Pulling one bad apple out cannot save the Navy

One of the biggest warning's which I received when applying for the Navy had nothing to do with expectations. No talks about high physical demands and little sleep. Surely then it had to be mental fatigue. No. My biggest warning came from the Navy doctor who warned me over and over again at the medical not to sleep around with Navy girls. I asked him why.

"Well, Navy girls and boys like to have sex. And they like to perv too."

Trying to suppress the laughter was hard. He'd been through the process of seeing so many people flocking to him with all sorts of STD's, so none of this was even remotely humorous.

So when Electronic Technician David Timothy Simpson pleaded guilty to filming women in bathrooms, nothing seemed amiss. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10869306. If anything, secretly trying to fulfill some strange desires, Mr Simpson was embracing the sexual openness the Royal New Zealand Navy openly encourages.

One commissioned officer (who is now a commanding officer of a RNZN ship) happily spoke about all his sexual escapades as a midshipman. According to him, "Navy girls are as easy as they come."

While the officer and many other young men may not have gone as far as Mr Simpson and made videos, very little is done to hide the sleaziness present within the Navy. Trying to fix it overnight because one man got caught would be impossible. Promoting a more professional, self restrained attitude towards a government funded unit is a starting point.

Suppressing information from the press is a sensible move. Most women who fell victim to the perverted creature will work hard to suppress it. The misery is that somebody will take the helm and begin working towards following their officers example. A mass exodus of serving men and women has more to do with personal well being than ridiculous budget cuts.

A future with less cats...still a long off dream

Standing behind Gareth Morgan, who wants to eradicate New Zealand's cat population, a recent survey seems to have more people supporting.

I have never been a big supporter of cats. They have always presented themselves as rather arrogant creatures, full of self pride, unwilling to ever try be friendly. For over half the day, they sleep away, often in remote quarters, only reappearing every now and again to eat dinner. Training them to do anything is a mission, as they are already convinced of their own smartness, which has yet to be regularly displayed.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10869395

While his proposal to supposedly rid the country of cats has found favor with some, others disagree. SPCA say it's "a slap in the face" that a voluntary organisation loaded with volunteers is slammed. Many stray cats are rescued by them and made available for ownership.

My respect for the SPCA is immense, but I wish they'd work towards helping more dogs. Friendlier, more intelligent, faster, humble, protective and energetic. For the most part, many dogs meet many or all of these criterion. Even if they aren't over friendly to others, they're always happy to see you. Unlike cats, who are often not there to see you.

Something rather amusing came up on the very biased stuff.co.nz. Which band do you prefer. The two options were Coldplay and Radiohead. At the time of writing 55% chose Radiohead. For a band which has senseless, depression fueled lyrics, this seems rather odd. One such song "Creep," goes 
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong hereUnless a sudden tirade of Radiohead fans stumbled upon Stuff, it's an indication of who the audience is largely comprised of.

For those people who are crying out day and night for New Zealand to become a Republic, think to yourself. Do you really want to have somebody like John Key, David Shearer or Meteria Turei as the all powerful dictator, who can influence any change in the snap of a finger? Somebody whom you have to, out of their position, respect them. If so, then that's fine. Like a chessboard though, the respect we offer to the monarchy allows us to ridicule politicians and prime ministers for the meager contributions they make. 

The best job candidate will often be a bit bruised, beaten and a tad incomplete

As usual, anyone who is trying to harp on about National clamping down on people opting for welfare payments must yet again face reality. More and more people are joining the gravy train of handouts and state assisted housing for not working. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10868816

In this New Zealand herald article, a solo mother says she has applied for a 20 jobs, without any luck. I'm not going to try understand what Steph Grey's circumstances are. Knowing many New Zealand companies, a major problem seems to be image. People don't often want to hire people who are a bit incomplete from that amazing dream worker which the executives and headhunters envision. 

