This is news?

"Major routes in and out of New Zealand's capital city could be blocked by rubble from more than 400 buildings with unstable masonry in the event of a big earthquake..."


Link:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6434263/Wellington-earthquake-fear-No-way-in-or-out

Do people really get paid money for writing this crap?

Is there ANYONE with a functioning brain that couldn't figure this out?

Or was it written for the public service drones?- the ones that would be better left trapped in the ruins.

[mental picture of the grey shoe brigade furiously sending memos and e-mails reporting their status and making inquiries about overtime...]

REAL guts

"Careful," Cliff Robinson tells his son and daughter as the three wait to cross the road outside the Court of Appeal in Wellington.

As the green man blinks, Robinson grasps Johnny and Marita's hands tightly before they step out.

Safely seated at a cafe up the road, he supervises as they eat pizza, wiping sauce from their faces and patiently responding when they break into the conversation.

It's not an uncommon scene – an attentive father taking his two children out for lunch – except that Robinson is 75, and Marita and Johnny are 45 and 42.

Both are intellectually disabled. Johnny also has schizophrenia, diabetes and is on medication to suppress his sexual urges.

Since 1975, Robinson has been their caregiver – and he wants the Government to provide a bit of financial help in recognition of that role.

At 75, most "Kiwi jokers" would be enjoying their retirement, he says. Instead, he follows nearly the same routine he has for 36 years..."

Link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6411853/Caring-for-these-kids-a-job-for-life

One of the reasons I get so pissed off with BLUDGERS that rort the welfare system, is because these sort of folks are dragged down by the indolent hordes!

This man has worked day and night for 36 years and in all probability will do so until he dies- having fought death to try and care for his kids for just a bit longer.

To institutionalize his children would cost the taxpayer thousands of dollars a week. He isn't asking for that. Him and many like him just want a bit of help with the extra expenses and a bit of home help. If we are to help a welfare system THESE are the ones in need. Not a serial breeder or drug-addled work-avoider - dammit, they can bloody starve- not that they will.

We hear much about 'Heros'- usually well-paid sports personalities and it's fashionable to label them role models.

Try looking to men like Cliff Robinson instead. 36 years of hard grind with never an end in sight.

That means a bit more than a good game of rugby- in my world.

What if it were the school bus drivers?

"Hundreds of teachers have criminal convictions and many are not fit to teach, newly released figures show.

Teachers have been investigated for sexual misconduct, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, incompetence, dishonesty and viewing pornography in the past two years..."
Link:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/6406164/Hundreds-of-unfit-teachers-in-class

Now if it were any other group- hell, you get the odd bent Corrections Officer and there is a big media feeding frenzy! Do they not have the police checks that the rest of us who go near the public must have? (I had to have a check to join the volunteer ambulance)

Or are members of one of the largest trade unions exempt. Of course this oversight could be simple incompetence, which would not be a great surprise...

It brings on many changes

"Every week 11 people commit suicide in New Zealand, but those trying to stem the flow say the government is not coming up with fresh ideas.

Maria Bradshaw has a nickname for Peter Dunne.

Bradshaw, the founder of Casper - Community Action on Suicide Prevention Education and Research - calls the associate minister of health, "Peter Dunne Nothing", because she says that in the four years he has been responsible for suicide prevention in government "he has done absolutely nothing"..."

Link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6404154/Calls-for-stronger-leadership-on-suicide

Here are two ideas that will help:

1. Don't look to the government for ANY original ideas
2. Stop filling kids heads with the bullshit that they can achieve, do or be anything they desire. Sad fact of life is that not all of us will be rocket scientists and we will always need shit-shovellers.

How low can you go?

"Wairarapa police are hunting a man alleged to have snatched a handbag in broad daylight from a 91-year-old woman in central Masterton yesterday.

Detective Sergeant Rob Rackliff of Wairarapa CIB said the woman is recovering from the morning attack that happened after she withdrew cash from the bank and travelled to the council buildings on her mobility scooter to pay her rates.

"As she was leaving the council buildings, a young male ripped her handbag from out of her hand before fleeing in a nearby vehicle..."

Link:

http://www.times-age.co.nz/news/manhunt-after-91-year-old-masterton-woman-robbed/1267553/

(Any bets on the profile of the offender?)

Police have narrowed the suspect's ID down to a list of about four thousand.

moo!

Just a few years ago, the food nazis were demonizing milk as 'full of fat'.

Now we all need cheap milk, in order to avoid malnutrition, it would appear.

The food stasi really wouldn't have a friggin' clue...

The cops have got it wrong

I have noticed in the last week, that the standard of driving around here has gone from rock bottom and has started sinking a shaft.

But it's not speeding- it's driving below 80kph on the open road in near perfect conditions. Not only are they slow, but all over the road.

Is there not the income in ticketing slow/inconsiderate drivers?

