Interesting Statistics

Today's Sunday Star Times had an article about the number of foreigners in New Zealand Prisons. Not included in the on-line version of the article is a table showing the country the prisoners were from. (Provided by Corrections.)

Interestingly, "England" and the "United Kingdom" had separate lines on the table. And I always thought the UK included England.

To be fair, Corrections Job is to lock up criminals - not be experts on Geography.

01/05/2006 Update - here is a scan of the incorrect Corrections table:

Introducing the Greenie Approved Miserable Meal?

Green MP Sue Kedgley wants to ban the McDonald's Happy Meal - well, all childrens meals with free toy included at fast food restaurants - because McDonalds sell high calorie, low nutrient food. Once again, a politician tells parents that they are incapable of making the correct choices - this time dietary - for their children.

I say that while it sounds like a 'good idea' to ban children sized meals it will simply end in children trying to choose larger size burgers because there will be no product aimed at them in place of the adult size menu items.

And if the problem is that some parents aren't making the right choices for their childrens diet then wouldn't it make more sense to educate on them on how to make better choices? Otherwise, parents will simply move from giving their children high calorie, low nutrient from McDonalds to giving their children high calorie, low nutrient food from another source.

I agree with Lindsay Perigo: Politicians are bad for your Health.

UPDATE: It appears that between the Sunday Star Times, Sue Kedgley and Jackie Blue this whole story has grown from a mountain into a molehill. Sue Kedgley has put out a release saying that the committee will consider banning 'Happy Meals' only if the issue is raised with them in submissions.

Spot the Difference

NB: This is not a Gen-XY type competition.

Pre-Election Rodney	Rodney Now
Photo from www.thevoicebooth.com.	Photo from RodneyHide.com

About 20Kg I'd say.

Update - it's 11Kg, according to this Sunday Star Times article.

If we'd only known

In case you were wondering - the TAB Odds on offer fo the Western Force to draw with the Crusaders last weekend was $50 for every $1 invested.

Peter Fulcher - Is he a Harmless Man?

If you're my age, or younger, you may wonder who Peter Fulcher is. Even if you say he was associated with Terry Clark it doesn't really hold any meaning. But if you mention "Mr Asia" a lighhtbulb goes off - the gang who imported Heroin into Australia and New Zealand, ruining many lives. Nearly thirty years on, "Mr Asia" is still one of the most notorious crimes in New Zealand.

Peter Fulcher is one of the players in the "Mr Asia" drama - a dealer in misery selling heroin to addicts in Auckland. Sentenced to ten years in prison. And recently he was convicted of obtaining a passport by fraudulent means after an audit turned up his false application from 1998. He admited he stole a dead child's identity to obtain a passport while facing fresh drugs charges. A recent high profile case is of two Israeli nationals who tried to obtain New Zealand Passports fraudulently ended with both spending several months in prison.

But lawyer Peter Williams QC thinks it is right that Fulcher is not back in prison. "It would be most unjust if the taxpayer had to fork out $60,000 a year to keep a man like that in prison."

For a convicted drug dealer who was involved with the Mr Asia gang that bribed many police officers, imported so much heroin into Australia, New Zealand and Britain and murdered several people when they started talking? After being released from prison he then goes about getting himself charged with more drug offences and obtains a fake passport.

Sounds to me like he should never have been let out of prison in the first place.

Rodney Hide on "Dancing with the Stars"

One of the worst kept secrets in Wellington is now out - Rodney Hide is competing on "Dancing with the Stars".

I've seen people have fallen into categories when talking about it:

Those who think Rodney is doing it for the publicity

Well this is probably true - Rodney wouldn't do it unless he thought it would help raise his profile, and that of ACTs. It doesn't hurt that it will show a different side to Rodney other than the 'Perkbuster' who makes the Government account for every dollar they spend on one of the highest rating shows on TV.

Those who think Rodney is mad for doing it

This is also true - he could make a fool of himself by tripping up over his feet. But as the Letter said yesterday "The average viewer who has not seen Rodney since election night will be stunned at his transformation." He is looking very much trimmer and slimmer than a year ago. And I can assure you Rodney will have done so the hard way - he's that type of guy who challenges himself to reach his goals. And Rodney's own blog post about it makes interesting reading about what motivates Rodney.

