People who are condemned to live in privately owned leaky homes will not be happy with the Government’s rapid response to the newly revealed problem of convicts living in a leaky prison.
A leaky roof does not a prison make - unless you privately own it. Pictures by Dreamstime.comWhile law-abiding honest victims languish in rotting houses [...]
The Maverick missile: Bang goes another small fortune that could have been spent on healthcare or educationJoin the Navy, for “a life less ordinary”, as that painfully awful TV commercial trumpeted. The slogan had many people pondering its meaning. But if the new naval onslaught now headlined in our newspapers is anything to go by, [...]
At least he’s honest…Those who work and pay taxes (and would feel stigmatised by accepting welfare handouts unless their circumstances were extremely dire) have every right to be indignant when beneficiaries cheat the system. So they will be disturbed by the news that convictions for sickness benefit cheating went up by more than 40 percent [...]
With Peters, you get a fraction of the pictureIt’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how any sane elector could ever again vote for New Zealand First, after the Great Leader’s manic performances during the last two weeks. For a start, decent, law-abiding and well-spoken old folks surely will not take kindly at the polls to [...]
The Bank of England in the City of London, once the territory of robbers. Note the motto! (Picture by Ian Britton, freefoto.com)Loan sharks who prey on the poor in deprived parts of urban New Zealand are generally regarded with fear and loathing. This is slightly unfair because they are only carrying on a tradition that [...]
According to The New Zealand Herald, wealthy Monaco-based Kiwi Owen Glenn donated lots of money to New Zealand First. The newspaper claims to have emails that say this, but Glenn’s PR people seem to know nothing and Winston Peters denies it, says he knows nothing of any such donation(s), and challenges the newspaper’s reporters and [...]
The great English writer Samuel Johnson defined the noble sport of angling as “a hook at one end and a fool at the other.” In New Zealand, we can now redefine the state-of-the-art cellphone user as “a fool at one end and an iPhone at the other.”
Early adopters of new technology are expected to have [...]
In New Zealand, the high and mighty ignore the low and powerless. (Image by Freefoto.com) There cannot be a civil society unless it is governed by people who accept that their power relies first and foremost on protecting their citizens. This is the primary duty of any government and it extends far beyond defending people [...]
CFL bulb - pretty, isn’t it?It’s all very well to encourage low-energy light bulbs – they have their place. But to contemplate a wholesale ban on old-fashioned incandescent bulbs is one of the dimmest ideas to emerge from low-voltage Labour and the under-powered Greens. They think it will be another shining opportunity for New Zealand [...]
Two recent highly-publicised statements earn Gogs’ Nonsense of the Week Awards.
The first came from a financial “expert” who stated in one of our leading newspapers that Dr Alan Bollard’s high-interest rate policy was at last reining in house price inflation.
The second came from the usual suspect, Dr Michael Cullen, who put on his most miserable [...]
