No Minister

I phoned talkback tonight for the first time in years.  I was puzzled over the announcement that Coliseum Sports Media Management has the rights for the English Premier League (EPL).  All the whizzkids tell me "this is the future - you can livestream sport onto your computer!".

I didn't get much out the talkback host except something along the line of "get used to it, this is the future!". 

Um, yeah.  I know that.  But I can't see the benefit for someone like me who enjoys watching the EPL on my new(ish) large-screen TV. 

If I've got this right, at the moment the satellite streams it into my TV aerial and I watch it on TV.  I can record it and watch it at will on MySki.  I have a remote.  I can pause and rewind both the TV and the recording.  I can watch any game I want, live or recorded.  I can fast forward the bits I don't want to watch.  I can do this from the pleasure of my home.  Downside: I can't play it on a portable device, but I can access numerous websites on my phone from anywhere to watch clips etc.

So now the feed will come in through a cable, and not the satellite dish.  The cable cannot be connected to the TV (yet) so it has to be connected to a computer or an Apple device.  I can watch the footy on that (after paying $150 per year ON TOP of my Sky subscription (which no longer gives me English football any more)) BUT to connect that to my TV and get the decent view, I have to buy an Apple TV set.  I also have the data cap to worry about, which means a further $25 per month to Telecom for my data increase that the streaming through the internet will involve.  Upside: I can have a website subscription to their fancy website and watch the EPL on an iPhone or tablet while sitting in a cafe somewhere.  If that's an upside.  I can do that now; I just can't watch every game, on demand.

So the result, I think, is this: I pay Sky TV the same amount for less products and have to pay someone else (or two) a lot more money for a product I used to get on a better screen in a more comfortable environment all for the luxury of being able to have the EPL "on demand" when I want it.  Notwithstanding I can get it on demand now, prertty much (through MySki and assorted websites).

The other thing I can't figure out is that there are livestreaming sites out there now: Justin.Tv and Day.to are but two of them.  And Triathlon has been doing this for a year or two through Triathlon.tv.
 
Yet this is supposed to be revolutionary?  To me it sounds a little fucked up to be honest.  You see, if Sky figured out how to transfer recordings from MySki to a portable device, such as an iPhone, then I could copy my recordings from MySki and watch it on my device at my pleasure (if I felt that way inclined, which I don't). 

Real user pays sport would be great.  I'd pay nothing for Sky, and just pay $40 for the US Masters, or $10 to watch the FA Cup final, for example. 

We're a long way from that yet, but that's the nirvana IMHO. 

Is it just me, or is this "revolution" actually nothing new, rather it's just a different way of delivering essentially the same product?  

The rumours continue that Lianne Dalziel will stand for the Christchurch Mayoralty.

The woman who got the arse from a Cabinet role under the Clark administration for being economical with the truth, oh the irony.

The woman reportedly seeking to remove party politics from the Council.

A trougher with 30 years as a liabour MP.  Allegedly unsuccessfully seeking support from Sam Johnson, among others, has been weighing up exchanging a Mayoral income under 100K while enjoying her current income of double that and considering the possible plum of Christchurch "minister" in the Greybour administration  next year.

If that woman with all her baggage is the answer then it was a very stupid question indeed.

Hey Bro!  Gimme the money or I'll smash your knees in.

Last week Ms Gillard,  the Aussie PM, played a couple of trumps. Well she thought they were good cards, trouble is too many saw them as rags.

Abortion and Misogyny, it appears neither took a trick.

Overnight the latest Fairfax/Neilson snapshot saw the beleaguered PM slide below 30%.

Confusing the already muddied waters another agency released two polls one confirmed that under the current leadership the ALP is doomed to a growing electoral demolition, the second suggesting that if KRudd was reinstalled as PM the Coalition and The ALP were almost neck and neck.
For the second poll prediction to have validity many variables would need to align. Many current front bench ALP members have portrayed a position that is totally opposed to working under Rudd, one Peter Garrett, has said he wont serve and others such as Swan, Deputy PM and Federal Treasurer would not be facing eating a dead rat but more like a Dingo.
Key man Bill Shorten emerged late last week from three days of  no show with a  slightly weaker endorsement, his demeanor had a sick look about it, maybe it was only a lack of makeup.

