John gets a tickle from Hillary



Future US Citizen? 



John gets a tickle from Hillary:

Like a little puppy Part Time Prime Minister John Key lays on his back, arms and legs splayed and yaps loudly while awaiting his next belly tickle from Hillary Clinton. The first one was given in the White House last year, this second one was at the Pacific Forum meeting in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands two days ago.

After making a opening speech just reeking of anti Chinese rhetoric about how the Chinese are octopus like, ensnaring Pacific Nations with expanding tentacles into a closer relationship by giving them loans and setting up joint ventures.

The Americans have rushed Hillary Clinton off to meet South Pacific leaders.

She sent her pet puppy ahead to prepare the groundwork and John Key simply loves the job. He’s helped her out before to please her Hollywood mates by changing our industrial laws. Later he kissed her hand when he visited the White House trying to sell NZ as a tax haven, he did his usual cringe yet again in the Cook Islands.

According to Key, the Chinese are invading the Island nations via their wallets, while the Americans are liberating, all this so that Hillary Clinton, that model of American Motherhood, yeah right, can scratch his well-fed belly. He seems to have forgotten that the US owes China more than two trillion dollars plus, yes trillion.

If there ever was any doubt that Key plans American citizenship at some stage in the future, it has now been removed. I’m sure he is lining up a job with one of the big but failing banks such as the Bank of America.

At the same time as he displays this subservient childlike behaviour, China grows ever stronger as a trading partner to and with the small South Pacific States and with NZ. Unlike the US China is awash with money. The US which is broke and out-of-work, has ignored the South Pacific for decades but is now seeing the South Pacific as the new battle ground. Not for the peoples good or welfare but for prestige based on nothing more than hot air. They are opening new military bases in the region, and that should give us some concern.

Yet China is our second biggest trading partner, Australia being first, yet we still fight America's Wars, and our soldiers die on their behalf. It is time to hold up our heads and display the signs of being independent once again. If only we could stop our leaders from knelling to the not-so-mighty dollar...

Marriage Bill...How they voted.

Go to the following site to see who voted for or against the bill on Marriage Bill, 1st reading. It was passed 80 to 40 go to
http://www.scribd.com/doc/104270712/SKMBT-C253-12082921310 to see how each member voted
note that Peter Dunne and John Banks voted for...

Paula Bennett and Republican Todd Akin

Paula Bennett meets Todd Akin. [Satire]

Republican nominee for the Missouri US Senate Seat, Todd Akin, caused a furore last week after he bewilderingly claimed during a TV interview that women had a 'natural' means to prevent the body from becoming pregnant from 'legitimate rape'.

When Paula Bennett read this she thought…my God I’ve got it…”I know how to prevent teenage pregnancies” , so she contacted Todd Akin in the USA and asked him a few questions. What she didn’t know was that the telephone call was being recorded. Our hidden eavesdropper in the Beehive was so shocked that she sent me a transcript.

“Hi Todd, thanks for taking the time to talk with me, I know you are busy with your campaign to get elected for the Republicans in Missouri”,

“That’s Ok, what was your name again”, said Todd just oozing sweetness, “and where is Noo Zealand”, he added.

“Paula Bennett, I’m the Minister of Social Welfare, and New Zealand is in the South Pacific”, she muttered.

“What Church are you a Minister in”, asked Todd.

“Not a Church, I’m a Minister in the Government of NZ”, she said.

“Your Government has Ministers, now that’s a first… I wish we could do that here in the good old US of A, anyway how can I help, Paula? He said.

“You released a statement the other day suggesting that women can avoid pregnancy by using a mental process, I’m especially interested in women who have been raped”, she asked.

“Oh that statement, it did cause a bit of a storm, but you see Paula, a woman who has been raped, legally that is, not someone pretending to be raped, only has to pray and she won’t conceive, can you follow that Paula, he said.

“And you have proof of that do you”, asked Paula.

“Yes, it’s in the bible and the largest ‘Right to life’ movement here in the good old US of A agrees, so it must be correct”, said Todd sounding most confident and assured.

