Family Tree, Power and what a swine

Family Tree - Further to my post on 23 April about the new Births Death & Marriages online site.
I have now delved a bit deeper and found out all sorts of information on both sides of the family, including some photos. I will try to get it in some semblance of order and put it online shortly.

I need some time as I know the information is wrong in many cases. My intention, to help them, is to email the sites where the information is wrong to enable them to correct it.

Power generation - Problems again. The link from the South Island to the North has developed a fault. It is 43 years old and little maintenance has been done. So the pots calling the kettle black are out again - it being Labour's fault but 10 years ago what did National do - the same as Labour. Nothing. I notice they didn't say that they were going to do something now - just it is all the others fault. The South is chocker with water and spare capacity we are told and has been for some time. So why didn't we see price reductions.??

Swine flue - In today's world it doesn't take long for any outbreak to move around the world. But I see the real worry is that in Dunedin alone we have 31 cases of measles. All un-vaccinated. In the USA last year they had just over 60 cases in total. These nuts who put the rest at risk, as we know it is only about 99% effective, are crazy. Plus we have the time wasted and cost. I wonder if anybody who has swine flu will not take the tamiflu injections ?

I can't fathom out that they didn't quarantine some people because the Department didn't get to the aircraft in time. Haven't they heard of the telephone?

Also they couldn't get the samples to Sydney as they said they missed the plane and couldn't get one until 4 days later. Since there are several flights a day I can't understand what is going on.

On talkback they said if you ring the 0800 Healthline and report the symptoms of swine flu they recommend you go to your doctor!! Brilliant that's the way to spread the disease!!

You can't say we are not efficient - cue sarcasm. However we are a lot better than most.

Crime - It just continues. A man defends himself against a gunman and in the struggle the criminal may have sustained a gunshot wound. We all know who they are looking at to charge.

A school Principal goes on TV to say they have been robbed 10 times in the past month - laptops, video gear etc - not inconsequential stuff. The police never responded to the 10 complaints and to top it off the school had a good idea who committed the crimes and told that to the Police. When it goes on TV they finally do something and arrest some teenagers.

Blog change - Thought I will try to put a small heading at the start of each topic in the blog from now on to make it easier to read - I think. Then again who reads it apart from me.

Anzac Day 25 April 2009

Anzac Day dawned bright and fine but we didn't attend the Dawn Service. Instead we (Wayne, Christine, Sarah,Joe, Kipp, Monty and the new German student S & J have, Julika) went to the 9.30 AM memorial service at the Lower Hutt War memorial. Some pictures of the memorial are above (not taken by us).

The presence of Julika just shows the stupidity of war.

Until yesterday, I didn't know that the choice of the day we landed at Gallipoli (the 25 April), being used as the poppy symbol, was an accident.

The red poppy – or Flanders poppy – is an international symbol of remembrance for those killed on the battlefield. Its symbolism dates back to Napoleonic times, but its modern association is mainly due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”, written by Canadian medical officer Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae during WWI.

The first New Zealand Poppy Day was held in 1922. The ship carrying the poppies from France arrived in New Zealand too late for Armistice Day in November, when Poppy Day is celebrated by the rest of the world. So, New Zealand held Poppy Day on the Friday before Anzac Day instead, and it has been celebrated on that day ever since. Generally Poppy Day in the rest of the world (including Australia) is in association with Remembrance (Armistice) Day but Australia has or is now moving to an assocition wih Anzac Day.

Wellington Hospital - went to visit a friend last week at the new hospital. The old facade has been retained, thank heaven, and used as a focal point. Christine having worked there many years ago took some pictures which she will send on to her nursing friend Maureen who lives in Greece.

Anzac looms

Anzac Day on Saturday. When I was a boy it was a big event. Bands, marching girls, boy scouts, Army, Navy & Air Force etc. My most enduring memory I would think is the Highland Pipe Bands. But then it was the equivalent of a Good Friday - nothing open all day and really dead. With no means of transport like today, with everybody owning a car, it was difficult then to go anywhere. Plus no TV, state run radio etc - oh the agony.