All up, the political situation in our biggest trading partner is showing few signs of entering calmer waters as the Federal Parliament enters the last two sitting weeks before the scheduled election on September 14th.  Many say any leadership change will happen in that two weeks but that is not a given and in the current dysfunction prevailing, nothing is that predictable.

In an unrelated poll Malcolm Turnbull an ex leader of the senior partner in the coalition, has a higher rating than current Liberal Leader,  and often tagged unelectable, Tony Abbott.

Divide and Fail is more like it.

In one of the most blindingly stupid moves in politics, even more blindingly stupid than all her other blindingly stupid moves, Julia Gillard arranged for special address to a bunch of women in which she accused the Libs of being a men's party which would enslave all women if elected.  Or something like that.  (Just ignore the fact  that the deputy opposition leader is a woman.)

The latest polls give the verdict.  She gained a two per cent increase in the women's vote.  Bloody good eh?  Gillard got the Vacuous Vote.

Oh shit!!  She LOST seven per cent of the men's vote.  Do the maths folks and you'll see why the gap between the coalition and Labor is at a new record level.

Two party preferred vote at 42% ALP 58% Coalition

re my previous post.    I should have mentioned that Bill Shorten is the son-in-law of Australia's Governor General Quentin Bryce.    Now, if he were to defeat Gillard in a leadership spill and become PM what would be the constitutional implications of such a move?

Just wondering.

when you attempt to commentate on the political goings on in another country but, what the hell, I have strong links with Oz including the fact that relations of mine designed both the Adelaide and Newcastle cathedrals.

Labor and Gillard are terminal.   The only questions remaining to be answered are how much Labor will loose by and will Gillard be dumped before the election. The answer to the first depends on the answer to the second.

There was no post budget bounce in the polls for Labor and indeed, in recent days the situation has deteriorated further with some reports suggesting that Labor will be whitewashed in both Western Australia and Tasmania.    Gillard is electoral poison. Nothing she can say or do resonates any more.   The electorate has stopped listening.

A measure of her desperation is her attempt to talk up the fake menu affair by claiming that Abbott has dozens of questions to answer.   In reality it is an almost nothing story.   A restaurateur, hosting a fundraiser for the local Liberal Party candidate, dummied up a menu which poked fun at Gillard.    Now it transpires the menu was not used.   My advice to Gillard is lighten up .... at least you weren't being accused of eating babies, something that our PM has had to endure from the Left side of NZL politics.   But, I can understand her trying for the sympathy, poor me, vote.  She has nothing left.  Problem for her .... no-one cares any more.

So now we have the man she deposed, complete with blue tie, doing the rounds of marginal Labor electorates (read any electorate requiring less than a 8% swing) and presenting himself as the local MPs saviour if only they will dump Gillard in a spill.    Nothing concentrates the mind of a marginal MP so much as ones imminent fall from grace.   Gone is the 'status', gone is the salary and staring them in the face is the realisation that they are probably unemployable anyway.  So, Rudd presents a lifeline ... perhaps.

But can I suggest a second scenario taking account of the loathing and antipathy that Rudd engenders among many in  the Labor caucus.   My tip is that next week there will be a spill engineered from within the caucus which will see Bill Shorten elected as Leader.    He's an MP for a safe Victorian seat and was the ALP State President.  He has strong union credentials including sometime National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union.  Victoria is a must hold state.  Shorten should be able to limit the damage.  He has the ' smarts' including an MBA an LLB and a BA.   He is seen as a safe pair of hands and, at age 46, he is a decade younger than Rudd.   More importantly, he does not have the baggage of Rudd. 

Rudd may save a few seats but he is not a long term option for Labor.   The forces that saw him dumped once are still in play.   With Shorten as leader the ALP may be able to present as a united and perhaps credible alternative come the 2016 election.     It's a way forward.

The next two weeks should be interesting for lovers of blood sports.

  

My partner has a long record of money problems.  She runs up huge credit-card bills and at the end of the month, if I try to pay them off, she shouts at me, saying I am stealing her money. She says pay the minimum and let the next lot worry about the rest, but already we can hardly keep up with the interest. Also, she has been so arrogant and abusive toward our neighbours that most of them no longer speak to us. The few that do are an odd bunch, to whom she has been giving a lot of expensive gifts, running up our bills even more. Also, she has gotten religious, even though she denies it. One week she hangs out with Catholics and the next with people who say the Pope is the Anti-Christ, and the next she's with Muslims.  Finally, the last straw:  She's demanding that before anyone can be in the same room with her, they must sign a loyalty oath. It's just so horribly creepy! Can you help?
Signed, Lost.      
Dear Lost,
Stop whining Tim,  You're getting to live in The Lodge for free, travel the  world, and have others pay for everything for you.  You can leave her any time you want. The  rest of us are stuck with her until September 14, 2013!
Signed, Dorothy Dix.

