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Something you just don't say

"Never mind, it's only a game."

This is why we have Section 123 of the Crimes Act.
 

Old people have no future

Old people have no future - at least, no future as participants in the forums at United Future's new website. You see, you have to login to post a comment, and to register you have to provide your date of birth... and the possible birth years only go back as far as 1940. So, if you're 69 you can't Have Your Say or comment on Peter's Position.

There's some irony in this, given that "the aim of United Future's seniors policy is to continue the full involvement of people 65+ in society."

Never mind. I'm sure that this is just one of those teething problems that always come with new websites. But, hey, if you're not too old now would be a great time to register, seeing as how reading and agreeing to the Terms of Use commits you to nothing.
 

Trained circus seals

What is it with right-wingers and their fetish for trained circus seals?

Popular among right-wingers is the following proposed solution to the problem of welfare abuse: make welfare beneficiaries jump through hoops. Exactly which hoops it's thought welfare beneficiaries should jump through depends on the right-winger making the proposal. What particularly irks me is the suggestion put forward here.

Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare cheque because I have to pass one to earn it for them??

Please understand – I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet.

I do on the other hand have a problem with helping someone sit on their arse drinking piss & smoking dope all day.

Surely, paying people to sit on their arses drinking piss and smoking dope all day is one of the better uses of government money. But I digress. There is an obvious problem with the proposal. If you make passing a urine test a condition of eligibility for the dole, this will have the unintended consequence of inducing people to apply for the sickness benefit as alcoholics or drug addicts, where failing a urine test is a condition of eligibility.

It's all far too reminiscent of Jenny Shipley's failed and embarrassing 1998 Code of Social and Family Responsibility. [PDF]

The truth is, there is only one solution to the problem of welfare abuse - remove the state entirely from the provision of welfare and devolve that responsibility to voluntary charities and private insurance companies - and only one political party advocating this solution - Libertarianz. Here are a couple of ideas which may (or may not) be part of the soon-to-be-announced Libertarianz transitional social welfare policy.

First, stop treating "alcoholism" and "drug addiction" as afflictions which qualify the afflicted for the sickness benefit. Drug addiction is a lifestyle choice, not a disease.

Second, put a six month time limit on the unemployment benefit. I don't mean that beneficiaries should cease to receive the dole after they've been on it six months. I mean that all unemployment beneficiaries should cease to receive the dole six months after the policy is implemented. So, if the policy were to be implemented tomorrow, the unemployment benefit would be off the WINZ menu come February next year. Six months should be ample time to find a job. Perhaps some right-wingers might offer employment opportunities for professional trained circus seals.
 

Dildos

Is the suggestion that someone's problem is nothing a big black dildo won't fix really encouraging a threat of rape?

I won't attempt to answer that question, but meanwhile you can play with the big black dildo (click and drag).

Hat tip: No Right Turn
 

Robin Bain is innocent

13 years ago today, on a cold Dunedin morning, David Bain slaughtered his youngest sister Laniet (2 shots to the head as she lay sleeping, and 1 further shot as she lay gurgling dying), his mother Margaret (1 shot to the head while she lay sleeping), his brother Stephen (a shot through Stephen's hand, then 1 shot through the head after a prolonged struggle during which David partially strangled Stephen with his own teeshirt) and his younger sister Arawa (1 shot to the head as she prayed or pleaded for mercy, after David's first shot missed) - all in quick succession.

Lastly, David slaughtered his father Robin (1 shot to the head). But first, David put the washing machine on and went off on his usual morning paper run. Returning, he hid in a curtained alcove in the lounge and calmly waited for his father to enter the house after waking in the caravan outside where he slept. How cold-blooded is that?

Now, of course, David Bain is a free man, and two thirds of New Zealanders believe David Bain is innocent. Stuff.co.nz has delighted us with images of the remorseless killer enjoying life on the outside in the David Bain gallery.

There are far fewer pictures on the web of his dead family members. Google Image Search turned up nothing at all for Arawa or Laniet, and no images of Stephen. A search for images of Margaret produced a single image of David, and a search for images of Robin produced two images, again of David. So I guess when I said there are few fewer pictures... I really meant none at all.

But the exercise wasn't altogether fruitless. I was introduced to Robin Bain's namesake, an actress by the name of, er, Robin Bain. And I don't think she's innocent...