Polite Applause versus Standing Ovation

Did anyone else notice that the Prime Minister received a polite round of applause when she finished her speech, but John Key got a standing ovation.

Really, if the Labour Party have no supporters left to arrange an enthuisastic response to one of the most important speeches of the year they should at least advise the Electoral Commission to de-register themselves for not having 500 bona fide members.

Crimes Act, Section 59

A Christchurch parent has been charged with assault after an incident in which he claims he flicked his sons ear to prevent him from harm and engaging in disruptive behaviour. It is being held up as an example of a parent being prosecuted over a trivial matter after the 'anti-smacking reform' last year.

Under the Crimes Act, the parent has a defence if he can prove that it was for the purpose he claimed. The relevant section is the infamous Section 59:

Parental control
(1) Every parent of a child and every person in the place of a parent of the child is justified in using force if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances and is for the purpose of—

(a) preventing or minimising harm to the child or another person; or
(b) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that amounts to a criminal offence; or
(c) preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in offensive or disruptive behaviour; or
(d) performing the normal daily tasks that are incidental to good care and parenting.

Given that the Police would be unlikely to succeed if the assault was just a flick on the ear to stop a child from running off, or be disruptive, I doubt that his version of events is true.

However, it is not sensible to ever pre-judge a criminal prosecution. I await the police evidence being presented so we can what witnesses saw - obviously a different view of the incident - and the case proper, where the matter will be resolved.

Eighteen?

The Prime Minister's announcement that the school leaving age will be raised to 18 doesn't hold much appeal to me. However, the news that vocational based courses will be made available in schools sounds much more promising and I hope this is followed through on.

I left school at 16, so raising the leaving age to 18 doesn't hold much appeal to me. Different people find different paths to success, and need to be trusted to be able to find their own ways.

Many students would also be kept at school against their will, not learning anything new as they refuse to participate, or even worse use their time to disrupt others who want to learn.

On the whole, I prefer John Key's approach of carrot and stick - you can leave school earlier than 18, but you have to be in training or work.

Key-note speech

John Key's State of the Nation speech today covers some good points. I especially like the policy of not letting troubled youth slip through the youth justice system to graduate into fulltime criminal adults.

Getting young people who create trouble away from the environment where they are exposed to bad influences is a good way to break the cycle. And helping families who haven't learned the skills to raise children postively is also another positive move.

I'm glad to see many of the ideas I blogged about yesterday have come through in Key's speech.

I'll be interested to hear what Helen Clark has to say tomorrow morning - and unlike last year she can't deny the problem of out of control youths exists, or blame National for it. After all, Labour have had eight and half years to fix up anything National did.

Maybe she'll just steal the ideas for herself.

Hutt Valley High

If you live in Eastbourne, Petone, Lower Hutt, or the Western Hills you've got one choice of College for your kids - Hutt Valley High School. (Or you can convert to Catholicism or pay to go private.) Where it is apparent there is a culture of bullying and tolerating

The next college is about 10 minutes drive further north - Naenae College - and is (or rather, was) not as well regarded as Hutt Valley High.

And you have to worry about the last ERO report on Hutt Valley High, which concluded:

"ERO is confident that the board of trustees can manage the school in the interests of the students."

Yeah, Right.

Keep up the good work Minister

New Justice Minister Annette King is to be applauded for being shocked into action over the botch-up in new Legal Aid laws that meant a murder victims family was asked to pay back some of a legal aid payment.

Annette King is promising to make 2008 "the year in which victim's rights are properly addressed" - which makes you wonder what Labour has been doing for the past 8 years since the Norm Withers Petition - so here's a list of suggestions:

• Compulsory reparations to be paid by the criminal to victims - including medical costs for private treatment to relieve suffering caused by.
• Entitlement to Legal Aid for victims to prepare submissions to courts, parole boards and other tribunals without any restriction due to income/assets.
• No parole entitlement for violent offenders with any prior convictions.
• No bail for violent offenders with prior convictions
• Making prisons safe, but with no activities to pass the time (no gyms, tvs, bland food, etc.)
• Resourcing Courts to ensure justice is delivered in a reasonable timeframe.
• Post-release supervision and restrictions on entering license premises and associating with certain others

I don't support bringing back the death penalty (the premeditated killing of another person is murder) and don't want to return to the dark ages where prisons were hovels of disease and violence. What I want to see is a clear denunciation and meaningful punishment of offenders so that they can understand that society disapproves of their actions.

And also a programme after release that keeps criminals away from drugs, alcohol and other factors that led them being in prison in the first place.

Bloody Trains!

Having been ill over the past fortnight, I've been relying more on the trains than usual. And to be honest, I'm glad that I'm feeling better and ready to get back on my bike.

