Expelled boy’s champions should avoid pleading special needs while trying to get him back to school

Alf wishes good luck to the school that is going to court to fight to keep a child with Asperger’s “out of the classroom”.

He is not too sure, however, that the school’s aims have been accurately reported by the Herald on Sunday.

The school authorities probably are hoping to keep the child (if that’s the right word) out of their  classrooms and not necessarily out of all classrooms.

The student in question did get involved in a scuffle with a teacher, after all, and the school board should have the welfare of teachers in mind as well as that of the kids.

But inevitably outfits like the Human Rights Commission will have other ideas and it seems we have appointed some bloke to be a Disabilities Commissioner at some time and he wants a slice of the judicial action too.

We can be sure he doesn’t much intend to ensure teachers aren’t mauled by the brats in their charge if the brats suffer from any form of disability .

Greenie gathers a gaggle of MPs to promote equality – ha! – in a world where folk are obviously unequal

So how will the bloody law put these blokes on an equal footing?

Alf gave a momentary thought to joining one of those cross-party working group that do-gooders are apt to set up.

This one is being established to look at and advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

All MPs have been sent an email telling them of the opportunity to join.

But Alf quickly recognised his application to sign up would be declined because he would want to add a few more rights to the list.

The right to discriminate, for starters.

And the right to be left alone by the state when you do something as a matter of conscience or belief.

He’s not too fond of having to work with Greens and lefties, anyway, which tends to be one of the requirements of joining cross-party working groups.

This one has been initiated by Green Party MP Jan Logie.

At the last count, it includes 12 members from her party, National, Labour, New Zealand First and Act.

The Maori Party is somewhat noticeably absent.

The trouble with never giving offence is that we must be hugely respectful – even to Morris dancers

Alf was drawn today to an article by one Joanna Norris, chair of the New Zealand Media Freedom Committee and editor of the Press.

Her subject was freedom of expression and the things that threaten it.

She discussed freedom of expression in terms Alf thoroughly supports.

At its very simplest, freedom of expression gives people the right to express themselves in a manner of their choosing. Whether you want to write a letter to an editor, write a column, dance in a park, or even burn a flag, your freedom to express yourself is protected by law (unless your flag burning results in public disorder).

The Bill of Rights Act gives New Zealanders these rights. Specifically it says this: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.” There are of course limits, for example your right to express yourself must not result in a crime, but generally our courts have erred towards freedom of expression when balancing competing principles.

But from time to time, Norris went on, issues arise that quietly threaten the rights of New Zealanders to express themselves.

Raising human rights stuff has a time and a place and The Boss is right to put trade matters first

And it seriously reduces the incidence of hitting the wrong target that you get from those bloody drones…

The Boss has his priorities right,

He has defended his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia and said a free trade agreement with the Kingdom will allow the two parties to talk about a ‘range of issues’ including human rights abuses.

He’s the first Prime Minister to visit Saudi Arabia but there are some sad-sack grouchers in this country who reckon he shouldn’t go because of the country’s human rights abuses, including beheadings.

It so happens Alf does not regard a beheading as a human rights abuse. It’s simply a means of execution and there are some bastards who thoroughly deserve be dispatched from the land of the living.

Should rescuers listen to Blue and not touch people without their OK – or would that be a big blue?

These ladies would get no complaint from Alf, if they manhandled him without his permission.

Oh, Gawd.

Bloody Jackie Blue is banging on again, obviously abandoning her National Party loyalties for the moment.

She has been prompted to add to the outpouring of feminist condemnation of The Boss over that pony tail stuff.

And what does she know about it?

Not much, as she acknowledges:

Crumbs – bakers learn the hard way that when gays want something, the law will give it to them

Maurice Williamson, a splendid fellow in many respects, got offside with the Grumbles on the matter of gay marriage.

During the debate on that subject he set out his opinions in an article in the Howick and Pakuranga Times.

The general flavour from those opposed is the world is about to fall apart if the Marriage Amendment Bill is passed.

Some think its passing will somehow devalue their marriage. I can tell you this now – it won’t.

I’ve had a Catholic priest advocating that I’m supporting something that’s so unnatural – interesting from one who has vowed to be celibate for his entire life.

In the mid 1980s, people claimed the same thing of the homosexual law reform.

At that time some of the most ghastly outcomes were prophesied. Fortunately, none of those outrageous consequences came to pass.

Fast forward to 2013 and some of the rhetoric being bandied around now about the Marriage Amendment Bill is simply absurd.

Let’s boil the Bill down to its simplest form – it will allow consenting gay couples to get married.

You would think from the way some people are carrying on that politicians are trying to make gay marriage compulsory for everyone. We’re not.

Spare a thought for the hard-working Grumbles, if you plan to celebrate this women’s day nonsense

Not for the first time, the Council of Trade Unions has over-gilded its lily.

It has put out a press statement to say: 

On Sunday woman all over the globe will be marking international women’s day. The International Trade Union movement’s theme for the day is ‘Count us in’.

And then:

“On International Women’s Day we celebrate all women workers – those in paid and unpaid work. We honour working women heroes who have stood out as champions for women’s rights at work. We celebrate Kristine Barlett and the many thousands of caregivers who are at the forefront of the historic struggle for equal pay In New Zealand,” CTU Women’s Committee Co-convenor, Sheryl Cadman, said.

With regard to the first sentence, which woman all over the globe are they talking about?

Or – surely not – did they mean “women”?

If that be so, let’s be clear: many women all over the globe may well mark the occasion. But not all.

Mrs Grumble is among those who won’t be bothering.

Magistrate will be put straight – so to speak – about his Christian thinking on families and gays

Nowadays we send our heretics to an equality course.

The Brits had us believing they are strongly in support of democratic freedoms – such as freedom of expression – after the recent murders of several members of a satirical magazine’s staff in Paris.

They were banging on about the rights of the magazine’s writers and cartoonists to PUBLICLY mock Muslims and their religion.

But a magistrate in Britain has been disciplined for PRIVATELY expressing his view that children should be raised by a traditional family – one with a mother and mother – rather than by one of these modern arrangements whereby a gay couple can marry and raise kids.

It so happens Alf shares the magistrate’s view on this matter.

He therefore understands why the magistrate was shocked when he learned he had been reported to the judges’ watchdog in the United Kingdom for alleged prejudice and was suspended from sitting on family court cases.

We should wonder what Louisa Wall makes of a Kiwi bloke’s run-in with Myanmar officials

Be careful, if you want to use this bloke in your marketing campaign.

Betcha the authorities in Myanmar are fair trembling, after Amnesty International stuck its nose into the matter of the New Zealand bloke and two Myanmar men who have been accused of insulting Buddhism.

The hapless Kiwi is one Philip Blackwood, 32, who has appeared before a Myanmar court after using an image of the Buddha to promote a cheap booze night at the bar he managed.

According to this Radio NZ report:

Oh, no – it’s Cho who goes in a world where the relationship between boss and staff has gone nuts

The sorry sight of a boss who is being harshly treated.

Alf is bound to say he has some sympathy for the Korean Air sheila who has been excoriated around the world simply for demanding better service than she was given.

Correction: he has heaps of sympathy for her.

The Daily Mail is among the newspapers rejoicing at pictures showing her bowing her head in shame after making a grovelling apology for exploding with rage after her snack was served in a bag.

Dammit, when she blew a fuse she wasn’t flying down the back of the airliner with hoi-polloi who would appreciate being tossed a bag of nuts.

Nah. She was flying in the first-class bit with the posh passengers.

She was the chairman’s daughter.

And she was in charge of in-flight service.