How not to Lobby

As a former Parliamentary staffer, here's a tip to those using the online generators that send mass email to all the MPs - DON'T. Flooding an MPs email inbox means that they won't be able to read and consider your comments.

Even worse is just letting the generator send a form letter - an emails that are the same as everybody elses means the MP knows you can't make a reasoned argument for your position.

But the absolute worse thing you can do is to make offensive comments - like suggesting the MP will go to hell if they vote for/against a bill - as that just gets sent straight to the trash can.

So, regardless of where you stand on the smacking issue - don't waste your time emailing MPs at the moment. They won't be able to reply to you, and because of the flood for and against they won't be able to judge what level of support for and against there is.

Man walks into a bar ....

Okay, I know it's insulting, but I couldn't resist:

Man walks into a bar, and there is a robot installed to serve the drinks. He orders a cocktail, and shortly afterwards the robot brings him a perfectly mixed drink. Then the robot says, "I have also been programmed to have conversations with the patrons. What is your IQ?" "About 150," replies the man. The robot then engages him in a facsincinating discussion on politics, philosophy and science.

Next day, the same man walks into the same bar, this time plannig to test the robot. He orders a cocktail, and again the robot brings him a perfectly mixed drink. Again the robot says, "I have also been programmed to have conversations with the patrons. What is your IQ?" This time, the man says, "About 100". The robot then engages him in a facsincinating discussion on rugby, motor vehicles and the goings on at the Cricket World Cup.

Next day, the same man walks into the same bar, with a plan to really test the robot. He orders a cocktail, and again the robot brings him a perfectly mixed drink. Again the robot says, "I have also been programmed to have conversations with the patrons. What is your IQ?" This time, the man says, "About 50". The robot very slowly asks - "So, will you be voting for Helen Clark again?".

Bad Management

As a follower of politics, I can't believe how poorly managed Labour have been over a number of issues since the last election.

Firstly, there was the $800,000 election spending of public money. How Labour ever thought that the public were going to ignore it is beyond belief - yet they persisted for months claiming that they were within the rules and had no

However, they did execute a master stroke in proposing a new national stadium in Auckland right when the issue was looming as a long term scandal and creating a sense of urgency over the decision - taking the story off the front page and putting it in the politics section. Although they took a bit of a beating for that debate, the damage was far less than if the election funding scandal had been allowed to drag on and on.

More recently, the decision to support Sue Bradford's bill as a Party, and not leaving the issue to individual MPs to decide is another blunder that is hurting the party. If all Labour MPs voted 'as individuals' for the bill as a conscience vote then the issue would have been one about Sue Bradford and the Green Party, as the media would have primarily focused on individual contributions from Labour, rather than the party as a whole.

National did trip badly over the Exclusive Brethern scandal and it the change of leader managed to shake that off once and for all. But it's handling of issues since then has been first rate.

But I'm never one to under-estimate Helen Clark and her brains trust - any mis-steps in the past have been quickly fixed up and Labour always puts out innovative vote winning policies when it counts.

Ride 'em, cowboy!

My employer put on a fun family day at Wellington College today - including a bull-ride.

No prizes for guessing how long between these photos ;-)

On the way there we used the new bypass - I was impressed at how the traffic flowed, but not impressed by the motorist who suddenly cut in front of me to get to Victoria Street, nor by the confused looking motorist just before Vivian Street - confused because he was pointing the wrong way! On the way home it was a simple drive - once past the lights on the Basin Reserve there was no stopping until Lower Hutt.

Get off your cycle and drive to work - it's better for the environment!

As often as I can, I cycle to work - 19 kilometres from my home in Lower Hutt to Central Wellington, then back again at night. According to my bike computer, I burn 800 calories during my twice daily cycles.

Now, one of the aims of this cycling is that I lose some weight. But somewhere I've had to consume the 800 extra calories, or eventually I'll faint from exhaustion.

Interestingly, 800 calories is about same as eating two cheeseburgers - according to this website (Sorry, I know - American) about 3kg of Carbon pumped into the air from the production and transportation of each cheeseburger. (I've seen other websites claiming 4kg per burger.)

Then there is the extra shower I have to have daily - according to this website, another 2kg of Carbon going into the atmosphere.

So that's 8Kg of carbon emissions I create by cycling.

If I drove the 38km to work per day in my 1.5 litre car, emitting 200gms of carbon per kilometre (new models of that size engine emit about 120-140gms per km - I couldn't find an exact amount for the older model I drive, so I estimated that it's worth an extra 50%) thats 7.6Kg of Carbon emitted - about 5% less than cycling! If I had a new 1.5 litre car it would be about 5kg of carbon emitted - over a third less.

Now, I know these figures aren't exact and are the result of using Google results from overseas as I couldn't find the same information on NZ websites - and the figures are open to challenge. But it does show that swapping from cars to cycling is not a panacea for carbon emissions.

The soccer team that lost before it even kicked a ball

After all the too-ing and fro-ing over a Wellington Based team in the Australian A-League, I'm convinced the whole excercise is doomed to failure before it's started.

While good intentioned, John Dow and Ian Wells weren't able to get the commitments needed early enough to make the bid look sucessful. That the money has not been raised by the deadlines (yes, plural) shows that any team will be run on a limited budget. A limited budget means the team will lack the players with the skill level to be competitive. And to be sucessful, a soccer team needs to be a winning team. No-one goes to matches when they expect the team to lose over and over again.

