Photo: (c) Andy Jackson

Stuff reports:

The new face of the Labour Party leadership is small, furry and named Stuart. 

Labour leader Andrew Little’s billboard erected outside his New Plymouth electorate office on Northgate has been taken to by some creative vandals, who expertly superimposed the face of the movie mouse Stuart Little. 

Stuart might get more votes in New Plymouth than Andrew. Labour’s electorate vote has been:

• 2008: 16,434 (Duynhoven)
• 2011: 13,374 (Little)
• 2014: 11,788 (Little)

I suspect he wouldn’t even get 10,000 votes in New Plymouth  2017 which is why he is trying to steal Rongotai off Annette King! So far she has resisted.

Stuff reports:

Is it an example of thinking outside the box, or should a Wellington landlord be sent to the dog box for trying to rent out an earthquake-prone loft with makeshift wooden cubicles as bedrooms?

Victoria University’s student association and health experts have both criticised the central Wellington apartment, which was listed on Trade Me for $600 a week.

The person who made the listing was unable to be reached for comment on Sunday.

The online listing shows at least two bedrooms that appear to be makeshift cubicles in the living room.

The ideal tenant is described as “considerate”, which is something you would need to be, as the loft only has one bathroom to service as many as five other housemates.

But it seems prospective tenants have not exactly been banging down the door. The property was advertised on March 22 and still looked to be on the market on Sunday.

So what is the problem here?

Landlord lists a scummy property. Students decide not to live there.

Victoria University Students’ Association president Jonathan Gee said he had never seen a cubicle apartment like it in Wellington.

“I think it creates a new definition of really below-standard or really, really cheap accommodation – trying to get a quick buck out of students,” Gee said. “It’s quite sad. That’s not livable.”

Gee questioned whether the thin, wooden walls separating the cubicles – inside a building that had received a yellow sticker from Wellington City Council – posed a potential safety risk.

A yellow sticker means the building’s owner has 15 years to strengthen it or be forced to demolish it.

Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, from the University of Otago, who is part of a team of health experts advocating for a rental warrant of fitness, said the advertised property was “another step down in standards”. 

She questioned whether the property would meet basic public health requirements around ventilation, and whether tenants would be able to get out of the property during an earthquake or fire. 

“I can’t see how that could possibly be legal.” 

Gee believed the “low-quality” offering demonstrated a lack of suitable student accommodation in the capital.

Actually it proves the opposite. The fact that it has been advertised for four months and no one has taken it up, shows students have found better options.

Trade Me communications and community spokesperson, Logan Mudge, says the auction site expected all landlords to make a full disclosure about properties they list.

“We also urge all potential tenants to do their due diligence and if they’re not happy with it, don’t rent it,” he said.

Exactly.

NBR reports:

Donald Trump used his presidential nomination acceptance speech to once again criticise the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and to raise suspicions Hillary Clinton supports the free market.

“My opponent has supported virtually every trade agreement that has been destroying our middle class,” he told the Republican Convention.

“She supported NAFTA, and she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization – another one of her husband’s colossal mistakes. She supported the job- killing trade deal with South Kourea. She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP will not only destroy our manufacturing, but it will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments.”

To Kiwis of all political stripes, Mr Trump channeling Jane Kelsey seems surreal.

The extreme left and extreme right often collide.

Cr Simon Woolf writes on Facebook:

Oh my gosh. What must you all be thinking! Two Dom Post articles exposing poor council/ Councillor culture within two days.

I can tell you it has not been the happiest time for me in the past near three years!

I thought I could make a difference, and bring a more collaborative cohesive approach to council. To a degree there is collaboration, however there isn’t a sense of team, and much on the collaborative side of things takes quite some effort. I have tried my best. At times it has been so frustrating!