A young man who asked three All Blacks fans at Eden Park not to call the All Blacks names was told by the men that "it's just part of the game".

Hayden Amskypa, 24, was at the All Blacks versus France test on Saturday with his family and the three men were sitting in the row behind.

The men, believed to be in their early to mid 20s, were yelling at players, calling them "dickheads, wankers and losers".

When Mr Amskypa complained they yelled back: "If you don't like us using the words dickhead and wanker then don't come to the footy because it's just part of the game."

New Zealand Rugby and Eden Park management both said last night they did not condone the men's behaviour - but stadium bosses said it wasn't their job to be the "PC police".

The verbal abuse went on throughout the game.

"Every time they said something like that, I'd just tense up but then it got to a point where I couldn't stand it any longer," Mr Amskypa said.

After 70 minutes, Ms Amskypa, a dickhead himself, told the men their language was not acceptable and asked them to stop.

But then they turned on him for the rest of the match, calling him those names, and tapping him on the head.

His brother, Theodore, put his arm around him to console him, but no one else in the crowd around did anything.

"Since when is it okay for three men to so blatantly hate on a guy in front of a crowd and get away with it?  I was really disappointed that nobody stood up and said, 'That's not okay'.  

"In my opinion,... as long as that kind of language is still used, tolerated and condoned then we've got a long way to go before wankers and dickheads have any equality in New Zealand."

Mr Amskypa has been called a dickhead and a wanker for years, and it got worse during high school, he says.  He says he is both, but regardless of whether he is or not, he doesn't think anyone sticking up for dickheads and wankers should be a target for abuse.

He says he felt uncomfortable about laying a complaint because he seemed to be alone in his opinion of the language used.

Eden Park spokeswoman Tracy Morgan said harassment of a patron would not be condoned and the men could have been evicted for that.

But unless everyone else around Mr Amskypa was offended by the men's slurs, they would likely not have been kicked out. Ms Morgan said it wasn't Eden Park's place to "be the PC police".

"It's not our job - I don't believe - to try to move the cultural morals of society.  I mean the guy has admitted to being a dickhead himself, so what's the issue?"

General manager of public affairs at New Zealand Rugby, Mick Brown, urged anyone with concerns about other patrons to alert security.

University of Auckland psychology lecturer Danny Osborne has researched the relationship between participation in rugby, and name-calling.

"Even though the man concerned was exactly what he was accused of being, that doesn't mean he should be called that.  I mean, we don't call small people dwarfs, do we?".

Mr Amskypa said it was unlikely he would attend a test again.

"Why would I?  It's disgraceful.  My brother, Theodore is really tall, and they were yelling out "sit down you tall prick, we can't see".  

"It's just not right".

When you are desperate strange becomes normal.

Yesterday, under fire Julia Gillard,  met with a bunch of ladies in Canberra to launch the "women for Gillard" based on the nicked women for Obama in the last US election.

In her ra ra speech the PM attacked the "men in suits with blue ties " who will, under Tony Abbott trample all Aussie women underfoot.
How ironical, most of her male cabinet members have abandoned the red tie for 50 shades of blue as they distance themselves from the toxin.
One very subtle picture from the house recently had JG in close conversation with her Deputy Wayne Swan resplendent in 'his' blue tie.

What appeared to be her closing remarks focused on abortion, a matter that was widely condemned as low politics, it is a matter the Federal Parliament rarely visits as it is regarded as a "State matter".

I said 'appeared to be closing remarks',  as the film record was made and edited by the PMs dept and all media apart from a single print person were excluded.
Now that is managing the media and boy are some of them cross, very cross indeed. Many are calling for any repeat action  to be ignored or if played,  then only under an advisory that it is propaganda, pure and simple.

The SMH is reporting that her misogynistic rubbish is in lead balloon territory around Western Sydney one of the sinkholes for her administration as the rout continues.