“Well, thanks for your time Todd, maybe we can meet next time I visit the US”, Paula said sweetly.

“How old are you Paula”, he asked

“Why”, asked Paula

“Never mind”, he said.

The phone call ended and the SIS guy recording it handed a copy of the transcript to our wonderful eavesdropper. But it was what happened next that stunned our eavesdropper into action.



Charter School & ACC boss Paula Rebstock



Paula Bennett called her team together Paula Rebstock from the ACC and a bunch of other clones as well as staff and eavesdropper happened to be among that number.

“Right team, We’ve tried beefing up the cost of drug testing beneficiaries, we’ve tried limiting beneficiaries from having children and I’ve released private details about beneficiaries protesting cut backs to distract public attention from asset sales and unemployment and poverty, but this next plan will really set the cat amongst the pigeons”, she said non-stop through over excitement and eagerness that just overflowed into the conference room on the fifth floor.

“Right, here is the plan…first we get the Charter Schools up and running, right Paula Rebstock”, said Paula B.

“Sure thing”, said Paula R nodding her great expanse of grey hair.

“Right, that’s settled…then we start a charter school for all women who are likely to be put in a situation of likely sexual rape”, said Paula B.

“But interrupted a serious looking young woman”…

“But what”, said Paula B.

“Isn’t all rape sexual”, asked the brave questioner.

“Yes, yes but the thing is, once the schools are up and running, we introduce a new restriction on benefit payments to solo mums, unless they’ve attended a pregnancy control programme”, Paula B pointed out to her stunned audience.

Eavesdropper at that point, was so shocked, that she dropped her pen, picked it up and took off for the ladies room. By the time she got back the meeting had ended. Paula B and Paula R were hugging each other and John Key had joined the meeting and said to Paula Bennett, “Well done, I knew I could rely on you, I’m really glad I promoted you to number six”,

Putting Bread on the table.



Part Time PM's Brighter Future. 



It is simply amazing how much bull-dust is spoken in Parliament, some National clone asked a patsy question of Bill English last week…and no it wasn’t Ian McKelvie…”Have average householders incomes risen? Bill English stood upright, adjusted his tie and proudly said yes while he looked at the camera. He then rattled his tongue about as he answered further supplementary questions from fellow drones, and yes McKelvie may have been among that lot.

But when asked by the opposition ‘if the median has risen’, he had to admit that it had fallen, and this means that the huge majority of New Zealanders have actually gone backwards. The facts:

• The top 20% of New Zealanders have got richer in the last year;
• The next 10% have stayed pretty much the same.
• Everyone else has gone sharply backwards.

And this is Part Time PM Key’s brighter future promise in action.

Inequality has taken a giant step forward, the gap is wider now than for the last sixty years and poverty and hardship has also jumped into new uncharted depths.

Here is a link to the entire household income report note the top 10% owned 50% of the wealth.  And look at the spike in income of the top 1% just as National was thrown out. 

http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/household-income-1982-2007/2012-hir-main-report.doc

We are getting poorer by the minute. If ever there was a reason to attend a discussion about the ever growing number of those on the bread line, look no further than the clear evidence of MSD’s latest release on house-hold income. It is a shocker. The Nat’s view of its seriousness and the reasons for this massive backward step and your own may well differ greatly.

The Diocesan Justice Peace and Development Commission in the Diocese of Palmerston North is hosting a public meeting “Our Daily Bread – putting food on the table’, on this very issue. It will be held in the Diocesan Centre Amesbury St Palmerston North on Saturday September 8^th between 10am and 1.30pm.

So far speakers from the Labour & National Party, Greens and Mana have confirmed their attendance.

Reconstruction or destruction; Life and death.

What does the word Reconstruction mean to you? Putting back together, repairing some thing that’s damaged.

When military men and women hear this word they think of rebuilding hospitals, or schools, water supply systems, roads or infrastructure. In my day in the military I assisted with some reconstruction activities but the reconstruction was carried out for the most part by the RNZ Corp of Engineers.