There are a lot more areas that are agreed on, than aren’t, however when disagreement does occurs it has been often bitter. Lines are drawn, and often certain Councillors overstep. Some Councillors have been overstepping for a considerable time too! The culture has developed where certain Councillors get away with things as there are no consequences for poor behavior. That has really surprised me. When there are no consequences the discipline and focus goes. Personalities become egocentric, and forget why they are Councillors. It becomes about them, and not the city. It guts me!

From almost day one, I was amazed by the baggage some long term Councillors brought to the new triennium. At our first workshop together, which ironically was at the Zoo, two re elected Councillors walked out, after altercations with other re elected Councillors.

I made my first big mistake that day, and managed to get everyone back in the room! One long standing Councillor, whose behavior has been appalling this term, should have been isolated then and there, and for the good of the city. I ended up chairing a good proportion of the rest of the workshop. The worst part was that the poor behavior was played out in front of the Executive Leadership team. That was unacceptable, and I certainly spoke out as to how I felt that was so damaging. I have been left shaking my head many times ever since!

We deserve better.

This council’s performance has been less than effective at times due to a lack of teamwork. The squabbling and in fighting has at times been shameful. I can tell you there are Councillors who are not party to the poor behavior, and do not play dirty! We are all being tainted by association, and that is also frustrating..

I mentioned baggage earlier, and one of the areas I will be pushing Central Government for, re elected, or not, will be to look at limited terms for Councillors, and also Mayors. Wellington would be ideal for a trial too. We need a change, which mostly revolves around culture. I would propose no Councillor should be able to serve more than two four year terms. Mayors and Deputy Mayors, could have a further two, or maybe even three, four year terms, if re elected. ( If you get an exceptional leader, you don’t wish to lose them too early!)

The Deputy Mayor should very much be given the ability for an extra term or two also. The most successful tenure Wellington has seen in it’s history, was when Sir Michael Fowler was Mayor, and Ian Lawrence was his Deputy. They were a team. Sir Michael was the creative visionary, and out front, while Ian was the administrative strength, who crossed the “t’s” and dotted the “i’s”!

I saw a similar model last year, first hand in Los Angeles, with the city of Arcadia, Their model ensured a continual refresh of vision, governance, leadership and ideology. A couple of their current Councillors served the maximum 8 years, were then forced to sit out a further four, and were then re elected again. The break is seen as being very positive. After what I have seen in this triennium we need to consider a new model of governance. It should be a priority. Civic governance should not be a job for life!

I agree.

Stuff reports:

Moko Rangitoheriri’s killer argues she was driven to violence by the little boy’s bad behaviour, and so she shouldn’t have to spend so long in prison.

Tania Shailer was sentenced to 17 years in prison at Rotorua High Court on June 26 for killing and torturing Moko while he was placed in her care. But her lawyer has appealed, saying the sentence was “manifestly excessive”.

Her partner David Haerewa, who received the same prison term from Justice Sarah Katz, is also expected to appeal his sentence.

Hopefully the sentence will be increased on appeal, not decreased.

Stuff reports:

On the eve of the convention at which Hillary Clinton is to be confirmed as presidential candidate, the Democratic Party has been plunged into crisis – the US media is brimful of ugly and embarrassing stories from within the party’s head office, all based on 20,000 emails dropped on Friday evening by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

The correspondence seems to confirm allegations by the campaign of defeated Senator Bernie Sanders that the Democratic National Committee was actively rooting for Clinton to win, a revelation that will most likely serve as a wedge between the two camps and make it even more difficult for her to persuade Sanders voters to support her.

The emails also reveal plotting within the DNC to embarrass Republican candidate Donald Trump, including drafting a fake ad to recruit “hot women” to work for him.

The thought occurred to me that if someone hacked Trump’s e-mails they’d find nothing sensational because he publicly tweets his most offensive things anyway 🙂

The leaked emails might also cause embarrassment in some newsrooms around the country because they reveal a close and, at times, too close working relationship with the Democratic Party. In one case, a reporter submitted his story to the DNC for clearance ahead of publication.

