Two deaths, two women before the courts, but just one jail term (and a light one at that)

Alf is bothered by two reports from the courts today. He regards them as an invitation to women to do their menfolk a mischief with the reasonable expectation they won’t be too heavily punished, especially if they can come up with a good sob story.

In one case, the woman won’t be punished at all after being cleared of the manslaughter of a West Coast publican.

She was found guilty of hitting the publican, so there is no doubting there was an assault. The judge nevertheless discharged her.

There’s a common factor in these accidental falls and tumbles – so let’s pass a law to be rid of it

Dunno where we think we are going with Safety New Zealand Week, but Alf would not rule out demands from some loopy do-gooders for a ban on living in houses.

A ban on cushions would be a bit less extreme, or – even less intrusive – a ban on playing with cushions.

His expectations of demands for the Government to do something follow the Dom Post’s making a silly fuss about an accident suffered by a toddler four months ago.

The three-year-old and his father were throwing cushions at each when the toddler who was standing on the couch, slipped and fell.

Minister’s easy stance on fancy dress parties in prison should have given a clue to the truth about Crispin

Alf today is making a public declaration about his sexuality: he is not and never has been a poofter.

He does this in anticipation of being appointed – it’s an inevitability, really – to a ministerial post some day.

He wishes to avoid falling foul of constituency officials here in Eketahuna North, as has happened to one of the British government’s ministers.

According to The Telegraph, Senior Conservatives in Crispin Blunt’s constituency turned on the Tory prisons minister after he left his wife and declared he was homosexual.

McVicar could learn one thing from the boy racers – how to get there faster with his press statements

Alf is chuffed to be getting support from the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

The trust says drivers who kill while attempting to outrun police should be charged with murder.

This is what Alf had been saying, although he was given no credit for his oh-so-sensible thinking by the trust.

Sri Lanka can keep sending the stuff for a morning brew but boat people are another cup of tea

Alf has been left wondering about the intelligence of Sri Lankan boat people.

He recalls Rob Muldoon’s remark about New Zealanders emigrating to Australia – they were lifting the average IQs of both countries.

Many of those who left Sri Lanka to try to come to NZ in the past decade certainly would have been boosting the average IQ of their home country. They may well have lifted Australia’s average IQ, too, if they made it as far as that country and had been allowed to settle there (although the Aussies take a strong exception to dusky-skinned refugee-seekers and boat people and strongly resist their attempts to land).

Super City’s aspiring leaders learn a lesson in politics: promises are there to be broken

Alf is chuckling at news that Rodney Hide and Steven Joyce are in the gun for failing to consult Auckland mayors on unelected directors to run most of the Super City services.

The Herald is reporting that the Cabinet approved the directors of the seven CCOs this week and Mr Hide will announce them on Monday.

Manukau Mayor Len Brown is miffed.

Prison is the only place for hoons who kill innocent people while fleeing from the police

As a bloke with a few years on the clock, Alf is dismayed that young hooligans are killing off more mature members of our society while fleeing from the police.

The latest case happened last night.

Two elderly people were killed in a car crash during a police chase in Christchurch.

Christchurch, of course, is notorious for having raised a generation of lunatics known as boy racers.

The crash that killed the couple happened about 8.10pm in Fitzgerald Avenue, a notorious street for boy-racers and part of the city’s new anti-cruising zone.

Let’s ship Roger McClay to some other country to help make NZ more beautiful

Roger McClay has been let off lightly. Much too lightly.

Judge Jan Doogue sentenced him in the Auckland District Court yesterday to 300 hours of community work after he admitted three fraud charges.

She urged him to pick up litter or clean graffiti, saying that work would be appropriate given the goals of Keep New Zealand Beautiful, of which he had been the chairman.

Litter be buggered. McClay belongs in jail, and Alf suspects that’s where he would be headed if he was not a former member of Parliament and Minister of the Crown and if he had not been involved in charity work (while obviously believing that charity begins at home).

Actually, Alf would ship him off to some other country which would (a) be good riddance and (b) make a small contribution to making New Zealand more beautiful.

An MP called Tashkoff? Nyet, but they might have a bloke of that name in the Kremlin

The Herald isn’t as familiar as it should be with the make-up of Act’s gang of five in Parliament.

None of the gang – last time Alf looked – was named Pete Tashkoff.

So how come the Herald website today has a news headline: Act MP to contest Hide’s seat.

Then there’s a photo captioned: Act MP Peter Tashkoff.

The first para of their report says that Act MP Peter Tashkoff has announced he will contest party leader Rodney Hide for the seat of Epsom.

The people responsible for this bit of prose obviously are mathematically challenged.

Sharples and Black Power: forget about the drugs, it’s the tikanga that matters

Alf is disappointed but by no means surprised that Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples has been trying to spare a Black Power stronghold from demolition.

The gang might be a tad cavalier, in the law and order department, with a regrettable inclination to peddle drugs and what-have-you.

But hey, the Maori Party is unabashedly about promoting things Maori and there is bound to come a point where being Maori is more important than being law-abiding.

It happened – for example – with those blokes who roughed up the PM at Waitangi last year, and Hone Harawira proudly spoke on their behalf to tell us what splendid people they were and how we had to understand their grievances.