For nine years our soldiers have, according to the press releases issued, carried out this role in the Bamiyan province in Afghanistan and the SAS played the role of protectors. Then the SAS were withdrawn and protection became a larger part of the Reconstruction Teams role, assisted by local police.

Put simply our reconstruction team would ensure a school was rebuilt, its role was not to decide who attended that school, yet Key takes a PR approach by pushing the fact that woman and girls are attending those schools. I would suggest that that indicates changes in social behaviour by the local people.

The Facts about NZ deaths in Afghanistan:

On August 10 2010 while out on patrol Lt. Timothy O’Donnell of Fielding died and the casualty rate was about to expand, February 20^th 2011 Private Kirifi Mila died in an accident, August 2011 Cpl Doug Grant was killed in action, September 2011 L/Cpl Leon Smith died in Action, April 2012 Cpl Douglas Hughes of self inflicted wounds at a forward patrol base, August 5^th 2012 L/Cpl’s Pralli Durrer and Rory Malone were killed in action and six others wounded, August 19^th L/Cpl Jacinda Baker, Cpl Luke Tamatea and Private Richard Harris, are the latest to be killed by an roadside bomb.

These were not the only New Zealander’s to die in Afghanistan, the following died while serving in other countries armies.

Nov 2007 Capt Matthew Ferrara [US army], July 2008, Sg. Sean Patrick McCarthy [Australian Army] March 2009 Cpl Mathew Hopkins [Australian Army], Dec 2010 Pte Jack Howard [British Army]

After the latest five casualties I believe New Zealanders were at last shocked out of their media / Government / Military PR induced complaisance. A compliancy brought about by absolute manipulative spin supported by poor and almost superficial reporting by our main stream media, especially our overseas owned news papers and TV networks whom appear to express only an American perspective of international affairs.

Constant PR about how great things were going in Afghanistan and the Bamiyan province in particular has led to a totally erroneous view of the political and economic and social conditions that actually exist. The Government has still not admitted that our troops operate out of a US base, commanded by them. We have never been fully informed for example, that the CIA uses the same base.

This week when the Greens sought a urgent debate, to debate the events of the past three weeks the Speaker Lockwood Smith refused permission for an urgent debate on the deaths of kiwi soldiers in Afghanistan , this is a shocking misuse of the speakers’ powers and Smith should feel ashamed of himself.

It was bad enough that the PM stayed away from the services for L/Cpl’s Durrer and Malone and instead decided to watch his son play baseball in the USA and take a holiday at the same time. Our main stream media gave him plenty of space to convert his dereliction of duty into a sob story about how hard worked he is, they suggested that he is a Father first and a Prime Minister second and for this behaviour we should respect him. I half expected to see him on the cover of ‘Woman’s weekly’. The PM’s child like comments about Hungarian efforts in the province next door to Bamiyan also left a sour taste in ones mouth especially ex-servicemen and women. It was petty and stupid, but what we should expect from a PT PM. Read about the PM’s holiday in the USA by going to

http://wheelerscornernz.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/pms-sacrifice-tale-of-two-tales.html

No matter from which perspective you come, the Afghanistan invasion has failed, it was like using a sledge hammer to crush a walnut…it was in fact a war of revenge by the US after 911. It has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people and thousands of service men and women at a financial cost of trillions. It has boosted the drug trade and expanded war lord growth in the region. It has done nothing for democracy or freedom. The British know it, the Russians know it, and U.S. and its coalition of the so-called willing which includes New Zealand know it but is yet to admit it as they search for a face saving device for exit. Hence the PM’s crap about not fleeing the scene.

Nicky Hagar in his book Other Peoples War clearly sets out the facts of what goes on and is still going on Jon Stephenson along with Hagar are the only two NZ’s to report on what is actually happening with our troops in Afghanistan in our bases in Bamiyan and I would recommend that Speaker Lockwood Smith get off his chuff and read that book rather than Standing Orders. He should also realise that failing to make debate possible simply heats the debate up.

Nicky Hagar will be in Palmerston North as a guest of the Friends of the Library on the 28^th of September 2012 to present his findings regarding Afghanistan and the role of our troops there. He brings vast experience as an author and investigative journalist. This gives us an opportunity to listen to a public relations free version of the history about our involvement in this now devastatingly event.

