Woooosh...

Some of us recently tried and failed. 1/3 of us didn't even bother to vote, and the rest voted for Tim Groser and his ilk.
As a NZer myself I'm afraid I have to agree.. most of us are too stupid, or too apathetic to govern ourselves. As the poster below pointed out - the most popular programmes here are so the called reality shows, that have no basis in reality and designed to keep the masses dumbed down to the level of a 7yr old

Honestly I wish I knew. The level of apathy in this country is appalling. The recent election saw barely 2/3's of eligible voters turn out to vote.
I encourage my kids to pay attention to the issues and discuss them with their friends, and hopefully get them out in force. However it would seem that many are more interested in the latest BS than the welfare of their nation

There might be full public disclosure. But sure as hell we won't have a say in any changes before it is signed. NZ Governments over the past 20yrs, both Labour & National, have run roughshod over democracy (when was the last time a national referendum was heeded?).

I've nothing against free trade but not at the expense of our rights as a sovereign nation, yet that is exactly what John & Co. will allow to happen

Can they do that with sonic? Do we know what effect the sonic would have on the muons?
And if they do use sonic make sure there's only one device to prevent confusing the polarity.

All these comments and no mention of Sierra's ... Quest games; Hero's Quest, Kings Quest, Space Quest, and the perenial Favourite Lesiure Suit Larry.
Plot driven with the right balance of humour and complexity... still enjoyable after 15+yrs.

As for FPS.. wolfenstien (2d & 3d), Duke Nukem 3d and wing commander. Sufficient plot to identify objective and make it enjoyable to play.

You missed a step...
3: Have popular vote
4: ?????
5: Profit

There ya go ;-)

Sales/Marketing manager ;-)

+1 for all the above

SAP.... We'll GIVE YOU $49.99 to please take it TODAY

Hrmm I'm Catholic and have a degree in theology. And this is the first time I've ever heard that the star of Bethlehem is supposed to be Polaris - it's certainly not part of the general 'mythos' as you put it

General teaching is that the Star of Bethlehem only hung around until not long after the Wise men left. And from a more scientific viewpoint if it's true then it was likely a supernova

I was wondering where geothermal was on the list..
The hydro stations on the Waikato supply mostly upper NI along with Huntly coal.
Central to lower NI rely on a combination of hydro, wind and geothermal. And IIRC Wellington gets it power from the southern dams

Damn I wish I had mod points right now...
But I can't decide whether the mod would be +1 Funny or +1 Insightful

I disagree...

The Bombadil/Barrow-wight sub-plot was easily left out. It made for a good read but it's exclusion didn't detract from the overall story.

The Scouring of the Shire however is a major part of the story and ends the War of the Ring back in the Shire amongst Hobbits. Remember the LotR is a story about Hobbits. It says so in the prologue. And JRRT actually stated the TSofS was one of the earliest parts of the book to be written.

To my mind the movies focused too much on Aragorn/Arwin which was only a sub-story in the books.

I did enjoy the movies - however I feel PJ, et al missed the overall point.

Do not underestimate the dark side of the Force.