YOUR VIEWS - from the NZCPR.com website

CELEBRATE THE WARMTH 

We should spend Earth Hour giving thanks for warmth.

Just thirteen thousand years ago, Earth was in the grip of a deathly ice age. Sea levels were indeed much lower but much of the land surface was covered by thick sheets of ice. Life struggled to survive and many species were extinguished by the sterile suffocating ice.

Without any help from humans, Earth escaped from the ice. And as the oceans warmed they expelled part of their dissolved carbon dioxide which nurtured an enormous increase in plant and animal life.

But the ice still lurks near the poles, and Earth has suffered several cold relapses. The most recent “Little Ice Age” just released its icy grip about 150 years ago.

The modern warming phase ceased around the turn of this century – there are teenagers today who have never lived in a phase of rising global temperatures. And our sun is showing disturbing signs of reduced activity, which may presage a new cooling phase.

Earth is on a climate see-saw between a warm green globe and a frozen white wilderness. Unless you are a penguin or a polar bear, you should spend Earth Hour celebrating today’s warmth and giving thanks for our cheap, abundant hydro-carbon fuels which will help humans to survive any return of Global Cooling.

Viv Forbes
Australia

26 Feb 2015

RISE OF WIMPY SPORT

A recent report in the New Zealand Herald described how the Howick Pukuranga Principals' Association had decided on a Fair Play interpretation of children's sport in which the coaches could rearrange and intermix the two teams if one team was winning by too much.

First we had compulsory school sport where you were sent out and told to get the ball and help your team. Your personal likes and preferences did not enter into it. In actual practice non sporting types went through the motions and tried to keep out of the way of the serious players.

Then we had Kiwi Sport. The rules were simplified and equipment modified for the size and ages of the children playing.
Even non sporting teachers like myself could coach it. However one thing remained the same. You played your best and you played to win. If you did win you were happy - if you lost you lost gracefully. You had played a better team.

My Kiwi Hockey team won some and lost some. The ones we lost were against teams which had practised at their own school and who had good team discipline. Some of our wins were against teams who had obviously had little coaching, had not practised and had no team discipline. (Everyone screaming for the ball!) It seemed to me that some schools were entering their team in competitive games without taking on the responsibility of preparing and coaching their players.

Now we have the rise of Wimpy Sport where, it seems, a child is not to experience loss or disappointment. The advocates of this new Fair Play agenda overstate the trauma a child may experience if his or her team is thrashed by another team. When this happens one might ask if the coach of the losing team had actually taken team practices and/or entered the team at the right skills or age level.

The whole thing gets nonsensical. You coach your team, try to improve their skills, impress on the players that the team comes before them and they should play their best for the team - not just for themselves. So, if they do all this and are then winning their match are they then expected to stop the game and give up some of their players to the losing side?

I know it's a cliché but competitive sport does teach children some valuable lesson. You learn that life is not always fair, that you don't win every time and that it is possible for a stronger team to lose a game through team disharmony and stupid mistakes.

In my mind Kiwi Sport as founded opened up positive experiences for children who would not have been attracted by the traditional sports format. I trust that parents and children will continue to support Kiwi Sport. You do your best and you play to win. Let the Wimpy Sport Brigade make their own arrangements! 

- Denis McCarthy

20 Feb 2015

ONE PEOPLE

With widespread intermarriage between Pakeha, Maori and some of the many other races in NZ now accelerating, it doesn't need much brain power to realise that within a few more generations anyone with the tiniest fraction of Maori ancestry could still claim to be Maori. 

Just when are we to become "One People, One Nation"????

- Richard

SUPPORTING DON BRASH

Having read the article written by Don Brash regarding his disagreement with Gareth Morgan prompts me to write this letter.

I totaly agree with Don Brash on all counts, I am sure that all free thinking New Zealanders do also as have been proven after Don Brash's Orewa speech. However, when the famous Orewa speech comes up in conversation in the general media, they label it the infamous Orewa speech as some kind of treason committed against all New Zealanders. They (the media) forget that the majority of the New Zealand public supported his speech and got the National government back on it's feet. 

Yes, I support Don Brash, may he gets the support he needs to get the message through to all.

