Zero Tolerance!

Daivd Cunliffe obviously forgot.

Police Association President:

* Smacking rules give no leeway

* once a complaint was made, the standard would be the same as for reporting family violence - zero tolerance.
* it must be reported.

*Any action that is corrective is clearly an offence.

*people can smack children to prevent or minimise harm to a child but not to punish or correct it.

Being pursued by Sue can not be a nice feeling, but really this is a liitle like being 'hoisted by your own batard.'

Damn!

Cunliffe, the minister of immigration and communications, last night told the Herald on Sunday: "My 2-year-old was pulling at a little girl. I pulled his hand away," allegedly smacked him on the hand, "and calmly told him not to do that. If Families First cared about families, they would not be dragging the small children of MPs into a public debate like this."

And why not?? Does being an MP imply the ability to break the law with impunity ... particularly a law of which they have been a proponent in passing in to law... and then to exhibit a flagrant and public disregard for that same law?

That the smack was after the event must mean that it was entirely for 'the purpose of correction.'

Public situations almost always moderate behavioural excess in adults - hence children tend to perform more in these situations, because largely they can and without consequence ... until they get home. For this behaviour to be public could well imply a far greater occurrence in the home or other private situations, that it is characteristic.

"The guidelines released by police on Tuesday say people can smack children to prevent or minimise harm to a child but not to punish or correctit... zero tolerance."

The public nature of this, the observation that it was to correct, should mean the police have to act on the information published, investigate it as if it were a complaint and make notification to CYF. To do otherwise would seem to be a dereliction of duty and discrimination of the worst kind ... a test case??

What is it with our Doctors these Days??

"Keep smokers and fatties out - Doctors

Potential immigrants should be screened for obesity and smoking habits because they place such a heavy burden on health services, respiratory specialists have suggested.

Health Minister Pete Hodgson refused to comment but Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said processes were tightened in 2005 to provide more comprehensive health screening.
This was done by medical professionals - and obesity and smoking were both canvassed.
Having just one risk factor might not exclude the person from consideration, Mr Cunliffe said.
"Our approach to immigration is to weigh up a variety of factors and to balance a person's health status against the potential benefits they may bring to New Zealand."

There has also, overtime, been statements as to not treating smokers and the obese who are nz born. These people are public servants and as such these sort of statements are professional arrogance and quite simply beyond their area of expertise. I am aware, for example that smoking does indeed affect the respiratory system, it does result in cardiac problems ... but, respiratory problems and cardio pulmonary problems are increasing despite both a considerable reduction in the situations one can smoke and in the number of smokers ... a negative correlation .... why??

If such exclusive policies are pursued by medical practitioners and hospitals - is this not akin to doctors deciding who shall or shall not get treatment and killing people by omission? Is it not akin to designating a particular group as unworthy of living?? And is the lack of resources, for example the lack of a thoracic surgeon in a region, not similarly deeming a certain group to an early grave by political or hospital board dictum?
But there probably is precedent for this, I am sure these events had their genesis in similar belief, activity and personnel.

The allegation that doctors are directly involved in the latest terrorist activity in Scotland is really quite frightening - it is a direct violation of the hippocratic oath, it is an awful precedent to set in respect to self-sacrifice for belief after substantial training and attaining a status position for protecting life in the very society in which they wish to kill life... it is 'upping the ante' substantially.

But is this better or worse than what we are moving towards or already have here??

Who loves ya baby?

Kahui kehua'd.

"A Pukekohe woman says a man who repeatedly raped her in her home said he wished she was his girlfriend shortly after threatening to kill her. "
But in retrospect the behaviour was not said to be characteristic,
"It was like the devil coming out of me - accused rapist."

"I feel sorry for what I put her through. It's not like me to do that sort of shit, you know."
told police he later "felt like shit" and wished he could go back to that night."