Might have to pop down to the local Four Square, the popcorn is running low.

The Australian Federal election is scheduled for September 14, 2013.

Campaigning has not yet started officially as there are a couple of weeks sitting for the current Parliament.

There is a however a fascinating "curtain raiser" running at present that has political tragics such as moi watching almost to the point of obsession.

PM Julia Gillard is almost in the Colosseum but not with her opponent, leader of the Liberal Party, one Tony Abbot who has carried a tag of unelectability for many years, but the man she replaced as PM, Queenslander Kevin Rudd.

Rudd denies leadership ambitions, and not a single person in Australia believes him, well maybe a few preschoolers but they wont get to vote, his smarmy mug is on every TV and Paper across the nation

The Caucus is hopelessly divided with a majority supporting the incumbent.

The key player in this shambles that has the policy and programs of the ALP completely submerged by the trench warfare in the ALP headquarters, is the man who led the revolt against Rudd and installed Gillard, Bill Shorten.

Described as a  "right wing unionist" based in Victoria he does not have a lot of friends in Rudd's home state but he has an opinion of his worth that makes that minor fact irrelevant.

Current polls have the ALP under Gillard heading for decimation, Only Rudd from Queensland, Western Sydney, solidly Labor now under serious threat. WA where the mining tax caused serious loss of support and now Victoria and SA on a slide to embarrassment, Tasmania no Labor seats.
In the 150 seat Federal Parliament Labor is looking at possibly holding only 30 or less.

Polls released at the beginning of the week have a predicted 7% improvement in the ALP support if Kevin Rudd was reinstalled as PM.  That is seen as a lifejacket for many including three Cabinet Ministers, Clare, Emmerson and Garrett, facing the employment office and several others including Treasurer Wayne Swan who may not need the jacket yet but are certainly looking for a miracle to stop the boat sinking with them on board.

Pundits call Shorten the key as he would bring a crucial 7 MPs to the Rudd camp but poor old Bill has ambitions of his own and does not want Ratting on another PM on his CV.
Not a good look to assassinate two Labor Prime Ministers in four years, it has a bit of serial about it, even if it sees a return to a widely despised Rudd as an outcome.
Does little Billy want to be last man standing on September 15, not much point if the destruction is so emphatic as to leave the nearing fifty year old, too little time to rebuild the party before the knackers are called in to carry his carcass off.

One other little sideshow not in play but with memories of the Late Sir John Kerr who did in Gough Whitlam's Labor government in favour of Malcolm Frazer still in many minds, Bill Shorten's Mother in Law is Quentin Boyce the current Governor General of the Commonwealth.
Who will give who advice.

Meanwhile so called unelectable Tony Abbott only has to keep his head down and keep his troops focused and watch the greatest show in Canberra, it really is a circus.
At least three leading political commentators in the Australian media have said emphatically  in recent days, "I do not want the faceless men in the ALP to put Gillard down, I want to do it personally on September 14, 2013". LOL, not much fear of or respect for Ms Julia Gillard from increasing numbers of commenters, among whom  are growing numbers of ex Labour stalwarts totally dismayed at the current Autobahn to the Bunker scenario unfolding.

of course not.

Headline says "South Africa braces for the worst".

Ffs  was there another option. Nelson Mandela seems to be in the final days of his life.
Widely regarded as the "father"  of the modern Republic of South Africa following the collapse of the minority led 'white' rule that was underpinned by the apartheid race classification system.
Mandela, in spite of much speculation, negotiated the transition in a way that defied the predictions of an inferno of destruction that was the only way to achieve any move to majority rule by the previously disenfranchised black citizens.

The guy is 96 years old and considering how a significant part of his life was spent in leading the struggle for a more democratic system that included an extended period of incarceration on Robbin Island, reaching that milestone is in itself, cause for wonderment.

The Media treatment of all death is now contrary to all teaching on rational ways to deal with death and this is a classic emotion increasing corruption of the stages of grief that all those left behind must pass through to truly reach a state of peace and acceptance of what is no mystery but the logical and unavoidable end of all forms of life.

A much more appropriate and meaningful line might read, South African nation prepares to celebrate Nelson Mandela.
A person in the state of health that is clearly the lot of Mandela today is almost certainly ready to embrace the peace and calm that death will bring.