- Frank 

BASIC SKILLS

I strongly recommend we go back to READING, WRITTING and a big move on basic MATHS. Give the children these basics taught with the old system.

We give them a strong foundation to take on the world.

The young adults don't seem to be properly equipped for their chosen careers these days. I believe there are too many days out, what I call trivial education, social engineering, treaty etc, sex education etc etc etc. 

The school uniform in many high schools is an absolute joke - shirt out, socks down, hair not done. The teaching assoc is letting these children down in every way.

We need male teachers in force back in our schools, and I mean real men ones, that will lead our young men down a good path. Socialists, lefties and feminists have created a lot of damage followed with bad non caring parents. 

- Jeff

5 Feb 2015

KIWI

I was born a Kiwi,
the land belonged to me;
The mountain peaks, the hillsides,
the beaches and the sea.
The National Parks, historic sites –
part of heredity -
but now they are no longer mine
because of ancestry.
To blend two races into one
a Treaty was designed;
it’s purpose being to create
a country colour blind.
Somehow the intent of that deed
was twisted to divide –
with Maori on the one hand,
others on the other side.
The spirit of the Treaty,
the purpose of it all,
was to unite two races
with equality for all.
Our leaders have all failed us
With rulings that they pass,
Although I’m still a Kiwi
now I’m Kiwi, second class

Mitch Morgan
Kaipara

Breakfast in Schools

Go to Binn Inn. 5kg rolled oats. 5 minutes in front of stove each morning. Little cost, little time required. Feed a substantial breakfast for four each school morning. Requirement. A little parental time to show the kids how to make their own breakfast.

- Gordon

Churchill’s Prophetic Words

The rise of radical Islam is is often masked by reference to “peaceful Muslims” who undoubtedly constitute the majority of Islamic adherents.
However, fanatics gradually infiltrate mosques (and Maraes, apparently) usurping positions of power and influence.

A study of the rise of Naziism reveals that most Germans were peaceful and did not adhere to Nazi principles, but apathy allowed Hitler to radicalise an entire nation, working through the Hitler Youth Movement.


As far back as 1899 Winston Churchill foresaw the events unfolding today, so let the following extracts from his speech put things into perspective:


"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

Mitch Morgan
Kaipara


New Zealand's Overseas Debt

As a retired accountant CA, I am concerned at the seeming, purposely, missing, regular information as to the level of this country's external debt & the current & historic trends. The last figures that I have seen were that in approximately 2008 New Zealand had a net overseas debt of about 10 billion dollars! Near the end of 2014. Statistics NZ reported that the figure had fallen $0.5b to $141.8b!! The report in the DomPost went on to say that this was only 2.6% of GDP & it has been falling as a percentage!! I understand that New Zealand has only about 2 million taxpayers so this missing information should be of concern to all, in view of the claim that the last election result was mainly due to the government success in managing the economy!

- Don Lewis

Ngapuhi and the Treaty

Following are random excerpts from the transcript of the Kohimarama Conference in 1860 attended by 112 Maori Chiefs. Many of those Chiefs were Ngapuhi, so it will become apparent that the Waitangi Tribunal’s “finding” that Maori did not understand the concept of “Sovereignty” when signing the Treaty is far from the truth.

Wi Te Tete: “Listen ye Pakehas, and ye Maori Chiefs! We have now become one people under the Queen.”

Hori Kerei Te Kotuku: “When you arrived we were dwelling in ignorance, we were blind. First came Christianity, after that the Law. I saw that there was salvation for me. You appointed magistrates. We received them. It was during the time of Governor Grey that we first recognized the Queen's authority. He said there is no other Sovereign for us but the Queen. I did not receive the Law without consideration. I sought it carefully in the pages of Scripture. I did not search in ignorance. I saw its benefits, and then I embraced it. Now the Queen is my Sovereign.”

Te Ahukaramu: “These are the things which I desire. First, God: secondly, the Queen: thirdly, the Governor. Let there be one Queen for us. Make known to us all the laws, that we may all dwell under one law.”