Paula Bennett's answer to poverty, Join the Nats.



Paula Bennett, poverty denier. 



Just who is Paula Bennett?

This from the National Party blog site: "Paula lives in Waitakere, West Auckland, and has lived in the City of Sails since 1992. She grew up in Taupo.
Paula raised her daughter single-handedly. She worked in hospitality, secretarial and retail roles. Realising her opportunities were limited without an education; Paula went to Massey University as an adult student. Although she originally studied social work, she ended up with a degree in social policy". Quote ends.

• We know that she is a member of parliament; we know she represents the national party.

• We know that she was a solo mum who received the [DPB] benefit for many, many years. So the state help made it possible for her to raise her child.

• We know she also accepted willingly the ‘training grant to pay for further education. So the state gave her a free education.

• We now know that she released personal and private information from a confidential file about a beneficiary when that beneficiary complained about her and her department’s behaviour. She has even said, “That she would do it again! So the state failed to prosecute her.

• We also know that she told fibs about employers in Southland and drug testing of beneficiaries in that area. So we know that she can and does stretch the truth.

• We know she can’t count because her figures for the possible cost savings of drug testing beneficiaries simply don’t add up and her own department agrees that she is totally wrong. So we have further evidence of her style of truth.

• We know that there are strong rumours that she will be attending a charter school for wayward MP’s, along with Nick Smith, to improve her woeful mathematically skills. So we have reason to hope that change is possible.

• We know that her latest stupid statement about people going in and out of poverty on a daily basis was so stupid that the speaker of the house suggested ‘that she was acting like a misbehaving three and a half year old’. So we know that others [the speaker] have like views of her behaviour.

Let’s just think about the logic contained within her idiotic statement: She suggested that once a person got a job…they were out of poverty. So on a Tuesday you have no job and your in poverty. On Wednesday you score a job…zoom you are out of poverty…yeah right Paula…it could only happen to a National Party MP.

She is simply what I call ‘a poverty denier’ of the highest order.

Twenty percent of New Zealand kids live below the poverty line…a fact that Paula Bennett denies with the snake like venom of a climate change denier. And she uses all the PR spin and red-necked crap to get her unintelligent message across.

Is she suggesting that if John Key our part time multi millionaire PM lost his job tomorrow he would be living in poverty? Because that people, is the weird and twisted logic of her argument.

The truth is you grow, or are forced, into poverty, just as you grow, or are lifted out, of poverty, as she was. The fact is that the state spent hundreds of thousands of dollars giving Paula Bennett a hand up.

Another truth is that Paula Bennett actually exists in a different type of poverty, its called ‘intellectual poverty’, a sickness that has grown in her and others as cancer would, it is brought on by a clear and measurable erosion within the brain that leads to a disconnect between the real world and ones own life circumstances and how they got there.

For just as Paula Bennett with the massive and long term assistance of the state climbed out of her poverty, she has now cancelled out any memories of that period and now believes her own PR spin, that she did it on her own. So she is now fully embedded in a new self justified mental state of memory loss and has set about removing those collective and intelligent processes that did and still can assist others in getting out of poverty.

She has removed the rungs on the safety ladder as she climbed that ladder. She is and will remain not a gate through which to pass into a better place but a gate, and a locked one at that, to keep that twenty percent and growing in the poverty trap she pretends to abhor.

As a nation we should stop listening to Paula Bennett’s PR driven words but watch carefully what Paula Bennett does. We also must work hard at finding a cure for the deeply dangerous new illness that affects the brains and vision of our so-called policy makers.

Lastly we should not forget that the Government is without question the highest paid group of beneficiaries in the country and as yet no one has suggested drug testing, salary reductions, penalties for poor performance and memory loss, jail for fraud and false testimony. It is an absolute truth to say that two worlds now exist under National / ACT, one for those in poverty, and one for those who cause and benefit from that poverty.    

True or False you decide [Satire]



Eavesdropper and PR operation. 



