sagenz

Good enough for Blair's kids its good enough for mine

Tony Blair smacked his children - So What!!!.

Mr Blair, whose other children are aged 21, 20 and 17, replied: “No no, no no. It was actually the other way round but . . . I think, look, this smacking . . . I mean, I agree with what you just said, I think everybody actually knows the difference between smacking a kid and abusing a child.

another reason to like the guy.  He is a normal parent who makes his decisions based on his own standards.

“But I, if I can honestly say this to you — I think the problem is when you get these really, really difficult families, it’s moved a bit beyond that.”

fact checking the frogs arse

frogblog ? When truth is the victim says that crime is going down..

Hm, who should I believe when it comes to describing crime rates and assults on police, the Vice-Prez of the Police Association, or a NZ First politician?

Whilst Reported offences may be going down as people stop bothering to report crimes that the police will not follow up on,  violent crime has increased.  In fact does anybody see a trend??

Year	1995/96	1996/97	1997/98	1998/99	1999/00	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05
Measures	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded	Recorded
Offence	National	National	National	National	National	Labour	Labour	Labour	Labour	Labour
Violence	39,642	40,072	40,221	40,274	40,090	43,534	44,384	45,980	45,512	45,941

mercedes, served him right, then think about the principles

At first you laugh and think served him right for driving a Mercedes -  Businessman charged under boy racer law . Then you have a think about the principle.  A man has does a harmless, slightly noisy stunt and faces a fine and losing his car.

Taranaki Chamber of Commerce chairman John Rae is alleged to have spun the wheels of his Mercedes Benz CLS 55 in central Te Awamutu on December 29, the Taranaki Daily News reported today. Rae's car, worth about $258,000, was impounded by the police.

Then you realise that little by little New Zealand is becoming an authoritarian police state.  Blame the politicians, not the police.

The Nuclear Option - Part II | Sir Humphrey's

Wanderlust has an excellent piece on nuclear power that bears repeating at The Nuclear Option - Part II | Sir Humphrey's.

This American, having lived in the Environmental Paradise that is New Zealand for three and a half years now, thinks (as per ZenTiger's comment above) that New Zealand and Environmental, used in the same sentence, are about as much an oxymoron as is the phrase "military intelligence" in the minds (!) of Leftie/Democratic/BDS sufferers ("BDS" = Bush Derangement Syndrome).

Why? Putting aside a few obvious legislative examples (the "take and waste" contract of the Maui gas field for the last 35 years; management of lake levels vs gas vs geothermal to maximise revenues instead of conserve fossil fuels; building wind farms to raise spot power prices vs putting meaningful new generation capacity onto the national grid; legislative discouragement of point producers or lines management companies from competing with the power generation SOEs for more than a meaningless 1MW; active discouragement of using national resources to generate additional power post-Kyoto; etc., etc.), let's examine two things that the everyday NZ consumer does, to waste electricity and pollute the environment: *

Use of fireplaces, point gas (propane heaters) and/or electrical resistance heat to heat residential homes, which woefully waste energy as compared to [USA] modern, insulated homes, heated and cooled by heat pumps -

Comrade Burchett was a party hack

Keep this article in mind when you read trevor loudons blog posts about former communists and their "innocent" political beliefs. The Australian: Comrade Burchett was a party hack [January 07, 2006].

But there is an emerging nostalgia among former party members and supporters, apparent in recent efforts to rehabilitate communism. This is also happening in Australia and is reflected in the enthusiastic and nostalgic reception of a recently published book: Memoirs of a Rebel Journalist: The Autobiography of Wilfred Burchett. Co-editor of this "unabridged" book is son George Burchett.

any Robinson is a forward analyst???

All Blacks make bullying an 'art form'   Andy Robinson clearly has a real lack of understanding of the dark arts of the front row.  I would have loved to play against front rows coached to come from a high position.

"The scrum was the one area where we were bullied in our test match [at Twickenham in November] with them. The All Blacks were allowed to come down and bash us, to use the momentum from starting higher rather than the proper crouch position, which you're supposed to adopt before engagement," said Robinson, a renowned forward analyst.

Perhaps that is why they got done so badly.  anybody with any basic knowledge would realise that the side that gets low and gets under the opposition then pushes up with straight backs and the strength of their legs has a huge advantage.  I really am surprised at how stupid that comment is.  It is sort of on a par with anything Millsy says about politics if you are not a rugby follower.

What was he thinking?

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe has a Skoda Superb. 

Superb!

Payback!!!

Blazing mouse sets fire to house.

A US man threw a mouse he had found in his home onto a pile of burning leaves - only to see it run away and burn his house down.

Girls won't be boys!

The SST has some all time ads.

Sex sells.

The feminist magazine Broadsheet had a page called Hogwash that featured New Zealand's .... print examples:

November 1975: a girl smiles at her dentist and says, "he says my teeth are so good, I can be his receptionist when I grow up".

September 1976: the Chef's Takeaways asks, "Wife a bad cook? Eat out with us and keep her as a pet!"

October 1977: a company looking for a bookkeeper advertises for a woman - or person.

March 1978: Thai Airways tells its customers, "the only wide bodies we have in service are our DC10s".

And, in September of that same year, Wellington company Colenso says it is looking for a "foxy lady... who doesn't mind being hounded by 3 jolly good sports... we'll really make it worth your while being caught".

In January 1977, to Topaz cigarettes said freedom was "making it in a man's world".

David Cameron takes his first scalp

BBC - Embattled Kennedy quits as leader. "Now he says he will play no part in that leadership contest."