Those that think Rodney is desparate for doing it

There's some grain of truth in this - but if you keep doing the same thing then you can only get the same results. And competing in "Dancing with the Stars" can't do any harm to ACTs vote.

And those who think 'good on ya, Rodney'.

Yep - that's me. I started learning to dance about four years ago and even after a handful of lessons it surprising how good you can get. Enough to get everyone in the nightclub thinking how cool you look, even though you're a complete amatuer.

Classic Hits Top 800 Songs of all time

Over Easter, Radio Network Classic Hits (or Jurassic Hits as it is sometimes called) played down the top 800 songs of all time. The top 10 they came up with:

10. Good Vibrations, by The Beach Boys.
9. Stairway to Heavan, by Led Zepplin.
8. Hotel California, by The Eagles.
7. Bille Jean, by Michael Jackson.
6. One, by U2.
5. Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel.
4. Staying Alive, by The BeeGees.
3. You're Beautiful, by James Blunt.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen.
1. Hey Jude, by The Beatles.

Full list is here - in Excel Format.

Michael's Top Ten (those who came to our Wedding Function and stayed to the end will be able to guess number 1 already.

10. Elenoar Rigby, The Beatles. Possibly because it's the only Pop Song I can play on the piano.
9. Come Away with me, Norah Jones. A Romantic Waltz - and nobody makes romantic waltzs anymore, so it was so cool to have as our Wedding Dance.
8. Take on Me, A-Ha. I was born in the early seventies. Therefore eighties new wave was the music I listened to in my teen years. This is the best of them, plus a really cool music video.
7. Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton.
6. You got a friend in me, Randy Newman. Theme song to my favourite movie.
5. The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkel. Far superior to "Bridge over troubled Water".
4. The Voice, John Farnham. Saw him play Hawkes Bay Showgrounds in 1991 (?) Really, really good artist with a great song. Don't those bagpipes rouse your Scottish Blood, aye!
3. Space Oddity, David Bowie. Okay, when I was young I thought it was a cool song about men travelling to space.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen. The Best Queen Song was thrashed when Freddie died, and some got tired of it. But who cares? Not me.
1. Rainbow Connection, Kermit the Frog. Apart from the happy childhood memory of the Muppets, it is also a lovely song about following your dreams.

I Hate Shopping!

Do you hate crowds? Do you hate salespeople? Do you hate all the walking? Do you hate carrying bags? Do you hate driving around looking for a car park, only to find the last free one is for disabled people? Do you hate losing all that time? Do you have the fashion sense of a Horowhenua Front Rower? Do you just hate shopping?

Well then you're with me! Shopping is the thing I hate to do the most on weekends.

And there is salvation at hand - www.hateshopping.co.nz

Pity the service is not available in Wellington - yet.

Random Thoughts from Under the House

No doubt you've seen the blue penguin on TV who promises you the 'warmest feet' in the world. To prepare for his arrival I spent 4 hours in the crawl space under the house clearing out rubbish the previous owners/residents left. Here are some of the random discoveries and thoughts I had:

• You never appreciate how big your house is until you have to crawl the length of it underneath.


• If you ever inspect a house and find piles of rubbish under it, don't think the existing resident will clear it out. And don't think it will only take an hour if they don't.


• I would be embarassed to admit to drinking Rheineck, Fosters and Steinlager Blue. But if you bought it, the cans should go into the rubbish after you drink it, not under the house.


• Ditto the bottles for Pink Marquee Vue, cheap French Cuvee and even cheaper Brandy


• Finding a dead hedgehog gives you a start.


• But not as much of a start as realising it's actually alive and trying to get away.


• Six Foot Three Inch Men are not designed to fit into a crawl space about two feet high.


• Ditto entrances that are 30cm high.


• Banging your head on the plumbing and floor support beams hurt - a lot.


• But not as much as picking up a piece of wood with a nail protuding from it.


• I hope the neighbours didn't hear what I said when I picked up a piece of wood with a nail protuding from it.

But now the crawl space under the house is mostly free of rubbish. There is still some surplus timber to come out - then the job of removing the hundreds of stones that have found a home under the house.

The World's 100 Most Un-Sexy men

According to the Boston Phoenix, here is the list of the World's least sexy men.

The best thing is, I'm not on it, but Brad Pitt ranks as 100th. So, I am now officially sexier than Brad Pitt.

