The Frogs, power bills and trust.

It is not the same and probably never will be again. FRANCE on Saturday and the build up is under-whelming with what is seen as a second team. What is the answer - who knows. The filthy rich privately owned Northern Hemisphere teams, who don't really have the long term interests of Rugby at heart, are the problem. Anyway we won't call France second rate if we lose - and being France that is a possibility; plus we always play so badly in the first game of a series.

Talk about jumping to conclusions. Mercury Energy - and to a lesser degree, their contractor - are being abused left right and centre without all the facts being known. A person is dead because their power was turned off but as usual there are more questions than answers at this stage. It is obvious that we must all await the outcome of the Police investigation before we can comment. However, this has not stopped the usual groups appearing who have already made up their closed minds as to who is at fault.

Never let the facts get in the way !!

The 2007 list of most and least trusted persons is out with no real surprises - especially at the bottom .

MOST (and overwhelmingly sports people)

1. Sir Edmund Hillary, mountaineer, ambassador
2. Margaret Mahy, children’s author
3. Dr Peter Snell, scientist, former Olympian
4. Sarah Ulmer, Olympic cyclist
5. Irene van Dyk, netballer
5. Hamish Carter, triathlete
7. Beatrice Faumuina, sports personality
8. Barbara Kendall, Olympic boardsailer
9. Judy Bailey, broadcaster
10. Caroline & Georgina Evers-Swindell, rowers

LEAST (the bottom 5)

71. Matthew Ridge, sports personality
72. Trevor Mallard, MP
73. Ahmed Zaoui, refugee
74. Don Brash, former opposition leader
75. Brian Tamaki, Destiny Church founder

Numbers 73 and 75 don't surprise me in the least. How many millions has Mr. Zaoui cost us, the taxpayers, so far.

A BRILLIANT Drunk in Charge idea.

One of my favourite blogs is www.bookofjoe.com (click the link)

Joe who claims to be the 'World's most popular blogging anesthesiologist' has a great site that I visit every few days.
The latest bit of brilliance he has blogged is how drunk drivers are dealt with in the state of Ohio.

The special mustard yellow and bright red license plate as above must be placed on all cars owned by a person in Ohio who has been convicted of drunk driving.

The plates must be placed on every vehicle owned by the offender during the period of their suspension, even if the offender is given limited driving privileges. The normal white and blue plates are confiscated and destroyed and the new red and yellow plates are substituted during the suspension period. Even first time offenders are required to display these plates. They are required to use these plates for a minimum of six months and the plates must be used even if other members of the family drive the vehicle.

Some have complained that this is not fair on the other family members. Their answer - tough!!

I think it is BRILLIANT.

Why not introduce the idea here and make sure that the vehicle owner pays all of the costs involved - until they do the current plates are removed. Maybe we could make them also put a sticker on the car saying "Convicted Drunk Driver"

Americas Cup

Well we made it through to the Final before the Final - the final you are having when you are not having a final. I see it is "Man Overboard" as Chris Dixon has gone, which is not a surprise. We can only hope we can carry on, but if not I would hope the Italians go on to win the Cup. Looking at it from a purely mercenery view it is the Cup we really need to win but my heart is with the

Rugby World Cup

A SeniorNet day

I went to a SeniorNet Regional meeting last Friday. Another very interesting and informative day. It is good to meet the others from our region and have a good chat. We had several photos taken at the meeting - thanks to Christine. I think this is the only one where I had my eyes open thanks to the bright sun!!

A GIANT size us

DB and more of course

David Bain - another case that seems to have gone wrong. A couple of others concern me - Tamihiri and the Ellis affair. Ellis of all the cases appears to require another look. How the watch was not a critical piece of evidence in the Tamihiri case is beyond belief. The legal system does not seem to be a justice system. Of concern is the way that only parts of evidence need to be produced. This "system" is fraught with danger and allows for manipulation.


Onto something lighter and more photogenic in LARGE SIZE as he is getting BIGGER !!
And something a little smaller.

Ali and more

Ali Williams - but he is not the only one and it is worse in League. These guys earn thousands of dollars and only for a few short years. So you would think they would use common sense. They need strong and effective managers but it seems they don't get it.

I think it is a great result for the Super 14 that the South Africans have done so well - plus it will not make us over-confident for the World Cup - I hope!!

Climate Change - Heard a very interesting talk about climate change from a Professor at Victoria University on Monday. I'm convinced something is going on with our weather.

May 2007 - where is the year going?

Where is the year going with this year nearly half over. We are going to South Africa in July with a short visit to Sydney where we haven't been for some years. It seems only yesterday that we were looking at doing the bookings.
At least the good news is that our dollar is holding up. Good news for us spenders I suppose but not so good for the exporters.

Just been watching the Crusaders going down the drain to the Chiefs. Pity about the bonus point try to the Crusaders in the last seconds.

Smacking kids - interesting juxtaposition of views between what could be called the mainstream religions and the Fundamentalists. One side was preaching peace and love and the other how they want to keep hitting their kids. They certainly seem to like hitting their kids!!

If anything would make me support the Bill it was the attitude of the Fundamentalists.

I think the final outcome was satisfactory. The media keep asking who won, as if their always has to be a winner - when all we are looking for is for the country overall to be the winner. Most reports seem to think it was Clarke on points. Maybe so but I was impressed with Key's attitude and consider it one of those win-win situations.

Anyway speaking of kids- or was that Kipps - a photo taken at our place the other day.

Blogging and guns

SeniorNet gets underway again next week. I have, in conjunction with another Tutor, been writing a Blogging Course. Hope to have it finished this week then have a few test runs before introducing it. I will be teaching Internet & Email again this Term but will have a rest next term as we will be away at the start and will only be going onto the relieving list.

Guns kill - really!!!

There are 200 million privately owned guns in the US, including 65 million handguns. Firearms are now the second biggest cause of injury-related death in the country, killing 28,663 people in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. For African-American teenagers aged 15 to 19, gun-related homicide is the leading cause of death, and for all American teenagers of similar age gun-related homicide and suicide come second only to motor vehicle accidents.

And they believe it is still people kill people not guns!!

The US Congress is close to passing a bill giving gun makers immunity from liability for deaths or injuries caused by their products; legislation that would place gun makers in a uniquely privileged position. The move highlights the special place granted to guns in US culture.