Mugshot

"Porn photographer destroyed girl's life: mum"

Perhaps with some of those people who prey on the prepubescent, those who have an obsession with little breasties, should be state funded so they can have little breasties all of their own.

There was a time when this was almost a 'treament of choice' with repeat offenders.

Posting images of the girls on the internet demands his image similarly receive maximum exposure ... looks like he lost his teeth during processing.

A Matter of Public Record.

How absurd/pathetic can our politicians be?

Surely, in the public arena, presentation is a matter of personal responsibility. If Ron Mark choses to make his mark in the debating chamber then he does so in the knowledge that it is a matter of public record ... his behaviour (rabid attention-seeking) would indicate that he knew this full well.

Perhaps this is an indication of the depths to which the lack of decorum/courtesy has descended in society, even with our leaders - an admission that admonishment no longer has an effect, an admission that a 'whipping' by strong 'wimmin' can no longer contain all these 'free spirits.'

But the fault truly lies with the cameramen ... it is entirely their responsibilty to present these members in a statesman like manner and if they can't do this then their shutters will remain closed and the public will remain blind to this sorry conduct ... but wait, this means the public will never know ... blatant censorship on such basic personal conduct? ... but then when has character/basic courtesy ever had anything to do with sound decison making?

And what is worse? If it is due to narcolepsy, or soon to be banned mind altering substances,

or binge drinking, or obesity, or the readily available crystal meth ... but no, not this, this is a stimulant, it would need to be a sedative...or perhaps the speaker was simply awfully boring?

But never mind, there is a degree of security in knowing all are regulated and that in future we will be protected from this visual pollution independent of cause.

But how can 'real time' recording omit certain images - no time for 'photoshopping' here.

And should this level of disrespect/dismissal of one's colleagues not be a matter of public record.

Is there a cultural basis to this, is this the deference we have come to expect from a portion of our society, averting gaze out of respect? Ironically this is probably an enduring legacy that evolved from Kim Workman's tenure as head of corrections, nothing to do with a history of getting 'the bash' at all.

But we all know that there is something terribly terribly wrong about intervention to correct and that what is required is intervention to protect.

So electronic scattering will in future overlay our parliamentarians indiscretions, as it has done with some of our other icons ....

and this would appear to have preserved his 'image' and averted any generalised effects. So perhaps this is the way to put the 'statesman' back in to our parliamentarians, to make them once again reverred by the people who voted for them ... after all, what you can't see wont distress you.

Tasers for Teachers.

' Or upping the anti ...'

"Taser Critics Should Note Violence Against Police."
"Those critics whipping up hysteria against the issue of tasers to police, must take note of the increasing violence being directed against Police," Police Association President Greg O'Connor said today."


But then those 'wannabe tasered in our society have been through the education system, so what of our teachers?

"There is a time & place for discipline," says minister ... "but gone are the times when you deserve a jolly good thrashing, nowadays you have to beg for it."










5 October 2006 "Violence against teachers around the globe is one of the key barriers to quality education for all, (post) PPTA president Debbie Te Whaiti said today."


“We heard at our Annual Conference last week teachers who had experienced repeated verbal intimidation, threats of rape, desks being thrown out a window, and of one school where three teachers were assaulted in a single day."


Now I believe the MOE is looking at earlier intervention (age) with children to avoid these difficulties ... so just perhaps 'reasonable force' for correction, i.e. a discrete smack at the time of the transgression, might just stop the problem behaviour, might just override any lack of response to social sanction and it might, it might just mean that tasers can be relegated to the 'not necessary pile.' Just perhaps ... and perhaps then all our children can have access to education.

This seems somehow just a little bit better approach than Turia's talking and the police's tasering the over fifteen year olds.

Smaller Class Sizes, Shorter Year.

Yeh, right. This will really really help our children 'acquire an education.'