Some talk about adding a Monday holiday if it falls on a weekend. If I was still working I would probably favour that. But not really thinking it through; it would detract from the day.

An idiot has approached the Board that looks into place names about re-naming the North and South Islands with the Maori names. They have already made fools of themselves over the 'H' in Wanganui so if I was them, I would tread carefully.

I read a great little article that said we could always make it 50/50 Maori/English by calling them Te North Island and Te South Island. Ahhh yes, they want the H always included don't they - so we will have The North Island and The South Island!!!!

Where is Billy T James when you need him.





At Rotary the other night we had a talk on the new Births Deaths and Marriages website - www.bdmrecords.dia.govt.nz

Since then I have been having a look and have found it very interesting as well as illuminating. I was surprised that my fathers name that he used, was in fact the name on his Birth Certificate. I always thought it was a shortened version and I am mystified that he never said. He was known as Val - but I understood it was the shortened version of Percival - his fathers name.

One thing I have confirmed on that side, is that my grandfather was born in NZ - so Kipp and Monty are at least 5th Generation Kiwis on both sides. The problem is NZ didn't start to keep proper records until the Treay was signed and even after that Maori records were sparse.

We have quite a bit of information on my mothers side - going back to to 1600's - from our start in Kings Stanley and Leonard Stanley in Gloucester.

The cold winds of change

They are blowing as the weather has at long last heralded winter with rain and cold arriving. No real rain recently; the last being when the Windies played and a small amount on the last day of the 3rd Test against India. So the wet stuff has been needed; but not so much the cold temperatures. 

The cold winds of change have also come out from an OECD report which says we are stuffed unless we improve our productivity and get our debt levels down. Basically, they are right but it is certainly a case of the kettle calling the pot black as the writers of the report are an European based organisation - the home of the protectionist traders!!

Incredibly they believe we should privatise more - what is left to privatise  - but more incredibly they think we should privatise our health system. 

With the more unfettered capitalist system of the last few years almost ruining the world they want more of it.  Haven't they been awake over the last 12 months!!

I believe if it is possible and better to be privately run then that is great and the preferred option - as long as good regulation is in place and it is monitored and enforced 

But the health system - this sums it up: - 

They must be crazy. Who in their right mind would want an American style health system. 

Worked out that to save in one fell swoop to an online host I only need to Zip the files!! Did that and opened an account with Mr Gates SkyDrive.  Tried to upload and waited, and waited and waited..... There is no activity bar to indicate how much has been uploaded so after 30 minutes or so gave up.

Part of the problem is of course our Broadband speed is getting slower as more people ditch Dialup. They keep saying in the papers that it is improving. What rubbish. 

Just did a test at Consumer NZ - 2.10 PM Monday 20 April and I got - 

Download Speed: 1489 kbps (186.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 70 kbps (8.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Slower than the last result!!

Rugby - Super 14 is getting tight with only a few points separating the top 8 or so teams. The injury to Chiefs halfback Brendon Leonard is a blow as I am sure their resurgence is due in main to him.  

The question is can the Hurricanes make it?? 

Brainbox

I got sent a quiz that when you've got the answer it opened an Excel document. 

The question is - what is the next number  1-2-6-42-1806.  <<<<<  Wayne

I of course couldn't work it out but Joe the Brainbox had it sussed in 20 seconds. 

<<<<< Joe

So what is the answer ?

3,263,442  

The question is how ? Keep reading!!

Meantime I have been looking into saving my files online. After having a look at the various options I liked the look of Dropbox but if I read it correctly it keeps the orignal. I want to  retain the original on my Hard Drive and only a copy online but this option is cumbersome to action.  So I thought I would use Microsofts Live but I then find it only accepts Files as opposed to Folders.  This means a lot of constant uploading.

Why they can't invent something simple that you just uplaod a Folder to is beyond me. So it is on hold meantime.  

Sometime we long for simpler times then again I can't do without all the 'mod cons' like the Internet, Video Recorders, Sky TV etc. 

This was a simpler time for nursing. 

The numbers game - you multiply the next number by the previous figure.