In the past two days, the morning and evening services have been at least 10 minutes late - and yesterday the train I wanted to catch was cancelled when it broke down as it was due to depart. The next service wasn't until 20 minutes later, and that left 5 minutes late.

This evening on one of the trains a frustrated passenger let rip at the guards - our service didn't arrive on the platform until five minutes after it was due to depart, and then left after another 5 minutes - long after the train was loaded well beyond capacity.

The 5.20pm Paraparaumu service also broke down today, but a replacement train was brought in at the last minute - but it was leaving after us so would have been 10 minutes late at least.

Our service leaving so late has a domino effect - the express service behind us catches up by Petone, and then has to wait just before each station until Taita when the all stop service terminates.

And all the services are packed to the brim with commuters - you need to arrive 10 minutes before your service is due to depart to get a seat. (Or catch the train before Waterloo.)

In the meantime, Auckland trains probably still trundle off regularly with only a quarter of their seats filled. Maybe we should make Annette King catch the train every day until she can make the obvious connection.

Back to work?

Saw this on TV the other day, and seeing as I was at work today I thought I'd share - here are the top five office crimes (according to US research company Harris Interactive) so you can stay onside with your workmates:

5. Making too much noise - speakerphones, loud cellphones, etc.
4. Smells - eating pungent foods al desko, or to much aftershave.
3. Not keeping communal areas tidy - dishes left in the sink, etc.
2. Poor time management - not using your time wisely and then complaining that you are busy.
1. Office Gossip (but how else are we expected to know what's happening!)

So, if your back to work this week remember that if your doing any of the above then you will be annoying your workmates. I'm happy to report that none apply to my colleagues - well, at least the ones who read my blog ;-)

And if you can't face work and want to change careers, here's the least and most prestigious jobs to help you decide on a new career:

Performing Monkeys required

Some republicans are getting stirred up that no royal is coming to the funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary. As a moderate Monarchist (i.e. would not protest in the streets if a republic was established democratically) I find the idea of a snub being odd. And especially those who are loudly decrying the non-appearance of the monarchy are those who want to cut the ties. The Republicans would be the first to point out, the taxpayer will be picking up the tab of the flying visit.

In my opinion, there is only one Royal who had a established relationship with Sir Ed, and that is the Queen. And to expect the Queen - who is an 81 year old woman - to fly for thirty hours on a commercial jet to New Zealand, stay a day, and then fly 30 hours back to Britain would be beyond most people of her age.

Any other royal attending would be pointless, as I'm not aware of any significant ongoing relationship with Sir Ed (and none has been mentioned in the media). Sending our Govenor-General, and having a special service for the Hillary family at Windsor Castle seems a more appropriate gesture.

And talking of appropriate gestures, I whole-heartedly agree with (New Zealand Born) Australian journalist Spiro Zavos' call to reinstate SPARC's old name - the Hillary Commission, and wonder why it took an Aussie to point this out to me.

Trying to interview a surlyTeenager ...

Australian teenager Corey Worthington, who held an out-of-control party at the weekend, gets interviewed while wearing his "famous glasses":

Time for a new coach

I'm not big on league, but I can tell that the Kiwis have got zero chance of winning anything this year. The outburst from Roy Asotasi points to a complete culture of mistrust and under-performance in the Kiwis.

The fact the board is backing the coach, whose first season was a series of disasters (both on and off the field) instead of listening to the alarm bells show that Rugby League in NZ is in big trouble.

Unlike Australia, New Zealand doesn't have the depth of top players so it can roll in a replacement when a player decides he has had enough. So if the NZRL are wanting end up with the Bartercard Cup XIII in the Kiwis they'd better sort out the mess immediately.

Huh?

For at least the past fortnight, someone has been chucking extra rubbish into our wheely bin after it gets put out on the street in the morning.

Now I know that some would say, "They're only using the spare capacity that we don't" - but it's our bin.

How 'bout sticking a five in the letterbox every now and then. Mind you, if you're too cheap to buy a council rubbbish bag I don't hold out much hope.

A suggested tribute

While I agree that naming (or renaming) a mountain and donating to Sir Edmund Hillary's Nepalese projects is a worthwhile suggestion to commenarate his life, I have a suggestion as a tribute.

It will fit with Sir Ed's desire to keep his commenaration low-key, and money normally allocated can go to his charitable work in Nepal. All it would take is a small cost of adding some new signage, and updating stationery (when the existing supplies are used up). It also fits in well with Sir Ed's early career as an apiarist before his mountaineering exploits.

My idea is to rename Parliament Building's Executive Wing (commonly called "The Beehive") as the Sir Edmund Hillary Executive Wing.

There is already in Wellington a Kate Sheppard Place, a Rutherford building, plus numerous buildings named after politicians (although Sir Apirana Ngata seems to have been missed out) so not naming a landmark after Sir Ed seems a shame.