"The main findings from Educationcounts were:
On an average daily basis, the 2006 survey indicated an overall absence rate of 11.5 percent with a truancy rate of 4.1 percent. In 2006, the overall absence and truancy rates were higher across all schools compared with 2004. Overall absence rate increased from 9% in 2004 to 11.5% in 2006 ,and truancy rate from 3.4% in 2004 to 4.1% in 2006."

Now I believe this transcribed to 43,000 absences/truants a week plus 30,000 stand downs/suspensions a year. This is a substantial reduction in class sizes ... not that smaller class size has ever been shown in the research to improve learning outcomes.

Māori and Pasifika students had higher truancy rates when compared with New Zealand European and Asian students, a result also noted in the 2004 report.

& I am sure that Ms Turei has little to add, simply endeavouring to enhance the notion of 'white guilt' for absolutely unacceptable behaviour - trying to 'gain mileage' out of the death of a two year old is 'pretty sick' cross culturally, in fact so unacceptable that attribution of blame becomes paramount.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfmc_id=1501154&objectid=10448409

Sort of trying to sanctify the behaviour of/give credibility to those that have opted out of our education system ... I am sure to the relief of our teachers ... but it just keeps on happening, a cumulative phenomenon that with the burgeoning 'maori for maori' services in education and health has had the overall effect of these services doing a disservice to their own and continues to do so at an alarming rate ... and this from Gore to Whakatane, in fact many, many places.

... and what has happened about the mandate that all teachers be registerd by last year I believe it was???

Das Boot.

I am sure that the Goverment and the navy get exactly the same feeling I do when I buy something on Trademe and it gets here.

Well done.

Power to the People.

This is but another example of the cavalier and simplistic attitude our judiciary have to both criminals and the victims of their activities ... are they trying to maintain crime as a growth industry? Other examples are of course our parole boards (kwangos for the retired) and prisons themselves, where there appears an overriding ethic of the very behaviour of those they are entrusted to oversee.
Or perhaps this is simply an option to reduce overcrowding in prisons executed by those with little understanding of whom they are dealing with and the wider implications of their actions.
It would seem the latter.



& CYF, well what extra can you say?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10448403

Can't Read, Can't Write ... but good with pitchures & computas.

"Police seek extra powers in new police act...
Police want the power to fingerprint people without the need to arrest or lay charges against them."
In the UK they can do it in schools ... finger prints, iris recognition ... start with the kids & you've got the adults covered. It's all rather insidious really, remove effective means of child management and you reap the rewards of the unruly uncontrollable product, but then this aberrant product enables greater generalised recording & hence control of the majority... & this without even considering the integrity of those holding the ink pads.

CYF Probe of Trust's Youth Offender Programme.

One would really expect a substantive vetting of any programme: personnel involved; that the goals were realistic, realisable and socially and personally meaningful/valuable; of the validity and safety of processes for achieving these prior to the placement of any State Wards anywhere and under any circumstances. Further that subsequent to placement there were regular random assessments to ensure these goals were being met and safety considerations maintained.
Retrospective assessment following 'negative fallout' really indicates a failure in basic processes. In this instance it is made somewhat worse by the suggestion that it was known that the programme was neither following nor fulfilling stated intent - or at least one must presume this to be the case.

Legal threat over paedophile database.

Allegation of criminal offending and conviction are a matter of public record.

Allegation without succeeding conviction is a public statement as to insufficient evidence to convict which is largely seen as a statement of innocence - it is both proper and necessary this is in the public domain.

A large part of the deterrent effect of a conviction is the public attention this attracts - which is in and of itself insufficient, given Corrections figures indicate a 44% recidivism rate within three years of release from prison. It is a matter of public record, it should be in the public arena and should be readily accessible by the public - it should not require organisations like the Sensible Sentencing Trust to collate and publish this information.

Conviction should carry an immediate waiver of any privacy considerations ... this is all part of taking away an offended against person's right to personal retribution.

That publishing information that is a matter of public record, that has been placed in the public domain can be subject to legal threat is simply wrong and can never be seen as in the public interest.

