New Zealand

The Road Toll and Drink Driving

Posted by Karl Rohde on May 14, 2010 at 1:27 pm

The NZ Police are calling for a reduction in the legal alcohol limit. It’s currently 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.  They want it reduced to 50 milligrams.They insist this will reduce the road toll by 14 per year and save the country about $100 million per annum. Okay, great.  I can [...]

Tax On Rentals – What You Need To Think About

Posted by Karl Rohde on October 11, 2009 at 9:24 am

Owning rental property is an addiction here in New Zealand. Just about everyone I know has a rental property. Some even rent or flat share in more “desirable” locations than they could afford to buy in but have one or two rentals in other suburbs. Yet with all these rental properties, the government sees very [...]

Kiwis tax debt soars to $4b – may double in five years

Posted by Karl Rohde on June 26, 2009 at 11:19 am

Tax. It’s a word that often instills emotion. Particularly if you are speaking to a small business owner. There are two distinct camps here in New Zealand. Well three if you include those that just don’t give a damn about anything. The first is that New Zealand is technically a low taxed country. This camp [...]

Road deaths have dropped by 52%

Posted by Karl Rohde on May 25, 2009 at 7:44 pm

“Since 1990 the number of vehicles on the road has increased by 51% while Police reported injuries have dropped by 8%, road deaths have dropped by 52% and the number of days spent in hospital as a result of road crashes has dropped by 48%.” That looks pretty good to me.  But the officials still [...]

VoIP – The Revolution Has Started

Posted by Karl Rohde on June 10, 2008 at 8:30 am

Today, my own private revolution has started. Well, not really. I just ordered my WAG54GP2 Wireless ADSL2 VoIP Gateway. It’s a little expensive, without much change from $200. But, with the WorldXChange Xnet Fusion plan, we will be saving about $50 a month on telecommunications. In addition, I will be bringing the office phone for [...]

Cow Farts And Colostomy Bags

Posted by Karl Rohde on April 12, 2007 at 12:00 am

Global Warming. Just about every day there is a new piece of drivel in some paper or new bulletin about it. Costs are going to go up, coastal property prices are going to go down, we face economic ruin, the world is going to change. Come on people, cow farts affecting the climate? Get real! [...]

Drugs, The Law, And Common Sense

Posted by Karl Rohde on August 16, 2005 at 5:20 pm

So, David Henderson is now a criminal. His crime; using cocaine or more accurately getting caught. His punishment, likely the loss of control of his successful international business and the inability to travel overseas ever again. Does a conviction for personal use of drugs justify the impact of that conviction has on society? When convicted, [...]