very large, very calm hampster

How large? The size of a dog? Horse? Tell me what you'd been smoking & why you live in a 40ft bamboo bush with windows?

I think you'll find that Agent Riddley is My Minion

Humble apologies Great Wahoonie, I was merely pointing out to Agent Riddley that the way of the Parsnip and assorted vegetabicular delights was open to him.
Since I has assumed that minions were a type of small onion I felt…

When you can take the swede from my hand, you may go.

Ahem, I think you'll find that Agent Riddley is My Minion and a very naughty one at that. However wasn't Kung Foo great...
When you can snatch the pebble from my hand Grasshopper, you may leave the monastery.…

there comes a time when each and every one of us needs to stand up and say "eek. a mouse".

Get up, stand up.
Aye young Riddley, you see the inherent twoness of the Swedish MEATball being derived from a pale root vegetable.
When you can take the swede from…

and this is how the story was originally reported/spun

the electricity pouring forth with the rain!

and the cry from on high!

IT'S ALIVE!!! ...allegedly.

Tell us about one's swedish neighbour!

some things are best only hinted at.

such as... what sir cliff did to me backstage.

shame... spiced with delight, secrecy and ardour.

so... so... sweet.

"make me the falling water!" he cried... allegedly.

i am chi.

You are a sweet but not unpleasant carbonated mineral water, flavoured with honey and kiwifruit and fortified with several Chinese herbs.

You are a key ingredient in New Zealand's greatest homegrown cocktail, the Falling Water.

Furthermore, you were once chosen as the backstage drink, from a selection…

and lo! the lord did say, 80% of the public don't understand this much, but you chi shall! because you are a lifeforce different to 'the force' which was a poor attempt to characterise the holy ghost.

Tell us about one's swedish neighbour!

i'm obviously confusing my footware with my footloose.

everybody git. everybody git. footloose.

i am the lifeforce that flows between one's cat and one's swedish neighbour.

i am a bit like the "the force", but have been spoken of by the chinese for generations and we don't like those chinese much, which is kind of why g.lucas made those [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Federation|trade…

Nobody Important, so I assume you would consider Sue Bradford was always blameless like the Timaru Lady? Would you consider spitting in a police officer's face self defense?

I would consider it self defence if I was spitting at a Policeman coming towards me in a threatening manner whilst both…

Does a 39 week fetus have a right to life or is it up to the mother to decide whether she wants the baby born alive or would rather have a late term abortion?

You'd need a reliable pre-natal test to determine whether the foetus in question would grow up…

sorry chuck, but that is simply absurd

Chi, I am sure you mean in your humble opinion that my view and that of 80% of the public is absurd. I am not talking about the right to hogtie or use a riding crop on anyone.

In your view what is…

Children should not have the same rights as adults any more than they should have the same responsibilities.

sorry chuck, but that is simply absurd. someone's age should not be a barrier to the application of rights, or the protection of the law.

i agree that some responsibilities are best…

Please explain. Are you trying to say it is a criminal offense to smack a disobedient dog. If so, quote the act.

Children should not have the same rights as adults

Should that be, Children should not have the same rights as the family pet.

while we are on the topic – North & South may heve redeemed itself this issue. Check out the Jenny Chamberlain article.

So are you using Vulcan Mind Weld or Jedi Mind Tricks, serious investigators need to know and Murray wants some more.

It might have been the Vulcan Mind Meld I had later at Mighty Mighty.

Is you cat really called Canaille?

We don't talk about Agent Canaille.

Oh, and Sweden…

if the Wellingtonista couldn't get that information out of me with the use of a maitai served in a pineapple

hmmm... what about TWO MAITAI IN TWO PINEAPPLES!!

mua, mua, muahahahahaahahaha!!!

PS. don't forget to give those boys of yours a good slap before bedtime, helps them sleep real good,…

The main issue should be should good parents be penalized by the actions of a handful?. I am talking single digits who…

Sweden is evil …

I must admit, the vision I had was of Russell exiled from Aotearoa and forced to seek the sanctuary and protection of the Swedes, specifically 6 foot blond Swedish volleyball players of the female variety, hence the reference to a nunnery.

I would be up for…

sorry russell, until we have incontrovertable proof that you are not a mind-control pawn of the labour government we will no longer believe you.

Che, if the Wellingtonista couldn't get that information out of me with the use of a maitai served in a pineapple (banned under the Geneva Conventions,…

Is Bradford as violent a person as she is because she received the odd smack as a child or would she be worse if she never received a smack as all?

Arrrr, 'twas the coppers that made her that way. All them billy clubs on her noggin, when all she…

so, to help you out, i did a little search.

it produced this picture of a man who looks alarmingly like you, wearing a tinfoil hat.…

Is "move to Sweden" the modern day equivalent of get thee to a nunnery?