Rated.

Not quite the family show and you can see why.

Driven by hormones, not by intellect.

Aha ... & the similarities between images are somewhat uncanny.

http://asianinvasion2006.blogspot.com/

A Credibility Problem.

"... following a damning internal report raising concerns about dangerously low training standards ... police investigated more than 60 allegations of misconduct against recruits at the police college in the past year.
Charges include assaults against fellow recruits and police officers, attempted burglary, academic dishonesty, bullying, exhibiting offensive material, fraud and failing to pay a taxi fare." A belief that they are above and beyond? That they can do whatever so takes them with impunity??

and this is the 'new face' of our changed police force, a force given additional powers of discretion in pressing charges against parents that 'smack for purposes of correction,' a force in which we will learn to have greater confidence, a force to be reckoned with?

Oh dear.

CYFs Watch

This:
"Teen P addict left to own devices
A teenage drug addict remanded to full-time Child, Youth and Family custody was left to his own devices 12 hours a day because his caregiver didn't want him in her house while she was at work."

Plus this:
"CYF came under fire for its lack of supervision with Christchurch teens in the past few years, with 12 reported to be working as street prostitutes while supposedly in CYF custody."

Plus this:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200706251722/cyf_investigate_how_shooting_accused_left_camp
"Child, Youth and Family is investigating how two boys accused of shooting at police managed to leave its supervised camp they were attending."
are certainly indictments upon a Government agency entrusted with providing 'safer' living alternatives for our children and young persons. There are no mitigating factors for this and 'all in all' is indicative of an organisation N (not)U(under)P(proper)C(care) and C(control).

You Can't Always Get What You Want.

But mostly you get what you pay for.

Navy's latest recruit sails from Melbourne
4:00PM Friday June 22, 2007... but no, she doesn't.

But it's all right now ... Minor problem with new frigate fixed - Navy
11:00AM Sunday June 24, 2007

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10447605

"People can call me what they want, but I'm not a slapper."

"I did it for my kids," said sue, earnestly. Gazing long at the reporter whose quizzical look prompted a small-child look-askance, quickly succeeded by a recollected wide-eyed pleading innocence... "I love my children," she said, "My singular focus on wider socially important issues has meant they have had to be secondary to these pursuits. They have had to live with the embarassment of my public cv, of seeing me, their mum portrayed as the victim for all the world to see, of seeing me mishandled by the authorities, of seeing me biting and scratching, screaming, wriggling and writhing in absolute defiance of authority ... and then coming home, days later, bruised, hurting and taking it out on them ... but I never slapped them, people can call me what they want, but I'm not a slapper ... I was so driven by ideal and they had to put up with my frustrated yelling and weeping, often directed at them ... and they knew it was nothing they had done and they always tried to comfort me at those times."

She hung her head briefly, indicating a fleeting shame ... uncrossed and recrossed her gumbooted feet smiling as a lump of dried humus fell to the carpet revealing both her inherited green affiliations and fickle petulant character at once.

"and then I realised," she looked earnestly at the reporter and then, reclaimed that 'shiftiness of eye, that ADD'd persona... "That my kids were simply behaving like I was ... and when authority figures used force to try and correct me, it made me worse ... yes, I became uncontrollable, repeatedly I was just so embarassed by myself ... and gosh, it must have been so embarassing, so confusing for them," she added with rare and fleeting insight.

She abruptly brushed her undisciplined hair from her eyes inadvertently poking a recently gardening finger into her left eye which watered profusely. One of her children sidled up to her, cuddled and offered her comfort for her one-eyed cry.

"and then it came to me," she said, her eyes raising skywards, revelling in the act of revelation, then flitting rapidly side to side as if caught in an untruth, "this is probably why my kids get so bad, it's because I use force to discipline them." She looked menacingly at the reporter restating, "but I am not a slapper."