Other Highlights:

1. Gilbert Gottfried: Played the parrot in Disney's Alladdin. According to the Phoenix, is "to sexy what Kryptonite is to Superman".

4. Dr Phil: "Being a know-it-all is never sexy. Being a know-it-all who is also a bald-headed prick is downright horrid."

11. Michael Jackson: "What happens when an ugly JC Penny manequin has sex with Pogo, the clown identity of serial killer John Wayne Gacy."

67. Robert Patrick: "Seriously, try lying in bed next to him without thinking about the T-1000."

John Key's Accomodation Allowance

Over on Lindsay Mitchell's blog a discussion about John Key recieving an accomodation allowance to cover part of the interest on a mortgage for a flat he owns in Wellington. Most of the discussion centres on the motivation to claim the allowance.

I must admit his defence of his claiming the allowance sounds a little arrogant.

The accomodation allowance available to MPs from outside the Wellington area is to pay for costs of maintaining an additional owned residence away from home; or the cost of renting an additional residence; or the cost of staying in other accomodation, like a hotel. It is not a subsidy for any capital cost of a property.

John Key is claiming the allowance to pay for the costs of maintaining a flat in Wellington. He is entitled to some of the interest on a loan to be refunded to him as he has incurred an expense he wouldn't normally have if he wasn't an MP.

To say that he is rorting the system is wrong - he could have chosen to have Parliamentary Services pay for him to rent a flat or pay for hotel rooms and we would be none the wiser.

That Really Annoying Kiwibank Ad

There's one thing that gets my goat, it's that Kiwibank ad with the lime green car travelling the world saying how great it is for there to be a NZ owned bank. All the time being voiced by comedian John Clarke, who lives in Australia, and shot in Sydney, London and other exotic locations.

But consider this. Last year, Kiwibank made a profit of $7 million dollars, and paid tax of about $2 million dollars. NZ was $9 million dollars better off. Then take away the $120 million loaned to Kiwibank to start it up, add the fact we pay $9 million a year to service that $120 million and we come out even.

Then consider this. In 2004/05, The four largest New Zealand Banks with majority foreign ownership (ANZ National, ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand, Westpac) gave the NZ Government:

$1,045.2 million dollars. (As listed in General Disclosure Statements)

That is, over One Billion Dollars. And they didn't ask for any capital injections to get a new service off the ground.

Weekend Cycle

Sore legs today as yesterday I cycled over the Rimutaka Incline all the way to Featherston, then caught the train back to Waterloo and cycled the last two km home. (38km in total, plus about 300 metres up and another 300 metres down.)

The wind in the Wairarapa was a very strong westerly threatening to blow me off the bike at a couple of times, but thankfully providing a slight tailwind as well as the strong crosswind.

It was the first time since 1977 that I had been through the Rimutaka Rail Tunnel and the first time I'd been on the Wairarapa Service since it had been refurbished. The seats are more comfortable and there is so much extra leg room than on the Wellington Units. Plus the guard only charged $2 for the bicycle, instead of the advertised cost of $4.

Perhaps all express services to Upper Hutt and Paraparaumu can be replaced by Diesel Engine pulled carraiges and the spare units added to other services.

Easter Trading Ironies

With restrictions on Shop Trading over Easter, have you noticed:

• Good Friday, when the Government decrees that everything is shut,is the busiest working day for Government's trading hour inspectors?
• Most dairies and service stations sell FHM, Playboy and Woman's Weekly - hardly the most wholesome of publications - but you can't go to a bookstore and buy a Bible or a religous or inspirational book.
• You can't buy a bottle of wine from a responsible licensed trader when Catholic Churches serve it without a license - and to minors.
• Despite the $1000 fine, Garden Centres find it profitable to open on Good Friday - surely a sign that people are voting with their feet.

One of the things central to Christianity is a tolerance for others - the most powerful parable in the Gospels is about the Good Samaratan, who rescued and comforted a man from an enemy tribe (after two religious figures had passed by without looking twice.)

It's about time the majority of New Zealanders who don't see the need for restrictions on shop trading hours over Easter to be given the choice to shop.

Passenger Hell

You might think that increased petrol prices driving more passengers onto buses and rail is a good thing, right. That is fine if you're a Coromandel Greenie who gets unlimited free taxis.

