Tomorrow we will have a new budget

This is true: New Zealand will have a new budget tomorrow and I am holding my breath. John Key and Bill English and their cohorts, the National Party, is going to raise the GST (Goods and Services Tax) up from 12.5% to 15%. This is going to affect everyone who buys anything. There's also the new law for property owners who rent out their properties. Let's discuss a little about what may happen in the short term and long term. I am not going to say that I disagree with them, I am just trying to look into the future a bit and imagine what's the best and worst scenario. As politicians, they must have some analysts working on this, right? They do know what they are doing, right? Somehow, I doubt it. Do they really know what they are doing?
First of all, the people who owns properties are going to raise their rent because they need more money to pay the government, and you are not allowed to sell your property within certain amount of years after you bought it because then it will be speculating and you have to pay a higher tax. We will be told about how much more tax you will pay, but right now we know that there will be constraints put on these areas. People are still going to speculate in the market, but in my opinion, it will slow the market down a bit. The market is slow enough already because of recession, but sell is going to pick up because the interest rate is still low and people need to live in their own home. People who can afford to live in a rented home before may not be able to afford it anymore so they will need government assistance. Is this really going to save us money? People who can afford to live in a rented property now are going to be hit by higher GST.
Higher GST means that all the companies will have to raise the goods and services prices accordingly to make profit. People are certainly not earning a lot more money, unless you just had a pay rise. Can we still afford to buy food, fill up our cars, and travel? Are people going to be able to afford to buy houses, be a farmer, or work then retire? GST increases is not going to hurt so much long term because there will be a plateau and people are going to get used to the increase, and hopefully, the price of everything is not going to increase too much.
Let's look at some other countries where the GST is 5%. I lived in Taiwan and the GST there is 5%. Yes, the tax is not as high as New Zealand, but the economy is a lot healthier. The health system and education system are not as good as New Zealand because children don't get subsides, but the education is still pretty cheap before university. There are less benefits available there, and it is less common for people to get benefits. However, Taiwanese still have the same problem. There are people who can't afford to pay off their credit card debt and commit suicide. There are people who lost all the money they have and have to go to soup kitchens.
I think the government can do one thing that will help the economy. It can leave the people along a little bit and let them have some breathing space. Increasing GST now and give people tax cut may help people now, but is it really going to help New Zealand go forward in the future? I truly hope this is not going to destroy our economy further. I also wish that the scientific funding increase can help AgResearch. It needs help urgently because it is a RESEARCH FACILITY, not a commercial venture. The politicians don't understand it, and they still don't understand it!
I am sure that nobody cares about the little citizens of New Zealand. Thank you, New Zealand politicians, that's why I didn't vote for National.
I hope it will all work out for us, though. There's no hate there.

Ironman 2

When I say over the top opening scene, I think about Ironman 2. This big budget movie has kind of fallen flat on its face because even though I liked it after I watched it, it is forgettable.
The arch enemy in this movie is somewhat more interesting compared to Ironman, Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr. is not that bad, and made some small comments about the ladies, but then again, anyone can do that and some people may even do a better job than him. I liked Whiplash, he is not greedy, he is smart, constructive, and not even totally evil. He likes parrots, his father, and making stuff to fight Ironman. What's so wrong about that? The only thing that is wrong is Micky Rourke's accent. He doesn't really convince me as a Russian, or shall I say, he does an okay job but he can do better.
There's no doubt that they spent a lot of money in making this movie. The suitcase Ironman suit is certainly eye opening, and I think deserves an Oscar at least. We have come a long way from the days of Star Wars, where CGI is none-existent and you can see all the flaws on the screen in its glory. However, bear in mind that we did go to the moon then, we are probably no better now?
Pepper has certainly outdone herself by being the CEO in this movie. I liked Gweneth, but I reckon she needs to be a little bit more 3 dimensional than the 2 dimensional character she portrayed. No, she doesn't have action sequence, but I think she can certainly be more hysterical at Stark. She can be very angry, very strong, and very scary. Gweneth has done some of that, but I think she can also do better there.
The movie lack good plot. I don't know why it doesn't go into more details about the villain's past. It can expand from that a little bit.
Look closely at the final credit and of course you will see the hammer of Thor. I look forward to Ironman 3 and hope that Scarlett will get her Spin-Off. She's fantastic by the way, she needs more screen time in her own movie.
Does this movie teach us anything? Yes. If you are a kid in Ironman mask, please don't stand in front of the real bad guy. You will get blasted out into smithereens. Do you think making machine soldiers is a good idea? If it is, people would have already done that. Hackers? They are great if they are on your side, but if they are your enemy, you are pretty much toast.
The overall message? If you have some money to burn, burn it in a project like this. I am sure that people had fun making this movie and it certain made me very happy watching this. Keep it up, guys and gals, I like this.