Eavesdroppers come in various shapes and sizes, they can be the person sitting next to your table in the local coffee bar, or the taxi driver, even one of your family.

This eavesdropper works in a flash office in the Beehive. He is surrounded by portraits of people like Sir Walter Nash, Sid Holland and Norm Kirk.

The major temporary incumbent was inside his office discussing an upcoming event with his two press sectaries. One was a fifty plus gray haired ex TV1 male news reader and the other a not so young female ex-editor of the NZ Listener. Unfortunately the intercom was left turned on and our brave eavesdropper was a party to the discussion…here is what he heard.

“I agree, you can’t just take off for Bangor USA without covering your backside, the public will not accept you not attending the national service for those two brave lads who died fighting on the nations behalf”, judging by the voice that was the fifty plus PR man.

“What do you think”, asked the boss.

“Oh, I agree”, said a female voice, [I presume it was the female PR agent.] “Women are a big part of your support base and that base has been declining of late”, she added.

“I don’t care I want to go to Bangor Maine”, said the boss firmly.

“Don’t panic, we’ll workout a plan and with just an ounce of luck also turn you into a hero at the same-time”, said old PR man.

“In fact we’ve already designed a strategy that will achieve our goal into the future”, said woman PR. [Don’t PR people love using words like…into the future and looking forward.]

“Right then put me in the picture and give me a timeline”, said the boss sounding a little more cheerful.

“OK, here it is, one: Go visit the parents of the two soldiers and personally offer your condolences”, said male PR man.

“Done”, said the Boss.

“Then”, said the Female PR, “We will release a press statement about how hard your job is and how you’ve sacrificed your family life for your country, you know working 24/7 for getting the nation into work and pulling us out of our dire financial predicament and back into the blue”, she added sounding very proud and confident.

“So you reckon that its now safe to go and watch my boy play baseball in the USA and then take a short holiday at my home in Hawaii”, Boss asked sounding really happy.

“Don’t worry boss, we’ll wrap this up by getting out a press statement and we’ll drop a hint to the media about visiting those grieving parents, so just relax and we’ll get the ball rolling”, said male PR man.

Oh, one last thing boss, if you talk to the press in the USA don’t mention the death of the soldiers, talk about your hard work, you know 24/7, your sacrifice for your country and perhaps your time on Wall Street. Troop losses in the US is now... just sort of ho-hum in that neck of the woods”.

Eavesdropper slipped out of his office before the three left the inner sanctum…it’s a small country is New Zealand and it is almost impossible to keep secrets…  

PM's Sacrifice, a tale of two tales

There has been much debate about John Key attending a baseball game in the USA and not attending the special service for two NZ soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan two weeks ago. Below is a press release Key gave to the Bangor Daily News. It is interesting for what it doesn’t say but also for Key’s comments about government backing for baseball in NZ.



While the Nation cries...others cheer. 



“The Right Honorable John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and his wife, Bronagh Key, cheer on the Asia Pacific team from Auckland, New Zealand on the first day of the Senior Little League World Series Sunday evening at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor, Maine.

The Keys are watching their son Max, who plays right field on the team.

Auckland, New Zealand's right fielder Max Key warming up before Sunday evening's Senior Little League World Series game against Houston, Texas at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor, Maine.

John Key’s major job challenges these days aren’t much different from those of every other world leader.

“It’s the economy, the global impact of the economy,” said Key, the prime minister of New Zealand. “We’re just coming through the recession like everyone else.”

But for a few days this week, at least some of Key’s concentration — and his physical presence — is a world away, at Mansfield Stadium, where his 17-year-old son Max is an outfielder for the Bayside Westhaven Little League team of Auckland, New Zealand, that is playing in the 2012 Senior League World Series.

“It’s huge,” said Key Sunday night moments before the New Zealand team’s first game of pool play against U.S. Southwest champion West University Little League of Houston, Texas. “You feel immensely proud of your children and you realize they’re growing up and defining their lots and doing wonderful things.”