A great New Zealander

How wealth works

John Minto rails against the right to own property in today's NZ Herald. He points out that the wealthiest 1% in the USA increased their wealth by as much as the combined wealth of the poorest 20%. He asks us to imagine what would happen if the top 1% gave away the increase in wealth last year and gave it to the poorest 20%.

(All credit to the top 1%, I say. If they've increased their wealth then it is down to good decisions on their part.)

If you were at the 20.1% poorest mark you'd probably find a way to move down the ladder. But that's beside the point.

What would happen is the capital that top 1% previously earned and reinvested would move towards lower risk investments - into industries that have little or no innovation - to protect the capital they already have. Why risk losing your original investment when you won't get anything if it is a success, but lose everything if it is a failure?

So taking all the profits would actively encourage less money going into creating infrastructure and jobs that benefit both the rich, and the rest of us.

I doubt I'll ever make the rich list - and being rich is such a subjective measurement - but it's my intention to take what I earn and turn it into enough wealth that money will not be a problem.

And if the John Minto's of this world have a problem with me having what I own then I have a suggestion for them all - Go screw yourself.

Indian Rock Stars

If I was 16 and from Upper Hutt in 1987 then this would be sacrilege. But being 15 and from Tawa at the time - it's brilliant.

Time for a change in Cricket

I find the Australian cricket teams behaviour distasteful and unsportsmanlike. They're a team that has passed self belief to arrogance. The way they win may upset others, but they're the winning team - what always counts the most in cricket. (A little bit of that attitude would go a long way in the Black Caps.)

But the BCCI's threats to pull out of the rest of the tour is the bigger issue here. If the Indians want to ruin Cricket in the rest of the world, they're going the right way about it.

Already Shane Bond and others cannot be selected for New Zealand to avoid upsetting the Indians.

The ICC should grow some balls and tell the BCCI that it if it doesn't like the way the ICC is run, then they can withdraw and the ICC can work with the rebel Indian Cricket organisations to build a new national cricket body.

It might set international cricket back a decade at first, but in the long run it will reduce the undue influence the BCCI has with it's monolopy on world cricket within India. After all, it is the Indian sponsors and public that provide cricket with it's funding, not the BCCI.

No knighthoods and no first names ...

I know they did away with Knighthoods but "Sir Anderson"? It should be Sir John Anderson.

The Shane Bond Affair

Shane Bond has got a lucrative contract and is heading to play in the rebel Cricket League.

With Shane Bond's body not coping with international cricket, most people can understand the reasoning and wish him well. Had it not been for all the injuries, Shane Bond will probably have surpassed Sir Richard Hadlee as our best ever bowler.

But now the discussion is centring on whether Bond should be picked for the upcoming test series against England. Up until this evening I've thought that Bond shouldn't be picked - simply because he will not want to injure himself and not be able to fufill his contract in India so won't play to his potential.

But the news tonight has changed my mind - it's about time the Board of Control of Cricket in India needs to learn that while India is the biggest market and money spinner for Cricket, they don't control the decision of other nations, or have a monolopy at the ICC. India shouldn't be allowed to get away with threatening to cancel tours because one of their players is suspended for breaking the rules of cricket. (Even stupid ones.)

Shane Bond should be picked (along with any other rebel player considered good enough) as a special up-yours to the BCCI.

Just what Ethnicity are you?

Lindsay Mitchell has a chart showing the ethnicity of children born in 1998.

I have been confused over the years about what my ethnicity is - am I pakeha, european, or a New Zealander?

When in England a couple of years ago, a vandal smashed the mirror off my rental car. As a result I got a police report for the rental car company and the British Police record the ethnicity of all crime victims.

So, thanks to a helpful policeman in Manchester I know what my ethnicity is. After going through his form, he decided that I wasn't English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, European, Asian, Chinese, East Asian, or American.

According to the British Police, my ethnicity is "Other".

Is this legal?

65 Requirements for election advertisements that promote parties or candidates
(1) A promoter must not publish ...an election advertisement that ... appears to encourage or persuade ... voters to vote for a party.



If I said, "Don't vote for a Government that supports Kiwi Made" in a Television advertisement I would be caught by the new Electoral Finance Act. So why should an advertisement that says "The NZ Government supports Kiwi Made" be exempt?

"Oil" not get too excited about this ...

Oil is over $100 per barrel! The sky is falling!

Well, actually - no. What is happened is one futures trade for oil in February was exactly $100. One trader is speculating that oil will be over $100 in February. No-one else thought the same, so the price stayed under $100.

What the news media haven't told you is the Futures market for the rest of the year has oil prices holding steady in the $90 to $100 price band.

Of course, I don't have a crystal ball and oil could easily go over $100 a barrel, or even $120. But it could just as easily slip back to $80. But let's not have sensational and alarmist reporting just because this is a slow time for news.