For example  2 x 3 = 6    42 x 43 = 1086 and of course 1086 x 1087 gives us 3,263,442

Fridays Musings

Probus this morning. The day has been altered from the usual Friday due to Good Friday.

What is in the news - Pita Sharples and his hangers on are still going on about wanting separate Maori seats in the new proposed Auckland Super City Council.

John Banks, for all his faults, says, quite correctly, that Apartheid has gone the way of the Dodo. Thank heaven. It seems is has for some but not for others. Does it appear to be 1984 Orwellian that the 'racists' are now those who want equality and those that promote 'separatism' are not promoting racism.

Their thinking again is beyond me . Every weekend their like coloured kin compete on the Rugby field on a pure competence basis with no problem - in fact probably Pakeha are underrepresented. Do we complain and want special places put aside for Pakeha in the Hurricanes. Of course not - if we are not good enough then we don't get selected.

Phil Spector has now been convicted of murder - great musician but appears crazy.

Tony Veitch. The message from this episode is if you are going to get beaten up, make sure it is by somebody really rich in the public eye. How such a simple case with very few witnesses apart from the two involved and medical records could take up to two years to come to Court is mind boggling. He says he wants to now put it all behind him - but he also says that he intends to continue it by saying he will look at legal action against the media. If I was him I would just shut up and let sleeping dogs lie.

When playing my CD's I alway look to see if there are any cracks. Not surprsingly the expensive ones are just as prone to cracking as the cheap ones - SKC are the worst.

Mel Gibson is to get divorced. Coming from a Catholic sect that is far to the right of the church it is strange to see this happening. They say it will be the most expensive divorce to date US$500 million???

Farewell Sophia

We said farewell tonight to Sophia, the German student Sarah and Joe have been hosting for the past 12 months. What a wonderful girl she is. It was all quite emotional for her and them as well as her friends. 

We had a final farewell dinner last night at the Gengis Khan restaurant in town which was very pleasant.  Kipp seemed to enjoy it - watching them cook the meal, looking at the goldfish and running around the place generally. The have a water wall running down a sheet of glass and he was in his element with that.

The picture above was taken last Xmas when Kipp and Sophia had been doing some finger painting. 

The bad, the good and the farce

The bad - poor Monty is still not 100%. Sarah took him into the hospital again last night as there still seemed to be a hernia problem but they think it is a stitch working its way through. We shall see.

The good. We spent last evening at Sarah/Joe's and when we came home about 9 PM I watched the Hurricanes - Force game. Hurricanes terrible - so with 4 minutes to go at 27-16 and having to score twice I went to bed.

Woke up this morning - 28-27. Unbelievable. I have just watched the last few minutes on the replay. They didn't deserve to win they were so bad but in the usual Hurricanes fashion they did it.

The farce: Last weekend; 3 farces from Africa.

The Brumbies - Cheetahs games was a farce as they both wore their away strip. The ref (Matt Goddard) told the Cheetahs to change at half time but they didn't.

In the Hurricanes game the Sharks scored using a quick throw in but with a different ball. We didn't see this until a few days later when SKY screened a video version (different angle) gained surreptitiously. All in front of the refs.

Thirdly they gave a kick as over when it plainly missed.

With Suvivatu try not allowed in the Chiefs - Waratahs game we must go back to neutral refs - even if it is just perception.

I took the animation above from a US rugby womens blog that I read from time to time - 'Saturday's a Rugby Day'.

Easter

Easter - once a sacred day in which nothing was open but now we even play Rugby; although as a general rule most businesses will be closed. I have always found it odd that the Labour Department work on days like Good Friday and Christmas day to police the very few businesses that might open in breach of the law.  If they didn't, then those that did open in defiance of the law would just carry on and the rest of us would just carry on as well. If the vast majority disagreed with them opening then they wouldn't make money. 

A quote that sums it up:

 No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains.

Why the hell we should look after companies when they get into trouble then let them take the profits when they come right is madness. I am not against supporting companies that are too important (not too big - too important) to fail providing they are not a sunset industry - eg the Banks must be supported - the US car industry or newspapers ????. 

Once profits accrue again then we the taxpayers should also take them.