Any other treatment is just a search for a headline that makes his impending death mawkish corpse cuddling.

Adolf and The Cook have a couple of young orange trees,planted about eighteen months ago.  They are looking a bit crook so, Adolf went ahunting for advice.

A google search brought up the ABC gardening page which gave us this gem:-

A lemon tree that has lost many leaves and has dead wood might well be sick. Prune any dead wood off to encourage new growth. Problems can also be caused by a severe lack of water. Citrus trees need lots of water. In Adelaide apply about 3 to 4 centimetres of the equivalent of rain each week from spring until autumn. The way to see whether you're doing this correctly is simply to use a cup, turn on a sprinkler and see how long it takes to get 3 to 4 centimetres of water in the cup. Elsewhere around Australia use commonsense. Feel the leaves. If they feel cool and thick, the tree is fine, but in hot weather, if they feel dry and leathery, the citrus probably needs a drink. 
Australians pay 12 billion dollars to fund the ABC.  You'd think they could pay some uni student a few bob to proof read this stuff.

Any way, I gave the trees a good dollop of high analysis fertilizer and a white oil spray.   We'll just have to  wait and see what happens.

BTW, for those of you who have ever put a spade into the ground other than to lay concrete, the soil pH here is a staggering 8.5.

David Farrerwww.kiwiblog.co.nz has dug up some revealing info on the CIR that the beloved GP spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on in one of their failed impediments to the partial sale of state assets.

Double signings, illegible signatures, non existent persons reduced their attempted fraud and imo, miss use of funds to a total farce.

The first 'part sale' is now completed but they still ignore what thinking citizens see as a done deal in attempting with further infusions of our money to gain the shortfall in required signatures.
So far the authentication failings have been exposed by a sample, so I guess it is entirely likely that a full audit will expose further failings in what really has been, an exercise in grand larceny.

Thanks a bunch you deluded manipulators.

It seems it is TERMITES.

The long drop dunny that is the current Australian Labor Caucus Room in Canberra is decidedly smelly and the pile of excrement at the bottom just gets bigger.

The milkybar kid keeps informing all who might listen that he is only campaigning for the party as he makes every post a winning post for Krudd Inc by getting extraordinary  exposure in the MSM.

"The Leadership was settled many moons ago", he says in response to questions on his ambitions, YEAH RIGHT.

A poll published yesterday tells us that a Krudd led Labor will possibly save the seats of three Cabinet ministers who are in the Gillard camp, one of whom I posted on last week as adopting the Coalition Blue and is spurning anything that might link him to Brand Labor, one Jason Clare.
The same man who just happens to be the Minister supposedly in charge of the weeping sore that is "boat people".
Last night he was revealed on Paul Murray Live resplendent in a nicely knotted "Blue Tie".

The big unanswered question dominating discussion of the Aus body politic is whether Julia will be leading Labor in three months time when Federal Election 2013 arrives on Sept 14th.

If you believe old Vegemite's weasel words, no question,  what he is actually doing and saying is that salvation will only come to pass if he is  reinstated to "reduce the carnage".

I am not that well informed about such mundane things as "loyalty" in the ALP but from this side of the ditch it is a word significantly different to that in my dictionary.
Hate, dysfunction, factions, and polarised positions seem much more relevant to all the players at present contributing to the seemingly inevitable demise when an ounce of loyalty might just make a difference.

The man anointed by some as the next Labor Leader after Julia's seemingly inevitable death in the 'Bunker' is Bill Shorten, who may bring around seven votes to Krudd should the three endangered species convince him to rat out the PM, namely the aforementioned (now blue) Home affairs Minister Clare, ex pop singer (Midnight Oil) Peter Garrett who has been front footing the Education Shakeup and Craig Emmerson the Trade Minister.

We do not see much from our "trained and skilled" journalists on the significant sinkhole swallowing the ALP in our near neighbour where a significant number of our citizens reside but in most cases are precluded from voting.
The Western Island is of enormous import to our little Nation but it seems the current tumult is not worth noting.
Of course that may well be because nobody is handing out the Press release that is the staple source of Information they rely on for copy.
So much more important to speculate on who is doing the impersonation of Russell Packer behind the Goal Posts in Wellington.

The Boys have demolished Sri lanka in 37 overs for 138.

Successfully negotiated 6 overs before lunch at 26 for the loss of Luke Ronchi, 7.