"So, I asked my children and they agreed with me, they already knew this. Talking with them I was surprised at their maturity, they were aware that I was displacing my anger on to them and this on top of expecting them to comply with me when I so despised authority ... and when they infringed or ignored me I used to cry so dismally, it was as though my whole world had imploded."

"Children are so different these days, they are so much more advanced than we were at their age," she said, "I am so impressed by their ability to analyse, to intuitively know the right path."

"and then I knew what I had to do. I had come so close to slapping my children on so many occasions and knew that so many parents would be in the same position and that this would simply make the situation worse and I had to protect these parents from themselves. This anti slapping legislation wasn't anything to do with child-abuse, it was to bring families closer ... it had nothing to do with the United Nations," she said smiling at her burgeoning intellect, "but everything to do with uniting families ... and my children knew this, as if this were a universal truth ... such wisdom in those so young and they were aware of it before I was and they can't even vote."

I Want to Keep My Job.

Firstly, repeal of sec. 59 ostensibly to protect children from parental excess when everyone else knew the change would simply 'muddy the waters.'

Now, lowering the voting age to 16 years ... why??

The former of course commended by the UN, the latter WHO, two organisations of immense credibility and presence.

Both of these 'changes' (real and mooted) can be seen as empowering children, in some ways attributing almost 'equivalent status' to adults ... when educationally speaking kids are the financial responsibility of parents until the age of 25 ... sooo ........ you can't use force on them at all for correction, at 16 they can vote, they'll have to stay at school until they're 17, but they are not sufficiently responsible to chose their own food, aha ...

Now given that we have something like 40,000 truants a week, 30,000 stand downs/suspensions/exclusions per year and a large percentage of these are secondary school children, presumably a large percentage of which will be deemed sufficiently 'civic-minded' and responsible to vote, yep ...

This lady is really somewhat misguided and in fact constitutes a considerable threat to society. She is undermining parental authority and hence generalised instructional control which is basic for social functioning and learning, both within school and society in general, and it is further empowering kids as independently thinking and functioning. This particularly for that group of children that they, the government, are trying to keep at school because ongoing adult supervision reduces (having firstly disempowered teachers via the removal of force for correction) illegal activity.

This is really very, very confusing as to overall intention and is very, very misguided.

But perhaps the reason is simply self interest. After the repeal of sec. 59, who in their 'right mind' would vote for her ... aside from those young persons, 'idealistic' (green ?), 'educated' (?), whose parents are legally, financially responsible for them ... if you enable all this and give them the means to 'stick it to' their parents you probably have created a pool of loyal support.

School research has shown greater authority and structure results in both greater learning, enjoyment and hence motivation to learn ... the 'life long learners' catch phrase. She has ruined this and arguably she is about to deprive kids of their 'childhood,' no less, in fact on a far grander scale, than a sexual predator would ever be capable of.

Suicide Prevention

Programmes aimed at raising awareness of the indicators for suicidal intent/act have always run the very real risk of having this seen as a viable and acceptable option for life's difficulties. This has always been a danger with those from famillies where there has been a suicide and where 'counsellors' have ascribed the deceased as being in a 'better place' and endeavoured to present the person as 'concerned, caring, etc.' or describing them in other 'admirable' terms. This is of course supported by a lot of people's perceptions, including those of some professionals, that suicide runs in famillies.

"There is little evidence that didactic school-based suicide prevention programmes
are effective in reducing suicidal behaviour and there are concerns that such programmes may not be safe," says an informal New Zealand network of research workers on suicide in their report, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

Visual Pollution.

Just goes to show that even those in the medical profession have Adlerian strivings when it comes to public recognition.

"There are many school students who will walk past it. I am a doctor and in the past 18 years I have treated a lot of bulimic and anorexic girls. That advertising is destructive to their rehabilitation," she said.