The 51-year-old Key has served as prime minister of the island nation of 4.4 million located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean some 900 miles east of Australia since 2008. It’s a job that leaves him little time to follow the pursuits of his son or daughter Stephie.

“I’ve been prime minister for four years, and it’s really 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, so there are a lot of things I just can’t go to and can’t see,” he said.

But once Max Key and his Bayside Westhaven teammates won the Asia-Pacific SLWS qualifying tournament in Guam last month, his father the prime minister pledged to join him in Bangor.

“I couldn’t go [to Guam],” said Key, who has a background in investment banking and was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1999 to 2001 before returning to his native New Zealand to pursue a political career. “In fact, I’ve been hugely busy, but I promised him if they got to the World Series I’d come, so I’m keeping my word and I’m here.

“I saw him play in Hong Kong once, I literally flew up for the day when he was on the Little League side, but this is the first time I’ve taken a week off to go and see him play.”

Key said the fact his son’s team — the first from New Zealand to qualify for a World Series at any level — has reached the SLWS is big news back home, and it may spur additional growth in a sport that, while lagging far behind such local staples as rugby and cricket, is gaining momentum.

“You’re apt to see a whole lot of players willing to join the sport and participate,” he said, “because we always see that when we see a New Zealand team doing well, whether it’s basketball or whatever it might be.”

Key adds that anyone anticipating an instant baseball boom in New Zealand may have to be patient.

“It’s an emerging sport, so it’s quite small but growing reasonably rapidly,” said Key. “Softball’s been the predominant ball sport along with cricket. Softball’s a sport we adopted in the ’50s and now baseball’s really starting to take over, so you see a merging of softball players starting to play baseball and I think over time there’s a chance baseball might be a much bigger sport relative to softball in New Zealand.

“But competing with big sports like rugby I think is a long way down the road.”

Still, Key said the last few years have seen an increased amount of investment in New Zealand baseball, with more infrastructure and bigger diamonds being built to complement an increased knowledge base in the sport coming in part from the United States.

Baseball also is attracting more government support, he said.

“Historically it’s been based on how big the sport is, so obviously a game like rugby gets a massive amount of funding in New Zealand while a lot of the smaller sports have struggled,” said Key, whose own athletic background was in squash and rugby but now is centered on golf. “We’ve been putting a lot more money into sport as a government over the last four years, and we’ve really been trying to encourage some of the newer sports.”

One of those sports newer to New Zealand is baseball, which Max Key discovered while watching American major leaguers play on television.

Unemployment up yet again. Nats support down.

Do you remember the words:

“Unemployment will decline in 2012 as work in Christchurch cuts in” Well that public relations crap pushed by hand picked media has been washed out to sea on a tidal wave.

Unemployment has risen yet again and now stands at 6.8% up from 6.5%. This has taken place while over 50.000 people fled the country as a clear vote of no confidence in National / Act / Maori Party and United Future.

Their inability to have a visible plan to create jobs is causing massive hardship among our land. The departure of over a thousand people each week has failed to give hope to those who remain.

Look at the government’s efforts in this vital area of its own backyard: It is cutting teacher numbers, community & public health workers, Adult education teachers and programmes, military personnel and their support staff, Railway engineers and staff, hospital support staff. Over four thousand public service personnel have been tossed on the scrap heap. Only the Prime Ministers office staff has been massively increased.

For three and a half years we have sat idle and watched the public service being decimated when the real problem was with private debt, this was the major problem we faced and the government gave the highest earners over a billion dollars worth of borrowed tax cuts each year and are now planning to sell off our assets in an attempt to pay this bill. Thy hope to sell our way out of trouble. Of course this approach is simply crap, we tried it before and it failed. When will we ever learn?

Most of our right wing moguls have fled the country or are in prison or awaiting sentencing by the courts. Some were even knighted before leaving the sinking ship like rats. Strange as it may sound some still believe that some of these greedy individuals were national heroes when in fact the reality was and still is that they were Ponzi schemers of the highest order. I’m not the only blogger sending this message, this from ‘Bombers blog site:

“We continue to see vast numbers of NZers with no job, we continue to see large numbers becoming 'invisible' to official jobless stats meaning our real unemployment rate could be far higher and we continue to see no plan whatsoever from National to address these unemployment issues other than selling assets and tax cuts for the rich”.

