It's too late for Rugby to hide behind cycling's drug infested culture

So word is out. After a 12 month investigation into the various sporting codes in Australia, results are shocking. Widespread use of banned substances exists, from banned supplement to connection with organised crime. Players, coaches, doctors; everyone was in the know.

You are probably now aware Lance Amrstrong and the US Postal Service cycling team used performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong said his team used all sorts of drugs, from testosterone to actovegin. To some athletes credits, they come clean; but to those who continue to try fool us, sooner or later the book closes.

 If a full scale investigation was launched into rugby, do not be surprised if rugby players are found to be taking banned substances (knowingly or unknowingly . The sheer brute physicality which each player subjects them self to week in, week out is mind boggling. Consider also the incredibly fast turn around times with recovery. A certain player suffers from a shoulder and pectoral muscle, only to return to training a few weeks; fitter, stronger and faster than ever. One rugby union player, who has suffered a severe injury in the same area twice, managed to come back into the sport, allegedly on nothing but a solid rehabilitation program. Another rugby player broke his arm and returned to the super rugby scene in three months. In no way does this mean any of them have taken banned drugs to aid in their recovery. Having such a good consistency in recovering from career ending injuries just raises a lot of doubt. There does however need to be more probing into to the two rugby codes.

AADA's tragic findings show that no one particular sport can be isolated. Isolating cycling as the only dirty sport is gratuitous. A great deal more skepticism is needed to unmask any cheats and liars. A lot of professional rugby is clouded in secrecy. If the veil is lifted off it (as it was in cycling), some truths may begin to surface.

A Paul Henry basher

I've always had an extreme dislike for Richard Boock. He's a stupid person's idea of an intelligent person. An ardent supporter of the slaughter of unborn children (better known as abortion), an advocate of political correctness, a proud supporter of prostitution and yes, a Paul Henry basher. You can search through his articles on (the very left wing news website) stuff.co.nz. There's enough evidence there to support my claims.

You can say what you like about Paul Henry, so long as it's backed up by reason. People loved watching Breakfast because he always found new ways to entertain, often by just speaking his mind. His stories of the Amtrak train suction toilets, asking Tamati to spit in the Web Ellis cup and laughing at Matt Mclean for standing on a box in Wellington made for some entertaining laughs. My best guess for Mr Boocks dislike of Paul Henry is that he is part of a small group of people. This group of people are the politically correct faction. Anything Henry said, any joke he made was offensive. After a while, they got their way; Henry resigned.

Although there are so many different reasons to dislike Mr Boock, none irritate me more than his views on Henry, which can be found here.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/blogs/an-auckland-minute/8261247/Alis-views-must-be-more-consistent

Here are some snippets of the babble he produced, with my response in Italics.

"He was constantly unreasonable and wrong-headed"

How? Why? In what way? It is just an empty statement, devoid of any reason. On many occasions, Paul provided good comic relief. Even his laugh was enough to put most people into fits of laughter.

"True, no-one should ever be held responsible for what comes out of Henry's foul gob. But it still wouldn't hurt for Mau to recognise her reluctance to challenge more strongly such obnoxious and belittling points of view"

In the same way, most people should not buy into yet another empty statement by Mr Boock. Most things Paul Henry ever managed to say on air was going to offend people like him (who lack any sense of humor), who walk around with glass hearts, ready to be offended at the slightest drop of a hat. Of course he is entitled to think that if he so pleases. Trying to put it in such a "matter of fact" way seems to suggest there is no changing his mind. 

Contrary to Mr Boocks thoughts on same sex marriage being such a large issue, consider this. In New Zealand 1/10 of 1% are in a same sex civil partnership. The other homosexuals are either waiting in anticipation for same sex marriage bill to be finalised or they have no intention of ever entering a legal relationship. Given that 1% of New Zealand's population is made up of homosexuals, you can decide for yourself how many of them are actually interested in marrying. 

It's time to say goodbye to Novopay

If politicians were underpaid, you could be guaranteed the problem would be sorted out in a week. Calls would be made, people would be spoken to, the solution would stick out. Whatever pay systems their salaries are under will likely vanish underneath a cloud of criticism. Most New Zealanders could not care less if something like this happened. back benchers to party leaders are already overcompensated for being bland, self serving careerists.

