Andrew’s political career is over, they say, but he ran out of luck when he fell to No 13 on the list

So Andy is in for the chop?

Alf has been delighting today in the NZ Herald’s recollections of the ups and downs of a certain Andrew Williams.

The latest news is that New Zealand First looks likely to dump him because he antagonised its hierarchy by publicly complaining about his demotion in the party’s draft list.

It was news to Alf, of course, that the party has a hierarchy.

He thought it had one chief, Winston Peters, and a few Indians. But not much, organisationally, in between.

It was not news that Williams’ political career is in trouble. He had stuck his neck out and…

Brits will throw the book at you (but not The Good Book, presumably) if you bully people by praying

Get caught doing this in Britain and guess what? You might be branded a bully.

Steer well clear of Britain, if you happen to be a Christian.

Doing some of the things that good Christians are supposed to do could land you in big trouble.

Praying to The Almnighty, for example.

Or inviting people to a church event.

Alf draws attention to the monstrous case of Victoria Wasteney, an occupational therapist, who has been condemned for inviting another woman – who happened to be a Muslim, but that should be neither here nor there – to a sports day at her church.

A disciplinary hearing has found her guilty of a further count of misconduct. Yep. The hapless Miss Wasteney offended by lending the colleague a book about a Muslim woman who converts to Christianity.

Now she is being denied basic liberties that the British Government has gone to war to uphold.

Take away the school playground rules and look what happens – the kids are smarter and happier

Here’s another “hurrah” post from National’s branch HQ in Eketanuna North.

It is a big hurrah of approval for happenings in Auckland, a city which Alf generally recommends is best avoided.

But obviously some good things go on in Auckland.

Whale Oil is based there, for example, which means his mighty blog is brought to us each day from that city.

We have learned today of another good thing happening in Auckland – the ripping up of the playground rulebook at one of its schools.

The consequence is to affirm what Alf has long believed.

Don’t crack down too hard on school bullies – they could grow up to become the country’s leader

It looks like Australia has opened another gap on us.

But in more than one respect the matter at issue is not quite as the NZ Herald headline suggested.

It says “Kiwi schools falling behind in bullying”.

Alf was taken aback: does this mean other countries are better at bullying than we are?

And if so, is that bad for us – or good for us, in these namby-pamby times when poofs are getting married and brats who beat up their teachers are dealt with leniently but teachers who dish out a bit of corporal punishment are sacked?

But the bloody heading is misleading.

For starters, we are not falling behind with our bullying.

We are falling behind with measures in schools to combat bullying.

Ombudsman canes the school that surrendered its authority to a gang of six bullies

Here's how to restore authority to schools.

It looks like wimpy staff at Hutt Valley High School let six bullying brats run the show a few years back and terrorise other kids.

An Ombudsmen’s Office report – Stuff says today – reveals “chilling details of systemic violence at the school, intimidation and abuse”.

It also dossiers a history of failure to punish culprits or acknowledge the seriousness of their crimes.

Alf is tempted to wonder how many staff could be mustered to combat the trouble generated by – how many louts were running amok?

Oh, yes. Six.

And if the staff were losing the battle, what stopped them dialling 111???

We may muse on these matters on the strength of the aforementioned Ombudsman’s Office report, that says pupils at the school were subjected to torture, extreme violence and sexual abuse.

Danielle has given us plenty of good reasons to stay clear of Kawerau

In Kawerau, ladies, you are regarded as an ugly kid even if you grow up looking like this...

Alf wonders if it has something to do with the world view of people who live in Kawerau.

They see ugliness where others see something very different.

Whatever it might be, New Zealand’s Next Top Model winner, Danielle Hayes, today tells how she was bashed by bullies and branded “ugly” in her home town.

Ugly?

Alf’s world view was shaped in Eketahuna and he sees things differently.

The TV show’s judges presumably see things Alf’s way, too, because they have described Hayes as “the face of the future”.