I hope everyone over at the Standard has had their shots. They have someone there called RedLogix who apparently has rabies. In the interest of public mental health, I will not be linking to the post entitled “Treachery”. You can go there if you must but I don’t advise it. In one long bizarre spasm [...]

Spam Journalism: The spurious use of sensational headlines to add spice to an otherwise pointless article. There is never any lack of sex-related spam: Infidelity: it’s a right-wing, meat-eaters’ thing If your partner supports National, has a PC, drinks Coke, eats meat, has a tattoo, smokes and is a Christian, be warned – they could [...]

Apparently Damian O’Connor would like to shoot my dog. It is about time we stopped pussyfooting around and advocated and implemented the destruction of any dog and breed of dog that is considered dangerous in New Zealand. No one is allowed to carry around a loaded gun and these dogs are just that. Three children [...]

That is the sort of feeling I get when reading silly newspaper articles full of sensationalist speculation as to the motives and failings of the Captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino. Of more interest is the article (not yet online) entitled “Making a Monster of Human Frailty” by Theodore Dalrymple. Dr. Dalrymple starts: Courage is a [...]

There is a point where legislation slips from being a useful, if sometimes cumbersome, tool for achieving an orderly, well-functioning society into a meddlesome mess of nanny statism and absurd zealotry. Most of us can sense it easily when it effects us and impedes our lives. It is a little harder to appreciate when the [...]

On the one hand, it is pretty easy to define political: po·lit·i·cal [puh-lit-i-kuhl] adjective 1. of, pertaining to, or concerned with politics: political writers. 2. of, pertaining to, or connected with a political party: a political campaign. 3. exercising or seeking power in the governmental or public affairs of a state, municipality, etc.: a political machine; a political boss. 4. of, pertaining to, or involving the state or its government: a political offense. 5. having a definite policy or system of government: a political community. On the other hand, how do you define what is political and what is merely topical? That is the question behind NZ on Air’s desire to stop broadcasters screening documentaries on political issues in [...]

The man who was arrested after he flew into a rage when Wendy’s staff got his burger order wrong, insists he is not a violent man: He described the incident as a “communication breakdown kind of thing” that escalated out of control. The furniture removal worker, who said he was not an aggressive person, said yesterday [...]

The Blanket man is dead. Ben Hana, AKA the Blanket Man, died in Wellington Hospital yesterday, age 54. Apparently, Wellington mourns his passing The MacDoctor generally takes a benign view of hobos. Although they provide the streets with some distressing sights and odours, they are generally harmless and cause little trouble. But the MacDoctor does [...]

100 years ago this year the Titanic struck and iceberg and, despite the claims for her being unsinkable, sank in arctic waters taking 1517 souls with her. In an uncanny (but fortunately less deadly) replay, the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia struck a reef and sank, listing sharply to one side. Although the passengers are likening [...]

This is the face of Carl Drewer, former white supremacist and general all-around bad boy. Carl is having the “skinhead” tattoo he had put on in prison removed by laser treatment courtesy of the kind donations of the public and Radio DJ Simon Barnett. This is not the good part of the story. This is: [...]