To make teachers go through more Novopay nightmares epitomises exactly everything which is wrong with the National party. Every time something works against them, a policy fails or scrutiny increases, they resort to blaming others.

In the instance of Novopay, Mr. Slippery chooses to blame the professionals for advising National. Rather than accept responsibility, everyone runs for cover.

What National will not tell you is how Novopay replaced a system which was already tried and trusted. There were no glitches, additional costs, nothing. Every person on the payroll system got paid promptly. Everyone probably got suspicious that this happened to work so well. According to Radio New Zealand, Novopay would have been in operation in late 2010, were it not for bugs and other problems. Cancelling the outsourced contract seemed like a viable option. Much like the ridiculous asset sales, National stayed determined to prove something and someone wrong. What exactly either one is remains unclear.

I myself was underpaid to the tune of $150, over several pay periods. Crying foul over it seems laughable though as over $30,000,000 in underpayments, over payments or no payments has crippled many people within the education sector financially. Picture an unmarried teacher, who has just gotten a job at a secondary school. Six months in and they're already behind on rent payments, cannot buy a basket of groceries, in addition to barely rattling into school in their almost empty car. To hear Steven Joyce try cut corners and say eventually these problems will be sorted out is foolhardy. So what? The damage has been done, teachers who have been underpaid or unpaid cannot undo the hardship which has hit them recently. With a further assurance Term one shall see similar problems, teachers should start saving whatever they can because dark days still lie ahead.

Don't believe for a moment Mr Key's claim no other alternative to Novopay currently exists. If our government has the ability to sell off state assets in a finger snap, they most certainly can bring back the tried and trusted system. Leave it now.

Neither is justified to say they are right

In an ongoing epidemic, Israel yet again finds itself at odds with an Islamic nation. After supposedly conducting an airstrike inside the Syrian border, it once again paints a bleak picture for anyone trying to wipe them off the map.

Neither side can claim to be victims. Both countries have had to defend themselves but both countries are launching attacks at each other. Anyone who wants a proper insight into the current crisis gripping the nation needs to read Bernard Lewis and Mosab Hassen Yousef. One is an historian with a vast knowledge about the subject, while the other is the son of a Hamas leader.

Each man is able to provide an accurate depiction of how neither side is doing the right thing and how peace will not be achieved until Israel and its opponents stop hounding each other in such a bloodthirsty way.

It was quite upsetting that Paul Holmes passed away at just 63. For a man who revolutionised current affairs in broadcasting, he deserved at least five more years on screen or in radio. After looking back at his most famous interviews, his ability to go into uncomfortable areas was evident. The people he spoke with often fidgeted around a lot and some even stormed out. Regardless, Holmes was engaging and somebody New Zealanders could relate to. Unlike John Campbell, who stumbles over the stage curtain or Mark Sainsbury, who is far too PC, Holmes was not afraid to speak his mind. 

Professional athlete's autobiographies are often very interesting reads. Many events which happen behind the scenes are interpreted very differently by each sportsman/woman. The best ones are able to walk you through their journey, without boring you to bits in details. Corne Krige and Tyler Hamilton are the most promising examples. 

Which is why I am desperately hoping for the second half of McCaws book "The Open Side" to move up a gear (like the man himself has done so many times). The book is full of frantic jumping, moving from High School, to the notorious 2007 World Cup match in Cardiff, and then back even further to his early childhood. Not only is the chronology completely out of sync, there is a fair amount of expletives. 

While I can concede that everyone is going to let the odd bit of bad language slip out in tense, heat of the moment situations (Krige and Hamilton do this too), I had hoped McCaw and McGee would have been shrewd enough to leave "fuck" and "shit" out of the non heat of the moment situations.       

That grinning, villainous mayor and some other thoughts

I had to laugh when I saw that Len Brown had won an award for 7th best mayor in the world. What exactly he did to earn such an accolade remains a mystery. His transport ideas are terrible, his promise not to increase rates to heftily has failed, nothing has come about from the supposed supercity benefits and many people do not know who to contact if they have an issue with the city ie lousy sidewalks.