You misunderstand. Sweden, because of its high rate of family intervention, is officially the Dark Kingdom. Its first-in-the-world performance on "Health and Safety", and "Behaviours and Risks" in this year's UNICEF Innocenti Report on Child Well-Being…

Oh and FYI Russell ...

Thanks. I left a comment.

I continue to be amazed at the loyalty this woman commands.

Dave's a nice enough guy, but I would have thought he'd have left the cult after considering the stark differences in the story she told him about the incident…

http://big-news.blogspot.com/2007/04/riding-crop-mother-has-her-day-in-court.html

Comments are also worth a read

Who needs a bill for that, she just says, "I dunno who it was"

Dad4Justice, it's not that we don't care for what you say, but it's the way you say it.

Yes that was what I was going to say.
Trying to throw as many big words into a sentence as you can comes of as a big pretentious wank.
People either get…

Millwall, Millwall,
You're really awful,
And all your girlfriends
are unfulfilled and alienated.

Well – I guess you had to be there.

Some of you need a good laugh.

Hillary is unpopular with one group of voters – men between the ages…

So be it and while many an astute and gracious scholar, citizen and patriot may calmly present via clear articulation with credible citation, reference and otherwise; clever crafters seem ever continual in effort for cover by self-manufactured hallmarks as though of PC acceptable (not) practices.

Dad4Justice, it's not that we…

http://tinyurl.com/4yx2z

Goodnight and don't let the bed bugs bite .

the distinctive fetid smell of a shipwreck of fools trapped in a morass of morals ?

you should be writing all this stuff down somewhere for posterity.

tomorrow morning.

1. eat something to get over hangover
2. go buy notebook
3. speak to people in shop a bit, maybe see…

Forget the art…

and yes. some art therapy might be in order for some.

THEATRE!

You might be on to something there.
Diverting resources from, say, the family court into Creative NZ grants for some of the more flamboyant interested parties in the whole sorry thrashing saga mightn't be a bad thing.

THEATRE!

ARTS GRANT!

"It is easy to think the State has a lot of different
objects —
military, political, economic, and what not.
But in a way things are much simpler than that.
The State exists simply…

And and by the way Russell I do agree – a court day is depressing, as you the tax -payer of the state have paid for me to enter the doors over 150 times since family estrangement , what's a couple million dollars eh ?

I've been personally involved in…

therefore section 59 should be repealed. Brilliant argument – point out the most extreme elements and use that as your argument in support of your view.

Not what I said. But this video was uploaded by Rynso as the latest in a series of pro-Section 59 campaign videos, on the…

The White Elephant must adhere…

The Marriage Amendent Bill clearly states that a women can keep the birth father from the birth certificate.

interesting. i didn't know that.

are they able to have the birth father removed from the certificate after it has been issued?

I am not in favour of hog-tying children , however I am not impressed with the…

they want them taken off the birth certificate

i'm not sure that's even possible.

Easy to see who is parent and who is not on this sneering put down thread

i take that to mean you're in favour of hog-tying and beating children? yes? no?

Perhaps if the kid didn't break his moms nose he wouldn't have got such a hiding.

Good grief ...

Why don't the MSM question why this kid wasn't prosecuted for assault with intent to injure if they really wanted to do their job properly?

Presumably because they haven't yet signed…

Bravo to her son. If more vicious bullies got a taste of their own medicine, they might be a little more restrained.

Er, no actually. It seems clear enough that this family's problems lie in the use of violence to solve disputes. The fact that the boys learned that from…

Actually, if you were a woman and had just had your nose broken by a male much bigger than yourself, let alone the spitting blood etc I'm sure you would have "stood by" when that same person was attacked by another – I doubt you would have intervened either.

I'll…

I can understand the frustration (on both sides,…

But whatever – the circumstances of the case are horrifying. The eye witness accounts are horrifying. Watching the video, the woman is saying that she's had no choice to do the things she's done – that all her…

OH and Peter, how on earth can the Parents maintain a S59 defence – the guys not a child. Great defence for repealing S59 you have there.

Yeah, I'm sure their mentality would have been completely different when the kid was 15. Give me a break. Besides which it…

At the moment though I have reason to believe that some serious abusers feel that what they are doing is 'reasonable force' (because of their particular circumstance). Clearly they're wrong.

Maybe it's incredibly naive to think that 'sending a message' would really make any difference to…

There are defences to assualt – self-defence comes immediately to mind – and much as I despise Judge Philip Connell for doing so, as current law stands it was a proper exercise of his powers to discharge Sitiveni Sivivatu without conviction.

I just think that of all the arguments…

Ok, you have my vote.

