Child, Youth and Family (CYFS) put out a report yesterday that says 38 children under 15 died as a result of maltreatment in the five years to 2003 - very, very sad. (See: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200607280853/25865759)
So who's fault is this. Apart from those who care for the children I think CYFS need to take a lot of the blame. Why aren't they there to make sure these child deaths do not happen? What are they doing? I guess their response would be that they don't have enough resources to attend to all the cases around the country. In that case they need to use their resources much more wisely. They need to prioritize better. They spend far to much time on cases where there is only a small threat of any danger. They need to spend most of their time on cases where there is a high threat of danger.
Something needs to be done about this pathetic government department. The social workers change about as often as I change my underwear! This may be due to the stress they're under, it may be due to something else - maybe due to their training hence their attitudes. CYFS is not looking after this country's young adequately.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
No more Overlander
After September the daily train between Auckland and Wellington will be gone.
(See: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10393040)
I must say this is very, very sad. It's a service that has been running for nearly 100 years. I took the trip myself (from Otorohanga to Palmerston North) just last October and I really enjoyed it. I got many spectacular shots with my digital camera - the Raurimu spiral, the Central Plateau, the Rangitikei River, etc.
They say that not enough people are using the service so it is not viable to keep it running - perhaps if they lowered the price of the tickets then more people will use it! Granted it is a long and slow journey, but it is a much better way to travel than by bus! I find buses so uncomfortable. I thought with the price of petrol as it is more people would take advantage of the train. Cars and buses run on petrol/diesel - the trains run on electricity! Doesn't make sense to me!
I think the cancellation of this service will affect some of the small towns along the main trunk line, for example the town I live in - Otorohanga. The small railway station in Otorohanga has just had a big facelift and a new cafe has opened up inside it - I bet he'll be kicking himself now! I really hope this line will be used for some sort of train service in the future - this country needs it!
(See: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10393040)
I must say this is very, very sad. It's a service that has been running for nearly 100 years. I took the trip myself (from Otorohanga to Palmerston North) just last October and I really enjoyed it. I got many spectacular shots with my digital camera - the Raurimu spiral, the Central Plateau, the Rangitikei River, etc.
They say that not enough people are using the service so it is not viable to keep it running - perhaps if they lowered the price of the tickets then more people will use it! Granted it is a long and slow journey, but it is a much better way to travel than by bus! I find buses so uncomfortable. I thought with the price of petrol as it is more people would take advantage of the train. Cars and buses run on petrol/diesel - the trains run on electricity! Doesn't make sense to me!
I think the cancellation of this service will affect some of the small towns along the main trunk line, for example the town I live in - Otorohanga. The small railway station in Otorohanga has just had a big facelift and a new cafe has opened up inside it - I bet he'll be kicking himself now! I really hope this line will be used for some sort of train service in the future - this country needs it!
Monday, July 10, 2006
Italy wins World Cup 2006
The soccer World Cup for 2006 is all over with Italy winning the final against France this morning in Berlin. I thought I'd just jot down a few of my comments about this year's tournament.
First of all good on Australia for how well they did in the World Cup. I know there is a lot of sledging between Australia and New Zealand when it comes to sport but it was good to see them do well - getting through to the second round (even though half their team are Croatians!)
Now there's a few matches in the Quarter Finals I'd like to comment on. I wasn't too fussed who won this tournament - as long as it wasn't England! I just can't stand the English soccer team. I know there are a lot of English soccer fans in NZ but I am not one of them! So when England was beaten by Portugal I was very, very happy! The two teams that I like, Germany and Argentina, faced off in the quarter finals. It was hard to accept that a game as big as this would come as early as the quarter finals. Germany won this one so I thought it was time now to support them through to the end. France beating Brazil was a little bit of a surprise, but I guess this wasn't South America's year. (I think for most of the World Cups a European team has won it if the tournament was held in Europe and a South American team has won it if it was held in the Americas).