But if you're a Train Commuter, travel is becoming unbearable. By the time trains reach Waterloo station in morning rush hour, there are so few seats left that a crush ensues getting on the train. Most mornings the express services are so full the guards struggle to get through the mass of bodies. (The article

Now the problem is that Tranz Metro has not added any more carraiges to it's fleet since I was at primary school. It is still running the 'Red Rattler' carraiges from when Peter Fraser was Prime Minister - and still spending money on refurbishing them!

The solution would be to buy more carraiges. But after the Fay-Richwhite years when profits were high as capital costs were deferred, and then sold NZ Rail at a price based on the high profits, not factoring the high capital cost have left owners reluctant to spend even more on the company when Local and Central Government are willing to do so. And Local and Central Government are dragging their heals on providing funding.

The real solution to the commuter crush would be for the Regional Council to either stop subsidising public transport so that the cheapest, best provision will come to the fore, or subsidise every ticket equally, regardless.

Then we will see if Rail is really the best solution for Wellington. Or buses, or ferries.

Say what?

In the just released transcript from United Airlines Flight 93, after being hijacked by Terrorists on 11 September 2001, is the following quote:

"In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate."

Shortly afterwards these terrorists murder the crew, then when the passengers revolt and are about to take back control of the plane they delibrately crash.

Tupperware

From the "Of all the things I never thought I would do" file ...

I have survived a Tupperware party. And it wasn't too bad - the Tupperware lady made us a nice chocolate cake to demonstrate how good the products were. As Chaucey hosted it we've ended up with a nice little stash of giveaways and enough to buy a quality piece of cookware.

I'm especially looking forward to our new sifter.

Bangladesh Cricket has arrived

Over the past three days at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah we have witnessed a rise of a Cricket Nation. Just a few days ago, who would have predicted that Bangladesh would be making Australia work hard just to stay in the game - especially after comprehensively beating South Africa.

Now, I don't believe that the game is over - the balance is certainly tipped in favour of the home team (but not as much as when Gilchrist first walked out to bat on Tuesday) and Australia are a class team who are still capable of winning this game. But Bangladesh are being competitive enough that no team will tour again and take the Test Series lightly.

Just like Sri Lanka in the 1980s and early 1990s, being competitive at home will be followed by being competitive while overseas. The next step after that will be winning at home and away.

Robbed Again!

In the near future, Rosemarie Thomas' petition for extra police will be considered by the Law and Order Select Committee at Parliament. Having struggled out of bed on cold winter mornings to get signatures for the petition I do hope the committee and Minister look kindly on the report.

Last week the crime stats came out - both sides of the political divide trumpeted how these proved how well, or how poorly things were in New Zealand. But regardless of where you stand all crime should be treated seriously and the perpatrators caught and punished.

Today, after putting in an honest days toil at work we arrived back at Waterloo Station to find someone had broken into the car. Not an unusual occurance as this is the fourth time in the past two years. (Being the fourth time we've been broken into, naturally we've learnt not to put anything of value in the car.)

Now, as nothing was taken (so no need to claim insurance) there is no point wasting twenty minutes at the Police Station reporting the crime, for it to be filed as an unresolved report. And it's not exactly news to the Police that cars at Waterloo Railway station get broken into.

What pisses me off is that the lack of resources means 'petty' crime is never punished unless the criminal is 'caught in the act'. But what pisses me off even more is that politicians are set to wring hands over the problem or go for populist statements or argue about Police policy but no-one ever actually puts police where they're needed. Any increases in police numbers get sucked up into dealing with traffic, or violent crime, or paperwork - but never in the community to deal with petty crimes like car break-ins and tagging.

It's about time some politician had the guts to say "no more uninvestigated petty crime".

The Problem in Palestine ...

While the suspension of aid to the Palestinian Authority was inevitable after the election of a Hamas Government, the roots of the problem go back to Yasser Arafat and his Fatah movement, and the lack of backbone the US, UN and Europe had in getting him to clean up his (financial) act after he renounced violence and recognised Israel.

The Israelis reported that Arafat died a billionaire - Forbes magazine estimated his wealth in 2003 as $300 million. Money that was intended to help ordinary Palestinians was diverted to Arafat's personal bank accounts.

Had the US, UN and Europe stopped the flow of money to Arafat and his top officials secret bank accounts by threatening to stop aid until a transparent accounting system was in place, or financing and building such a system - then this problem would not have occured.