Incredible.

UPDATE: The Herald reports:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz says she is stepping down as Democratic Party chairwoman at the end of this week’s convention.

The Florida congresswoman has been under fire following the publication of hacked emails suggesting the Democratic National Committee favoured Hillary Clinton in the presidential primaries.

That prompted runner-up Bernie Sanders to call today for Wasserman Schultz’s immediate resignation.

In a statement, Wasserman Schultz says she still plans to fulfill her duties formally opening and closing the convention in Philadelphia.

Sanders supporters are up in arms, and with justifiable reasons this time. The DNC has been exposed as trying to stop the Sanders campaign.

Richard Harman reports at Politik:

Long serving MP Trevor Mallatrd is to give up his Labour seat of Hutt South and stand for the list only at the next election.

He says he is doing this because Labour will nominate him as Speaker and he told them he had come to the view that it is very hard to be both an effective electorate MP and chair the house in an unbiased manner.

Or he knows he is highly likely to lose to Chris Bishop and can’t handle that possibility.

Lockwood Smith was an electorate MP and a very unbiased speaker.

Margaret Wilson was a List MP and a very biased speaker. I see no connection.

And he says the move will help the party with its process of renewal by bringing in a new MP.

That means that he is not expecting Leader Andrew Little  who does not have an electorate, to stand in the seat.

Labour’s Deputy Leader Annette King appeared to confirm this last night when she told POLITIK that she did not expect Mr Little to stand in any seat.

Despite his best efforts to find one!

But the move also opens the way for one of National’s young rising stars, Chris Bishop, to possibly win the seat.

Mallard only narrowly won the seat over Bishop at the last election nwith a majority of 709 but the aprty vote went National’s way by 17,648 to Labour’s 10,093.

However Mallard said last night that a large recent poll showing an 8% swing to Labour in the seat since the last election reinforced his view that the seat would  be held by Labour.

This would be like their other polls claiming National is behind Labour/Greens vote. Rarely believe a poll they won’t publish.

Mr Mallard said he had spoken to Party President Nigel Haworth and Leader Andrew Little about his decision and he was confident he would be put in a “winnable” position on the list.

Labour may only get one or two List MPs. Would Mallard be ranked higher than Ardern?

Mallard is currently an Assistant Speaker in Parliament and has been amkimng it clear that he would like the top job if Labour got back into power.

He was a controversial choice though, given his reputation as something of Parliamentary bad boy who had often been thrown out of the Chamber and once punched National MP, Tau Henare in one of the Debating Chamber lobbies over remarks Henare made about Mallard’s private liufe.

But when he was nominated for Assistant Speaker, Gerry Brownlee few MPs knew Parliament’s rules like Mallard did, saying: “He is at heart a true Parliamentarian.”

I’ve not heard any complaints about Trevor as Assistant Speaker and he is partly responsible for some very beneficial changes to Standing Orders such as extended sittings instead of urgency.

News.com.au reports:

The Republican nominee said he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries “have fulfilled their obligations to us.” …

Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted: “Estonia is 1 of 5 NATO allies in Europe to meet its 2% def expenditures commitment. Fought, with no caveats, in NATO’s sole Art 5 op. in Afg.”

Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, tweeted: “We have had decades of bipartisan commitment to NATO, which has made it the greatest alliance in history. Trump is now threatening that.”

We all know who Putin will be hoping wins.

One News reports:

The ruling could influence whether the entire Russian Olympic team is banned from the games.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe says he is “thankful that our rules and our power to uphold our rules and the anti-doping code have been supported.

Stuff reports:

Attempts to stage a leadership coup at Wellington City Council have been revealed in the wake of accusations of a “toxic culture” there.

Early last year, councillor Nicola Young said she went, with the backing of the majority of councillors, to mayor Celia Wade-Brown, urging her to use her casting vote to oust Andy Foster as chairman of the transport and urban development committee over the handling of the divisive Island Bay cycleway.

