The Nutter

People who say that art and sport have no place in another countries politics must be either very naive or stupid. If the peoples elected representatives fail to lead and do what is right then of course these high profile people need to take action to show these regimes that they cannot just ignore the united nations. The best example of the people in NZ changing things for the freedom of other peoples are the protests in 1981 when the then oppressive racist government of South Africa sent its rugby team to NZ to play  These protests showed that we did not agree with the way they treated their own people The same applies in this case There are still some people in NZ who think we should have played sport with the South Africans, those same people will think that Lord should preform in Israel . History has shown the protesters were right in 1981 and it will be the same again now her decision will be proven to be morally correct I for one was  filled with pride when...

100 years ago New Zealand’s and Australia’s cream set out for the adventure of a lifetime to a war in a foreign country only to be sacrificed for another country’s empire. Today’s young men are again going to a foreign country ( Afghanistan) to fight for another country’s empire. The main difference today is that we have all seen movies showing the horrors and futility of any war  let alone one that doesn’t even have to involve us . Our troops need to be aware that when they return  they will not be received as the hero’s their grandfathers were Recent history has given us two prime ministers who drew a line in the sand and stood up to our “friend and ally”. One was David Lange the other Helen Clark, no matter if you liked or hated them at least they gave us cause to be proud.  When will we ever learn that even one life is too great a price to pay just so our leader can be part of a "club" Go Nuts

A couple of years ago a nz citizen that had been arrested in Australia for wanting to travel to Syria to join the conflict there. Every comment I have read or heard assumes that he was going to fight for Isis, has this been proven? For all we know he might have been going to help the moderates that are backed and armed by the USA to fight Isis. Does this new attack on personal movement include anyone wanting to travel overseas to help say Spain defend itself from Fascists as the international brigade so bravely tried to do in the 30s or to help  Britain and France  defend democracy in 1914 and again in 1940 or does it only apply to country’s that our government regard as the bad guys. There are ample examples of New Zealanders going to hot spots to help our friends with or without govt sanction, are we now being dictated too about where we can or cannot travel. Personal freedom was what we fought two world wars for and was a cornerstone of democracy sadly it appears ...

We are unable to prevent Australia deporting kiwis that have criminal convictions. so instead of moaning about something we have no control over why not look for a solution. As I understand it most if not all of these people would prefer to live in Australia, could they change their names by deed pole and apply for a new passport and then immigrate back to Australia under their new identity. Of course the New Zealand government would need to omit telling our close friends and cousins of these people’s new names and I would even suggest the government could help facilitate such action. It would be what the detained person and their families want and for the public of New Zealand to not have an influx of criminals that don’t want to be here can only be good for the country Go Nuts

Thirty years ago NZ stood up to be counted and lead the way away from the nuclear madness. At the time the militarists and the far right tried everything to bully us into towing the American line, but we held our position and were able to hold our heads up high. A recently retired prime minister , who happens to own a home in Hawaii and plays golf with the former president, had bent over completely  to take a nuclear powered ship where the sun doesn’t shine, to our eternal shame. We now look with hope and high expectations that our new progressive young prime minister will lead us in the international area and once again give us cause to have pride in being New Zealanders  Go Nuts 

There have been a couple of items in the news recently showing young men skating down the main highway on a skate board and another leaping from the top of a bridge into a river. Both these storeys have attracted a large amount of criticisime. Instead of criticising these young men we should recognise their talent and bravery. After all, there are plenty of people who would have said that Sir Edmond Hillery was foolhardy in trying to climb Everest and yet now he is a national hero , the same goes for any number  sportspeople and entrepreneurs who have gone out to try something new. Imagine how dull and boring any sport would be if these people didn’t try things or if businesses didn’t take some risk, It would result in no progress , no innovation and most of all no fun. The people who complain about young people going out of their comfort zone and taking a risk seem to resent them for doing what they themselves wish they had the courage to do. Long live the human sp...

Building disasters The building industry is heading full steam ahead towards yet another costly failure, worse than the leaky home scandal. This new problem to hit unsuspecting homeowners comes about because of the lack of supervision on new house builds. In the past there were clerk of works and architects, who had the responsibility to oversee building projects, To save money the builders took on the clerk of works role, this worked fine when the builder was on site and was able to supervise the sub trades. In recent years with the popularity of group house builders the builder is no more than a sales man who employs labour only workers who in turn employ apprentices and unskilled workers. In theory there is a supervisor whose job it is to oversee the construction but unless he can be there full time it is just a token gesture, the reality is that if the owner is happy with the work done then no one is going to tell him any different. The result can be shoddy workmanship...

We tell ourselves that we are a first world economy. Try telling that to people with no job no hope and no future. The news is full of examples of homeless people, beggars in the streets, violence against innocent people, murders, children going to school hungry and not to mention the terrible family abuse and regular killing of children. If anyone still believes we live in a first world country they obviously haven’t looked outside their gated community. These issues were not helped by a national government that was happy to collect tax from its citizens but at the same time reduces services that this tax was supposed to provide. How much longer must we continue with this economic experiment where the government hopes private companies will do what we the taxpayers already pay them to do. When we elect politicians to office we expect them to lead , not to abdicate all responsibility and hope market forces will fix everything, If this was possible, why would we need politicia...

