Fudging the issue

Despite the statistics, she believed NZ was still the best place to raise children, but "we can do better".

That's Annette King, Police Minister, commenting on the high number of domestic killings happening in NZ.

She is reacting to Peter Boshier, Family Court Judge, who said yesterday;

"We used to say of ourselves that New Zealand was the greatest country in the world to bring up children. If that was ever true, we cannot be so proud or complacent now.

"As judges, we see the damage daily. What is done to one is done to all. Domestic violence has become an issue for all New Zealanders."

I tend to find for Mrs King. Why? Because she is taking an individualist approach. Many families have decided NZ is still the best place to bring up kids. For them the statement is true.

Treating domestic violence as a collective issue will never change anything. I don't accept that it is spread evenly across cultures and socio-economic class. That is a myth the apologists push. And I don't know what the Judge really means by, what is done to one is done to all. That is empty rhetoric. If somebody says a problem has "become an issue for all New Zealanders" you can bet they want to put their hand in your pocket to try to sort it out.

What joy

Defining the opposite of "synergy".....

Policy Sharing Plan - The Labour governments of New Zealand and Britain plan to formalise the way public servants in both countries share policy development during this week’s visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

NHS Doctor Blog

"State sponsored shag" is a post from a frankly highly disturbing but also very funny blog.
"Dr Crippen is angry. He has worked for over 20 years in the NHS. He watches and weeps as the Health Service, slowly but inexorably, is destroyed. He takes a sad, sometimes humorous, sometimes cynical, look at the health care from the inside."

Carping over Commonwealth Games "failure"

In the aftermath, the predictable whining about insufficient government funding has begun. But what ever got better because government threw money at it?
I say abolish SPARC and sack that Jonah, Trevor Mallard!

The Maori Party and Welfare

The DomPost reports today; In her speech to ACT's annual conference in Wellington yesterday, Mrs Turia stressed the similarities between ACT and the Maori Party on issues such as the foreshore and seabed and welfare reform.

She said the Maori Party wanted provision of welfare to be decentralised and all those receiving a benefit to be required to work.

The NZ Herald reports; Mrs Turia said one of the four Maori Party MPs had been opposed to her giving the speech, but she declined to name the person.

Perhaps that MP is her co-leader.

Pita Sharples has said; The Working for Families package does not sufficiently address poverty, or child poverty, in Aotearoa. This package, along with the government’s Single Core Benefit system, rolls out the expectation that all beneficiaries should be in or moving towards paid work (often low-paid work) - regardless of being full-time parents or living in areas of job shortages.

This is at odds with Tariana's proclamation.

The Maori Party has also aligned itself strongly with the Greens on the matter of the Child Poverty Action Group's campaign. Mrs Turia said;
"253,000 children are in households supported by a benefit. It is these children that stand to gain most from the action of CPAG in being granted access to the Human Rights Review Tribunal for its case alleging discrimination in the Child Tax Credit, and the proposed In Work Payment". The Maori Party want non-working beneficiaries with children to receive the same extra payment as those who go to work.

Increasing payments to beneficiaries to a level on par with workers is going to make it harder to get people interested in jobs.

The huge problem for Maori is intergenerational dependency. At the heart of the problem is children growing up in non-working homes. If Tariana is serious about tackling DPB dependency I wish her well. But I am not convinced she is. I hope I am proved wrong.

Question

Dangerous inmates fly around country. If the only female passengers on the plane were an inmate and her guard, who would the unaccompanied child passenger be placed next to?

Kahlua

Here's a dog portrait I'm working on - a chocolate Lab pup.


I've updated my artist blog

www.lindsaymitchellartist.blogspot.com

News of the day

"Women who want to delay having babies until their thirties are being urged to think again after stunning new research which reveals that infertility rates nearly double after the age of 26".

That's pretty alarming. But the findings could be expressed differently.

After 26 the chances of being fertile drop from 90 percent to 80 percent.

I wouldn't use this as a reason for rushing into parenthood with the next twit that comes along.

The Chancellor's Budget Speech

This is delightful.

"It is gratifying to be able to report that taxation has risen to such an extent that the average citizen now works until June 3rd for the government, showing what I am sure my fellow members will agree is a touching patriotism and faith in government."

With a little tweaking here and there I am sure Mr Cullen could deliver much the same speech later this year.

Cigarette banks

If you saw a bin at the supermarket labelled "Cigarette Bank donations" would you throw a packet of fags into it? You see, I sat outside a foodbank for over an hour recently and observed how many of the 'clients' smoked (no, I wasn't spying - just waiting for someone who I had given a lift to). People had money for cigarettes but not for food.

Now, given the logistics of packing and stacking food items, the difficulties of storing perishables, wouldn't it just be a damn sight easier and more efficient to have cigarette banks?