Both Foster and Young have confirmed the coup attempt, which seemingly stalled after Wade-Brown and some councillors backed down.

However, Young said: “Talk of a coup is pathetic. We had no confidence in Foster … Celia has failed miserably in dealing with Wellington’s transport problems.”  …

However, Young said: “Talk of a coup is pathetic. We had no confidence in Foster … Celia has failed miserably in dealing with Wellington’s transport problems.”  

It seems apparent that Wellington needs leadership that can unify the Council.

CNN report:

The IMF forecasts Venezuela’s economy will shrink 10% this year, worse than its previous estimate of 8%. It also estimates that inflation in Venezuela will catapult to 700% this year, up from the earlier guess of about 480%.

Massive inflation and a depression. That requires special skills – generally known as socialism.

The numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Venezuela is deep into a humanitarian crisis — people are dying in ill-equipped hospitals and many live without basic food items. Venezuela can’t pay to import goods because its government is desperately strapped for cash after years of mismanagement of its funds, heavy spending on poorly-run government programs, and lack of investment on its oil fields.

They have the largest oil reserves in the world but natural resources don’t always lead to wealth – look at Zimbabwe.

It’s all even more tragic given that despite Venezuela’s oil abundance, its state-run oil company, PDVSA, is broke. Venezuela’s oil production fell to a 13-year low in June, according to OPEC, of which it’s a member.

It’s cash and gold stockpile are dwindling too. Veneuzuela’s foreign reserves are now a mere $11.9 billion, according to its central bank. Two years ago it had $20 billion. The country has had to ship gold to Switzerland this year to help pay down its debts.

Venezuela could be quickly approaching an economic judgment day. It owes about $5 billion in a string of bond payments between October and November. Many experts believe the chance of default is very high.

I suspect the Government will be toppled in 2017. Either through a popular uprising, or when they can’t afford to pay the Army. But sadly by then the country will be in such dire straits, that it will take many years to recover.

Stuff reports:

A walking and cycling path across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge is a step closer after city councillors voted unanimously to support a means of paying for it.

The politicians have agreed that the $33m SkyPath should be funded by a public-private partnership (PPP), with Auckland Council underwriting the project to an agreed level.

Despite a 5-hour debate at the council’s Finance and Performance Committee meeting on Wednesday, in the end councillors voted as one in favour of the PPP.

“It’s been wrung dry, but all the answers have been spat out every time,” he said. “The time has come.”

Councillor Mike Lee said SkyPath was “the City Rail Link for walking and cycling”, referring to the city’s long awaited $2.5 billion downtown rail project now underway.

However SkyPath still has significant hurdles to overcome.

Residents groups opposed to the project are taking it to the Environment Court, with hearings due to be held later this year.

Under the terms of the PPP a toll will be charged to use SkyPath, and the council will underwrite revenue from the toll up to an agreed level.

If tolls don’t meet forecasts the council will pay out, but if they exceed them the council will profit.

The group behind SkyPath, HRL Morrison and Co, will finance, design, build, maintain and operate the path as a user pays facility for 25 years, when it will then revert to council ownership.

I’m glad to see this get the go ahead. It is designed to be basically user pays and will be very useful for cyclists and pedestrians.

Tim Blair looks at what Kevin Rudd could achieve as UN Secretary General:

He’s the man who within just three years turned Labor’s election landslide into a government-shattering civil war. He’s the man who handed Australia’s massive budget surplus to Wayne Swan. He’s the man who tried to counter global warming with a household insulation program that burned down more than 100 houses. He’s the man who attempted to save money with a grocery watch website that ended up costing Australians more than $4 million. He’s the man who introduced humane refugee policies that killed more than 1000 refugees.

In the field of outstanding incompetence, Kevin Rudd is your gold medal winner every single time. Let’s imagine the outcomes if UN secretary-general Kevin takes charge of the world’s current major issues.