So when Hamas campaigned to clean up the corruption that pervaded the top levels of the Palestinian Authority, it was a popular message. In effect, they were campaigning to stop money lining the pockets of top officials to be spent on ordinary citizens. We know in this country how increased social spending is always popular, so this message could only be popular in Palestine.

I sincerely hope that Hamas give in on this issue - a peaceful, corruption free, democratic Palestine will become a good neighbour to Israel. The challenge is now on Hamas to deliver it.

'That' trial and the supressed information

I believe firmly in the rule of law, and that the judicial system gets it right 99.99% of the time. Where there is a wrongful conviction, the appeal system corrects the errors in 99.99% of cases.

I've always believed that juries are made up of enough people to include those intelligent enough to understand that they can only consider the evidence presented to them during the trial - not any media reporting they have heard prior. Any prejudicial information given as a reason to convict would be not considered by the rest of the jury, and the juror would have to either find another reason for a conviction, or face the trial judge (who would presumably dismiss them).

So, my opinion of the verdict in the case against Shipton, Schollum and Rickards is that the jury heard all the evidence and found it was not strong enough to convict - as long as they referred only to the evidence presented to them during the trial.

As to the suppressed information, I'm not a fan of judges deciding what the public can hear and not hear.

I've disabled comments cause I don't want to be continually checking them for .

John Bishop's NBR Columns

A contemporary of mine when working for ACT at Parliament was John Bishop. He has written a two-part article detailing the rise and fall of ACT for the NBR. (Part 1 here, Part 2 here.)

One of his observations is bang-on:

ACT did not build and could not maintain a strong organization. Its sources of membership were too diverse with economic liberals, social conservatives, libertarians and pragmatic reformers trying to live together.

He concludes:

ACT is not dead, and won't die - at least until after the next election.

I'm more optimistic than John - at least half of ACT's vote was lost because of the TVNZ Poll in Epsom showed Rodney Hide was in third place. The revised poll showing the error of TVNZ and the real situation was lost in the clutter of the last few days in the election campaign.

At every election, a variety of pundits have predicted ACT's disappearance from Parliament. At every election, the pundits have been proven wrong.

ACT leadership, new board and core support now have a challenge ahead of them - to rebuild the party from the ground up with a dedicated team in every big population centre. In their favour is that they have thrown off a lot of baggage - the social conservatives are back in National, the 'Roger Douglas era' group are now all retired from the board.

If they work hard, and play to their strengths, ACT will rise again.

Working for Familes vs Tax Cuts

I'm actually a closet fan of "Working for Families" type programmes. A tax rebate programme to assist families meet the weekly bills and put food on the table is very important to ensure children from low income families are not overly disadvantaged.

If I were implementing a tax/income support programme in terms of low income families, I would retain the in-work payment - it has the right incentives for ensuring work pays the bills. I would also have moderate tax cuts to reduce the marginal tax rates (which I would also work on making these less.) For higher incomes, the moderate tax cuts would boost incomes for all families.

Labour's version of "Working for Families" fails in two important areas.

Firstly, Working for Families is far too generous. Not only in the sense that the payments are too big, but that the programme is available to families that are not struggling to pay the bills. On the offical Government website, it states that financial support is available to "all families with children earning up to $70,000 a year". With two children, you can earn up to $81,540 a year before becoming inelligible for assistance. Families where the joint income is seventy to eighty thousand a year are not low income families. If you suggested a decade ago the idea that a family with two children earning $60,000 per year needed extra financial assistance you would be looked at like you needed locking up.

Secondly, the marginal tax rates for those families face when increasing there income is too high - up to 90%. As the Dominion Post pointed out in a recent editorial "Casting the net wider so it covers some families earning more than $100,000 a year will further reduce the incentives for individuals to acquire extra skills and take on additional responsibilities. Why bother when it doesn't greatly matter whether you earn $38,000 or $60,000? The state will make up most of the difference."

Welcome "Herald on Sunday" readers

If you've found this blog via today's article in the Herald on Sunday, here's the original post that is quoted in the paper. The figures quoted in the article come from David Farrer at Kiwiblog.

While you are here you might want to check out some of more popular posts:

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"There Are No Kangaroos in Austria"

Where the Bloody Hell are Youse?

Little Known Facts about Sarah Ulmer and Susan Devoy