Obviously Mr. Brown has a very good public relations team, who have made him look like a superstar, when he's nothing more than a flat pancake. Of course, not many people will pick up on it. He's never been incredibly bright and his ideas for a good city bring to mind words such as "idealist" and "utopia." Free swimming pools for all. Never happened. A great place to run a business. Not seeing many small businesses flourish. Are you? Better public transport. It'll be a grand day when that happens. Time and time gain, supposed experts praise Mr. Brown for his "developments," many which nobody has even the faintest idea about.

Whilst I could name several candidates more worthy of being in the top 10, here's one. Patrcia De Lille. Google her. Hopefully that hideous, grinning Len Brown does. He might learn a thing or two about how to run a big city...properly.

A joke minister 

Is there anyone out there who actually think Hekia Parata has served them well. Deluded old school principals have a soft spot for her mediocrity. However, for many concerned parents, this isn't so. Almost every big proposal Mrs Parata has put forth have either damaged the education system, or been the wrong idea to begin with.

I feel sorry for her, mainly because she doesn't know if her party has a conservative or liberal attitude towards education. But when you're in those situations, you have to make do with what you have. Plenty of opportunities have come up to better education. Mrs Parata has failed to act on any of them.

Only one NZ industry can match Australia for pay packages

Yes, believe it or not, you can make a reasonably good salary in the dairy industry in New Zealand. Lined up against Australia, it is the only job sector which can match salary and work packages. There are no surprises whatsoever behind many farmers choosing to change across to dairy. Opportunities seem to be created almost daily. Most of the demand has come from booming economies overseas. Try and guess which nation's demand is growing the fastest? Your guess is probably right. A previous marketing manager for Fonterra tole me he earned around $150,000 a year. Westland's sales team would be on packages in this area as well. After checking the job hunter website Seek, very few differences in pay exist, if any.

For New Zealand workers, that is reason to stay optimistic. Last week an anonymous blogger tried making a laughable comment on Australian weather extremes, without addressing my other points, particularly why so many young kiwis leave. In a backhand whisper, careerist politicians will tell you "Easy, they can't afford to live here anymore."

Serile a decende Com - Romance Novel - romance

For anyone who likes seeing the names of characters changing mid-chapter, have a read of this. Not a bad storyline though.
Serile a decende Com - Romance Novel - romance

"August" by Bernard Beckett will challenge all your thoughts about free will

“For some people hate was all they had left.” Bernard Beckett has a gripping writing style, which focuses on the ethical issues surrounding the lives of his simple, yet complex characters. In his latest philosophical melodrama “August,” the book cover sums up the situation.

A young man and woman are stranded upside down on the roadside, unable to move due to the injuries which they have sustained. One is (name), a young philosopher who has been dealing with the issue of free will. The other is a whore, who he picked up only hours earlier. Through a gurgled depiction of a tragic accident, Beckett introduces the grim reality many stranded car crash victims have. Fight hard or give up.

So both characters decide to fight. The boy begins to share his story and the girl follows suit. It is a gripping tale. Analysing the length of the stories, one can be forgiven for thinking the author originally intended only to tell the guy’s story. Yet, like any fine novel, the story seems incomplete without the girl’s tale.

Finely written from a third person narrative, it was gripping to see ethical issues dominating the forefront of almost every page. Centred around Christianity and free will, anybody who wants to have their 

predispositions on the matter rattled, reading through ‘August’ will provide them with a fresh perspective. On many occasions, both characters feel trapped inside their own minds, unable to determine if their own actions are done on their freewill; or if what is happening is intrinsically human nature, which can be predicted after extensive observations. 

It is said good books make you think, great books make you feel. Sure enough, Beckett makes you feel drawn into each situation. No longer can you merely be a passenger. Every time there’s a cut or shift, the time comes to refocus and try understanding what each character is feeling. If not, then the characters pass along without much thought. Trying to understand each characters intentions is often too difficult, which may upset readers who are looking for a light read.