Some advice I could offer Steph Grey is to just apply to every job which has her profile. It almost seems ironic companies are constantly harping about hiring new staff, yet seem so reluctant to take on those willing to work hard. Ms. Grey may or may not be a hard worker but she is certainly concerned about her son's well being  which is commendable. Going hungry for so your son can eat is a lesson to all the pathetic politicians who want to let bad parents off by offering meals in school, paid for with money our country does not have. 

Hopefully soon, some companies will learn to become a bit more realistic in their pursuit of a new candidate. Idealism may work well in some loose button companies like Apple and Microsoft. But in a country of 4.5 million, where many companies employ fewer than 20 people, are stingy bosses really expecting perfection in each potential applicant? This mythical recession ended some time ago. Jobs are available but companies seem reluctant to fill vacant positions with anyone. Some hopefuls even have to take personality tests. What good that does is unclear. Even a argumentative, rude, bullish perfectionist can do well. Just look at Steve Jobs return from the dead to steer Apple back to green figures. 

People lining up to go on the dole wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as current figures if only Government encouraged companies to make the hiring process simpler.

A holiday to remember...and forget, FAST!

The non-existent police force continued to display their inability to protect us from crime. Rather than patrol areas alone on foot to stop crimes as they happen, they've defaulted to sitting roadside sipping coffee and writing tickets or doing paperwork at various stations. 

Rather than patrol areas of popular tourist areas, all trust has been put in the tourists. Isn't it irritating being lectured by police about us being the reason we got burgled? So when Ben Horner and Claire Barham lost absolutely everything except their swimming costumes, something seemed off. Of course, by the time police responded and took accounts from the unfortunate couple, a thief had already steamed off. 

Excuses have run out. There is one policeman to every 400 citizens. With many more people looking to join, surely Anne Tolley can learn from disasters like this and promote individual foot patrol. 

National vs Conservatives. Who's more liberal?

For anyone to hold David Cameron in mighty praise now would get a public flogging. Congratulating himself on making it so far without caring much about anything he's said, Mr. Cameron now believes his party can win the 2015 election. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/international-politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503226&objectid=10868701

They won't. After reading the brilliant columns by Mail on Sunday journalist Peter Hitchens, it seems that Mr. Cameron has made his party even more liberal now than a few years ago. Going on current observations, New Zealand's own prime minister and his cronies have worked hard to achieve a similar image. Political correctness is drilled in, disastrous tax systems are upheld, pathetic interventionism is constantly encouraged, not overturning the ridiculous anti-smacking bill. The Conservative party enjoys being in the European Union, doesn't like punishing criminals, endorses comprehensive schooling and is doing nothing to stop mass immigration. 

None of these parties should have the word "right wing" anywhere near the party titles. Who's more liberal? You be the judge.

Simon Bridges has precious little to celebrate. The minimum wage increased by a meager 25 cents. Petrol prices increased by that amount in the space of 28 days in February. If National wonders why it cannot keep workers in New Zealand, from Doctors to Laborers, maybe pushing for a slightly higher increase wouldn't have been so bad. It cannot be possible companies will be in dire straights by paying their cleaners, packers, manufacturers an extra $0.50 an hour more than last year. 

Shark nets are not needed

With the tragic death of Adam Strange at Murawai beach, honouring his memory is important. So to is being sensible about approaching shark attacks.

Immediately, the paranoid 'big brother' groups began to insist west coast beaches need to have shark nets put in place to protect local surfers and beach goers. According to them, one shark attack is one too many.

As someone who lived out at Murawai, Mr. Strange had developed a fondness and appreciation for nature. People who knew him said he would have been uncomfortable with the idea of the shark which killed him being shot or the prospect of having shark nets put in place.

People rarely die from shark attacks in New Zealand. The last fatal shark attack took place in Whangamata back in December 2009. Only 15 fatal attacks have occurred since records began in the mid 19th century. Like anything else in life, going into the water involves certain risks and consequences. Rip tides, nearby rock s, as well as other marine life are far more potent than any shark could hope be.

