The word charity was derived from the Latin word caritas (precious, costly), an attempt to translate the Greek word agape in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 13:13), a word that is hard to translate, but the phrase “extravagant selfless love” gets the flavour of it. It is a far cry from the simple alms-giving that [...]

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 [...]

The MacDoctor was wondering how many of the people who think that some forms of aggravated assault are too trivial to deserve 14 years imprisonment are the same people who think that a light smack for disciplinary purposes is child abuse? Or perhaps they would like to find grades of offending in indecent assault? Add [...]

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 [...]

The MacDoctor gets somewhat irritated by the furore generated by three-strike warnings, especially when they are blatantly misrepresented – like the nonsense being generated about the 21-year-old recidivist, Elijah Akeem Whaanga (I like the way my spellchecker offers me the alternative spelling of “whinge” for his surname). He is represented as having a third strike warning issued [...]

Sometime I wonder exactly how much news is generated by the media internally. A TV3 poll on “The Vote” asked whether New Zealanders considered New Zealand to be a Racist country. Apparently 76% of people thought we were. I question the validity of these TV run polls and wonder if they are not just simply [...]

Road Rabies [rohd rey-beez] noun pathology. 1. An episode of psychotic rage provoked by a minor driving infraction in a fellow motorist. Youngest MacDaughter experienced just such an episode this afternoon in Botany town centre, Auckland. Right in front of her a large Pacific Island youth leaped out of his black sports car and started punching and [...]

So the traffic cops are extending their 4km-only tolerance limit until the end of the month and are looking at making it permanent. This has a feeling of pre-concieved inevitability about it. Although Acting Superintendent Rob Morgan assures us that the permanent adoption “will really be an evidence-based decision”, we all know that this is complete [...]

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 [...]