Directions

Listen carefully, people.

Hear that?

It is the sound of nails being firmly driven into the coffin of a decent, moral society...

Over the last few days, I have been following the direction our little country has been going - with a lot of concern.

1. Same sex marriages.

Last night a law allowing same sex marriages passes its first reading in parliament.
Marriage in any society I can think of (and I stand willing to be corrected) is between a man and a woman. We already allow civil unions which puts homosexuals and lesbians on an even legal footing with the heterosexuals in our community. So there is absolutely no need to redefine marriage.
I deplore the decisions of our politicians, even more so those responsible for even introducing the bill.

Shame.

2. The legal drinking age.

Today the same politicians voted to keep the legal drinking age at 18.
This decision was made despite the evidence that the lower (18 years) drinking age has caused more grief in our communities than the 20 year age limit ever did.
Oh, I agree with the widely expressed views that the ready availability through corner dairies and the like has contributed, but studies have also shown the effect it has been having on our youth.
Binge drinking, more younger people gaining access to alcohol, higher death rates from drunk driving accidents...

Other arguments are that 18 year olds can vote, marry, fight for their country - and one young politician was seen on the news tonight saying that if they can do this, then surely they are entitled to a quiet beer or a glass of wine at the end of the day.
Alcohol has nothing to do with those activities. Alcohol changes their thinking and behaviour. Young men in particular are still maturing.
I make no apologies for my views - but that isn't what they are doing.
A quiet beer at the end of the day?
The youth are binge drinking, getting smashed, driving on our roads and endangering themselves and others. Those who can legally buy are doing so and providing it to younger people.

The politicians have this one wrong too. You are consigning the youth of our community to a booze driven culture which, if you leave it much longer, you will not be able to change.

Shame.

3. Adoption of children by same sex couples.

Drawn today in the ballot is a bill promoting the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

All our children have the right to be brought up by a father and a mother.

I have no doubts about the genuine desire of these couples but this, like the same sex marriage bill, is an attempt to make same sex relationships acceptable and be formally recognised as equal to heterosexual relationships and families.

No apologies. But they are not.


I deplore this decision by our politicians also, even more so those responsible for even introducing the bill.

Shame.

4. And in the meantime...

The rich thrive and the poor get poorer.
Violence in our communities continues to increase.
The people in earthquake damaged homes wait while the powers that be revel in their beautiful new commercial district plans.
Convicted criminals get light sentences without thought by the courts for the effect they have had on their victims.

And so it goes on...

So... Listen carefully, people.

Hear that?

It is the sound of nails being firmly driven into the coffin of a decent, moral society...

What justice system? I applaud our police.

There's been talk over the years that our justice system is going 'soft'.

And you know, when you read the 'social pages' (the court reports) it is hard to disagree. Our police do a damnably difficult job. Ever since some idiot judge decreed it was acceptable to tell a policeman to "F" off with no consequence, things have gone downhill.

The police have to stand and watch the criminals they arrest smirk and make obscene gestures as they walk out of court, with crimes of violence getting 'home detention' or '40 hours community service'. Fines go unpaid, and amongst youth it is becoming a bit of a bragging sheet to show how much you have in unpaid fines.

As for murder, the taking of another human's life... 

I agree that 'life imprisonment' should be 'life imprisonment', not just "10 years then if you're a good boy (or girl) we'll let you back out."

Not so good for the murder victim, or the victim of the rape / bashing who is scarred for the rest of their life nor, for that matter, their families and loved ones.

Actually, I may have a solution to this... (since we seem incapable of actually fulfilling a real life sentence).

Here's an example... 

Now, firstly, I'm going to base my theory on the biblical definition of a human lifespan - i.e. the "3 score and 10" or 70 years people are supposed to live.

So, let's say a person is murdered at the age of 23. Under current systems the killer may get 'life' and be out on the streets of our community again in say 12 - 15 years.

But what if the criminal / murderer was imprisoned for the remainder of what the dead person MAY have lived, which would make a non-parole period of 47 years in the example given?

That seems like real justice to me.

Most sentences appear to be a slap on the wrist and the result of the politically correct civil libertarians defending the rights of the criminal and not the victims. Okay, I'm not in court, I'm only reading what the media publish for me to read and I don't get to read all the detail behind the case (nor do I necessarily want to!).

