failed to pass emissions so we had a short conversation and when I wouldn’t pay the late fee she excuses herself and came back a minute later presenting me with a certificate of “Non Operation” to sign, which of course I signed.
   Then she places the registration paper with the license plate sticker on the counter. Thinking that we are done here I start to get out of the chair and she says: “You owe two cents.”
   Why? I ask. She informs me that the two cents due because postage went up. Well I’m thinking that postage just went up and back in March when I mailed in my registration it was still $0.39. Rather then using logic I decided to make a joke of this so I tell her: “You have got to be kidding me, this is the funniest thing that I’ve ever heard.”
   “Well I’m not laughing!” She tells me as I reach into my pocket and hand her the two cents. Then she mumbles something that she hopes she doesn’t type in $20.00 rather then $0.02. I wonder if the clowns at the MVD are hitting up every motorist for two cents?
   Happy Motoring!

[Cross-posted] Bruce Robinson, the New Zealander in a 15 m² Polish jail cell, with seven other blokes, who is allegedly being ignored by the Foreign Minister-outside-Cabinet and other members of the diplomatic mission in Poland, now has a petition set up for his cause.
   As reported on this blog, both the Minister and now, the Prime Minister, have said they will not interfere in Poland’s sovereign processes.
   This is ironic, since both politicians are quite happy to interfere when the targets are easier.
   Contrary to the Dominion Post report today, the petition was set up by Bruce’s sister, Lyn. And yes, I do have the inside line on this case now, and have done for some time, with the Robinson family’s blessing.
   But at least the Fairfax press has not repeated a one-sided story from the Foreign Minister, who initially accused TV One of being unfair to him when Rawdon Christie first uncovered the story, and The New Zealand Herald willingly obliged with republication.
   I hate it how this guy always plays the victim, just to cover the fact he cannot do his job.
   But let’s not split hairs. It’s important word gets out and we sign this petition and get the government to act. We are paying taxes and I am wondering why the hell we need to, if we do not go to bat for our own.
   Even the Aussies have gone to bat for David Hicks, the alleged terrorist held at Gitmo. Both John Howard and Alexander Downer have seen Bush, Condi, Rumsfeld and Gates and Alberto Gonzales for this one guy. All Bruce is guilty of is patriotism and travelling on his New Zealand passport.
   Sign here, even if you are not in New Zealand.