South China Sea dispute

Master diplomat Kevin personally conducts negotiations between China and the Philippines over disputed sovereignty claims. The situation is resolved amicably when China agrees to cede ownership of the area in exchange for erasing the Philippines with thermonuclear weapons.

Brexit

Britain’s exit from the European Union is causing global financial anxiety. This is a job for Super Kevin! After just three days of top-level talks, Britain not only re-affirms its Brexit vote but commences an ambitious military campaign aimed at restoring complete dominion over India, Australia and the US.

North Korea

A bewildered Kim Jong-un wakes to reports that a pale, circle-headed Australian man is standing in the middle of Pyongyang with a hand-written sign reading: “Hey, fat boy! Stop all the missile tests or no more McNuggets for you!” South Korea is subsequently ruled uninhabitable for the next 40 years due to radioactive fallout.

European refugee crisis

The Middle East becomes overrun with German, French, Belgian and Swedish refugees following Rudd’s pan-European “justice and tolerance” pact, co-signed by Syrian and Afghan community leaders in between their various sexual assault trials.

NSW greyhound ban

In Caracas, Rudd refuses to explain how he simultaneously solved the problem of surplus greyhounds in NSW and also Venezuela’s critical meat shortage. “Let’s just say it all worked out for the best,” the secretary-general smirks, gnawing on an elongated tibia bone.

Islamic State

“Please, we beg of you, stop helping,” pleads a Vatican delegation after a fifteen-word text message from Rudd somehow leads to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being elected Pope.

It is obvious the Australian Government don’t really think Rudd would be a good Secretary-General, but feel obliged to nominate him as a former Australian PM.

The way of out their dilemma is to do what Republicans have done with Trump. Say you’ll vote for him but don’t endorse him!

UPDATE: According to Trans-Tasman this is what Australia will do. Julie Bishop is going to nominate him but not endorse him!

USA Today reports:

CLEVELAND — Sometimes they approach cautiously, other times full of confidence, with a smile and an outstretched hand.

“Thank you!”

“Thanks for your service.”

“We appreciate you.”

Despite their overwhelming numbers on the streets, police patrolling around the Republican National Convention here are being treated less like an occupying force and more like respected members of the community, no matter where they’re from. More than 2,000 officers from more than a dozen states are working in Cleveland this week, alongside local officers.

“I appreciate the work they do. Their lives are on the line at all times,” said 7-Eleven clerk Eddie Vernon, after shaking an officer’s hand near Public Square. “The officers really do appreciate it. They will almost break your hand shaking it, they appreciate it so much.”

Vernon, who is black, says he goes out of his way to show respect and appreciation for police officers. He’s all-too-aware of how many members of the black community feel about cops these days, he says.

Nice to see most protesters treating the officers who are doing their job with respect.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said visitors — and even many protesters — have been thanking officers, which hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“The mood is good,’’ Williams said. “They are taking pictures with people. It’s been good.’’

Great.

And Wednesday afternoon, as officers broke up a flag-burning protest and pushed the crowd back onto the sidewalk, several Republican delegates and their guests loudly thanked the officers and broke out into “America The Beautiful.” That clash, which police say started when a flag burner accidentally lit himself on fire, turned chaotic as a total of 17 people were arrested and two officers suffered minor injuries.

Heh I’m sorry, but that is sort of funny.

Bryan Hambley, an organizer for the Stand Against Trump group, credited police with transforming the anxiety-ridden preparations for the convention into a largely peaceful convening so far, involving demonstrators of all stripes.

“The police are doing a great job, and the protesters are doing a great job,’’ Hambley said.

Protests are good. Protests that break the law are not. Those in Cleveland are doing it the right way.

News.com.au reports:

The school now only allows its pupils “to conduct a silent cheer” when prompted by teachers and says the practice “reduces fidgeting”.

