July 2010

Carter Claus keeps on giving. The mole in the Labour Party is Chris Carter. He is now dead meat politically after Pedro Gower broke the story on Twitter.

Patrick Gower (patrickgowernz) on Twitter breaks Chris Carter's sacking

I predicted that this would happen if Phil Goff didn’t deal with Chris Carter effectively and so it has come to pass. However there are some strange parts to this story though;

“It is understood CCTV inside Parliament caught pictures of the person putting the letters into the mail system.”

“It is malicious rubbish. As you know I am a former police minister and I am following various leads.”

Those uncharitable souls, who emailed me,that thought that The Mangrove was looking a bit beaten up were wrong. It was from playing rugby, not some irate husband/boyfriend/girlfriend planting him one.

I’m confused. Just a bare few months ago we had Geoffrey Palmer, wearing his Law Commission hat, recommending draconian changes to our liquor laws, allegedly because of our “binge drinking” culture.

Then the Government is said to be considering raising the drinking age from 18  to 20, despite the party voting resoundingly to oppose such a move at its National conference.

And just last week we had Steven Joyce announce changes to drink driving laws adding even more confusion around the drinking age. Essentially the government is saying that at 18 you can drink, but you can’t drive with any alcohol in your system until your are aged 20 years.

This is all horribly confusing. To make matters worse the Government administration select committee yesterday heard submissions on the Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill which would make it easier to grant urgent approvals for temporary activities and facilities during the tournament.

So on one hand we have the Law Commission saying we have a binge drinking culture and on the other a government enabling quicker licensing for booze premises for the World Cup.

Mixed messages? I think so. Or perhaps there is a fair bit of lobbying going on behind the scenes filling the coffers of the lobbyists. Who would know?

Citizen A – 7pm tonight Triangle TV, replayed 8pm Sunday Sky 89 & Freeview 21

Tune in to join Bomber and his revolving panel of bloggers as they offer an up-to-date half hour review of the political media issues of the current week from a very Auckland perspective.

THIS WEEK: Who will win the SuperCity, What would a Laws and Peters NZ First look like and wikileaks – what are we doing in Afghanistan again?

And me of course with Tim Selwyn….so I guess you could call it the beardy weirdy show.

Damien Christie is more than a little pissed off with Apple

The Mangrove still has firm roots in Napier, much to the relief of husbands nationwide.

Settled science: Can everyplace really be warming much faster than everyplace else?

Doesn’t look like the Arctic is going to be ice-free this year.

Blair Mulholland should get divorced more often.

The piss fairy has visited Andrew Williams again, why must it always be when he is writing a presser.

Andrew Williams is a bigger trougher than Len Brown, at least we know who he drinks with, Len isn’t so forth-coming with information.

Yet another name for Bradford’s Wall of Shame, Silly First Name Syndrome strikes again, and Maori keep bashing their kids. That anti-smacking law is saving these kids real well.

Child Mullets are child abuse

from the The Chaser

hat tip Not PC

Now you may be wondering why I m posting about a girls gun. Well because the RRP of $806 is perhaps the best insurance policy a woman can invest in to deal with armed offenders intent on raping them. The Smith & Wesson LadySmith Model 642LS in .38 Special costs just that. The spec’s are;

• Caliber: .38 S&W Special +P
  

  Smith & Wesson .38 Special

• Capacity: 5 Rounds
• Barrel Length: 1.875″ / 4.7 cm
• Front Sight: Integral
• Rear Sight: Fixed
• Grip: Wood
• Action: Double Action Only
• Frame Size: Small – Internal Hammer
• Finish: Matte Silver
• Overall Length: 6.31″ / 16.0 cm
• Material: Aluminum Alloy Frame
  Stainless Steel Cylinder
• Weight Empty: 14.5 oz / 411.1 g
• Purpose: Personal Protection
  Law Enforcement

Again you are probably wondering why I am telling you all this. Well, because no-one ever raped a .38.

One gun isn’t enough.
“That was what Linda Smith (a pseudonym) was thinking after two thugs broke into her Oklahoma apartment. One was holding a weapon … at her throat, and the other was pacing back and forth while holding her purse and demanding her money and valuables. She screamed, and was told if she screamed again, she’d be dead.
“She was doing as police recommend in robberies –- comply with a robber’s demands. But her Lady Smith & Wesson .38 special, which she carries by permit, was hidden in her purse –- and the purse was being held by one of the attackers.
“Then the situation, suddenly, got much, much worse: One of the robbers demanded that she take off her clothes.
“‘Come on, what are you waiting for,’ he told her as he started to yank on her sweatpants, trying to take them off.
“Smith pleaded for her safety and distracted the attackers by telling them she would get her money, which was ‘in my purse.’
“The robbers inexplicably allowed her to drop to her knees and crawl across the floor to her purse, which the second attacker had dropped.
“She reached inside, and the first shot was clear of the muzzle and into the torso of one of the attackers before she even pulled the weapon clear of the purse. Four more shots followed shortly and, in the end, one of the attackers was dead and the second was hospitalized facing a murder rap for having participated in a felony in which someone died.
“Smith … explained she comes from a family that believes in self-reliance and courage…”

As PC points out “…unlike the people who, in New Zealand, have been successful in disarming women even from carrying mace. Or a taser.”

Our Police in New Zealand are struggling against violent crime. It isn’t the hardworking guys on the beat that are at fault for the struggle, it is nine plus years of politically expedient Police and Justice ministers (Phil Goff included) denying that we have an organised crime problem. The current Commissioner of Police is no exception, manipulated into his position by foul political actions against his predecessor, he acquiesced to that manipulation and has been perfunctory in his tenure. He has repeated talked the talk and never walked the walk. Instead of cracking down on organised crime he has focused his and his staff’s attention on booze and speeding ignoring the creeping menace of methamphetamine.

