David R

I agree that the US healthcare system isn't the way we should be heading, but that also doesn't mean we should be complacent about our own system. Kiwi's seem to have this belief that "doing ok" is good enough, and never strive for excellence. We [especially the lefties that seem to make so much noise about comparably trivial issues like nightschool funding being cut] should be up in arms about the fact that we supposedly have a public healthcare system yet the majority of NZers still rely on private health insurance because the public system is so rubbish.

I hope you have a legally binding document signed by Greg giving you his permission to publicise his contact details!

My partner is an accountant who does a lot of tax planning, and yes the whole purpose of it is to pay less tax, but the savings are usually fairly minor in comparison to the total bill. A "hard working" couple like her and I are still going to pay far less tax between us than an individual earning $500k PA regardless of how good his accountant is (unless he's breaking the law). I know what you're getting at though, but I wasn't implying that its the "capitalistic rich" who pay all the tax. What I was getting at is that with our current "state funded until you can afford user pays" health care system, people from the "capitalistic rich" down to the middle class working families who have to carefully budget to afford their health insurance premiums all contribute more to the system than they take out.

I pay a huge amount of tax that goes towards educating other peoples children, building and running hospitals I will never use, supporting community groups, arts, musicians and sports teams that are of no benefit to me, and a whole host of other things. What you are complaining about is the big downside of any socialism, its simply a redistribution of wealth and more often than not those who contribute the most benefit the least...

They've been added to the list, time for all the african cichlid nuts to put their money where their mouths are...

True, some sectors are charged more based on risk, but not all. I'd love to know what a professional rugby player pays in ACC levys, I wonder if its proportional to the risk of them requiring time off due to injury..... Scotty, I think you're on the right track, but the best system would be to have a black box recorder in every vehicle so if you're involved in a crash they can see how you have been driving, and if you were speeding, indicating, headlights on etc at the time of the accident. People would probably think twice about driving over the limit if they knew that if they had an accident while breaking the law their insurance and medical cover would all be void and they'd be left with a massive bill for all the costs incurred...

What about the rugby players? Cyclists (on road and off)? Or the fatsos that just sit at home drinking beer and eating chips in front of the TV? They could all be considered high risk and currently pay ACC levys that aren't based on the dangerous nature of their activities. How about we put an ACC levy on booze to cover all the drunks who injure themselves? I presume you're suggesting a fully privatised user-pays system and not an unfair state-funded system where certain people are raped to cover shortfalls in funding that only exist on paper because someone decided ACC needs its own tax rather than just being paid for out of the general coffers... Quite simply because nobody else pays ACC levys based on how likely they are to require treatment. Perhaps we should apply this whole "user pays" thing to our system. You could say I'd be due a huge tax cut because I don't have kids, don't smoke, exercise regularly and am european...

That highlights another big flaw with the current system. The registration increase wouldn't be so bad if it was per rider, but as you point out, someone with 3 bikes is going to be paying 3 times the ACC levy of someone with only 1 bike despite there being no increase in risk of injury from owning multiple bikes due as you can only operate one bike at a time....

If you've got a nice sport bike that you take out for a ride at the weekend and take to the track occasionally, and don't leave parked up very often, you'll be able to get caught 4 times a year before rego becomes a cheaper option. The fact that most 600cc+ bikes would out run a cop car with out breaking a sweat makes it even more of a waste of time registering it...

Slippery slope. Motorbikes produce less carbon emissions than a single person in a car and put less wear and tear on the road, so if you factor that into the equation maybe they shouldn't pay more. And if you take into consideration the amount of injuries to motorbike riders caused by crashes with cars where the car was at fault it would distort the figures even more.... If you're going to have a user-pays system then it needs to be across the board, not just selectively applied where it suits the government by producing more revenue.

Well thats just plain foolish on your part... :roll: The problem is that we have a half-baked semi-privatised semi-public health system. On the surface it seem fair enough increasing the levy given that bike riders pay $12M in levys and claim over $60M, but on the other hand rugby-related inuries claim about $40M and I bet they don't pay anywhere near that in levys. Government needs to sort it out and decide if we're going to scrap ACC and have a user-pays health system, or if they're going to provide a decent level of health care for everyone, not just those too poor to afford private health insurance. Either option has got to be better than the current grossly inefficient system...

I've never understood the passion with which v8 fans support one particular make. I've never seen soccer fans get excited about the winning goal being scored with Nike boots, or gold fans being excited that the winner used XXX brand clubs. The race cars have almost nothing in common with the road going models, and they're all so similar mechanically that the biggest difference is the shape of the body and the colour of the paint. It was some great motorsport with an exciting finish, some excellent driving and a touch of controversy, thats all I care about... :roll:

I'll get in trouble if I post a link to where I have been..... :lol: Plecos + polypterus are a bit hit and miss, a lot of the time it is fine, but sometimes a pleco can develop a taste for slimecoat and will start rasping the bichir like a piece of wood. As soon as you see a sign of this you should separate them immediately.

How are those babies going?? I've got a 30L blue plastic barrel I'll swap for some young... :lol:

lol, there's not that many shops that specialises in selling fish, let alone a specialist company to go about setting them up! Although I'm sure most tank makers would give you a discount for multiple tanks of the same size...

I wouldn't recommend feeding pallets to anything, except maybe a hungry beaver? If you feed live foods at a young age you'll have a hard time getting it to eat pellets later on. My AT ate pellets the day it came home from the LFS and has never been shy. By nature they are an ambush type predator, so they are always going to want to lurk in a cave. Goldfish (and most carp) have a pretty low nutritional value, plus there's a big risk of introducing diseases and parasites. Most people only feed live as a last resort.

Haha not keen on chopping the dreads off for some compulsory military service??

If the two that are fighting are both males it might be better to keep them separated. How big is your tank?

You might be struggling to get better than that because you're on your learners. Being over 25 and having no claims doesn't count for much if you've only had a license for five minutes. We're with AMI because they give us a good deal for house+contents+cars, but when I had "high risk" cars I was with InsureDirect (I think).

Its pretty tempting eh. I bet you're having a blast, where abouts in Europe are you?

That size would be good for a few years, but I don't think 6' is enough length for when the aro gets to 3' long. Another option no one else has mentioned yet is an asian aro. They grow quickly when younger but slow down around 18" and if you could make the tank 700 wide instead of high you should have no proplems housing it for years. There is a green on trademe here (I presume its alright to post the link now that the stance seems to have been relaxed), price is about as good as it'll get IMO.

I've seen a similar set up using two of the old recycling bins full of bioballs, works well.

Can't remember, but I remember looking in Axelrods Atlas with Levon at Hollywood, he had a rough idea but they were lacking the barbels so definitely weren't Monocirrhus polyacanthus.

Not to mention the last ones that came in weren't actually Mono poly... :roll:

Lemon.