In the semi-finals I was very shocked when Italy beat Germany - especially when they scored their two goals in the last two minutes! I really thought Germany would go all the way, and so did the crowd in the stadium that day. I think Germany was just killing time until the penalty shoot out because they knew they would have a good chance of winning that, but they did not bet on Italy scoring twice in the last couple of minutes of extra time! In the other semi-final I thought it would be good to see Portugal win as they have never won a World Cup, but France won that one.
And that brings us to this morning's final - Italy v France. The score was still 1-1 after extra time, and this meant a penalty shoot out which Italy won 5-3. Now I don't think a World Cup final should be decided on a penalty shoot out - it's a much too important match to be decided upon in this manner. Perhaps they should bring in the "golden goal" where the first team to score after full time wins. True the game may go on for a very long time, but if the teams knew that the golden goal was in place they may try harder to score in extra time instead of hanging out for the penalty shoot out.
Anyway, congratulations Italy, and roll on South Africa 2010!!
First of all good on Australia for how well they did in the World Cup. I know there is a lot of sledging between Australia and New Zealand when it comes to sport but it was good to see them do well - getting through to the second round (even though half their team are Croatians!)
Now there's a few matches in the Quarter Finals I'd like to comment on. I wasn't too fussed who won this tournament - as long as it wasn't England! I just can't stand the English soccer team. I know there are a lot of English soccer fans in NZ but I am not one of them! So when England was beaten by Portugal I was very, very happy! The two teams that I like, Germany and Argentina, faced off in the quarter finals. It was hard to accept that a game as big as this would come as early as the quarter finals. Germany won this one so I thought it was time now to support them through to the end. France beating Brazil was a little bit of a surprise, but I guess this wasn't South America's year. (I think for most of the World Cups a European team has won it if the tournament was held in Europe and a South American team has won it if it was held in the Americas).
In the semi-finals I was very shocked when Italy beat Germany - especially when they scored their two goals in the last two minutes! I really thought Germany would go all the way, and so did the crowd in the stadium that day. I think Germany was just killing time until the penalty shoot out because they knew they would have a good chance of winning that, but they did not bet on Italy scoring twice in the last couple of minutes of extra time! In the other semi-final I thought it would be good to see Portugal win as they have never won a World Cup, but France won that one.
And that brings us to this morning's final - Italy v France. The score was still 1-1 after extra time, and this meant a penalty shoot out which Italy won 5-3. Now I don't think a World Cup final should be decided on a penalty shoot out - it's a much too important match to be decided upon in this manner. Perhaps they should bring in the "golden goal" where the first team to score after full time wins. True the game may go on for a very long time, but if the teams knew that the golden goal was in place they may try harder to score in extra time instead of hanging out for the penalty shoot out.
Anyway, congratulations Italy, and roll on South Africa 2010!!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Is Kim Jong-Il still "ronrey"?
North Korea tested 7 missiles on Tuesday. (see www.cnn.com)
Countries such as USA, Australia, Japan, and Britain have spoken out against these missile tests. But is North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il (and his brother Men-ta-ly Il) going to be concerned about this and put a halt to his missile testing - I don't think so!
I wonder if USA will attack North Korea like they did in Iraq. Nope, I doubt it. Why? No oil!
And now a quote from George W Bush (Milwaukee, Wisconsin; October 3, 2003)
"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."
Countries such as USA, Australia, Japan, and Britain have spoken out against these missile tests. But is North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il (and his brother Men-ta-ly Il) going to be concerned about this and put a halt to his missile testing - I don't think so!
I wonder if USA will attack North Korea like they did in Iraq. Nope, I doubt it. Why? No oil!
And now a quote from George W Bush (Milwaukee, Wisconsin; October 3, 2003)
"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."
Sunday, July 02, 2006
The end of Big Brother Australia?
If you're a Big Brother fan then you would have heard about two of the housemates being chucked out of the house for sexual assault. The current series of Big Brother was not shown in NZ this year, and it may now by the last season in Australia. The following is from the Behind Big Brother Australia website about what happened(http://www.behindbigbrother.com/)
The Ashley and John incident... what happened:
On Saturday afternoon Ashley and John were ejected from the Big Brother house for breaking house rules. Here is a rundown of exactly what happened. The incidentAt approximately 4.30am Saturday morning Ashley and John jumped onto Camilla's bed. John held down Camilla while Ashley knelt over her, apparently slapping her in the face with his penis. At one stage John was holding Camilla down by her head. The incident went to air over the internet streams and several users recorded screen captures which are now circulating the internet. At the time Camilla was quoted as saying "thats not cool".