Elanora Heights Public School, which is on Sydney’s northern beaches, announced its new “silent cheer” policy in its latest school newsletter.

The latest example of a political correctness outbreak in Australian schools, which have banned hugging, singing Christmas carols, celebrating Australia Day and singing the word “black” in the nursery rhyme “baa baa black sheep”.

The ban on clapping at Elanora Heights Primary School emerged on the same day that an exclusive girls school banned teachers from calling “ladies” or “women” in favour of “gender-neutral” terms.

More PC madness.

If you ban clapping because some people are sensitive to noise, do you ban speaking also?

In April, hugging was banned at a Geelong primary school and children were told to find other ways to show affection.

St Patricks Primary School principal John Grant said “nothing in particular” had caused hugging to be replaced by high fiving or “a knuckle handshake”.

“But in this current day and age we are really conscious about protecting kids and teaching them from a young age that you have to be cautious,” Mr Grant said.

He said he had spoken to teachers about his decision to ban hugging and then the teachers had spoken to classes, instructing the children on different methods of showing affection. He had not sent any correspondence home to parents but said there would now be a letter going home on Monday.

“There’s a range of methods including a high five or a particular knuckle handshake where they clunk knuckles as a simple way of saying ‘well done’,” Mr Grant said. “There are also verbal affirmations and acknowledgments.”

Children at the school have been enthusiastic huggers, he said, with hugs given out to teachers and other children.

“We have a lot of kids who walk up and hug each other and we’re trying to encourage all of us to respect personal space,” Mr Grant said. “It really comes back to not everyone is comfortable in being hugged.”

And some people are not comfortable with bright colours, so lets ban all clothing that isn’t black.

Paul Buchanan and Kate Nicholls write:

As students of comparative civil-military relations, we were surprised to read theHerald’s editorial, “Coup’s failure hopeful sign for democracy.” We see no positives resulting from the aborted coup. Instead we foresee the death throes of a painstakingly crafted secular, albeit imperfect, democracy, that has been under siege since the election of Recep Erdogan as Prime Minister in 2003 and President in 2014.

The cornerstones of Turkish democracy were an apolitical professional military, an independent secular judiciary, and a multiparty electoral system characterised by a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches.

Granted, Kemal Ataturk’s nationalism, which bound the country together in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, often worked to stifle free speech and repress ethnic minorities, notably the Kurds. Turkish democracy has also always been “guarded”, meaning that the military has on occasion acted as unelected veto-player. Yet since the rise of Erdogan to power 16 years ago, things have gotten incrementally but steadily worse.

Since he assumed office, Erdogan has undermined the judiciary by appointing ideological cronies and firing or arresting independent-minded jurists; sacked hundreds of senior military officers and replaced them with loyalists; introduced mandatory Islamic Studies into military curricula; censored, banned and/or arrested non-supplicant media outlets and reporters; rigged electoral rules in favour of his own party; and instituted constitutional amendments designed to perpetrate his rule and re-impose Sharia precepts on public institutions (something not seen since the days of the Ottomans).

Erdogan’s response to the coup makes me somewhat regret it didn’t succeed.

He has alleged it is the work of some exile in the US. Not a shred of evidence has been produced to back this up. But on the basis of this allegation, he has purged judges, police, civil servants and academics. He’s even banned academics from overseas travel without permission.

I fear elections will be the next to go.

Stuff reports:

A young principal has been given the ticket to move a lower decile school away from close Government monitoring.

Reviewers from the Education Review Office (ERO) were visiting Glenavon School every one to two years.

But the Blockhouse Bay school will now likely have its next review in four to five years, according to its latest ERO review.

The report “identifies Glenavon School as a high performing school”.

Principal Phil Toomer, now 31, arrived at the school in 2014, when he was just 28-years-old.

He came from Redoubt North School in Manukau where he was a teacher, deputy principal and acting principal over seven years.