Kiwiblog is equally eligable, were it not for the lowest common denominator participants which continue to drag things down without…

Well, if the 'wife beating shit bag' was telling himself that what he was doing was okay because there was a law saying he was allowed to use reasonable force on his wife, then I could see the parallel.

But to extend your logic, you're saying if we…

And Craig is right – settling 'domestics' (hate that innocuous name) by fists is illegal. They should have convicted him.

Excuse me? Personally, I'm a damn sight more outraged…

Well, for one thing, the teen doesn't have a legal defence of reasonable force that the parents seem to be maintaining they have. Which ought to be a the perfect example of why s59 should be repealed. It's a very strong argument against the many people who claimed that…

Hey , the parents may be disastrous parents for all I know, especially the step father ( there, Ive said it... happy?) I blame CYFS, actually.They were bringing up this kid.

You blame CYFS? Look, forget it. I'm just plain appalled now.

Please refer to your own relay of the…

Tony, I…

Russell has criticised the actions of both parents, but not the teenager. Why?

Because one party is a child and the other two are adults who are expected by society to be able to resolve disputes without resorting to assault on a minor. Because I am not inclined to accept…

what was most probably political and CYF pressures after the boy got his warning

and the…

What Russell hasn't mentioned in his blog post

dave, Russell linked to the story in his first paragraph, which outlined what the teenager had done also.

Please don't tell me you think the teenager deserved this violent treatment from his parent and guardian. That would be an obscene implication.

I…

This 'horse-whip' lady is just a plain tragedy.

" Andrew S, there is rather a lot on this in these PA threads if you'd like to read through them here, and here are good places to start. But in short, the s59 bill doesn't impact on the likelihood of whether parents will be prosecuted, it just…

The proof that no-one actually cared to watch him, and…

Spurs and the NZ cricket team

When you come from crusader's territory. They help you keep your perspective. he he he

Don't tell me you also follow the Warriors?

Na, they are an Auckland team and can't stand league.
Besides there is only so much disappointment one can handle and keep ones sanity. lol

Indeed the situation is the same as being drunk in a public place, which is technically illegal. You could walk down Queen street on a Saturday night and report all the drunks you saw, the police would be obliged to "investigate: but I'm pretty sure no-one would get…

No Right Turn, defending the Labour Government’s progress on climate change against the Herald’s editorial says ‘But we live in a democracy, not a dictatorship, and so these things…

for sure, and he was one of Shook's most dedicated disciples. here's more on the guy, try looking at some of his publications some time and it'll…

In fact (as I understand it) the law will still permit reasonable force as an argument in some instances (e.g. when the child's behaviour is a danger to itself or others), just not for the purposes of "correction".

I agree, this from the Herald,

The judge told her she went…

My fav is My Side bias

me too, because my side isn't biased ;-)

Hopefully he'll now stop depicting these people as victims of their terrible children and think a bit harder about the violence in this family.

Well, if they are terrible, it's not hard to see how they got that way.

You are so right about Ralston.

Actually, one thing Russell missed…

Andrew S, there is rather a lot on this in these PA threads if you'd like…

Also have a feeling that they will promote the scoop story that Russell linked to. Try and cloud people into seeing the parents as victims of a volent child, who anti-smackers are going after.

They can try (and the strained rationalisations seem to be rolling in already), but the account…

Yes to the first, the decision on it being prosecuted will be up the Police.

Indeed the situation is the same as being drunk in a public place, which is technically illegal. You…

i guess he just wanted to show that he cared about them

You know there was excruciating irony hearing Bill Ralston on Morning Report this morning hold TVNZ up as some kind of gold standard in news and current affairs. Anyone who has…

What depresses me is that the best chance this case has of helping Bradford's bill is if the mother and husband are aquitted.

Yes that was my first thought. If the parents are found quilty, then the pro-smacking brigade will simple argue that the law as it stands works, so…

"There were reporters crying. It's incredibly unsettling....[NZ Herald]

It's unsettling to think of reporters crying. How can we believe they're giving us the hard facts if they're really such softies at heart? But I digress ...

So you were present when the Private Equity Groups scoped out Radio Live? Did…

I wonder where he learned that hitting people and using objects to hit people is an effective way to get what he wants...

I'm guessing it wasn't on the web.

But these people strike me as being unfit parents. Very glad there was a witness this time, and I hope his biological dad is able to give him a safe…

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2005/11/why_does_she_still_have_her_ki.html#comments

Looks like you'll have to cut n paste, I'm computer illiterate. Also, I tell a lie about which post I was reading – it was the one about the mother who had recently lost her partner (I think from memory) who drove drunk with her…

I wonder where he learned that hitting people and using objects to hit people is an effective way to get what he wants...