Apropos of the state supplying food to poor children in schools. Everyone seems to assume that the reduction in learning ability seen in children who come to school without food is due to their being hungry. Thus, feeding them will improve their long-term ability to achieve academically. However, the MacDoctor has seen little or no [...]

The MacDoctor is all for using protective devices, if they have been shown to be effective, but too often he sees over-reaction like this: Schools urged to insist on helmets for push-scooter riders after claims to ACC rocket 500 per cent. The number of children seriously hurt while riding push scooters has skyrocketed with their [...]

I view the proposal to feed children in decile one and two schools with a great deal of trepidation. While I am certainly not opposed to feed starving children, I suspect the proposed bill is more likely to be just another form of creeping welfare. Just providing blanket feeding for all these children produces one [...]

This is Mellissa Anderson. She has been charged with assault for slapping a girl who did this to her daughter: The Herald is full of much pontificating about how parents must act like adults with bullies. Note that this lady merely slapped the 14-year-old who did this. She did not beat her up, attack her [...]

I confess that the MacDoctor was seriously thinking about chucking in this blogging lark. For the past week or so the news has been deeply uninspiring, with lackluster lists from Labour, gaggles of gays and a gormless Goff. Nothing new there, then. National found itself essentially nationalising another company. Nothing new there, either. For a [...]

You have to have a pretty strong stomach not to want to hurl when you read this story of two creatures who literally tortured a nine-year-old girl and kept her locked in a cupboard. When I read the article, I loudly proclaimed that these two “parents” were animals. My cat looked extremely affronted. The cat [...]

Once more the maternity system in New Zealand is under fire in the Dominion post, with a couple of articles involving the death of newborn babies. In the first article, the newborn died from haemorrhagic disease (excessive bleeding) because the parents refused to allow their child to have vitamin K. Too much internet disinformation can [...]

In a move that defies all logic, the FDA advisory panel investigating the contamination of Rotavirus vaccine with pig virus has recommended that vaccine use be continued because “The vaccines offer a clear public health benefit that far outweighs a “theoretical” risk from PCV (Porcine Circo-virus)”. How very reassuring. Not. PCV type 1 was found [...]

Not satisfied with rendering cold and flu medicines ineffective by removing pseudoephedrine from general sale, Medsafe continues it’s onslaught on cold and flu meds by trying to remove all the syrups and infusions from supermarket shelves. Apparently they are concerned about the use of them in under sixes (despite the fact that fatalities are very [...]

Not much time for blogging tonight but I could resist a quick comment on the low-hanging fruit offered by ScrubOne in this comment. The Yahoo “news” item reads: I feed my son marijuana While most parents are focussed on warning their children about the dangers of drugs, mum-of-three Mieko Hester-Perez is happily dishing up marijuana [...]