There was a time when anorexia was an 'illness' that afflicted 1 in 150,000 and the diagnosis included bulimia - so there would have been only one person so afflicted in the HB ... my, how times have changed ... & it is this sort of over inclusive, emotive, exaggerated vulnerability/exaggerated simplistic notion of cause of relapse that perpetuates this movement of increasingly defining normals as abnormals, of increasing dependence on professionals in the pursuit of narrowing of the range of 'acceptable' behaviour.

Silly stuff from someone who should know better.

Replacing One CARcinogen With Others That Do The Job Better.

Over the last few years there has been a definite change in choice of motor vehicle in my small part of the world ... from the BMW/Audi/Mercedes to that 4x4 'can't see past,' offroader that the blue-rinsed Remuera mum's so enjoy dropping their kids off at school in, that they don't really know where the left hand side is and try so hard, at times, to locate this by feel ... but they obviously feel more secure in these vehicles and feel their offspring are similarly safer.
The advantages are obvious: bigger; better visibility(front and right hand side, attrition rate reversing isn't that good though); do better in head on crashes (I believe a ratio of 1:3 mortality is immediately achievable - just don't roll them); roundabouts constitute no obstacle - just maintain the straight line; parking is easy as curbs are readily mounted; diesel is cheaper and they are rather imposing - those in lesser vehicles defer to you and provide 'heaps' of space, especially if driving one-handed with a cell phone in the other. These pluses have resulted in a huge increase in the number of these vehicles on the road ... many imported at the conclusion of their economic life not overly particular about spewing forth their particulate matter in an ever so wilful manner.
But really how much safer should one feel as the owner of such 'bigger is better' diesel machines?
Travelling to work behind them, often numerous of them, it is not possible to drive 'ahead of yourself,' because you just can't see - so you drive in accord with their brake lights, a difficult, trying and downright dangerous exercise. Next, is the breathing problem you experience, the smell, the taste of their excreta, which at times has been enough (no air conditioning) to make the eyes smart and become liberally tearful. The irony to this of course is that many, if not most of these "I would have a Hummer if I coulders" don't appear to smoke ... rather than pursuing a 'healthier than thou' lifestyle this may well be compensatory, something to do with the knowledge that these 'can't be without accessories for the modern mum' are considerably more toxic than cigarette smoking and in such a more emphatically generalised way than second hand cigarette smoke could ever be.
With the considerable reduction in cigarette smokers over the years, why has this not been reflected in a reduction in respiratory problems, cardiac problems, cancers and the many other health issues that predominantly impact on our more vulnerable members of society, our children, our elderly and our ailing. 'Clean diesel is still dirty.'

Myth Perpetuated.

Sourced from Lindsay Mitchell.

"Last year the Department of Health commissioned the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit to undertake a review of existing national and international evidence on the effects of alcohol on the developing embryo, foetus and child. The principal findings were that there is no consistent evidence that low to moderate consumption of alcohol during pregnancy has any adverse effects although there is some evidence that binge drinking can affect neurodevelopment of the foetus."

This is in no way definitive at all, not even for occasional excess ... but then us 'baby boomers' already knew this, we celebrated our planned and unplanned conceptions with due revelry.

But, "We have strengthened our advice to women to help ensure that no-one underestimates the risk to the developing foetus of drinking above the recommended safe levels. Our advice is simple: avoid alcohol if pregnant or trying to conceive. This advice could also be included on alcohol packaging or labels."

This advice goes beyond 'basis in research' to perpetuation of previously unsubstantiated myth. That this emanates from the Department of Health, a department whose credibility has historically derived from and is based on scientific research, indicates a rather flagrant disregard for this in favour of opinion - a social engineering agenda on the basis that it sounds 'right,' presumably.

Interestingly, when foetal alcohol syndrome was first mooted health workers were actively discussing distances between the eyes of neonates and toddlers and this involved some pretty fine discriminations ... unfortunately at that time most people drank alcohol and many to excess, so an easy relationship to frighten people with.

