Monday, August 28, 2006

Baches and Steppenwolf

Rather unexpectedly new life has been breathed into the Taito Philip Field business with a new 'witness' revealing (or not as it turned out) new 'evidence' on TV last night behind the cloak of an actress - how silly does this way of revealing things look? If played properly all this should end up with the gent from Mangere getting his come uppance but the portents are not good. If recent history is anything to go by National will drop the ball and the government will dot down under the bar at the other end for a fourteen pointer. O me miserum.
The Mayor of Rodney is telling DoC to indulge in sex and travel over the seven mini baches on the coast between Omaha and Leigh (remember these came to minor prominence a month or so back). Never one to laud the praises of any one in council under normal circumsatnces but on this occasion I'm inclined to shout from the bache tops 'Go the Mayor. You little beauty' DoC or OSH, who is the most odious of them all? Dunno, but OSH is making a strong run on the inside with my hearing an as yet to be substantiated rumour whilst spoiling a good walk at the weekend. It is rumoured that every branch on every tree that is six feet and under from ground level at the North Shore Golf Club (and I would assume every other golf club in the land) has to be removed as it represents a hazard to players. That this is patently absurd and also patenetly impractical (imagine what a seven foot tree is going to end up looking like) unfortunately does nothing to bring the veracity of this rumour into doubt. We are barking letting these wallies get away with this - if it is true. We are barking letting them get away with most of the other stuff they get away with even if it is not.
Back to the Herald. A very informative piece on the inside of the back cover giving some background to NZ's Bill of Rights which is old enough to have sex today. I always thought that Cullen was a bumbling oaf. I was very wrong. His insights into the dark art of left wing politics are very well honed indeed. I didn't realise that our Bill of Rights is really a Claytons one and that it's progenitor, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, saw it somewhat lobotomised at inception. The arguments as to why we a have a watered down version and what might happen if we had the full strength version are fascinating and at the root of this is something I keep banging on about, namely the total separation of the executive and judicial arms of government. This is all further complicated by the fact that we have a single chamber Parliament. Cullen says we need no further beefing up of the Bill as the great unwashed would prefer to let the final arbiter be the elected representatives and not an appointed judiciary. Well he would say that, wouldn't he? It all depends of course of the calibre of the elected representatives (not forgetting we have no upper house as a safeguard) and who gets appointed onto a Supreme Court. People have called NZ's Parliament a legislators paradise as they can effectively do what ever they like. I have seen no evidence in the last few years to refute this. Also quoted is what you may want to avoid, the system as run by the US where the Supreme Court is so politicised it's not funny. Apparently Canada has it just right - I'll go and have a snoop. And all along I thought the only good thing to come out of Canada was Steppenwolf.

No comments: