Saturday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse, but not abuse.
To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects & enhances the freedom of others – Nelson Mandela.
| Family failures | Th… on Family failures | |
 | Heather Adam on Family failures |
 | kevn on Taxing talk |
| Taxing talk | The In… on Taxing talk | |
 | pdm1946 on Taxing talk |
| Guinness goes well w… on Guinness goes well with l… |
Kiwi Blog Inquiring Mind No Minister PointOfOrderNZ Lindsay Mitchell Cactus Kate Valerie Davies Oamaru Life Karl du Fresne Stephen Franks Bassett Brash & Hide Not PC WHatSheSaidNZ No Punches Pulled Croaking Cassandra Barbar’s meaty issues Rivetting Kate Taylor Uptown Farm Barrie Saunders Quoteunquotenz Blog the Globe Armstrong on Politics Breaking Views Agrarian Offsetting Behaviour Autism & Oughtimsms visible hand Stats Chat Macdoctor NZ’s Got Talent interest.co.nz Bowalleyroad Dim Post Election results Story People Liberty Scott Open Parachute Sciblogs Liberation YourNZ Imperator Fish Life Behind the Iron Drape PM of NZ Something Should Go Here Pundit kiwipolitico Watching Brief Stellar Cafe Oamaru Opera House Keeping Stock Dave Gee life from right field Latitude 44
Homepaddock 
Disqualifying prisoners from voting is a disgusting thing for the John Key-led National Party to have done. It typifies the arrogant and dictatorial born-to-rule mindset that infests Key and the National Party ministers. I’m betting Mike Sabin will be found to be the poster-boy for that illness of mind.
LikeLike
There are English captions for this click CC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAQABuQUqMQ
LikeLike
Powerful and moving stuff Andrei
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8ZND55fXok
Check this video of a possible tactical nuke going off over there
I am so sick and tired of lame stream media journos not doing their jobs
LikeLike
Northland charter school on final notice
Education Minister Hekia Parata has given a troubled Northland charter school a month to sort itself out before she decides whether to close it.
“Has there ever been a case of a state school failing within a year?
As for the other charter schools – how can we even tell if they are working? They can hire unqualified teachers. They are not accountable the usual regualations, the New Zealand curriculum, the community, or to the National Standards framework / NCEA.
If there are successes, it comes at the cost of funding “as much as five times more than state schools” per pupil. What could state schools accomplish with the same levels of funding?”
Tremedous work, National!
The Governent is not accepting any new applications this year for Charter schools.
Wonder why?
LikeLike
It appears the censors are at work this morning and have deleted the youtube account
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0lpiKLX5RU
LikeLike
RG, or is it Wrongly Wrongson today?
Prisoners have been removed from society as a result of their criminal behaviour. Why should they have the right to vote?
Seems the MOE have had to take radical action over a failing public school: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11402627 One of your lot railing against National Standards as they showed he was failing his students.
Whereas we have a charter school, receiving less than the normal funding per student when capital costs are removed, achieving stunning results from students the system prefers to fail: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1502/S00065/huge-ncea-success-at-vanguard.htm
And before you start pushing more Green lies form the member for Mars have a look at this: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1412/S00009/vanguard-ceo-challenges-delahaunty.htm
LikeLike
That was a Tochka missile hitting a chemical plant in Donetsk a couple of weeks ago, r1016132nzblogger.
The Donbass basin was the richest region of Ukraine and the game plan by the architects of this mess has been to destroy its industrial infrastructure.
LikeLike
Oh dear!
“Education Minister Hekia Parata ignored advice from her ministry and signed off on a Northland charter school that has been plagued with problems since opening last year.
It can be revealed that Parata received a glowing reference from the charter school authorisation board regarding Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru and signed a contract with the school’s sponsor in September 2013.
That was despite ministry concerns the Whangaruru school had not outlined a “safe environment” for students and had not spoken with local iwi about their plans.