But "I was drunk, your honour", "I was on drugs at the time", "I've had a hard life" and "My mummy didn't love me like she was supposed to" does not give the attacker a free 'get-put-of-jail' card. 

If they won't do it themselves, make these ferals take responsibility for their own behaviour.

We are bringing up another generation of kids who believe they can lay the blame (and responsibility) for their behaviour on someone / something else.

No. Life shouldn't work like that.

Make these criminals pay back what they took away.

Stop pussy-footing around with the politically correctness this country is suffering from these days.

Oh, and about those fines...

The kid doesn't pay the fine? Take the kid's car away. No first-second-third warning.

Or put in place a realistic automatic deduction from the kid's salary / wages / benefit / bank account. They don't get a choice. (And I'm not talking 10 cents a day - make it hurt... $50 a week... take away their booze money.)

Oh all right, I'll be generous... let's give the kid 24 hours to front up at the court with the total fine.

No political correctness. They broke the law - criminals have to learn there is a REAL consequence that falls on them for their behaviour.

Simple.

The courts need to back the boys and girls in blue.

"The inmates are in control of the asylum"

Politicians and their jobs

I'm going to start with a quote from a Facebook page, then my response is below...

"When i voted for National I was not voting for asset sales including the sale of land and water. I was voting against policies being passed in government contrary to public support in a non-democratic way. I seem to have gotten the same. At the moment I, along with many other people, feel very disappointed with the direction of NZ politics...what has happened to democracy? Don't want to vote for either National or Labour."

And my response?

Unfortunately electors now think they are voting for parties and their policies, not voting for people to represent them. This is encouraged by the politicians for obvious reasons and they can then ignore the fact they have been elected to represent the views of their electors/electorates. I once asked an MP to speak out about an issue on my behalf but I was told he could make up his own mind and he would vote on the issue as he saw fit. Really???? 

I'm with you (name of writer deleted). Our parliamentary system has been hijacked and taken away from us. 

(Who was it who said "The inmates are in control of the asylum...")

Your thoughts?

Doctor Who is due back soon

There's lots of discussion on the boards about the new series, the departure of Amy, Rory, how does River become the Doctor's wife, the new companion etc etc etc...

In reality, there's only one thing to do and with the 50th anniversary coming up, it is the right time to do it.

It's simple.

It's logical.

It's important.

It has to happen.

Bring back the Time Lords.

Permanently.

It was done with the Daleks who were supposedly wiped out.
So...
It can be done with The Time Lords

It can be done creatively.

(Are you listening, Mr Moffat?)

Extinct Toys

EXTINCT TOYS

Just to let people know we have finally managed to get our little website up and running.

http://toys.filetap.com
or
http://www.springhills.org.nz/toys.html

"Extinct Toys"  is all about old fashioned wooden toys, with a few modern twists thrown in.
On our web page you will find samples of our work and you are welcome to contact us and order toys.
As we are only just starting up the ideas, we are testing different designs and welcome feedback from our customers about our products, especially ways of improving the toys

For materials we use recycled beech and rimu, some pine and any other old high quality wood we can put to a good use.

All toys use child and food-safe materials for coating:
  • Dulux™ and Resene™ water based paints
  • Ruskin's Danish Oil (child and food safe)
Glues used are PVA and a small amount of ADOS where we are joining different materials.

Our grand-daughter Hannah, her friends and parents test drive our products!

Many of our toys are new ideas and we are still sorting out costs.
We have to take into account the time involved and materials, but we are a small, part-time business so we don't expect our prices for the toys to be huge and increases would only happen when our costs go up.

Please note that we do not currently ship overseas.
Shipping costs very much depend where in NZ we are shipping to. At present we are arranging shipping costs on a per sale basis, but to be honest, picking up your purchases is much preferred! Get in touch with us about queries and we can make arrangements that suit.

If you have good quality timber you no longer need (e.g. old furniture, beds etc) and we can use the wood, we will happily collect and take it off your hands, providing the wood is useable and is in good condition (e.g. no borer)

Please get in touch with us for enquiries, suggestions for toys or ways to improve our products. We will do our best to make custom toys based on our ideas, yours or those of others (with permission, of course) to your specifications.