The main Behind Big Brother website is currently unavailable due to extremely high demand.
Update: Police interview Camilla, do not press charges
Channel 10 News have reported the Police did interview Camilla over the incident. She did not press charges.This hasn't stopped Family First demanding the show be taken off the air. Senator Helen Coonan has continued her discussions with the Australian Communication and Media Authority to determine whether breaches of broadcast codes have taken place. The incident was not broadcast on television.Channel 10 have told Senator Coonan they will not broadcast or promote the incident footage.
Update: Police to review footage, Beazley calls for last season
Queensland Police will now review the footage from Saturday morning to determine if any charges will be placed against Ashley and John.Meanwhile Senator Helen Coonan has spoken to the Australian Communication and Media Authority to determine if Endemol Southen Star have breached broadcast codes of practice for letting the incident be shown on internet streams.Opposition leader Kim Beazley has made a statement recommending Channel 10 make this season of Big Brother the last.
The Ashley and John incident... what happened:
On Saturday afternoon Ashley and John were ejected from the Big Brother house for breaking house rules. Here is a rundown of exactly what happened. The incidentAt approximately 4.30am Saturday morning Ashley and John jumped onto Camilla's bed. John held down Camilla while Ashley knelt over her, apparently slapping her in the face with his penis. At one stage John was holding Camilla down by her head. The incident went to air over the internet streams and several users recorded screen captures which are now circulating the internet. At the time Camilla was quoted as saying "thats not cool".
Later that afternoon Ashley and John were called to the diary room and remained there for several hours. During this time the other housemates were led outside for the planned Rogue Traders concert, which was set up by the spa deck. While the concert took place Ashley and John were removed from the house by security guards via the diary room. Housemates were only informed the two had been ejected and would not be returning later in the evening.
The aftermath
Late Saturday afternoon/early evening the official Big Brother website posted a notice that Ashley and John had been removed for "a breach of the rules". No details were provided in the notice, other than the producers would not be commenting further on what they described a "serious matter". Early media reports stated the two had been removed from the house but did not give any details.
Shortly after forum users on the official website posted details of the Saturday morning incident, and the posts were promptly removed. Both the official website and Behindbigbrother.com saw a substantial increase in web traffic - so much so that BBBA was unavailable for many users. Moderators on the official website put up a notice warning that talk of the incidents surrounding Ashley and John's departure was not allowed. This did not stop forum users who continued to discuss what happened. At 9.30pm the official forums were shut down completely to stop the discussion. In 2003 the official forums were shut down after the "Belindagate" incident and did not return until 2005.
BBBA posted an initial story on the sexual assault incident Saturday evening, and this has been carried through onto early Sunday newspaper articles.
At the time of posting this article, it is not known what will happen on Sunday night's eviction, or how the incident will be explained to audiences. It is possible producers will introduce two new housemates to replace Ashley and John in the future.
The future of the show
The incident has put the future of Big Brother Australia into question. Rumours were already floating on Saturday night that Channel 10 are planning to axe Big Brother completely, and that tonight's eviction will not take place. However this is highly unlikely.
MP Trish Draper has already used the incident to again attack the show, calling for it to be taken off air immediately - even though the incident was not actually broadcast on television. She has commented to News Ltd. newspapers the show has "gone too far".
Despite this, Minister for Communications Helen Coonan has said the government will not be taking any action against producers or Channel 10. The Queensland Police have also said they are taking no action at this time.
The heavy handed response from Big Brother comes after the political pressure which arose from a similar incident last year where housemate Michael rubbed himself on Gianna while giving her a massage.