Installing shark nets will do almost nothing to prevent other hazards which beaches contain. Many regular beach goers don't see it as necessary, nor does the rare shark in the water warrant it. Now that Murawai beach remains closed for authorities to do an investigation, not much evident will justify big brothers claim. Why should it? Out of the many thousands of people who have visited and swum in the water, how many sharks have surfaced to greet them with a wide toothed smile? Sharks are barely even seen in our waters.

People need to stop panicking so much. Much like "Jaws" did in 1975, people are letting one tragic story ruin a kiwi pastime time of enjoying summers at the beach and in the water.

Passing legal hurdles won't make asset sales any more popular

With Mr. Slippery's recent tirade of legal hurdles to sell of state assets met, many party members in National are celebrating it as a victory of some sort. At the same time, each National MP is failing to assess the changes this will mean for our country. Foreign investors will buy up stakes in these assets. If not now, then certainly in a few years.

How can something which has passed legal checks suddenly be made out to be popular? Only those idealist National party loyalists could think along such lines. Who enjoys being told you can't buy magnets because Simon Bridges believes you lack common sense? On the same token, why is selling off good income earners to fund a disastrous deficit meant to suddenly be popular?

Easy divorce and easy evasion

Why is divorce so incredibly easy today? So many young children are suffering from emotional grief when their parents selfishly put their own interests first. Now, the jury has come out that fatherless families are in short supply when it comes to child support. Many fathers owe large amounts of money to support their children, whose time is divided between each (yes that stupid word again) "partner."

People who try justifying divorce often cite abusive relationships and mental problems but those do not compare to the most common reason. Alleged "irreconcilable differences." If the married family, as an institution were brought back and lifelong marriage encouraged strongly, rather than hinted at, then chasing after distant father for child support payments would not be as common as it is.

Fit4life

Here is my Getfrank article on a gym review for Fit4life.

http://www.getfrank.co.nz/health-fitness/exercise/gym-review-fit4life

Potentially the greatest All Black ever has given us the worst rugby autobiography of all time

As a Springbok supporter, I've always had mixed feelings for Richie McCaw. When he's at the top, nobody comes within a country mile of him. His ability to adapt to rule changes, dominate the opposition and such have earned him a reputation as one of the best All Blacks ever. If he's playing against a team you support, you really want him to have a bad day, which almost never happens. Secretly, he wishes to say that but people would take that as pride and arrogance. Hopefully one day it will come gushing out. The man has nothing left to prove on the field. Every piece of silverware has been won, every accolade snapped up. At the time of writing, McCaw is the only rugby player ever to have won 100 test matches.

So it amazes me that he can manage to produce such a diabolical memoir. "The Open Side," which was ghost written by Greg McGee simply stumbles at every single hurdle. Nobody has the slightest idea as to what McCaw hoped to inform us about. Most of the books contents, I already knew, the rest was clumsy prose. A big surprise was the coarse language throughout the book. You got carted from one jumbled paragraph to the next.

I've read the biography/autobiography's of numerous rugby players. None of them come close to the sheer awfulness of "The Open Side." It is a complete sell out of New Zealand's greatest player of the last decade. Readers cannot actually engage because McCaw seems uninterested in showing a more human side to him. Everything reads as if some robotic alien from some far off planet whipped it up. Is he holding large parts of himself back? Absolutely. There are no tour stories, no talks about enjoyable travel destinations, not a single mention of his private life (which was promised in the description) outside of gliding and the mention of ex girlfriend Hayley Holt (who he doesn't bother introducing).

A link will be provided for a more refined review. Do not waste a single cent on "The Open Side." Rather save up that $40 and go watch Richie do what he does best.

The moldy Apple

Apple has hit record share prices in the last year. Upon releasing its latest wave of technological gadgets, share prices ballooned. In simple economic terms, how sustainable are these margins? I cannot see Apple's honeymoon with Wall Street continuing on 20,30,40 years down the track.

