Utopia, you are standing in it!

Few people outside the Treasury think that now is a good time even to be talking about raising taxes, let alone actually doing so. Nonetheless, it seems almost certain that the Chancellor will start down this road in Wednesday’s Budget. This may not be as mad as it sounds.

The arguments against immediate tax hikes are well known. The UK economy is still in the midst of the worst recession in over three hundred years. The cost of borrowing is still remarkably low. Raising taxes prematurely could simply undermine the recovery and actually make it harder to bring the public finances back under control.

It would also be politically risky. Almost all independent commentators – as well as many on the Conservative backbenches – agree that fiscal policy should continue to focus on supporting growth. The financial markets are comfortable with this too. This is an open goal that Labour…

Denis Prager explores how to query a friend, relative or colleague to see if they are open to discussion, or locked into a fixed ideology.  His article is Questions to Determine Whether a Friend or Relative Is a Liberal or a Leftist.  Excerpts in italics with my bolds and images.

The great tragedy of our time is that liberals vote left.

Virtually every value liberals have held for a century is now held by conservatives and scorned by leftists. Therefore, America, in serious jeopardy of being lost, will be saved when people convince the liberals in their life that the left, not the conservative, is their enemy.

This process begins by establishing whether a friend or relative is a liberal or a leftist. If it turns out that he or she is a liberal, it is worth engaging in respectful dialogue on the issues of the day. If…

Our Beehive Bulletin

The news we expected to find – no, the news we thought we might find – was not there when we checked the Beehive website this morning.

It was an acknowledgement from our kindly PM that maybe she had been a tad unkindly when she failed to hide her frustration about the Covid-19 community case who had gone to work at KFC Botany instead of isolating at home.

What we did find was news that –

• The Government remains committed to hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2022 should a decision be made by World Rugby this weekend to postpone this year’s tournament.
• The Government has confirmed details of COVID-19 support for business and workers following the increased alert levels due to a resurgence of the virus over the weekend.  This extends the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Here at Point of Order…

Credit: University of Liverpool / National Oceanography Centre (Liverpool branch)
The graph looks consistent with mild warming following the Little Ice Age. About 30 cms. or 1 foot of sea level rise in 130 years since 1890 is nothing remarkable. The average duration of solar cycles was longer in the 19th century than in the 20th but that trend is reversing now, with a lot more sunspot-free days per cycle. Climatic effects may follow.
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A study published by University of Liverpool scientists, alongside colleagues from the Liverpool branch of the National Oceanography Centre, has uncovered and analyzed new sea level records from the nineteenth century which show that the increased rate of the rise of British sea level took place from 1890 onwards, says Phys.org.

Nowadays, sea level measurements around the British Isles are made by tide gauges which record digitally and transmit the data automatically.

Prime   Minister  Jacinda  Ardern has admitted  to   the  NZ Herald’s  Claire Trevett  that ”Covid  is  constantly in my mind”.

In an interview  at the weekend, extending  over two pages of  the newspaper, Trevett observed:

“Ardern is  now  very confident in her Prime Ministerial  skin. There is  nothing  tentative  about her  leadership.

“She has admitted suffering from a  touch of self  doubt in the past— but if she, or others, ever thought  she  was  not up  to the  job, the  past year has  dispelled  it  completely. There  is  also optimism in her.”

Trevett  went  on to  assert –

“The  most recent  community cases have been dealt  with, with limited  disruption  to people’s  lives” .

On  that, there  may be  a  question mark.  The  interview  appeared   the  very day  another  community Covid case had  led to  a fourth lockdown of  Auckland.  The  decision had been taken by  Cabinet  on Saturday  afternoon …