Half the price of a 12-pack of beer will be made up of tax after the Government announced the second largest “beer tax” increase in 30 years.
Alcohol excise rates, which apply to domestically produced alcohol as well as duty on imported beer, wine and spirits, will increase by 6.6% on Saturday.
This hike follows a record 6.9% increase in 2022 and is expected to cost consumers an extra $86 million a year, including $28.9 million for beer drinkers alone.
This government is also bumping up taxes on petrol on Saturday.
More than two thirds of voters, 43% of Democrats, say Joe is not physically or mentally fit enough
Kamala ‘Giggles’ Harris polls worse than any Vice President since 1995
NBC POLL: "Just 20% of voters believe this country is headed in the right direction. 74% say the nation is on the wrong track." pic.twitter.com/QwzMIqpkkY
NBC POLL: Biden's approval rating "sits at just 43%."
"A full 68% of voters — including 43% of Democrats, which is twice what it was in 2020 — say they are concerned that Biden does not have the necessary mental and physical health to be president." pic.twitter.com/4WPnuhDQo3
NBC POLL: "Just 20% of voters believe this country is headed in the right direction. 74% say the nation is on the wrong track." pic.twitter.com/QwzMIqpkkY
Vice President Kamala Harris is failing to impress Americans in a way not seen with her predecessors ever since Al Gore was in the White House.
A poll conducted this month shows 32% of registered voters have a positive view of the Democrat while 49% have a negative view of her.
The resulting net-negative rating of -17 is “the lowest for any vice president in the poll’s history,” NBC News reported on Monday. It also noted that 39% have a “very negative” view of Harris.
“ … is it possible it still exists in some remote, unexplored Fiordland valley?” –Geoffrey Orbell
Rediscovering the dream bird
Nelson-based publishers Potton and Burton continue to produce some top quality books and their latest is no exception. Takahe: Bird of Dreams by zoologist Alison Ballance is a magnificent 300 page volume on New Zealand’s native bird, the takahe. The takahe is a bird that arose from the dead as twice it was virtually classified as extinct before being rediscovered in 1948 in a remote Fiordland valley.
As an outdoors minded boy, Geoffrey Orbell had long been fascinated by the bird that was thought extinct. His youthful curiosity and boyhood optimism, sowed the question, “is it possible it still exists in some remote, unexplored Fiordland valley?” It became his “bird of dreams.” So his deer hunting gravitated towards the valleys of Fiordland and in particular the Murchison Mountains.
The discovery by “Doc” Orbell and his companions reflected the deep interest hunters can have in wildlife and conservation beside hunting their quarry.
As a keen deerstalker “Doc” Orbell was in the late 1930s, the founder of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. His contribution is testimony to the fact that deerstalkers can be champions of conservation. Indeed the “Save Manapouri” battle in the 1970s featured deerstalkers in the front line.
Takehe Recovery Programme
The publishing of Takahe: Bird of Dreams has been timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Takahe Recovery Programme. Takahe numbers are now estimated to exceed 500. There have been setbacks, some not so good and also sound decisions and consequently mixed fortunes. At times there has been disappointingly slow progress but other times, significant wins.
Takahe were twice classified as extinct but “Doc” Orbell’s discovery of the takahe colony in 1948 rebutted that claim. The bird was then classified as “nationally critical” but that has since been upgraded to “nationally vulnerable.”
Dealing with stoats
There have been competing factors such as predator stoats. By coincidence, a friend of mine who worked for the Wildlife Service with experience of takahe in Fiordland, said the adult birds were well capable of dealing a fatal blow to any stoat. He recalled later working at the Mt Bruce Wildlife Reserve where takahe were kept. A stoat gained access into the takahe enclosure but quickly realised its error when confronted by a takahe. The mustelid became frantic to get out.
Alison Ballance tells of a stoat attempting to prey on a nest in the Fiordland valley. The stoat was delivered a savage fatal blow by the takahe parent.
The book often refers to competition from red deer in grazing but my ex-Wildlife Service friend said that aspect tended to be exaggerated by some of the scientists.
Many wildlife personalities feature within this wonderful portrayal of a remarkable bird.
Alison Ballance, already an established author, writes in an easy, relaxed style. The story has been meticulously researched and is competently informative and engaging.
The excellent photos are often of intriguing historical significance with “Doc” Orbell and wildlife scientists and field officers who I chanced to know, adding to my interest.
And of course there is the typically professional production by the publishers, Potton and Burton.
In a few words it is a stunning book: rating: five star plus!
Starting this week, the council is asking for your views on whether shops should continue to be allowed to open on Easter Sunday.
Shops in Kāpiti have been allowed to choose to open on Easter Sunday since 2017 — see this post — after law changes allowed local councils to decide what was suitable for their district. Like most bylaws, the policy has to be reviewed every five years.
Should the policy be renewed, revoked, or amended? Easter Sunday trading can affect shop owners, staff and their families and others, but it also contributes to the local economy, the vibrancy of the district and convenience for residents and visitors.
If the truth be told, we are getting sick and tired of the little piss-ant who runs the cease-pool of corruption, tyranny, delusion and death called Ukraine. This clown – and that’s what he is actually trained as – just can’t seem to stop stridently demanding money, arms and support from the rest of the world and lecturing everyone to fall into line or else.
In his actual clown days, of course, Volodymyr Zelensky was known for the act depicted below. But when it comes to the collective West, the latter seems to enjoy the fact that the Ukrainian president continues to bang away upon it, relentlessly pounding out a melody of me, me and more.
But lately Zelensky has really gone over the top, peddling the hideous canard that if we don’t enable him to fight “them” over there with everything and all that he demands by way of money and weapons, we will soon bleed and die against “them” over here.
That’s the “Putin is going to invade Europe next and maybe America too”, nonsense. It’s actually groundless blithering idiocy, and yet Washington treats him as a brave ally and statesman:
“If any candidate thinks supporting Ukraine is too costly, are they ready to go to war? Are they ready to fight? Send their children? Die?” Zelensky said. “They will have to do it anyway if NATO enters this war, and if Ukraine fails and Russia occupies us, they will move on to the Baltics or Poland or some other NATO country. And then the U.S. will have to choose between keeping NATO or entering the war.”
The fact that these laws are intended to prevent minors being lusted over and exploited by adults doesn’t seem to occur to them, or if it does, they don’t give a Stuff.
And naturally, Hippy Chippy got to meet WEF Führer Klaus ‘You vill eat ze bugs’ Schwab in China.