Its rivals are already matching their technology with laptops, tablets and stupid smartphones. Quite soon, buying shares in companies such as Samsung, Google, or Acer will have a higher dividend yield? Maybe that could kick the moldy Apple off the tree and into action. With a profit of $137 billion in 2012, calling a low yield "a product of tough times" is neither feasible or reasonable.

Ruining cycling one law at a time

How can anybody think that wearing a fluoro vest will make any different to cyclists visibility on the roads? Cyclists are not hard to spot. Many are riding lightweight bicycles with Lycra pants and a clumsy helmet.

Drivers in New Zealand have hardened the hearts of cyclists. Nowadays many adopt an aggressive attitude to crossing roads, sometimes running through red lights to prove a point. It seems odd cyclists should get blamed for being un-noticeable when drivers work to make that the case. There is no point in having to wear a bright vest, in the same way helmets wouldn't be so necessary if drivers weren't so bad. If cyclists attempted to be easy riders too, such legislation would be shown up for what it truly is. Pointless and absurd.

I drove past Target Road primary school the other day to see a sign "Teachers not paid. Still working." My heart warmed. Teachers in New Zealand schools are unsung heroes. The bad manners of students they have to deal with on a daily basis is alarming and is becoming all too common. For any to be underpaid or not paid at all because Simon Joyce cannot admit to making an honest mistake is outrageous. I'm not alone in my sentiment that any SOE bonuses should go towards paying teachers survive, rather than helping the fat cat CEO's buy a new car.

It's too late for Drug Free Sport New Zealand chief executive Graeme Steel to tell people steroids are taking off in gyms. He can stroll into any big name gym and find people openly talking about it. People in the military use steroids and top level athletes in New Zealand also use them. Of course, if a proper level of research is done, many natural herbal drinks, natural remedies among others will come out in urine samples. Don't expect anyone to tell you; apparently it's not in the nature of New Zealanders to think like that. I'd put that up on a Tui billboard. Not in their nature? Yeah right.

Whatever happened to a good old fashioned helicopter ride to see come glamorous scenery of cities and natural wonders? Middle Eastern countries have developed a strange infatuation for making buildings go up as high as possible. I doubt much thought has gone into whether the building is economically a good choice. The Kingdom Tower, to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia seems like an ostentatious marketing gimmick. When demand for oil begins to run out, this building will be a squalid, abandoned wreck, like the Ryungyong Hotel in North Korea.

A nation in favour of an easy dollar at the expense of basic liberties (The Benny Wenda Story)

By Alex Corlett

A little more than a week ago news broadcaster TV3 allocated less than two minutes of screen time to the Benny Wenda story. The story was an expose of a West Papuan Freedom Fighter who was barred from speaking in New Zealand’s Parliament by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

Most viewers did not blink an eye when seeing this story. Wenda gained political asylum in the United Kingdom in 2003. It prevented him from being trialed in Indonesia, avoiding a likely death sentence for preaching pro-freedom political messages in his native country. As a result of these events, Wenda has been deemed credible as a freedom activist all over the globe. Parliament in the United Kingdom is one of the many stages his messages has been welcomed. Why is he not welcome in New Zealand Parliament? New Zealand topped the most recent global freedom listings which featured categories such as “freedom of movement and legal discrimination”. One would assume speaking on freedom in our nations parliament would be a great way to model freedom to rest of the world. Wenda was after all imprisoned and tortured for publicly speaking out about the importance of freedom.

One has to ask: Are there more sinister motives for the honourable Murray McCullay denying Wenda the right to speak? Well there are; the National Government is caught in a situation where they are forced to play favourites.  With Indonesia being a billion-dollar trading partner for New Zealand and the agenda of the current Government being about “balancing the books,” Wenda isn't going to get an opportunity to speak, unless he buys his way in. The cliché quote “money talks” sums up the core value this Government wishes to bestow upon the future generation of this country.