The law banning the use of cell phones while driving is poorly drafted and needs to be challenged in court. While the intention may be admirable, after all who could argue against texting while driving especially if like me you need to look at what you are doing, this is obviously dangerous. However as this law now stands it is open to interpretation on what does it mean to use a cell phone while driving. Some police seem to think that if you are stationary at traffic lights or in  a gridlock situation  where no one is moving then the ban applies. This I find absurd. Also the phrase , to use your cell phone, logic would say the ban would only apply to  texting or calling but again some police believe that if you look at your phone to check the time, or even pick your phone up off the seat next to you and look at it before pocketing it then that constitutes using your cell phone. This may sound farfetched but it has happened to someone I know. Most people who get stun...

The attitude of most political parties to cannabis has shown that our leaders are not leaders at all but are followers. Instead of leading the debate they wait until there is overwhelming support from the public and only then will they consider any law change. It appears that for anything to change, even if it is obviously for the peoples benefit, it will only happen if politicians fear losing votes.  Go Nuts

On a short visit to the court we met and chatted to a very likable and courteous policeman who was there on another matter. The difference between this policeman and the traffic cop that we were there to deal with couldn’t have been more stark, one was polite and pleasant and a credit to the police while the other was rude and arrogant which left us initially with a deep dislike for all police until we realised that while one represented the police  the other was a traffic cop with all the negative feelings that the public have for these people. The greatest mistake that John Banks the then minister of police made was when he combined the two enforcement agency’s into one. The result was not to improve the traffic cops image but to drag down the reputation of the police. Go Nuts

Who knew you could get a $80 ticket just from holding a cell phone in your hand without using it in any way. This happened back at Easter weekend with traffic backed up before the Johnson Hill Tunnel north of Auckland. Two lines of traffic stopped and a Policeman on his motorbike driving between the rows of cars quoting him "making sure everyone was alright" or to see if they were using cell phones.  A ticket was issued as the cell phone was seen in hand after picking it up from the floor.  A letter was written to explain the cell phone wasn’t used, with a copy of zero usage, but didn’t get the ticket waived.   Time was taken off work to plead not guilty and again for the hearing a month later.  A total waste of time.  The Judge stated he believed the upstanding Policeman and not the layman.  Even though the Police could have obtained records to show no calls or texts were received at that time.  The judge said you admitted to having the ph...

We should stop kidding ourselves that we live in a democracy. A democracy shouldn’t have its citizens in fear of saying anything that might embarrass or annoy the government. This is what has happened in the case of the policeman who as the head of a local marae gave accommodation to homeless people thereby embarrassing Paula Bennet  the then minister and the national government for its inaction. This man has become the latest victim of the attack politics that the national government had become expert at. The worst aspect of this saga is that the police have demonstrated that they are no longer independent but are now complicit with the government and will prosecute anyone, including one of their own, once they are instructed to. An added twist to this is that coincidentally this same man who has demonstrated time and time again his dedication to his own people and community has been charged with kidnapping after a family came to him desperately looking for help with ...

NZ today is going through what America went through in the 50s when senator McCarthy presided over the reds under the beds witch hunt. I refer to what has become fashionable here and that is to shoot the messenger if the message does not fit with certain views. A classic case recently is where Massey University Chancellor Chris Kelly was forced to step down for pointing out a blinding obvious fact that a woman was worth less to an employer as a man because of family commitments. The outrage from offended feminists focused solely on the first part of the statement that a woman was worth less than a man, if they read the rest then it all becomes clear, but no the hysteria and witch hunt to get him wound up and made an example of him as a warning to others who should dare to question . A Wellington Vet Mr Scully bravely came out in defence of Mr Kelly by repeating the facts but the hysteria brigade had already claimed another scalp by then. To date the people who are ...

The NZ  Herald 11/3/ 2017 featured a $5 million dollar property that it described as a slum. This was a little disappointing in that it appears to pander to the trendy perception that all landlords are bad and because they doing what everyone in capitalist society’s strive for, that is self-improvement of their position, they are somehow held up to be the public's enemy. Maybe tall poppy syndrome   The article stated that the property was dirty and with rubbish strewn about, also the tenants have alcohol and drug problems. When has it become the landlords responsibility to clean up after the tenant, the best a landlord can do is firstly ask the tenant to clean up, then give the tenant a 14 day letter to do so, if nothing happens after that the landlord can apply to the tenancy tribunal to make a ruling, this often takes a further 6 weeks, but if the tenant still does not comply the landlord needs to ask a bailiff to serve a removal notice , this in itself is not a simple ma...

For the most part the average working man/ woman will tolerate some pay difference, after all someone with a particular skill that is in short supply should be able to command a higher fee. Problems arise when the difference between the lowest paid and the highest paid is so great that it is impossible to justify. The desire to earn an obscene amount of money to display to your fellow man how clever or important you are is something that is in our human nature as is the desire of the less well-off to take that person to task about it Throughout history there are examples of the elites of this world who felt entitled to more than what the average person would call a fair amount of the pie. A classic case of what could happen and has happened in the past is the story of  Marie Antoinette the last queen of France before she lost her head in the revolution, the famous quote attributed to her when told that the peasants that were starving “let them eat cake” The is an obvious...

I was talking to an old man recently and he said that because he was an old white man with a basic education it felt like the world was against him. In the past the majority of the worlds presidents and prime ministers were rich white men over the age of 70, not to mention the worlds business leaders. A quick look around and it seems the ideal job applicant needs to be a non white young female fluent in any ingenious language except English. While I do not advocate either position it does seem that the pendulum has swung too far. Go nuts

Some say I'm a nutter; to them I say "That's Mr Nutter to you"!