It is this sort of myth that gains quick and wide dissemination and comes to form one of those accepted truisms, akin to alcoholism being a 'disease.' This is simply an abrogation of responsibility by these departments, an unacceptable arrogance.

Taxonomy - a growing industry.

"Animal hoarding a mental illness - SPCA.
Cases of people who keep more animals than they can handle - animal hoarding - should be recognised as a mental illness, the Society for the Protection of Animals says.
The call follows a move by the Australian RSPCA to get the syndrome recognised as an illness.
It comes after the charging of a dog show judge David Balfour with four counts of cruelty after SPCA officer had to put down more than half the 160 cats and 80 dogs removed from his property."
But under what category I wonder?
Psychoticism indicates depth of affliction, so there's the depths of depravity to which these people, in some peoples' eyes, sink and then there's the truism that animal owners approximate the idiosyncracies/demeanours of their animals (or vice versa), so ... depersonalisation ... they suggest strong depressive elements, so an affective state is in order. The 100% recidivism rate would suggest a disorder of extreme compulsion or addictive quality and this would also be consistent with the reported denial of wrongdoing ... does not really go with the reported grandiosity tho,' seeing themselves as saviours ... schizo-affective disorder?? ... and then there is

extension on this, when dogs deal to others' projection? Displacement?
In reality probably just 'lazy irresponsible buggers.' Interesting proposition tho.' Not only do they lose all their animals but also gain a 'community treatment order.' A 'double whammy,' so to say.

SCREWCAPS’ CANCER RISK IDENTIFIED

It always amazes me how so many of our scientific community develop the means to solve a problem or develop a new product or process and in doing so only consider the immediate issue. There is a definite need for the consideration of the wider implications of any such developments, such as health issues. This is a good example of this, of how this research was available prior to the introduction of screw caps in to NZ and yet it never entered the argument as to acceptability.
"Claims that there is no evidence of the health risks in Screwcaps’ plastic liners (NZ Winegrowers) are at odds with research results from a trans-national study into a new method of measuring food contaminants. The study, on Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) identifies endocrine disruptors in wine samples from bottles closed with screwcaps, but not with cork."

...and it has been said that 'the effect will not be that great because, unlike with cork stoppers, these bottles are stored upright.'

This is of course but the 'tip of the iceberg' when all similar closures are considered.

Keith Stewart is to be commended for raising this issue and simply restating the research findings when contested, especially when commentary on the wine industry is his 'bread and butter.'

Oh So Cold.

The drought has broken, the cold wet snap has come ... wind, sunshine, rain, hail ... one succeeding the other with astonishing rapidity.

It all makes you feel so alive.

A Fishy Story.

"Landmark sexual discrimination ruling 'a joke' - Talley."

"Pole dancing is is a job best suited to women. Fish filleting, on the other hand, is more a job for the blokes. That's life, not discrimination, says Talley's Fisheries boss, Andrew Talley."

Now there is probably something to Talley's response, although I am not altogether sure his examples are particularly apt or convey this ... like I am sure some 'blokes' would love to see scantily clad chappies 'chapping at the pole' - so to speak.

But the generalised principle should engender a tad of caution, for the 'safety' of the individual, relations with other workers and other contextual factors should carry some weight in such decisions ... it really isn't a matter smply of imposing the PC 'positive discrimination' principle .. for this so often simply provides a platform for those 'attention junkies' who otherwise would not have the 'meaningful existence' they so pursue and doesn't really open doors in any socially meaningful manner for others ... one can think of the antics/lives of a few politicians, for example.

Gone are the days when ' men were men and women were grateful.'

We live in such a 'blurred' world: oestogened males, testosteroned females, androgenised both, ....

and some of these blends could certainly lift 30kg fish crates.

Sinking Feelings.