Such a course of thought leaves me thinking. We hold an election every three years with the intention that those elected into power will uphold the best interests of our country. Very few people would deny the fact at this point in time that at this point in time the majority of the country trusts the financial decisions of the incumbent Government. We constantly hear phrases like our “Prime Minister is a millionaire, so he must know what he’s doing”.  For now our country can rest safe from politicians whose only financial strategy is the printing press. At a time where a recovering economy seems like a top priority, does the Benny Wenda saga have something to teach the people New Zealand?

Over the last year there have been disturbing events which should be of concern to New Zealand citizens who value freedom. The well publicised Dotcom fiasco is just one of these. The millionaire tycoon’s house was raided in joint operations between New Zealand Police and U.S. Federal Departments. Dotcom was unlawfully spied on, his assets were seized and he was detained, even though a year later, there is no conviction. New Zealand’s Minister of Spying (GCSB) Prime Minister John Key was unapologetic and was not held accountable for the invasion of a Residents privacy and allowing U.S. agents onto New Zealand soil and private property in an operation that was clearly illegal.   

Benny Wenda was turned away from New Zealand’s Parliament at the expense of financial gain. His visit to New Zealand highlights that the world leader in freedom may have some dirty laundry of its own. With a General election next year, will voters be after a wardrobe that emphasises value for money or one that values freedom of choice. 

$2.30 for a litre of petrol is National's way of building a brighter future

Petrol prices are moving back towards world record prices. What many people do not know is the sneaky efforts of transport minister Gerry Brownlee and one John Key (who should legally change his name to Mr. Slippery) have forced petrol prices up 9c, with additional taxes. The income which is generated by society's automobile obsession will be used to further mutilate our countryside with hideous road developments. If anybody wishes to see how ineffective more roads are, simply speak to anyone who commutes from the North shore to Auckland central; ask them how beneficial recent road developments have been. Little to benefit has been the response I've received with every person who's given an answer.

High petrol policies are not the main reason National is losing touch with its voters who once proudly wore blue with pride. National is out of touch in other areas because they endorse state asset sales. The National party endorses Talent2's disastrous Novopay, which will ruin the lives of many teachers for at least another 12 months. The National party wishes to extradite Kim Dotcom by making America's job to extradite him as easy as possible. The National party is in favor of stupid foreign wars. The National party supports as tax system which is unsustainable.

Do not be surprised by National's slide in popularity. Nobody wants more cars on the road, yet that is what we will get to build ourselves a brighter future. The sparkling city of sails gorgeous countrysides of New Zealand irreversible butchered and nothing to show for it except plumes of smog and a hideous smirk from National's elite.

John Key promised a brighter future in 2008's campaign. Can anyone list more good things he's done than bad things?

Halberg's athlete of the year belongs to the best. And the best athlete we had was disabled

Nothing is more inspiring than seeing disabled sportsmen and women getting top honours for their amazing physical feats. Unlike a fair share of able bodied athletes who often resort to cheating to improve performance, these people function on hard work and determination. The time must come for someone like Sophie Pascoe to be awarded with top honours. Yes, Valerie Adams did a fine job, but her performance cannot compare to a woman who won three gold medals, along with three silvers in the pool. Were Ms Pascoe an able bodied athlete, Valerie Adams, Lisa Carrington and Lydia Ko's efforts would look like child play. Hopefully, in the near future, her time will come.

If anyone is in doubt of who politicians put first in, look no further than Shane Jones. In order to save his political career, Mr Jones is prepared to grant an accelerated citizenship to a Chinese Billionaire. Public servant? I think not.

Earlier on this week, a reader was quick to dismiss an article about enjoying university summers rather than working right through them. He claimed to have enjoyed an enjoyable ski trip overseas and had an enjoyable time in Australia. All of this was funded by working long hours through the summer. While his holiday certainly sounds fantastic (hopefully he recommends it to others), it misses the point of the post completely. How many summers will one be working through in the future. With several rises in pension age, one could work through approximately 50 summers. Unless someone is earning very large sums of money, taking a large two-four month holiday would never be achievable. Enjoy the long summers off. Do not surrender yourself to the almighty dollar. There will be plenty of time in the future to earn big and go on flash  holidays.