Something which irked me was how lethargic certain sections of the book felt. Often, so many days, or actions were overwritten. Gaining momentum after an exciting opening also seemed a bit hard for Beckett. To his credit, he comes back with an engaging roar.

The cliffhanger at the end will leave you thrilled, excited and hungry for more. Bernard Beckett is a shining talent and in his book August, he deliver a masterclass of smooth, eloquent and polished writing. 

Rating 8/10

Cameras are on the way out as the smartphone cult tightens its grip on our lives

You may not notice how cheap stand alone cameras are these days. Parallel imported has a 10 megapixel camera with 4x optical zoom on sale for a meagre $150. The Warehouse sells photography hi-res cameras at $500-$900. Not something many people would take too much notice over now, considering a frightening death march towards the smartphone cult is taking more and more people with it.

With these clunky pieces of metal now containing built in cameras, which can send photos to an email address, upload them to Facebook and Twitter, as well as sharing them with out smartphone holders, life has never been so easy or convenient.

Has it?

People seldom realise something bad has happened until its too late. These smartphones are evil and there is a very good reason to see past the pathetic advertising Apple and co put forth. At hindsight, it makes life easier. The contrary to that is simple. We begin to worship small pieces of metal. Its power to do so many amazing things mesmerizes people. Slowly, our banking is done on them, all our photos are taken with them, thousands of ridiculous applications are smacked on to alleviate boredom. Before one realises it, a lot of their life exists on the smartphone. If it fails, we fail. If it gets lost, so does much of our life.

If everyone wants to continue towards total dependency on a smartphone, they are more than welcome to do so. For those who have seen this is all one big money making gimmick and mere materialism which advocates anti-social behaviour, you can hopefully avert this cult for just a little bit longer.

Welcome to Australia. Better pay, better weather, better value for money

How Mr. Shearer can stand in front of all New Zealanders and proclaim that he is able to fix New Zealand's mass exodus to Australia is rather surprising. For those who cannot remember, the immigration problem had been a cornerstone rally cry by Mr. Slippery during his election campaign during 2008.

Since 2008, net migration has seen a sharp increase towards the lucky country. 54,000 people bought a one way ticket to Australia, citing a better overall lifestyle as their reason for moving. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/economy/news/article.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10852505 The fact that Australia has a better climate cannot be argued about, or changed by any rabble which comes from National or Labour. You won't see Mr. Key lobbying either for companies to pay their employees a bit more fairly. Salaries in Australia have been recognised, on average to be 36.41% higher than in New Zealand. Until the fat corporate piglets at the top stop worshiping money (and themselves), expect to see the mass brain drain continue.  http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Australia&country2=New+Zealand

As for those who want my recommendations towards fixing the problem, simple. Pay your workers more, offer them competitive work packages which are reasonable enough to keep them in New Zealand and keep their morale up. It seems to be your best chance at keeping skilled workers.

Even the most loyal followers know now

Anybody who still thinks Lance Armstrong did not dope need only watch his interview with Oprah Winfrey. Spanning a healthy 90 minutes, it seems clear as day Armstrong has finally lifted the lid on his use of performance enhancing drugs. Among them were EPO, testosterone, blood transfusions, cortisone and steroids.

Perhaps now, those who idolise Armstrong can understand that you could not win a Tour De France in his era without doping. Former US Postal teammates Tyler Hamilton and Frankie Andreu made that clear during an interview on 60 Minutes. "If you weren't taking EPO, you weren't going to win."

To give a comparison, Bradley Wiggins, the most recent winner of the famous French race, rode at an average speed of 39.9 km/h, a far cry from Armstrong's 41.016 km/h in 2004.

***Is it really a big ask to get Police to fight Petty crime more. Surely, patrolling the streets on foot would go a lot further in reducing crime statistics, than loafing around on motorways with radar guns. Although National pretends to be tough on crime, many criminals have little regard for new governments. Crime seems to happen more often, reading about murderers in the news is more frequent and so called petty crime appears to happen more and more. Whizzing by in cars will not make any difference. Being immediately available to prevent a crime from happening does.***