Now need 113 in 44 overs.

Go you good things

Every now and then a group of rodents suddenly all rush to their deaths in a co-ordinated mass march, they are called lemmings and afaik their is no consensus as to why, just lots of theory.

In the wake of "the Dunne affair" many who have a lust for getting the socialists back into the Beemers are calling on sad old stupid Peter to leave the Parliament in the vain hope such a move will bring their wet dream to pass.

With all the Opposition parties either broke, in disarray or any combination of both, that notion has a distinctly "lemming " look about it.

Mr Sensible has morphed into Mr Stupid but he is an electorate MP and even if he stood down it is almost a given he would either win (not entirely impossible) or he would be replaced by a Nat, Ohariu voters have displayed a remarkable understanding of how MMP works and are smart enough to continue to give the Melons and Winston First the arse

The other biggy is that inspite of the hoped for wet dreams of Peters, Mike Williams, Abnormal et al there is no valid reason for Mr Stupid to resign his seat.
Stupidity is not a reason, god knows there are multiple examples, past and present,  however attractive getting his sad sorry mug off the front pages would be to the benefit of Keys Government

Unless The Maori Party want to become lemmings, Confidence and supply are assured even if Dunne retires from the increasingly murky world he has moved to.
Those same MP MPs should have a long hard look at where they might be in 2014 if they are not sure of what faces them on current polling, why would they want to leap into space.
Mr Key's astute move in the wake of election 2008 looks very sensible now.

If those wanting a wet dream in spite of the fact they might just have an horrendous nightmare visit them for precipitating a snap election,  my humble advice to Williams, Peters, and the melons is to start saving, as the current mood of around 50% of those who will make the decision are pretty comfortable with the current outfit.

Such a move might go someway to explaining the lemmings behavior though, in the interests of science of course.

Phil Goff did a service by releasing the ‘Don’t Come Monday’ letters sent to members of the armed forces made redundant as a result of the 2010 Review of the New Zealand Defence Force (the Dean review).   

It is not my intention to debate the recommendations of the review.   In the last little while many countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have chosen to ‘rebalance’ their military.  In doing so they shed manpower.   

Where the New Zealand Defence Force stands out is the way in which this process was mismanaged.   The tone and style of the letters sent to those being let go were appalling in their lack of sensitivity.    They said (and I paraphrase) that the person being made redundant had contributed nothing and had nothing to contribute.    Those selected for the bullet were made to feel worthless and were let go without a by-your-leave or thank you.     
Word around the traps is that the letters were composed by a committee of Human Resource ‘specialists’ and psychologists.   If that were the case then I would hope it demonstrates the danger of relying on faceless backroom staff attempting to apply corporate norms to an institution where trust and respect up, down and sideways should and must be paramount.     Can I develop this point.

Service personnel work to an unstated but nonetheless special contract.  They accept that certain of their rights as citizens are abridged by law.  For example, they must obey lawful orders including those standing them deliberately into combat danger, which requires them to suspend all natural instincts for survival.  Other provisions under military discipline codes have no equivalent in civilian life.  Yet others may be common to both military and civilian codes but some have sterner consequences of punishment under military law.  Accordingly, service personnel present themselves for service, to undertake training, to obey orders and instructions, to maintain their health and fitness, and to engage without question in combat or other military activities.  They can be ordered to put their lives and physical well-being at stake for whatever causes the elected government and their fellow citizens require them lawfully to do.

By definition in civilised society, however, there is more than one side to every contract.  In the case of military personnel management, the reciprocated obligations impose much tighter requirements on commanders than the HR processes found in commerce.  But it is a serious mistake to imagine that such requirements are best met in the military by orders bellowed on the parade-ground, or other high-handed edict.  In paradox, and in view of the mortal nature of the contract, they can call for deeper understanding of the human condition, and greater sensitivity, than those involved in civilian HR are ever likely to encounter.  Perish the thought that the HR syndrome has finally encroached upon and corroded the high demands of military command responsibility, but that is how the letters read.  Our soldiers, sailors and airmen deserved better. 

