Reena

$27 million towards the $47 million cost of cleaning up after the Rena was smashed across Astrolabe Reef.  For a government that thinks the RoNS are a good idea (and on Planet Key they are) I suppose this is par for the course.  Kudos to the negotiators for getting more than was legally required, though it did occur to me that the $27 million represents what the shipping company would have been liable for if any government since about 1996 had bothered to update the law.  And to the shipping company who, after their initial mistake (where there ship ended up polluting someone else's beach) behaved responsibly.
I thought I heard a minister, while explaining what a good deal it was, say that the whole thing was not foreseeable.  Which would explain why the oil Pollution Fund has been run down.
As for being unforeseeable it's not like ships have come to grief around our coast before, well:

except the General Grant

 or the Pacific Charger, which I remember seeing stuck on the rocks

and the Mikhail Lermontov.

A sensible government would accept that it's bound to happen again, and would plan both to deal with it and to fund the response.

Spelling Mistakes - 7", 1980

The Fallen

On Moorhouse Ave, 3 October.

On Barbadoes Street, also 3 October.

A cherry blossom tree, by streetlight, on Lichfield Street, 3 October.
All photos taken by and copyright of Armchair Critic.

Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better, 2005

Memory

Kim Dotcom sure does make people forget a lot of stuff.
John Banks forgot a donation to his mayoral election campaign from Dotcom, and forgot visiting Dotcom'ss house in a helicopter.  Lucky he remembers he never had sex with Dotcom.
A GCSB officer had a brain-fade, and not in my words but in Regular John's, late last week.

"I expect better and I'll be getting better out of them in the future. But the simple facts of life are that they suffered what can only be described as a massive brain-fade by one person who actually reviewed the file.That's wrong and it shouldn't have happened but people do make mistakes."

Fair enough, people do make mistakes.  A whole lot of finance company directors made mistakes over the last few years.  They were held to account.
And now Regular John has been found to have had brain-fade too.  From National's website:

The Prime Minister visited GCSB offices on 29 February for a briefing on the broader capabilities of the bureau, and to meet the staff. A paper prepared as talking points for the staff member conducting a presentation contained a short reference to the Dotcom arrest a few weeks earlier, as an example of cooperation between the GCSB and the Police. The presentation was an electronic slide presentation. The cover slide was a montage of 11 small images, one of which was of Mr Dotcom.

and the PM says:

“I have been clear from the outset that I received no briefing on the operation from GCSB prior to 17 September, and this review confirms that,” says Mr Key.
“While neither the GCSB Director nor I can recall the reference to the Dotcom matter being made during my visit to the bureau back in February, I accept that it may well have been made.
“Given the public statements I have made in Parliament and in the media, it is important that I take this opportunity to provide this additional information.
“I will be correcting my answers to the House when it resumes on Tuesday 16 October.”

Don't correct your answer to the House, John, go and tell the Governor General.  Then ask him to dissolve parliament.  Think of it as an opportunity to confirm that mandate you got to sell asset.

Elaine Paige - Cats, 1981

Turn

Regular John was anything but calm, composed and nice for TV3 this morning.  He tossed his toys quite openly under what could only be considered to be mild questioning.  That cup of tea before the election really did signal the end of the media honeymoon.
At least he is consistent with his "hands-off" approach to his job.  He asked very little about national security, and now he expects to be asked very little about his failings on national security, in return.  And apart from making him look (much less be) completely unsuitable to be PM, that's not a bad approach.

Therapy? - Troublegum, 1994

North by North

The Napier-Gisborne railway will not be repaired.  At least, not while National are in power and while KiwiRail focusses on the short term.
I'm trying to see the positives in this, but it is difficult because the repairs should have been made, the line should have been reopened and KiwiRail should have continued to develop their business on the East Coast.

About the best I can say is that it will make an issue for the next election, especially when people like Alan Dick (mayor of Napier for twelve years and now a regional councillor) are asking questions about the decision.

The Bats - Daddy's Highway, 1987

Caught By The Fuzz

Urewera Raids, Kim Dotcom and now this.  Since it's before the Court it would be unwise to comment much further.  The Police do seem to be set on pursuing some silly prosecutions, recently.

Supergrass - I Should Coco, 1995

Franz Kafka at the Zoo

What with the next election not due for at least two years, what the polls say means very little.  It's always the trend.
Ever since I've been hanging around political blogs (I think that's back to mid-2009) the polls have said "National".  Except recently, when they have said "Too Close to Call".
And then, late last week, the Roy Morgan poll said:

If a National Election were held today this New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll says a combined opposition of Labour/ Greens & New Zealand First would be favoured to form a new Government.

Which is nice news for someone who has had a goal of "seeing National out of government" since, well, probably 1981 when I opposed the Springbok Tour.  Well, as much as you can when you are under ten.
The next step is to see the words "...& New Zealand First..." omitted.
What I find telling is the Government Confidence Rating.  I've copied the graphic from the Roy Morgan website.

It shows that the government, up to the start of last week, is inspiring about as much confidence as Labour did in their last year in government.  And that was a pretty awful year for Labour.  National have two to go, if they go to full term.
Meanwhile I'm still wondering two things:
first, for Labour, the gift begs to be taken, the lucky find is waiting....
and second, for National, when will the desperation will surface, and like 1998, when the rats will start leaving.  Can't be long now.

The Clean - Unknown Country, 1996