Not a soul in Christendom would support the idea.

And that's why we have state-funded welfare. Money to fund welfare would never be given over voluntarily if people saw directly how it was being used. So the money has to be forced out of people through taxation.

One child, two homes

The Families Commission funds research. One study has suggested we don't know enough about how children spend their time between two or more households. More information should be collected and we need new terminology to reflect changing family life - terms such as 'two-home child' and 'separated child'. NZ Herald social issues reporter, Simon Collins asked me what I thought about this proposal and has included part of my response in this piece.

Shane Jones

Interesting interview with Shane Jones here.

Admits to having a big ego. He didn't need to. Says he finds himself, "reaching for the cane whenever Rodney opens his mouth..... The only way to escape Rodney Hide's penchant for making mischief is to live a hermetically sealed life."

And much more about the Maori Party, National and Shane Jones, a self-described "larger than life personality."

"Economy stationary as Govt fails to prepare NZ"

I dyslexically misread this headline from John Key as
"Economy stationary as Govt prepares to fail NZ"
then I thought, it amounts to the same thing anyway.

stick friends

(Thanks James - he should have commissioned me instead :-))

Pooh Corner

Not what you think. Wonders will never cease. A city council with a sense of humour.

Libertarianism

"Libertarianism does not require society saying 'Yes' to everything an individual wants to do. But libertarianism does require that the individual be allowed to say 'No' to anything."

I found this at http://decnavda.blogspot.com/2005/04/self-ownership.html
Very interesting blog about Libertarianism. Unfortunately it looks to be defunct but some of the archives are available.

Also; Libertarian Views of Government

There are three different "levels" of possible government compatible with libertarianism. Libertarians will usually be discovered arguing for one of these as "the" appropriate libertarian view, but all are compatible with self-ownership.

1. Anarchy. Zero. Government is evil. If less is better, none is best. Government commands are not voluntary suggestions; all government is the use of coercion, and all coercion is morally wrong or ineffective (zero or negative sum games as opposed to positive sum games in voluntary cooperation).

2. Minarchy. Government is a necessary evil. A monopoly on force is needed to protect individuals from violations of their rights by other individuals. In minarchy, the purpose of government is to prevent government.

3. A Rights-Respecting Government. Government can be good. There is no imposed limit on the size or functions of government, but it must respect the self-ownership rights of individuals just as any other entity. If I am forbidden from using a piece of property, it does not matter whether that property is owned by Bob Smith, Intel, or the government. Likewise, I cannot be abused, killed, enslaved, or deprived of my rightful property by either Bob Smith, Intel, or the government.


I hadn't considered 3. If self-ownership and property rights were strictly observed such a government would in any case be small because the private sector would crowd them out. No?

Tariana sounding tired on "gangs"

Maori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia, has got nothing new or original to say about gangs. She is no doubt right that banning patches in Wanganui won't make any difference but....

She said gang criminality and violence were linked to issues of unemployment, poverty, alcohol and drugs.

We aren't going to get employment any lower than it is; gangs are not poor and prohibition would play into gang hands. Which only leaves drugs. Legalise them and deprive the gangs of a major reason for their existence.

Part of the problem

This is part of the problem New Zealand is also experiencing. From Switzerland;

Mental health problems are driving increasing numbers of young people towards a lifestyle dependent on state benefits......The psychologist says it has become more acceptable to see problems in the individual, either in the form of a social phobia or panic attacks.

The government insists that much of the increase in incapacity benefits is due to the ageing population. It is more complex than that.

Benson-Pope and creative statistics

Mr Benson-Pope said New Zealand has seen a steep decline in the growth rate of Sickness and Invalid’s Benefits, but there is always more work to be done.

“Under the National government the Sickness and Invalid’s Benefits grew at a rate of 69 percent and 84 percent respectively. Under the Labour-led government this rate has dropped right down to 2.7 per cent in the latest year to December.”


Combined total for invalid and sickness benefits;
1993 63,686
1999 84,836
2005 121,366

Put any spin on it you like but the numbers speak for themselves.

Impotence good - impotence bad

The drug-buying monopoly Pharmac isn't very keen on the 'medicalisation of ageing'. The advertising of drugs like viagra, direct to the public, isn't very helpful. Too much consumer encouragement of unneccessary treatments that keep you young might raise expectations about government subsidies. Impotence is not life-threatening. Get over it.

Umm. But another arm of the state, the Ministry of Health says impotence is awful. It's the worst thing that can happen to a man. And given that smoking can cause it, cigarette manufacturers should put impotence warnings on packets (Don't anybody mention brewer's droop, for heaven sake).

Initially I thought the state was confused but now I see this strategy makes perfect sense.