The TV host for the 2011 Cup has been announced as SKY TV, the NZ pay TV operator.  Unless they are to also broadcast every game live on Free To Air (and not the clone Channel they own, Prime, which is a UHF channel) then the IRB have put money ahead of common sense. 

Many do not have SKY - penetration at best is about 70%. But importantly it is probably only about 50% that have the Sport Channels in their package as the Basic Package only has ESPN. 

The IRB turned down a joint TVNZ-CanWest-SKY bid as not a true competitive bid but they don't seem to understand our population is very small and we can't really afford the sums they want.

It may be that SKY will allow every game on a TVNZ or CanWest channel - but if they do they are cutting their own  throat so I can't see that as an option. 

I have never favoured Governments interfering and ring fencing off some sporting events as some countries do but this decision (along with SKY getting the next Olympics) makes one think again. 

Sean Fitzpatrick went off his rocker and criticised the Super 14 versus the Northern Competitions (Heineken Cup etc) and specifically the Chiefs - Blues game which was a try fest. He has fallen under the spell of the money grubbers of the North. I thought the game was brilliant. 

The proof will be in the pudding. The Lions will soon be in Africa. My prediction - they have a great Coach in Ian McGeechan but I think they will be stuffed as they were last time in NZ.

Updates

HELLO WORLD!! MY NAME IS MONTY

On the new quilt

The plastic ducks working there way down the river

Kipp and the large duck

Kipp on Duck Day inside a jumping castle

Tipping the ducks into the Hutt River

Kipp holding Monty

Monty on the quilt

Christine holding Monty at the river on Duck Day

Kipp and Monty

Kipp climbing aboard the horse in our garden
Kipp at the mall playground

Let me out of here!!!

Some photos of the Duck Day on Sunday 5 April plus Monty and Kipp and more.

Its down

Down - what - the murder rate. It seems unbelievable but the murder rate is down.

New Zealand's murder rate appears to have almost halved in the past 20 years despite an overwhelming public belief that crime has got worse.

Police statistics show that for 44 years until about 1970 the murder rate fluctuated around an average of six a year for every million people.

The rate leapt to an average of 21 murders per million people annually from 1985 to 1992, but has dropped steadily ever since. Last year's rate was 12.1 murders per million people.

This trend is in line with Australia, the U.S. and Britain.

Unemployment has dropped since then in all three countries which could have some bearing. Another idea is that the definition of murder has changed over the years. Conspiracy to murder, attempting to procure a murder and accessory after the fact to murder have all been included in the offence type "murder" since 1994.

I also wonder what the manslaughter rate is as 50 -60 years ago they would have had a poor defence and now with legal aid they seem to get the very best if they have no assets (while the poor middle class still get stuck with having to not only pay for themselves, but pay for the no-hopers). So now thanks to the brilliant defence they get, those who have murdered now get found guilty of the lesser crime. However, I am certain that crime now is more brutal.

The figures

Annual murder rate (per million people)
1926-1970: 6
1985-1992: 21
1994-1998: 15
1999-2003: 14
2004-2008: 12

Supercity ?? The report on Auckland to merge all the local councils into one has been accepted by the Government. Whether or not it will save money is a moot point however. But of course the usual 'brown' herring arises. The Maori Party want 3 Maori only seats. Why; because they (Maori) don't get voted on and, it seems, because they have been here longer!!

Being here longer is a crock. Should those who are 3rd generation get more of a vote than those who have been here only one?

I think it is demeaning that they want special treatment - it says they are not as good as Pakeha and need special help. What a load of rubbish. Winston got voted in as a Maori in a very affluent seat. A few years ago Ralph Love (Maori) was the Petone Mayor and he was defeated by George Gee (Chinese). The current Mayor of Dunedin is Chinese, the previous Mayor was Indian (Suki Turner - wife of cricketer Glenn) and so on.

Soundsold - I had a look at my other blog and the down loads. Interesting that easily the biggest at seven is Charles Trenet with La Mer followed by Lonnie Lee and his Starlight Starbright with five.

Duck

From the Hutt News a picture of some people swimming with
the ducks before the big race and a picture of the winning duck.