Back then, he had planned to build the Glenavon School in all areas, with student achievement a big focus.

“There is no excuse just because a school is low decile to underachieve,” Toomer says.

And with an attitude like that, he has succeeded.

The school has children of many ethnicities, with Pacifica students making up more than 60 per cent of the school’s roll and Maori students numbering 18 per cent of pupils.

“Our community around us is changing and so is the culture of the school,” Toomer says.

And 78% of students are now at or above the national standard in reading, 74% for writing and 84% for maths.

What is impressive is that when they get year 1 students only 45% are at the national standard for reading so they make a real difference. The proportion of students reaching the national standard increased 10 percentage points from 2013 to 2014.

News.com.au reports:

Asked a question by the Labour leader about “job security”, Mrs May ripped into Mr Corbyn for ignoring the clamour from his own MPs for him to resign, being forced to ask his few loyal MPs to take on multiple jobs and managing to change the party rules to allow him to contest the upcoming leadership contest.

“I’m interested that he refers to the situation of some workers who might have some job insecurity and potentially unscrupulous bosses,” she quipped. “I suspect that there are many members on the opposition benches who might be familiar with an unscrupulous boss.

“A boss who doesn’t listen to his workers.

“A boss who requires some of his workers to double their workload.

“And maybe even a boss who exploits the rules to further his own career.”

Pausing for dramatic effect she leaned across the despatch box and added: “Remind him of anybody?”

Superb. Look at the video on the link. Devastating.

Mrs May also used the occasion to attack Labour for the party’s record on woman leaders.

In a devastating assault on Mr Corbyn, she said: “In my years here in this House I’ve long heard the Labour Party asking what the Conservatives party does for women.

“It just keeps making us Prime Minister.”

Heh.

Most of the Air NZ safety videos I have loved. The Men in Black one is great as was their original All Blacks one. The surfing one I loved watching and the LOTR ones were also really good (but got a bit tiring after a while).

Some have been merely okay (Richard Simmons) but overall pretty good.

But this latest one I really don’t like (even though I love Rhys Darby generally). It’s just not very interesting or funny. Watching is once is enough, let alone multiple times.

I note it has been viewed only 32,000 times which is small compared to others. Here’s how the others have gone:

• The Hobbit (Epic) 15.7 million views
• The Hobbit (Unexpected) 12.7 million
• Safety in Paradise 7.0 million
• Men in Black 3.7 million
• Middle Earth 3.1 million
• Richard Simmons 3.0 million
• Betty White 2.5 million
• Bear Essentials 2.4 million
• Ed & Mel 1.3 million

The Washington Post has Donald Trump’s acceptance speech.

It is very powerful and damning of the status quo. And this is the challenge for Clinton – she is the status quo candidate at a time when 70% of Americans think their country is heading in the wrong direction.

Trump may have few specific policies, but he is effective in pointing out the failings of the US both domestically and internationally.

Philip Johnston writes in The Telegraph:

The all-party Constitutional Reform Group (CRG) has just published proposals for a new Act of Union that would effectively turn the county into a federation, with four self-standing national units voluntarily pooling their sovereignty to a central administration. At its most radical, the plan would see an English Parliament and the replacement of the House of Lords with a new second chamber drawn from the four parts of the UK.

The proposals “start from the position that each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a unit that both can and should determine its own affairs to the extent that it considers it should; but that each unit should also be free to choose to share, through an efficient and effective United Kingdom, functions which are more effectively exercised on a shared basis”. 

Common UK functions might include the constitutional monarch as head of state, national security, foreign affairs and defence, human rights, immigration, the supreme court, the currency, a central bank, some taxation powers, and the civil service. Everything else would be controlled by the nations and regions

This is a complete reversal of what happens now, where a central government devolves power to the periphery as it sees it fit.

This is the model which I think will best preserve the UK. Four national parliaments and one UK Parliament that has a limited role.