Nobody ever raped a .38

Thankfully we now have a Police Minister who understands the menace of organised crime. That however doesn’t diminish the very real risk there are to our generally un-armed population in the face of increasingly violent criminal who themselves have gone and got themselves armed.

Navtej Singh died because he couldn’t protect himself, and died also because the police couldn’t protect him either. Police Officers are being regularly shot at and are unable to adequately equip themselves to combat it. Simply put our citizenry are at constant risk of being raped metaphorically if not physically. The Police on the beat are also left unarmed, sometimes directly but more so with the complete failure of their bosses to adequately provide for comprehensive training in firearms use. Again I don’t blame the guys on the street. I blame the rather large, ever expanding shiny seat brigade at Molesworth Street. they let their troops down with their ill-preparedness and down-right negligence. I just hope that Minister Collins thinks outside of the square in selecting a new commissioner rather than picking of the time-markers currently cluttering up PNHQ.

However, it is high time that our populace were trusted to defend themselves adequately in the face of armed violence. I can see no reason why we cannot extend our B category licensing arrangements to allow open carry, with appropriate and comprehensive training built into such a privilege. I doubt any politician is prepared to see our population protect themselves though, because to allow it is to admit that the last twenty years have been an abject failure in controlling organised crime.

Either GABA or Chris Carter has got chicken. The auction of dinner at the Carters has been withdrawn from Trademe.

Dinner at the Carter's cancelled

At $200 we were in with a look for dinner with the Carters. If I was advising Chris Carter I’d get that auction back up pronto, it isn’t a good look to withdraw auctions because you might not like who your dinner guests are. I’m sure Cactus, Barnsley, The Manatee and I would have been great company, I mean repeaters and churnalists seem to like have a few drinks with us. Now it just looks petulant and churlish.

“Oh come on”, I hear you say….”That’s easy”. But is it?

Interesting observation considering that one of the major career paths for becoming a Labour MP is through parliamentary staffers. Nice to know that Chris Hipkins, Grant Robertson and Darren Hughes cheat less than bankers…..of course if Mangrove was included, who knows how that would skew the results.

Now…hold on…wasn’t DPF a political staffer once?

Maori troughers at the ready....get set...

bureaucracy

Well, well well, what have we found here. It seems the MOH is wanting to hand out potentially hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to “investigate Maori tobacco control”. Hang on a minute, isn’t that a job for the MOH. Oh silly me, of course not. Let’s fire out a government tender and dole out taxpayer money by the trough-full to people who never have and who will never be able to measure any success or reduction in the number of Maori smoking rates. But hey, we need to look as though we’re doing something.

But wait, isn’t the Maori Affairs Select Committee holding an inquiry into the tobacco industry and trying to come up with new innovative solutions? The answer to this is yes, but the MOH knows far better than the MPs on this Select Committee and, at the end of the day we (the poor taxpayer via MoH) will be the ones who have to control this, so lets get in early. Plus it will help us in our relationship with Auntie Turia and Honest Hone for sure.

So what’s all the fuss about? Have a look at the Services specification. Wow, haven’t we seen this before???

1. Facilitate another series of hui to “scope out the Terms of Reference of the Maori Tobacco Control Steering Group” Read that as travel to exotic locations to discuss tobacco issues, such as Hawaii, New York etc
2. Set up a Steering Group of Maori tobacco control leaders and/or tobacco control sector leaders. Let me guess, veteran trougher Shane Kawenata Bradbrook?
3. Support the Steering Group with secretariat and project management services. We can really cream it here, bro, all the cuzzies can score a “job”.
   
4. Undertake sector scoping exercise… including a stocktake of Maori tobacco control services and a needs analysis of the Maori tobacco control sector. Mmm isn’t that the role of the MOH, or are they incompetent?
5. Build effective network including face to face communication that’s supported at national, regional and district levels. Chooooice, free travel around the country to see the whaaanau…sweet azzz bro.
6. Develop strategic plan…which will enable informed decision making by the MOH. Shit bro, that’s a bit of work, never mind our white cuzzies in the Smokefree Coalition will do that for us, for a little bit of kai and some brown envelopes.

But they must have to deliver something for the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars about to be doled out. Let’s take a look…

Key outcomes

Oh how choice is this bro? Here’s what we have to deliver…

1. Raise awareness of Smokefree lifestyles. Sweet azz…that’s so easy bro
2. Bash a few mokupuna who have been caught smoking out the back of the Marae and say we’ve prevented the uptake of smoking among Maori youth
3. Travel on the taxpayer around the country, waving tinorangitanga flags, have some koreo and kai with the distant whaaaaanau and charge it all to the government. Maybe they could give us those cool azz credit cards like Parekura used to have?
4. Bring a Maori voice to inform public debate about Smokefree Aotearoa – We’ll get Shane Kawenata Bradbrook to do that – he’s an expert bro
5. Build on our knowledge of how to trough the $57 million the government throws at trying to stop people from smoking, and we should be able to wrangle some choooooice business class seats to exotic destinations like Shane does.

Only problem, cuzzies is that this contract is only for a year, azz if bro… but (smirk), bro don’t worry about that cos Auntie Turia will look after us…

But wait, there’s more, and this is the really, really good bit. We can set the price for all our extensive and hard work we haven’t even done yet! Cool one bro. Shit, if Shane can get $250,000 per year, we must be able to get a bit more than that?

Let’s get into the trough. Whoooho

(P.S. Don’t tell Ryall or Key about this and we’ll say it’s all part of Auntie Turia’s Whanau Ora policy and hide it in there).