Kick ass

This movies makes me want to go out there, put on a costume, and kill some bad guys. Of course, people, if you are reading this blog, the blog is going to talk about the movie because it is a review. Not a preview. Spoiler alert.
Nicholas Cage has taken on some unconventional roles lately, and I think it was a good choice for him. This is perhaps one of the few movies where the good guys die, and certainly, Big Daddy went out in the end of the movie with serious burns all over his body. But was it worth it? Of course, because his daughter got her life back as a teenager, although I don't think she will ever live the normal life in high school. She looks so cute and cuddly, but she is also very deadly and headstrong.
The origin of Kick Ass comes from an ordinary kid who gets bullied everyday. He is too afraid to do anything, so he orders a Kick Ass costume online, wield two batons, and start fighting crime.
The first attempt was of course not successful. The hospital staff had to cut open his costume and he had to recover from his wounds. However, this made him super strong because they inserted metal support into his body, he is not indestructible, but he doesn't feel pain like the other people.
Exit Kick Ass and enter the father and daughter team of Superheroes. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are certainly the most unconventional characters that I've seen for a long time. You've got your average Superman and Ironman, but Hit Girl is entirely different. She's about 10 years old, with purple wig and a killer stance. She can cut down 30 people in one sequence, but then again, she is not real. I particularly like the part where she dressed up as a school girl and pulled a case behind her. How cute and innocent.
Yes, Kick Ass is a good movie if you feel that there's something lacking in your life, but it is not Superman. It doesn't have that much romance. It is not that main stream. It doesn't have over the top super handsome guys or gals, but who needs them? Kick Ass reminds me of a Chinese child God called Ner-Za. A kid who came from heaven, it gave his parents endless trouble because he killed many people in his time, he believe in his own justice. His father was a general in old day China. When a society has to rely on someone like Kick Ass to find justice, I think the society needs to think really hard because it has failed its ordinary citizens. There's no justice. There's only revenge. Is it really healthy to have these kind of characters running around in the city? No. Thank God we don't live in that kind of universe. It is very good to imagine that you can take down all the bad guys, but it doesn't happen in real life.
This movie makes me think that America needs a hero, it needs to uphold its justice and improve the life of ordinary people. If you come to the conclusion after watching this movie, then this movie has taught you something of value.
All the action aside, I think there's a hidden message in this movie. The world is all changed now and you can make a change in the world. Don't go out and become Kick Ass, but do something good everyday to help other people. You don't need a mask for that.

The UK election result

This is my new blog. David Cameron just got elected as United Kingdom's prime minister. He is teaming up with Nick Clegg, the liberal democrat. My personal opinion on Gordon Brown is very low and I think he is a complete knob. Tony Blair, with his certain failings, are still better than Brown. However, I think that Brown is very unfortunate and had a rough deal during the economic crisis in the UK. You need to up your game, otherwise people will not vote for you.
Labour is out of the government and in come the Tories. Tories are traditionally the conservative and the aristocratic people of Britain. In other words, they are the centre-right party, and in some cases, more right than centre. This will directly affect the people of Britain, people of Europe, and of course, people in New Zealand. It is undeniable that the action of one man is going to affect the world, particularly when he is the prime minister of a super power.
UK is also traditionally a banking country, with numerous European banks in London. However, when the economic crisis stroke, it is the banks that fall first. The vicious cycle of people borrowing money that's not there to buy houses and live has been going on for years, and it is just a matter of time when the collapse come. After the banks fall, people loses their jobs, their houses, and they have to find alternative ways of making a living. Do people go back to their home town and do farming? Or do they move overseas to find jobs there? What about the people who has no where else to go? What do they do?
I am not saying that I have the answer to solve this big problem, but there are some steps that the politician can take to help people go through the hard times. First of all, reducing tax is going to help immediately. Secondly, it is very important to encourage business to stay in the country and the easiest way to do that is reduce company taxes and also reduce the interest in banks for business. There are other things that the government can do to help business recover, allocating state funding to small business that has just started, or to business that has fallen on hard times. Factory closures are certain signs that the economy is failing to support the business from growing. It is always worrying to see these happening in New Zealand. What else can the government do? It can make tertiary and secondary education cheaper, and more accessible to people who lose their jobs and want to go back to study. Health cost cuts are also important as people will need cheaper health care during the hard times. It is very important that the government adjust its policies to fit the changes, and the government should be responsible to change its policies back after the economy has recovered considerably. It takes time and wisdom to govern effectively, and I truly hope that David Cameron can do this properly, for everyone's sake.