The Petone Workingmens Club has a fund raiser for the Hospice and Swee Tan's Plastics unit. The idea is that they sell small plastic ducks at $5-00 each then put them in the Hutt River and they float down to a finishing line with the first one winning a prize worth a couple of thousand dollars. This year they sold 4000 ducks so it is a brilliant idea.

On Sunday we (Christine and me. Joe, Sarah, Kipp and Monty and Sophia) went over to the river to see them all come out of a tip-truck sitting in the middle of the river. Many got stuck on the side of the river due to the wind and the current but eventually the winner came home - Number 333. We had several entries but this wasn't our number.

All good fun and some couple of hundred people or more were there. They had various other things such as sausage sizzle, bouncing castles and a smaller castle that Kipp went into and jumped inside. And jumped inside - and jumped inside - and jumped inside etc etc. He loves jumping. A good day and good weather.

The United Nations

I wrote a bit about Helen off to the UN and the problems with that 'organisation' - I predict she will have little effect upon improving it.

From the Economist (para-phrased) -


"AT FIRST glance, the resolution on “religious defamation” adopted by the UN’s Human Rights Council on March 26th, mainly at the behest of Islamic countries, reads like another piece of harmless verbiage churned out by a toothless international bureaucracy.

The resolution says “defamation of religions” is a “serious affront to human dignity” which can “restrict the freedom” of those who are defamed, and may also lead to the incitement of violence.

But there is an insidious blurring of categories here, which becomes plain when you compare this resolution with the more rigorous language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. This asserts the right of human beings in ways that are now entrenched in the theory and (most of the time) the practice of liberal democracy. It upholds the right of people to live in freedom from persecution and arbitrary arrest; to hold any faith or none; to change religion; and to enjoy freedom of expression, which by any fair definition includes freedom to agree or disagree with the tenets of any religion.

In other words, it protects individuals—not religions, or any other set of beliefs. And this is a vital distinction. For it is not possible systematically to protect religions or their followers from offence without infringing the right of individuals.

What exactly is it the drafters of the council resolution are trying to outlaw?

To judge from what happens in the countries that lobbied for the vote—like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan—they use the word “defamation” to mean something close to the crime of blasphemy, which is in turn defined as voicing dissent from the official reading of Islam.

In many of the 56 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which has led the drive to outlaw “defamation”, both non-Muslims and Muslims who voice dissent (even in technical matters of Koranic interpretation) are often victims of just the sort of persecution the 1948 declaration sought to outlaw. That is a real human-rights problem. And in the spirit of fairness, laws against blasphemy that remain on the statute books of some Western countries should also be struck off; only real, not imaginary, incitement of violence should be outlawed.
Good manners, please; not censorship

In much of the Muslim world, the West’s reaction to the attacks of September 2001, including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, has been misread as an attack on Islam itself. No state, and certainly no body that calls itself a Human Rights Council, should trample on the right to free speech enshrined in the Universal Declaration. And in the end, given that all faiths have undergone persecution at some time, few people have more to gain from the protection of free speech than sincere religious believers."

Exactly!

Monet

Saturday and updating the Blog while I watch the Tahs-Stormers game. Chiefs have just managed to win what should have been a reasonably easy win but the Lions gave them a real fright.

Monet - we went to Te Papa and saw the brilliant Monet exhibition. My type of artist - real art; and I would think he is probably my favourite artist. The colours - especially some of his blues are magnificent. 

Killing several birds with one stone we had to go to Island Bay to drop off a quilt and the sewing machine has died so we had to visit Kilbirnie for that. We got a phone call today saying it will cost $300 to fix so it looks as if we will be buying a new machine as not worth fixing at that price. While there we had lunch in Kilbirnie. It looked quite wealthy - everywhere else I see empty shops but not there. 

Helen Clark is off to the UN but the real battle is now underway as to who will replace her in my birthplace, Mt. Albert. Being an Elecorate MP, we will have an election but they have to be careful as if a List MP gets the seat it could mean, with Cullen also due to leave, that Judith Tizard could get back in on the List. She is yesterdays politician and of course the Section 92A proponent. 