The choice of Westpac Stadium for most home games looks to compound the problem. While events at the Stadium are generally well supported, the AFL tried to have a regular game in Wellington earlier in the decade, but gave up when crowds of 8000 made the stadium look and feel empty. Likewise, domestic cricket one day matches were tried at the stadium, but moved back to the Basin Reserve because of poor crowds. I can't imagine regular crowds of Wellingtonians turning out in big numbers for a local soccer team full of no names - only the novelty of major international soccer matches have got the stadium full enough to have an atmosphere. Any home games are likely to be played in front on a crowd of 3000 are going to be an embarassment.

With the Basin Reserve ruled out for use as the A-League clashes with the cricket season, that left Porirua Park and Fraser Park as alternatives - both are isolated from other parts of the city and with poor public transport links and inadequate parking. Playing games at either of those grounds would have compounded the poor turnouts.

Finally, Wellington is a rugby mad city - witness the crowds the Hurricanes enjoyed even in their bad years - and it lacks the immigrant population of Auckland who enjoy Football with a round ball.

However, I'm hoping to be proved wrong - it sounds like the soccer clubs and supporters in Wellington are keen to make the team sucessful, along with the national body, national coach and plenty of members of the national team. You never know, it could just pull it off.

In praise of the earlyend of daylight savings

I'm not a fan of the proposal to extend daylight saving into April. Already, mornings are very dark when I head off to work. In April, it would still be dark until 7.30am.

As I regularly cycle to work, riding in the dark is a hazard. Despite having lights front and back and enough reflective gear to cover half of my body you have more near misses (although I've managed to avoid accidents) in the gloom than you do during daylight.

Let's face it - some people can barely see cyclists in daylight hours!

Why Work Hard?

According to the Government's own figures, productivity growth is at it's lowest since the all afternoon yuppie long lunches of the mid-1980s.

And it's not hard to see one of the causes - middle class welfare.

Say you are a manager in some company earning $60,000 a year. You have a bonus scheme that lets you earn another 10% of your income for exceptional performance.

Let's also say you have two kids. On top of your base income you get $5200 a year in Working For Families payments.

At the end of the year, you've worked extremely hard, put in extra hours and get your bonus - $6000. Less $2340 in income tax. Less another $884 in Working for Families payments you have to refund. Less another $78 in ACC Earners Levy. $2698 left over. And 1/9th of anything you buy with your bonus goes in GST.

Altogether, you lose over 55% of your bonus - most of your reward for extra effort ends up back in the hands of the Government. Who didn't really do anything to support you to work harder in the first place.

Not working so hard seems like a much better reward than an extra $50 per week.

The difference between Auckland and Wellington

In Auckland, when trains run late or there is an earthquake - it's a major news story. These things happen frequently in Wellington, so are not notable.

In Wellington, when there is a two hour long road delay - it's a major news story. Once again, not a notable occurance in Auckland.

Plagarism!

Just over a year ago, my brother sent me an email with about a dozen cricket sledges - I dropped a couple of the ruder ones, and posted them here. Now, I'm number one on Google for 'Cricket Sledges' and during the Ashes I got so many Australian Visitors to that one page it ate up all my bandwidth and I had to upgrade my package with my webhost. And blow me down if todays Dominion Post Sports Tabloid didn't have half my list on page 5. Of course, without an acknoledgement of the source.

The things parenthood makes you do ...

No doubt you've worked in an office and from time to time someone with a box of chocolates or biscuits comes around and says (almost apologetically) "It's for my sons kindie" or "It's for my daughters school". I've always managed to only buy what I wanted to have in the past, but no more.

Now, I know these same people who want to sell me bikkies or easter eggs are going to be my best resource when I'm going around the office - "It's for Bevan's school/kindie/camping trip/etc." I now can't say 'no' - otherwise they'll boycott me when the boots on the other foot.

Although, I do hope though that we stop having en-masse fundraising in my office - so far I've spent $21.60 on biscuits and chocolate this week!

Since when did Amnesty NZ become a socialist organisation?

Amnesty New Zealand is criticising the Government becuase 1/6th of New Zealand Children live below 'the poverty line', and that it needs to do more (i.e. spend more) to help children. Amnesty is risking it's broadbased support.

When I was at school, we were given a presentation of Amnesty. I was told that Amnesty was an organisation that worked to help free 'prisoners of conscience' and opposed Government's who harassed their citizens to subdue their rights through torture, oppression and illegal imprisonment. I was told that it was an organisation that was not aligned to any political beliefs - it just opposed the 'bad guys' in power, and that it's supporters came from every part of the political spectrum.

So, in making a statement that is clearly well removed from illegal imprisonment and torture and overtly socialist, Amnesty makes a clear statement that it is no longer working only for prisoners of conscience, but as a left-leaning organisation that also highlights illegal detention elsewhere in the world.

And if it carrys on down this track, it will find itself as marginalised and unlistened to as any other non-parliamentary political movement is in New Zealand. Written off as just another pressure group.

And that would be a real tragedy, as it does do some great work opposing tyrants throughout the world.

School Bullying

Congratulations to Waiuku College student Slade Butler who led a walkout of a quarter of his school dissatisfied with the way the school was dealing with bullies - three whom had beaten him on the first day of school. The three bullies used a bottle and kicked him in the head after he was on the ground.

That so many students walked out is not a surprise. Here's an excerpt from the ERO Report from 2001:

"The management of student health and safety is a serious concern, particularly with regard to incidents of bullying and assault. Although the board has developed policies in these areas, they are not always consistently or effectively implemented by the principal or trustees. The number and nature of parent concerns highlights the seriousness of this situation."

Then the 2002 report is more positive, but still has concerns:

"The board does not yet have a clear policy to guide the management of serious incidents of misbehaviour." And "The school’s data on stand-downs and suspensions does not provide the board with adequate analysed information."

So after 6 years of not managing bullying properly, the school can only have itself to blame that so many students don't feel safe.