Check out the TVNZ website: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/771790
The Ashley and John incident... what happened:
On Saturday afternoon Ashley and John were ejected from the Big Brother house for breaking house rules. Here is a rundown of exactly what happened. The incidentAt approximately 4.30am Saturday morning Ashley and John jumped onto Camilla's bed. John held down Camilla while Ashley knelt over her, apparently slapping her in the face with his penis. At one stage John was holding Camilla down by her head. The incident went to air over the internet streams and several users recorded screen captures which are now circulating the internet. At the time Camilla was quoted as saying "thats not cool".
The main Behind Big Brother website is currently unavailable due to extremely high demand.
Update: Police interview Camilla, do not press charges
Channel 10 News have reported the Police did interview Camilla over the incident. She did not press charges.This hasn't stopped Family First demanding the show be taken off the air. Senator Helen Coonan has continued her discussions with the Australian Communication and Media Authority to determine whether breaches of broadcast codes have taken place. The incident was not broadcast on television.Channel 10 have told Senator Coonan they will not broadcast or promote the incident footage.
Update: Police to review footage, Beazley calls for last season
Queensland Police will now review the footage from Saturday morning to determine if any charges will be placed against Ashley and John.Meanwhile Senator Helen Coonan has spoken to the Australian Communication and Media Authority to determine if Endemol Southen Star have breached broadcast codes of practice for letting the incident be shown on internet streams.Opposition leader Kim Beazley has made a statement recommending Channel 10 make this season of Big Brother the last.
The Ashley and John incident... what happened:
On Saturday afternoon Ashley and John were ejected from the Big Brother house for breaking house rules. Here is a rundown of exactly what happened. The incidentAt approximately 4.30am Saturday morning Ashley and John jumped onto Camilla's bed. John held down Camilla while Ashley knelt over her, apparently slapping her in the face with his penis. At one stage John was holding Camilla down by her head. The incident went to air over the internet streams and several users recorded screen captures which are now circulating the internet. At the time Camilla was quoted as saying "thats not cool".
Later that afternoon Ashley and John were called to the diary room and remained there for several hours. During this time the other housemates were led outside for the planned Rogue Traders concert, which was set up by the spa deck. While the concert took place Ashley and John were removed from the house by security guards via the diary room. Housemates were only informed the two had been ejected and would not be returning later in the evening.
The aftermath
Late Saturday afternoon/early evening the official Big Brother website posted a notice that Ashley and John had been removed for "a breach of the rules". No details were provided in the notice, other than the producers would not be commenting further on what they described a "serious matter". Early media reports stated the two had been removed from the house but did not give any details.
Shortly after forum users on the official website posted details of the Saturday morning incident, and the posts were promptly removed. Both the official website and Behindbigbrother.com saw a substantial increase in web traffic - so much so that BBBA was unavailable for many users. Moderators on the official website put up a notice warning that talk of the incidents surrounding Ashley and John's departure was not allowed. This did not stop forum users who continued to discuss what happened. At 9.30pm the official forums were shut down completely to stop the discussion. In 2003 the official forums were shut down after the "Belindagate" incident and did not return until 2005.
BBBA posted an initial story on the sexual assault incident Saturday evening, and this has been carried through onto early Sunday newspaper articles.
At the time of posting this article, it is not known what will happen on Sunday night's eviction, or how the incident will be explained to audiences. It is possible producers will introduce two new housemates to replace Ashley and John in the future.
The future of the show
The incident has put the future of Big Brother Australia into question. Rumours were already floating on Saturday night that Channel 10 are planning to axe Big Brother completely, and that tonight's eviction will not take place. However this is highly unlikely.
MP Trish Draper has already used the incident to again attack the show, calling for it to be taken off air immediately - even though the incident was not actually broadcast on television. She has commented to News Ltd. newspapers the show has "gone too far".
Despite this, Minister for Communications Helen Coonan has said the government will not be taking any action against producers or Channel 10. The Queensland Police have also said they are taking no action at this time.
The heavy handed response from Big Brother comes after the political pressure which arose from a similar incident last year where housemate Michael rubbed himself on Gianna while giving her a massage.
Check out the TVNZ website: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/771790
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