As for the UN, I read that the Supernanny method of handling children is not in accordance with their ideas and also the UN have passed a resolution that objects to criticism of religion. Most mainstream Christianity can stand criticism in a free world but the Islamists are, as usual, still 300 years behind.  Maybe we need a new world body that only has Democracy's and let the rest of them go hang!

Set the rules for a democracy to be a member and if, like Fiji, the Democracy is overthrown they are kicked out. 

Play Station

It wasn't an April Fool.

A Sony Portable Play Station arrived by courier today. I suggested it go to somebody who could use it - Kipp/Monty - but the Boss thinks we should keep it. Admittedly it says for age 6 and up, but that doesn't mean a thing to me as my techno age is minus 12. The technology usually defeats me as I expect common sense. For example I find it hard to understand that start means stop!!. On one phone Christine had, Send apparently meant Receive - you pushed Send to answer it!!.

More play of the play money type. The big G20 economic conference in the UK seems to have come up with some solutions - maybe.

Gordon Brown, for all his faults, has impressed. At least the British have bought shares in the Banks etc so they could control them and not just given them money which was the American idea.The Yanks I assume thought it sounded too much like Socialism but I think they have now seen the error of their ways and have introduced the dreaded S word into their economy.

Basically I hate debt and tend to favour competition but am Keynesian enough to realise that sometimes debt is required and that unbridled capitalism is often just that - unbridled. So at times it needs to be held in check by Government regulation.

The current system that seems to have developed is; when their are profits to be made it is the capitalists who take the profits (mainly the top executives - not the shareholders). And when their are losses the taxpayer has to pay and pick up the pieces.

This is what my worry is with any privatisation of ACC. Although as a monopoly it needs competition the problem is with a possible 70-90 year business time frame, ongoing for hundreds of years into the future, private firms may not be around to honour their obligations over such a long time.

As for the Government attack on the organisation, almost every neutral commentator (including the conservative NZ Herald) says it is a political beat up. As for criticism of their investment performance - they are odd in that they make all their decisions in house and incredibly have out performed all other groups (including the NZ Super Fund) and made money (about 2%) in the past 12 months. I wish they had been managing my money.

Daylight Saving

It is this weekend and they go BACK. I now remember by Forward at the front and Back at the end.

 

Simon & Garfunkel are coming to Auckland as part of a world reunion tour. All I have to do is win some tickets. And about winning, I hope the call yesterday about the competition, in which I was phoned to be advised I had won a prize; was it an April Fools joke?.  Why bother??

We took Rhett in to get his annual shots today and he is a bit dozy. Tomorrow we are going in to Wellington to see the Monet exhibition. 

About to go to bed and on in the background is the TV1 Pasific Island programme. They are going on about housing and people living in a garage. Two adults with 8 (eight!!) kids. They never ask the hard question - why do you continue to breed with no income and housing etc.

 I read that if a prisoner is on remand they are entitled to be brought before a Judge every 7 days but of course 99% just forgo the right as it won't change the remand.  However, double murderer Graham Burton, who lost a leg in a shootout, insists on this option. Costing us thousands as he has mobility problems and is dangerous. 

April Fools Day

It is April Fools day so today we have an GIF that says Image Loading but the image never loads.
I am the original April Fool.

But there is some good news.

I got a phone call today from some marketing company. Normally I am pretty short with them but this time I carried on (maybe because it was a Kiwi accent?). They said I had won a minor prize (Yeah right) and just wanted to confirm my address. I was waiting for the sales pitch - but nothing??

It seems I have won something. But I didn't understand when she explained what it was - something about an X Box; so I don't know if it was a disc for it or the thing itself. Anyway we will see. I can't even remember entering??

Several April Fools jokes around. In the N Z Herald they report that Microsoft have taken over Apple and will replace their IPhone with a new MPhone. Twice as large, comes in two colours, but 15 different models, each more complex than the other.

Update on the long life bulb. Still here and the council were little use. Claimed all about disposal was on their Website but I couldn't see anything. Also it certainly hasn't lasted long so looking on the Net I assume the problem is that these type of bulbs are not suitable for the fully enclosed fittings that we have in our house.