It must indeed be difficult seeing the water lap futher and further up your atoll and it would certainly give the impression (create the illusion) that the water was rising ... or would it? If the contrary view is correct, that these atolls are but following a natural life cycle and sinking ... then tying 44 gallon drums to the perimeter wont work ... pulling the plug and letting a little water out isn't really practicable ... perhaps it's simply time to 'jump ship.'
Dr Iftikhar Ayaz, honorary consul for Tuvalu in London, is battling to raise awareness of the effects that climate change is having on smaller, less developed nations.
"The time to act is now," he said ... and he may well be right ... to them it is indeed a problem of titanic proportions and unless they do something in preparation there may well be too few life boats.

Presentation Is Oh So Important.

There are no surprises here.
There is something in the political (and business) mind that enables individuals to compartmentalise their life, to fervently pursue agenda self righteously, quite independent of their complicity or duplicity in those situations they deem need addressing ... but then awareness of collateral damage is seldom lacking when that collateral damage potentially interferes with the pursuit of their own personal acclaim/power.
I am sure the DSM-IV has a name for this.

What's sauce for the goose aint sauce for the gander.

Now some years ago I spoke briefly with an insurance actuary ... & surprise, surprise. He claimed he had been entrusted with assessing the effects of those climate affecting currents, la nina, & the contrary, on NZ weather patterns ... & my gosh, he found no effect - despite our local tv presenters perenially claiming the contrary. Now this he attributed to NZ being a "long, thin island which obviated much of the impact of these globally significant events." There must be some substance to this, for if such trends could be used to 'lift' insurance premiums, then this certainly would have occurred.
Now our PM must be aware of this phenomenon, that 'NZ is not part of the real world' ... for "arguments about the amount of carbon dioxide emitted through the use of fossil fuels were "false science"... "the next threat to trade from our part of the world is going to be idiotic arguments about food miles and travel miles - don't travel all the way to Australia, think of the carbon footprint, don't buy their food, think of the carbon footprint," albeit it would seem 'scientific consensus' would deem this to be anthropogenically caused.
Obviously she did/does ascribe to Augie Auer's and other independent scientific view ... well for NZ anyway ... "with the extreme weather you've had, the terrible, terrible droughts, followed by bushfires, followed by terrible flooding, I think people know there's issues here and climate's got to be tackled."
Yep, the carbon footprint of the ocker is indeed considerably greater than that of the kiwi & you don't have to be a whiz kid to see this.
This new 'challenge' is engendering all those femine characteristics of which we have become accustomed: guile, fickelness, attribution of blame, disassociation, preciousness ... & deferencehttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c id=26&objectid=10445325

concerns about pederasts & protection of our breeders

Britain's Secretary of State for the Home Department John Reid, states publication of names & addresses of offenders (pederasts) would not be published, even tho' conviction is a matter of public record ... but, "Single mothers will be able to register their concern about a new partner with police and will gain the right to be told if he has convictions for child abuse."
This is one 'big step for women, one giant step for womenkind."
One has to wonder if these deviant chappies are so difficult to pick out of a crowd as this would indicate?
& what next ... traffic offences, violence offences, drug convictions ... income? Just like the Dept. of Education? But no, that is to do with dealing with other peoples kids.
There seems something just a little wrong, a little too secretly intrusive about this.

So Many Variations.

... and on the 'face of it' how many fit the reportedly 'media projected lean ideal,' that ideal that is so damaging to our children's health and mental health ... it really is just as well that 'one man's meat is another man's poison.'

Bigger is Better?

Coz in the words of that crooner, Frank, "everybody loves somebody sometime..." and it isn't just their mothers ... and there is something entirely proper about this.

Bigger is Better?

Having recently seen a documentary on one of the somewhat rare but 'acceptable' fetishes, men who find legless (or armless) women erotic and feel incomplete without an incomplete partner ... I must say I felt more than a little 'sickened,' the pursuit of a 'cripple' with intent. This is not a statement about the wants or needs of those afflicted by life's unfortunate accidents, or that these should be any different from anyone else ... because somewhat more than complete affects me the same way.