Thought not...

Last Post- and the end of an era

"Florence Green never saw the front line. Her war was spent serving food, not dodging bullets.

But Green, who has died at age 110, was the last known surviving veteran of World War I. She was serving with the Women's Royal Air Force as a waitress at an air base in eastern England when the guns fell silent on Nov. 11, 1918..."

Link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10784185

Drunken antics in London- who would have thought it possible

"...Kiwi Dylan Clements has filed a complaint with New Zealand High Commissioner Derek Leask, saying the drunken antics of those who participated in the annual event were an embarrassment to New Zealand.

About 4000 Kiwis took to the streets on Saturday to celebrate Waitangi Day, moving from one pub to another.

Clements said he was compelled to complain to the high commission after witnessing kiwis urinating on public monuments, vomiting and throwing snow at tourists..."

Link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/6373301/Drunken-London-Waitangi-Day-claim-defended

Shock- horror!

Public intoxication!

Drunken chanting and singing! (yes, i use the word loosely)

Pissing in the fountains and puking on the footpaths!

Who would have EVER though such things would be seen near the palaces of the mighty?

Apart from after a football match, anyway...

First against the wall

"...But while some Maori activists were protesting at Waitangi yesterday, Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres criticised those Pakeha who still resisted moves to give "special treatment" to disadvantaged Maori, thousands of whom suffered inequality.

"I still have a sense that there is a lack of generosity in some Pakeha attitudes to Maori and there is a lack of will to see measures taken that will help to remove that disadvantage and there is a lack of understanding of this notion that it is actually fair to deal specifically with people who are suffering unfairness..."

Link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6370107/Waitangi-flagpole-protest-ends-quietly

And it won't be 'ready, aim- fire!' More like 'Fix bayonets!'...

A new look

Time to give this place a bit of a tidy-up. My home should be so lucky...

Sauce for the Goose

"...The Dominion Post was granted permission by the court to photograph all witnesses in the case, including the spy car driver. But when the case was heard yesterday, the council successfully argued at a secret in-chambers hearing before JPs Eugene Crosby and Ian Symonds that the spy car driver giving evidence should not be photographed or identified in any way by this newspaper..."


Link:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6365011/Spy-car-drivers-shun-the-spotlight


Yet another example of council "officials" being exempt the standards applied to us lesser mortals. Something that needs to be corrected by hemp rope, as the ballot box does zero.

Just as well he isn't Chinese

"After falling in love with New Zealand nearly two decades ago, Hollywood movie mogul James Cameron vowed to make the country his home.

Cameron paid $20 million for more than 1000 hectares of farmland in South Wairarapa after twice visiting the two properties on the western shores of Lake Onoke last year.

In a statement issued today through his Hollywood lawyer, Cameron said it was love at first sight.

"I fell in love with New Zealand on a visit in 1994, and vowed to live here someday.

"Now that dream is becoming a reality..."

Link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6358484/James-Cameron-I-fell-in-love-with-NZ

I had my eye on one of those properties, but the Powerball Gods were not kind to me...

Bloody comments are disappearing

They show on the sidebar, but are nowhere else to be seen.

If blogger had a way of managing fuckwit commenters, I wouldn't have to use intensedebate...

BACK TO SCHOOL

Work in progress II

It has been suggested that there are not enough tools visible in the original photo. They were out of shot (that end was a real mess!)

The Golden BB

The guided bullet!

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/01/31/the-first-self-guided-bullet/

Don't expect to see this on the gun shop shelves anytime soon, as it costs more than a reasonable rifle.

Cheaper and easier than moving

The solution? Turn the garage into another lounge. (my shipping container plan was vetoed)

All the old crap in the lounge relocates to the garage, making the inside of the house look bigger and tidier. Men don't care if the furniture has hole in it- the one in the arm of the chair makes a convenient can-holder.

Now that the garage has been partially cleared (about 3 ute loads) the reorganization has started and the plans are drawn up for cladding the walls and putting a ceiling down the lounge end. A floor to ceiling bookshelf will partition off the workshop and loading bench, so all my crates of books in the ceiling can come down, assuming they have not been eaten by mice.

Of course I will have to buy an assortment of power tools to do all this work...

A work in progress

I have heard of people keeping cars in garages. Don't believe it, though!

Some cultural activities are more equal than others

"Defence spokesman John Gordon said the plan would retain the regular force army band, based at Burnham, the air force band based in Wellington and the navy band based at Devonport, Auckland. They were all manned by full-time bandsmen and women.

The aim was to cut $900,000 from the $5.9 million spend annually on military bands..."

Link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6326211/Cost-cutting-could-silence-Defence-Force-bands

One trusts, as the bean-counters cut away yet another piece of military tradition, they will be also cutting the inevitable primate threat displays, spear-waving and chanting that curse every kind of official gathering.

What?- no bets on this one?