Sometimes I get the feeling that we are simply waiting for some one to appear who will magically fix our self induced problems. To many, the view that National and Labour are both rightwing and that they are locked into more of same.

There are also those who believed that a multi millionaire jetting in from Wall Street will be our saviour because of his so-called economic know-how, when what we got was a smooth talking salesman. These last three and a half years have proved that to be so true. Today’s New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows a drop in support for Prime Minister John Key’s National Party 44% (down 3.5% since July 9-22, 2012). Support for Key’s Coalition partners changed slightly with the Maori Party 2% (up 1%), ACT NZ 0.5% (down 0.5%) and United Future 0.5% (unchanged).

Support for Labour is up 2.% to 32%, Greens are 14% (up 3%), New Zealand First 4% (down 1.5%), Mana Party 1% (up 0.5%), Conservative Party of NZ 1.5% (down 1.5%).

If a National Election were held today today’s New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll suggests an election result would be ‘too close to call’.  

Kim Dotcom Terrorist or benefactor?

Kim Dotcom:

Is he a dangerous terrorist or kind benefactor? That is the question yet to be answered…

Eavesdropper was behind the scene at the High Court; I was serving the tea, coffee and gingernuts and I overheard some interesting conversations that throw a bit of light on the issue.

Conversation one: Police Lawyer and black suited guy wearing dark glasses:

“What am I meant to say to the judge about the FBI during the armed raid on Dotcom” asked the Police lawyer.

“Nothing, you know nothing”, said Dark Shades.

“But you were there, I can’t deny that fact”.

“Was I, I don’t remember if I was or not”, just do a John Banks, muttered Dark shades.

“And is it true that you thought about ‘Water-boarding’ Dotcom until you saw his size”, said the lawyer”.

“No way that interrogation method was only to be used on his security chief”, and besides that, your so-called special squad hasn’t had any special training as yet, its due to be introduced next month”, he added as an afterthought.

“But the search warrants were illegal and you had no right to be there”, said Lawyer trying to win the high moral ground. [If there is such a thing in the FBI]

“Come-on, we don’t need legal warrants we are the FBI, don’t you watch Television”’ said Dark Shades.

“No we don’t have FOX news here”, said the lawyer as he took his coffee and gingernut and departed.

I moved to the next room pushing my trolley as I thought, what was that all about…and why was the guy with the American accent wearing sun glasses inside.

Conversation two: Between another American accented agent and his cell phone listener…so you are only getting a one way conversation, sorry about that.

“It’s not going so well chief…

“Yes, the judge is allowing too many questions from the defence…

“Yes, the police are following instructions…but they are a bit slow.

“Oh you are correct our chances are not looking good.

A long period of silence took place, before he said:

“Yes Sir, I understand that the Hollywood Division is unhappy but the NZ Police used their 70 strong anti-terrorist police officer airborne assault team on the dude’s mansion and you can’t get more God Dam Hollywood than that chief”

The cell phone user suddenly spotted me and slammed his phone shut and said to me, “you heard nothing did you”,

I didn’t get to answer because a young woman came into the room, and asked if she could have a cup of tea…I offered her a gingernut, which she took saying, “since the FBI is paying…thanks.

Well so much for the Trial, but all the workers at the High Court think that Kim Dotcom is really neat, they like his style and I might add so do I.

Afghanistan takes its toll...

Two dead and six wounded three seriously.

Our Prime Minister quickly dons his black suit and says how brave our boys are.

He says that he won’t pull out before the planned date sometime in 2013, he doesn’t mean ‘he’ he means the soldiers on the ground. He will steer clear of any danger.

The main stream media now has more horror, murder and mayhem to fill its front page headlines; it will print the gory details, the family grief, and the agony with unrestrained commercial delight coated with plastic elasticity.

