The Anglo Saxon Fist

Chris Trotter is a bloke who recognise's  crap and today we have crap. The " Anglo Saxon Fist " is a Trotterism ( on the domestic front he also invented Waitakere Man ) it was Trotter's way of explaining  complicated concepts to idiots like me. Trotter assumed the Anglo Saxon Fist was broken and New Zealand had moved on, no longer beholden to the UK or USA, but mates with  Australia.

Radio New Zealand  reports

"The meeting with Mrs Clinton followed discussions earlier in the week between Mr McCully and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.
At a media conference on Friday, Mr McCully told reporters he believes New Zealand dealt with difficulties well, and its bid for membership would bear any scrutiny.
"We think it is very important that smaller countries are able to achieve their opportunity to be represented on the council, and we're very proud of the way in which we've conducted ourselves as a member of the security council in the past."


The Anglo Saxon Fist remains, that we accept it scares me. We need to be on the Security Council without American endorsement, we need to stand for smaller countries and we don't need  Clinton applying a band aid to a broken fist.

Let's amputate and find our own place.

Farrar at Kiwiblog has a post up on gay marriage detailing the views of our parliamentarians on the issue

 

• Kevin Hague – in favour
• Stephen Whittington – in favour
• Annette King – in favour
• Clare Curran – in favour
• Catherine Delahunty – in favour
• David Shearer – in favour
• Holly Walker – in favour
• Carol Beaumont – in favour but not high priority
• Grant Robertson – personally in favour but Labour policy just to modernise relationship law
• Heather Roy – would vote in favour but state should not be involved
• Rahui Katene – undecided, thinks civil unions are enough
• Simon Bridges – undecided, but relaxed about civil unions
• David Cunliffe – supports civil unions, but guided by public opinion on gay marriage
• Hone Harawira – against
• Peter Dunne – against, as civil unions sufficient
• Winston Peters – against, wants a referendum
• Bill English – against, has changed view on civil unions which he is now relaxed about
• Tim Macindoe – against

This is for me a no brainer we can ditch marriage as an institution and allow everyone civil unions or we can grow up and support gay marriage. Everyone has the right to a mother in law.

 Grant Robertson – personally in favour but Labour policy just to modernise relationship law
 David Cunliffe – supports civil unions, but guided by public opinion on gay marriage

What the fuck ?  The deputy leader of the Labour party and the aspiring leaders ( both ) to Labour.

I have never been a fan of Cunliffe but Robertson needs to pull his head out of the sand. Incidentally the reason why David Shearer is the right man to lead Labour is above. He has the right instincts.

Oh and the leader of Mana  the party that will save the left

Hone Harawira – against

Fuck you Hone. And fuck your political movement, and fuck your mates.

The Great Italian Grate Plate

I spent today at the Hutchwilco Boatshow  and caught up with some  old friends . I am constrained but I had several conversations with people who are not and more importantly understand the reality that we face something Kiwi Blog doesn't shy away from today.

It was great to see a new innovative product from Italy at the show.

" The Culture of Rome refers to the arts, high culture, language, religion, politics, cuisine, architecture and fashion in Rome, Italy. Rome was supposedly founded in 753 BC and eversince has been the capital of the Roman Empire, one of the main centres of Christianity, the home of the Roman Catholic Church and the seat of the Italian Republic. Due to its historical and social importance, Rome is often nicknamed the Caput Mundi, or "capital of the world".

And we have this.

"The Original Italian Grater Plate is the amazing plate that grates. It grates cheese and purees garlic quickly and easily with no mess. Perfect for zesting lemons, limes and oranges. Also for chocolate, cinnamon, nuts and even coconut. The Original Italian Grater Plate comes with a silicone garlic peeler and a handy basting brush. The Original Italian Grater Plate is also excellent for other products, such as Nutmeg, Parmesan Cheese, it's great for ginger Root and transforms rough ginger fiber into a smooth paste in just seconds!"

Yup, that is it people and at $15 dollars each or three for $30 you can own the most amazing plate and I am guessing it comes from China.

Shewee - Hygienic urination for women, Mr Williams

Tomorrow I am at the Hutchwilco Boatshow I am not a huge fan of shows the Auckland International Boatshow just about kills me on an annual basis it is hard work but we are not exhibiting at the Hutchwilco show so I get to walk around and meet people and discover interesting new products.

