The media has reported on a number of occasions the crisis unfolding in the water network in New Zealand. Various parts of the country are struggling with ancient pipes, leaks (most notably in Wellington) and catastrophic failures. The cost to upgrade the water network is well into the billions. The
The 1960 US presidential race was interesting for various reasons. On the Democratic Party side the race to become its presidential candidate was characterised by a couple of hard-fought primary elections between John Kennedy and a man called Hubert Humphrey (basically forgotten by history these days) but the other main
One of the embarrassing attributes of left-wingers the world over is this habit of pretending not only that the modern day is some Dickensian novel come to life but also that they are warriors of some sort fighting a battle. The implication (presumably) is that you’re supposed to be
One of the criticisms made of Mott the Hoople albums is the mixing that was undertaken after they were recorded. Back then it was a requirement to keep production ‘thin’ for radio and not to overdo things. The radio industry – particularly in America – made that very clear to musicians. When
One of the oft-repeated claims by the Maori party and its seemingly deranged leader, along with many other “professional Maoris” scamming vast sums of other people’s money, is that Maoris never ceded sovereignty to the Crown. This bizarre notion is great politics for the Maori party; it stirs up
Paul Holmes once said the main quality for being a journalist was ‘to have lived’. By this he meant that you should have been around the block a couple of times, experienced highs and lows in life and struggled at something and come through the other side in one piece:
Forty years ago, almost to the day, we moved to Southland where we spent several pleasant years I remember very fondly. In those days the local newspaper The Southland Times, along with the two radio stations, took an editorial stance that reflected the general viewpoint of their audience. This was
I’ve always been a bit dubious about working-class people. You know whom I mean; those who are always getting drunk and having children; always deceitful and engaging in criminal activities; scamming the welfare system; selling their souls to junk. Even worse is the widespread, bizarre viewpoint that not only
October 1980. The National party loses a by-election in East Coast Bays to the Social Credit party. It takes a very special kind of candidate to manage such a feat, but it happened. In the aftermath Deputy Prime Minister Brian Talboys made it known he’d accept the job of
Consider the following, dear reader; you’re engaged to a very rich yet perverse man; you’re desperately unhappy and you’re sailing on an ocean liner. Along comes a young fellow who befriends you. He teases the richest man in America, charms numerous other super rich people, and gets
NOTE: I’m not “serious” about Waitangi. I am simply making a point about the reaction of crybabies. One of the universal attributes of left-wingers in New Zealand is despising New Zealand along with the capitalist economic system. This however throws up a tidal wave of hypocrisy by these same
Over the last century there has been a constant campaign by left-wingers and academics to undermine Western civilisation. The system which has provided them with so much is the one thing they despise. This has been done in a variety of ways, but always reached a predictable stumbling block of
In recent times there has been a lot of talk in the media and elsewhere – actually it is just in the media and Labour Party circles – trying to paint the new Government as somehow “racist”. So let us analyse that to see if there is anything in it: something which
If there was one left-wing politician I’ve always had a lot of respect for it was Roy Jenkins. He was a UK Labour MP, albeit on the right wing of the party, a cabinet minister in the Wilson Governments; Home Secretary, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was then
I am sure there are many people on the BFD and elsewhere who don’t truly believe me when I tell them that the left wing – the Labour party – has basically been a con game. Many probably, having spent their lives ‘swallowing it whole’ (and proving my point), secretly think
Sunday the 3rd was interesting for several reasons. When I wrote this, the four dumbest criminals in New Zealand had just ram raided a bakery and vape stores in east Auckland. You may think there is nothing particularly unusual about that in the rubble of a welfare-sated socialist society, but