As an ex-soldier I have a small understanding of the agony of the family and friends of those killed or wounded. I more fully understand the guilt felt by the members of the unit and sub-units to which they belonged. Many questions relating what could have been done better or differently will bring extra pressure on those remaining. The last thing the unit needs are the platitudes written by public relations guru’s and mouthed by the PM or Defence Minister.

There is lost amongst the stupidity of the media behaviour of making money from the public grief some real issues.  Likewise the absolutely idiotic reason for the troops being there in the first place, is crowded in myth and PR spin. The Government of Afghanistan is corrupt and the intervention of US forces ensured that any intervention plan would fail sooner or later. Anyone who works with them or fights with them are tarred with the same brush and shares their crimes.

New Zealand lost its innocence once it brought into the ‘seek and destroy’ attitude of US military policy, put simply it was a kill first and worry later. Of course it hasn’t worked and it never will. It didn’t work in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Now we will spill real heartfelt tears and sadly heaps of crocodile tears as the country mourns its loss yet again. So be prepared for wonderful speeches in and out of Parliament, but also be prepared for more of the same shallow sympathy. What we need over this next short period is empathy and plan to move ourselves clear of the murderous strategic approach of others.     

Is this the performance we want?

A new reward system being introduced…

This letter was sent off to our local paper

Dear Sir

With regard to the threatened cuts to the Ministry of Social Development and staff performance criteria tied to getting long term “beneficiaries” off their income support, the effect will be even worse than the similar targets applied to ACC officers, which raised such a storm not long ago.

With ACC pushing people onto the dole and Work & Income pushing people off the dole,  while the government is shedding significant numbers of its jobs, with living wage jobs going into the mincer and even $2 dollar shops closing, where are the “liberated” beneficiaries meant to go?

They already go to foodbanks.

Are they meant to suicide and take their families with them?

This seems to be a recipe for disaster of scary proportions including increased family violence and crime in addition to the suicides.

Of course I am assuming that the largest long term ’beneficiary’ group, superannuitants, will be left alone, but that may not be the case and the same results would apply.

Ian Ritchie

Lets look a little closer at this issue.

Based on the working conditions now being introduced into our various government departments it would appear that if you want promotion or extra income you must ensure that someone else loses income or assistance.

This introduction of performance style rewards is a direct steal from banks and financial institutions and salesman style salary methods. ‘You make dollars for us and will give you a share’,,, This 1990’s style of bribery used by greedy corporates is now being introduced and used by the government to blackmail staff to get rid of difficult cases off the books.

Just think about it for one minute. If you worked for say, the Ministry of Social Development as a case manager and one of those you were managing committed suicide you could actually get a reward… The government has a name for this… ideal performance… in fact if enough of your clients committed suicide the minister could invite you to parliament and issue you with a high performance certificate signed by our part time Prime minister. Whereas in education suicide could have the opposite effect because teachers are meant to achieve an 80% pass rate, a suicide would make it difficult to achieve the required pass rate.

Of course, you may [As I hope we all are] be opposed to encouraging suicide and may actually prefer to help your clients, which may mean that you would have to forgo your rewards both monetary and status wise. You may feel this way because all your education and training has given you an understanding of ethics, responsibility and caring. But alas they are not the ethics’ that the present Key / Banks government espouses now days. ACC proves this; Housing New Zealand also demonstrates this fact and John Banks proves it on an individual basis.

Of course, we here in New Zealand are lucky, 50.000 of our younger people are fleeing the country each year and if these people are beneficiaries and you can increase the numbers going overseas you may increase your salary without needing to resort to suggesting suicide.

Now I know, at least I think I know, that most people wouldn’t drive their clients to suicide, but history tells a different story. In Germany from 1936 they did just that, they started removing those with mental health problems and disabilities into camps where they suddenly disappeared from sight. Later we found out they were murdered. Their government not only supported this weeding out of those who were a drain on the nation but encouraged it, they rewarded those who performed these shocking acts for them with both promotion and money.

Now I’m not suggesting that is what is being planned but we should never forget that it has happened. The economic conditions today are not dissimilar to those existing back in the mid-thirties. The fact is that driving people to suicide is murder, and ignorance is not a defence in my view.