Since the school opened, the Education Review Office has identified a number of problems with the quality of teaching, learning, management, leadership and student engagement.”
Oh dear, oh dear!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/66373660/Hekia-Parata-discounted-concerns-on-Northland-charter-school
LikeLike
“Prisoners have been removed from society as a result of their criminal behaviour. Why should they have the right to vote?”
Why should they lose their right to vote, Paranormal?u
They have not become “non-citizens”. They still exists. They are still alive. Why shouldn’t they enjoy the right to vote?? Why, why? Why?
LikeLike
“The school, on a farm 65km northwest of Whangarei, was one of five chosen from the first round of charter school applications but by the time its first year drew to a close it had already lost a quarter of its students.”
Good grief!
LikeLike
Sustainable dairy farming?…yes there is one Greenie farmer trying to do it…and leading the way
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife
http://milkingonthemoove.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/the-mobile-milking-system.html
LikeLike
http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/hypocrisy-rules-loving-environment
gee, Wayne Brown isn’t too happy.
LikeLike
Right-winger Wayne Brown has never been happy. Wouldn’t know “happy” if it lighted upon his shoulder like a butterfly.
LikeLike
so I take it that Wayne is wrong bOb?
LikeLike
RG,society has chosen to remove criminals’ rights as a result of their offending, i.e. the criminals offending against other individuals rights. Why should they retain the right to vote after losing their right to freedom?
LikeLike
there is only one reason why anyone would want our criminals in jail to have the right to vote, and that is because they know the majority would vote for “their side”
LikeLike
Jabba@5:42 – do you? Okay.
Paranormal – wrong, “society” hasn’t “chosen to remove criminals’ rights” to vote, the John Key-led National Government did.
I’m surprised you are so ill informed on the issue.
There is no reason for voting rights to be stripped from criminals. I’ve asked you to supply a reason that justifies it but all you’ve said is ‘coz they’re criminals. That’s non-argument. Try to come up with a reason, Paranormal.
LikeLike
Jabba’s explanation @6:58 is so low-brow you could trim it with a lawnmower.
LikeLike
bOb. You must be the smartest person on the planet, based on your postings, SO please let us all know who do you think these aresholes would vote for?
LikeLike
Every able man and woman in New Zealand should be free to vote for whomsoever they please, Jabba. There’s no way I could predict who they would choose to support. Probably not ACT.
LikeLike
How utterly absurd! If you are in prison, it is because you have broken the law. Pretty badly. And now you want a say on who gets to make the law? No way, you’ve forfeited that right, at least ’til you’ve done your time.
LikeLike
your “answer” is as I expected bOb. Your former party and the other Left parties need our criminals to have voting rights. Mind you, your former party, and Labour, got spanked to the extent you would have needed more votes than available from our prisons.
Thank goodness for Nicky Hagar and Kimy DC.
LikeLike
Well there you go RG proving how uninformed you are. The Nats haven’t “stripped voting rights from criminals”, they’ve just made the law consistent in that all prisoners are now treated the same in not having the right to vote. Or weren’t you aware that before the law change prisoners with sentences longer than 3 years were unable to vote?
Is it the ‘removal of rights’ you’re concerned about or is it more to do with the Nats have done something. It looks like your KDS is coming to the fore again.
And yes actually, criminals that have offended against society having their rights removed is a valid argument. It has to do with the whole punishment / deterrent thing that prison is about. Or, surprise surprise, do you think there should be something different?
LikeLike
A prisoners loss of freedom to be in the community is understandable. That’s for the protection of the community.
The loss of a prisoner’s rights to communicate through electronic media is understandable. Crimes could be arranged, people intimidated etc.
The loss of a prisoner’s voting rights has no reasonable explanation other than “it’s punitive”. There is no justification for it. Saying “they have forfeited their right” explains nothing. Their right has been taken away from them. Why?
LikeLike