Raniera Te Iho: “I offer my land, in the proper manner, to the Governor. True the land passes across to the Governor, but then I get my price for it. Should I afterwards stretch forth my hand after my land, that would be wrong. I prove my allegiance to the Queen by parting with my lands. I give up my land to Queen Victoria, and to the Kings and Queens, her successors.”

Tohi Te Ueurangi: “Let the Queen be above all. I have nothing more to say.”

Most Chieftains (Ngapuhi included) echoed this thought – the Queen above all others.
New Zealand has become so politically correct that fiction is now more acceptable than the truth.

Mitch Morgan
Kaipara

28 Jan 2015

CASH COW TREATY

I was glad to hear that a number of Maori people are also tired of hearing about Treaty issues. I am of Maori descent but I have never regarded myself as a 'Maori'. I am a New Zealander and I try to be fair minded. 

I do not know what was in the minds of the signatories to the Treaty and no-one else today can honestly say they know either. Neither can it be said to have represented the wishes of all the Maori people of that time.

For better or worse it did signify a general desire that our two peoples would live together in peace thereafter and stop the fighting. The Crown was acknowledged as the prevailing law. 

The' Treaty Document' is not a document expressed in clear legal terms and it is not reasonable to accord it such status. It is an historical document which should now be consigned to the archives, having served its purpose.

I acknowledge the right of the latest legal immigrant, of what ever ethnicity, to be treated the same as any New Zealander as long as they agree to obey the law of this country. I do not necessarily agree with our Government's immigration policy ( or many of its other policies for that matter) but imperfect as our system is , we are stuck with it, until/ unless we can come up with something better. If someone will not abide by the law they are here under false pretences.

Everyone of legal age has one vote. It is unfair that any group should have special representation, Maori included. The same should apply to central and   local Government. It is absolute nonsense to suggest that Maori, or anyone else, should have special seats.

The 'Treaty' is being used as a cash cow to be milked at the whim of a few , for personal advantage.

- Harvey Rosieur
   
25 Dec 2014

NGAPUHI AND THE TREATY

Following are random excerpts from the transcript of the Kohimarama Conference in 1860 attended by 112 Maori Chiefs. Many of those Chiefs were Ngapuhi, so it will become apparent that the Waitangi Tribunal’s “finding” that Maori did not understand the concept of “Sovereignty” when signing the Treaty is far from the truth.

Wi Te Tete: “Listen ye Pakehas, and ye Maori Chiefs! We have now become one people under the Queen.”

Hori Kerei Te Kotuku: “When you arrived we were dwelling in ignorance, we were blind. First came Christianity, after that the Law. I saw that there was salvation for me. You appointed magistrates. We received them. It was during the time of Governor Grey that we first recognized the Queen's authority. He said there is no other Sovereign for us but the Queen. I did not receive the Law without consideration. I sought it carefully in the pages of Scripture. I did not search in ignorance. I saw its benefits, and then I embraced it. Now the Queen is my Sovereign.”

Te Ahukaramu: “These are the things which I desire. First, God: secondly, the Queen: thirdly, the Governor. Let there be one Queen for us. Make known to us all the laws, that we may all dwell under one law.”

Raniera Te Iho: “I offer my land, in the proper manner, to the Governor. True the land passes across to the Governor, but then I get my price for it. Should I afterwards stretch forth my hand after my land, that would be wrong. I prove my allegiance to the Queen by parting with my lands. I give up my land to Queen Victoria, and to the Kings and Queens, her successors.”

Tohi Te Ueurangi: “Let the Queen be above all. I have nothing more to say.”

Most Chieftains (Ngapuhi included) echoed this thought – the Queen above all others.
New Zealand has become so politically correct that fiction is now more acceptable than the truth.

Mitch Morgan
Kaipara

7 Dec 2014

THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL 

As the initiator of the Waitangi Tribunal Sir Geoffrey Palmer has created a monster and done more damage to the social and economic structure of this country than can ever be imagined. I imagine as a lawyer he has probably benefited quite well from the process.

Over the last 50 years there has been Billions of Dollars provided specifically for Maori education, health, housing etc - this is apart from Treaty settlements and we have achieved nothing except more demands.

- Henry Phillips


THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL 

The Waitangi Tribunal should be disestablished as being of no relevance in today's New Zealand. It was an instrument for its time when all indigenous people were of 100% Maori blood. Today many so-called Maori are in reality Europeans with a smidgen of Maori blood. They can claim nothing as they are not true Maori.

In a legal sense Maori do not exist. I have this from no less a person than Pita Sharples.


The Tribunal is irrelevant in modern New Zealand.


- John Chant.

30 Nov 2014

GLOBAL WARMING ENIGMA

"Environmental Commissioner claims global warming will cause sea levels to rise 30cm by 2050."

If all of the ice on the planet was to melt would global sea levels go up or down?

Ice is frozen water. When water turns to ice its volume increases (occupies a greater space). When ice melts back to water the volume shrinks (occupies a smaller space).

The amount of ice on our planet that is above sea level at the polar icecap regions is possibly only 10% of that which lies beneath - and estimates indicate that Antarctic ice thickness extends 3 or 4 Kilometres down.

No matter whether these figures exaggerate or underestimate the exact ratio, it will be obvious that there is a vastly greater amount of ice below sea level than there is above it.

If the smaller percentage surface ice was to melt then there would naturally be a minor rise in sea levels – but (if global warming really is occurring) the 90% sub-surface ice would all eventually melt and sea levels would drop drastically as the ice liquefied and occupied considerably less space than it did in its frozen state.

I am no scientist and this theory may have overlooked some basic scientific principle that refutes the whole concept, so if anyone can enlighten me then I would be quite happy to be proven wrong. 

Shoot down my argument, please – otherwise you may have to walk a long way out to launch your boat.

Mitch Morgan
Kaipara
  
THE DANGER OF 1080

I am a resident of the Buller District on the West Coast of the South Island.

I have a major concern that all this blanket dropping of 1080 across this country, is eventually going to show up in our Dairy and Meat products.

Australia, some years ago, lost their export meat market to America, when Organochlorines showed up in their export meat.

This was due to Power companies pouring chemicals around power poles that were crossing farmland, to protect the poles from termites.

These chemicals entered the grass, and thence into the cattle.Thereby crippling the export of beef.

My concern is 1080 leaching into waterways, pastures, etc, and eventually, traces of the chemical will show up in our export products.

This will cripple our exports, and place this country’s reputation in jeopardy for a long time.

It is only a matter of time before this calamity occurs.

Barry Fischer,

Waimangaroa

21 Nov 2014

EXCESSIVE SPENDING – AUCKLAND COUNCIL

All Aucklanders will know of the extensive city-wide road works currently occurring throughout the city from the NW motorway upgrade to replacement of footpaths in concrete and replacement of kerbs and gutters. This comes with the Mayor flagging record rate increases.

Careful observation of the latter two items shows that even existing concrete footpaths are being replaced and the many perfectly satisfactory lengths of kerb and gutter are being replaced in an apparently blanket policy of replacement.

When it would be prudent to do only what is necessary, the opposite is happening. Another example is the road re-alignment in Orakei Road near the Orakei station to a near expressway standard for a local road that cannot result in higher speeds or much capacity increase all occurring at this tight budget time. I have seen the opposite happening in Mumbai with little preventative maintenance and a huge future cost to come.

I am suggesting a review of commitments so the costs are related to affordable funding. Perhaps this is too much to ask of a "Super-city" seeking to become one of the top Liveable Cities in the World. And with some success looking at the increase in migrants to NZ - most to Auckland. This is therefore another policy needing review so that Aucklanders can enjoy their city closer to how it once was with a future of fewer migrants and more affordable rates.

I will be interested to hear other readers’ views on this approach.

- Alan Todd

***

CHANGING THE FLAG

This whole flag changing business is a complete waste of time and money.

For a start the population should be asked if they want change first, not asked to select a different design which suggests that a flag change is a done deal.

Also there is absolutely no reason to change the flag. 

It is specially disgusting that the Prime Minister should even contemplate a change at this time with the centennial of WW1 commemorations being planned. 

I would suggest that it is a red herring to cover up some other agenda or John Key being the BIG MAN to be credited with a new flag.

- Terry