But it doesn’t stop there because the letters were signed off at the service chiefs level.   Just how hitherto respected senior officers, some still serving, lost the plot so completely beggars belief.    It is a privilege to command and a privilege not to be taken lightly especially given the fact that the military, unlike their Police colleagues with their Police Association and the Police Officers Guild, do not have a professional association to represent their interests to senior management.    The service chiefs have a duty of care to get it right.     This time they bottled it.
I can understand Goff making a political point and sheeting home blame to the Government.  In an abstract sense, he is right.  But this was an operational matter and the form and content of the letters sent out was entirely in the hands of the military. 
Those that were let go should have been let go with dignity.   The process was mismanaged and the damage it caused was incalculable.    I agree entirely with the Controller and Auditor General (Lyn Provost) when, in her Report into the matter released earlier this year, she said ..... “Discharging military staff has to be carried out with great care to avoid damaging the bonds of camaraderie, integrity, and commitment that are part of NZDF culture.  Instead, NZDF chose a course that led to a drop in morale and an increase in attrition resulting in reduced capability.”
Chief of Defence, time for you to front up and acknowledge the process was screwed up and say sorry for the angst and hurt caused to sailors, soldiers and airmen under your command.     Fronting up and acknowledging your mistake is a sign of true leadership .... a studied silence is leadership of the ersatz variety.

This is perhaps the hardest post I have ever written .... going where angels fear to tread and all that.   The easy option may have been to remain silent but that would be a cop out.     I have huge respect for the institution and those who serve.   My uniform was brown but I have strong personal and family links with both the navy blue and air force light blue.     My sincere hope is that that were lessons learned from this debacle.        
 

and John Key understands it.

One serious underlying fault of government in New Zealand is an inherent instability that issues from the  three year maximum term of each parliament.

I have been around for three General elections where the Prime Minister employing the discretion to hold a Snap Election, has done so, two with very favorable outcomes and the third when a drunk Rob Muldoon brought his political execution forward in a brain fart, by four months.

In 1951 bolstered by the successful crushing of the 1950 Waterfront strike/lockout Sid Holland went a year early on the theme who should govern, the people or the unions, and won well.

Then in 1984 Muldoon's rather spectacular Fail landed in the lap of Lange and Co.

Master political manipulator Helen Clark went early in 2002 and put a seriously deficient National under Mr 21% aka Bill English to the sword.

Other than that with some minor adjustments for Rugby and previous elections bringing changes to the accepted date of last Saturday in November, we have enjoyed remarkable stability on dates and terms.
I am firmly of the opinion that unless it becomes apparent otherwise  to the GG, we should have a fixed date of the second Saturday in November allowing a successful Govt whether re- elected or  new, a clear month to bed in before NZ Inc closes for it's annual holiday. Or in the case when the venal pinstriped dwarf more time to play sillybuggers.
 It also gives certainty to the voters and proscribes the power of the PM.
Boy have some of them clearly portrayed many reasons for such curtailment.

A Government failing to hold confidence and supply either rearranges its affairs within the elected parliament, or the leader of the opposition is called to The Big house.
Particularly under the MMP system of multi party representation we endure,  an early election should be almost unnecessary.
Allied to all  that, a four year term to avoid the constant election mode that can and often does permeate our political system.

It is all too much to have the discretion held in the hands of a ruling PM. They hold enough aces already and General Elections are too important and expensive to be available as an opportunity tool in other exceptional circumstances and this latest contretemps does not qualify.

The so far suppressed anarchist in my psyche would just love the GG to call the wool gatherer to Govt. House to have a go for the next 16 months.
It would give a  preview to the people as to what a clusterf##k, Mumbles, Commie, McGillycuddy, Senility and Master Racist along with the three other Racist MPs can deliver in the 16 months remaining thus reducing somewhat their opportunity to totally destroy this wonderful country.

Whatever happens to Dunne and his probable demise, John Key is too pragmatic and smart to go early and if the ever so lucky Maori Party members are too thick to see which side their bread is buttered, then that would be the tipping point for my fantasy to be played out but only for the remainder of the current term.
Sort of APRO deal that might even appeal to the extremes of politics in NZ and that aint where John Key and Stephen Joyce sit.

Or oi it seems. David Farrar manfully ignores the mountain of circumstantial and claims all are innocent.

A priceless comment from Kiwiblog:-

"Will the love child be called:'Dunce?'

Some questions:

Who supplied Peters with all the inside information?

Who will win the seat of Ohariu?

An observation:-

The Ohariu Cowlick has managed the impossible.  He has literally f****d himself.

Amazing