A few shows back I bumped into a mate who is a TV news cameraman, he asked me what I had seen that would make a good news story, I am guessing he was getting impatient with the reporter but maybe he thought my judgement on newsworthy was worth considering.

I gave him two new to market products that I thought might be of interest.

The product they ran with that night on the news was Shewee 

" Shewee is a moulded plastic funnel that provides women with a simple, private and hygienic method of urinating without removing clothes whilst standing AND sitting.

When positioned securely under the crotch, and with underwear pushed to the side, Shewee directs urine away from the body to a suitable place, such as a toilet, a container or a conveniently located tree! "


I missed last nights news but I didn't miss this.


" Inquiries with two bar staff revealed Williams had been drinking red wine at the establishment since 4pm. Six hours later Williams left GPK alone and headed down Hurstmere Rd towards the offices of the North Shore City Council, where he has been mayor since 2007.
On his way he stopped, pulled down his trousers and urinated on a tree outside the council offices. "

The ability to urinate on a tree is a politically important ability and Shewee opens options up for women in fact it could catapult you to parliament.

 'It's been clear for some time that Mr Williams is under a lot of stress and is not handling it well... it's time for him to go.' – Rodney Hide.

Rodney, I miss you.

Wonderful Now - not really

Jackie has written her last post and I am sorry she is leaving us.

" There was a time when i needed Wonderful Now. There was a time when it was my only friend - when i was in that in between place after having left that hideous life behind me where i no longer associated with people from my past but i had yet to reconnect with my real friends and family. There was a time when this darn blog was my only friend. "

Wonderful Now was / is Jackie's blog and it was a place where Jackie demystified her life, a life that had been beyond my ability to understand until I read her blog. My initial reaction to Jackie was not good but if there is one person I despise in NZ public life it is Michael Laws and Laws attempted to misrepresent Jackie to his advantage failed. Jackie fought back through Wonderful Now.

" I guess what i am saying is that it is time to end the Wonderful Now. I want my privacy back and i want that for T and his children and our future as well.
Wonderful Now seemed like a good idea 3 years ago - but it no longer does."

Jackie - I love you
Hamish

Ele at home paddock has declared war on mice.

We almost always get signs of invasions in autumn and early winter and this year it’s particularly bad. I’ve spent three hours this morning cleaning out the pantry after spotting mouse dirt there and am about to attack a cupboard in the hall where we’ve never seen evidence of them before.

I can so relate to this. Rodents piss me off. I had been fortunate that I had a cat that held similar views but Smudge at 22 resigned and her replacement a far more personable cat Alf (named by my nephew and niece)  I am sure would love to rid the world of vermin he has 3 legs and it isn't going to happen. Anyway here is my response to Ele's blog.

" I spent weeks trying to get rid of a mouse infestation. Every day droppings appeared, every day I would check traps and poison stations and to no avail. I had redone my kitchen linoleum and the installers had made a small hole and welded it, I was furious but having extracted a 10 year written guarantee from them I placed a black rubber mat over the weld as it was a high traffic area, the mat was covered with little bits of upstanding rubber points that when they broke off look exactly like mice droppings. What is embarrassing is it took me 3 months to click."

As you can see 5 " mouse droppings " except they are rubber and from the mat.

The ODT and other things

The Otago Daily Times will always be my favorite paper, I worked for them for many years, much as  love Auckland I consider Otago home. Dunedin is part of me, running home down Larnoch Rd and on to Shandon Rd. and into Mrs Brockbank who scooped me up and took me into her house, because I needed a haircut ? No, although I probably did, because Mrs and Mr B were determined a little boy from Scotland would be a Southern Man, a concept in many ways yet to be born.

I have no way of knowing what Ivan and Ruth Brockbank would make of their little Scot today, but I can say they would look at the ODT they would have read it. They would have read along time ago about a building that was going to be a 5 star hotel.

Well that plan as been scrapped and now we have this.

Except we don't. That plan has also been scrapped. Instead we have a new plan and the people of Dunedin have this.

Or is it this.

I am fan of the ODT but for please, please do your job.

This will not happen.