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This week our politicians have been extremely busy throwing insults at each other.  So here is one more from Shakespeare.  I dedicate it to two politicians who throw insults around like confetti or rice at a wedding.  This is for David Seymour and Shane Jones from the Sweet Swan of Avon: “A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander. It insultsRead More →

Wow – how – a look into the future??????????  Important News from government. Minister Simon Watts,  the Local Government Minister has announced cost cutting measures for wastewater aimed at boosting savings for ratepayers. He says new national wastewater environmental performances standards hope to save up to $830 million over the next 35 years by streamlining wastewater consents. Who would forecast  35 years into the future  on the effectiveness of wastewater consents or anything else and expect any accuracy, unless they  had too much Xmas optimism or something else!!! Answer:  Minister Simon Watts And he got news coverage for this rubbish. I heard it several timesRead More →

November 19, 2010. A methane explosion ripped through the mine on the West Coast. Twenty-nine workers died. The mine had inadequate ventilation, faulty equipment, non-functioning gas sensors, and no safe emergency exit. Management knew. The Trade Union knew. Government regulators knew. Widows Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse met  with Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden on the 15th anniversary of the Pike River disaster. Anna Osborne  said after the meeting,  “I don’t know, I’ve come out of there still feeling really unhappy because there’s just no guarantees that people who go to work are going to return home safely,” Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van VeldenRead More →

I watched Jack Tame on TV One (Sunday 9 November 2025)  interview Stephen Rowe, from The US CATO Institute,  a visiting  American PR non-stop talker who threw the word “freedom” around as if it was prepared and given free with every big Mac hamburger and a fizzy drink.  I was angry and shocked at this Trump like figure who got much more airtime than his thin content deserved. But we are a country of “free speech”. So will I shut up? NO!!!!!! He made think of George Orwell. This PR man is not responsible for promoting any war, but his style of talking could alsoRead More →

As a small child I lived in Scotland between Aberdeen  and Inverness and not far from Forres. This is Macbeth country. After school, we  would fight  each other  in  fatal battles with branches from trees and bellow at our opponents  “Lay on Macduff, and dammed be him who first cries,  Hold. Enough ”  We screamed  “How far to Forres?”  without knowing why!  I learned  about a King being  murdered in Inverness Castle. My Mum took me there, but I never saw the blood from King Duncan’s  assassination. But from my friends blabber  I still recall that strong rhythm. “The Thane of Fife had a wife.”  HowRead More →

VICTIMS OF VICTIMS… ..is not from me.  Edward Said, a  Palestinian-American  Scholar, who died in 2003 was writing  about Zionism, the Jews and the Palestinians.   It needs to be noted that Edward Said acknowledged that millions of Jews were persecuted, killed and butchered in Nazi Germany. This phrase captures the core irony Said identified: a people who suffered profound persecution in Europe (Jews) established a nation through the dispossession of another people (Palestinians). Zionism thinking worked for many years to establish a permanent home for Jews. The British helped with their Balfour Declaration and  in 1947, the United Nations proposed partitioning Palestine into separate JewishRead More →

If you rearrange the letters in the word  “silent” you can form “listen”. It would be good if the present three-headed coalition  government had listened more to the nation and followed past principles on our record for caring for Human Rights. Palestine  did exist before 1948, and even the Gorgon, Netanyahu, cannot deny that.  Israel did not exist before 1948.  And what about  the promised equality from the long gone Balfour Declaration? Israel is silent on that part of the promise. So is New Zealand Recently my country  shamed itself by sitting and wetting its pants  on the political fence which is dripping with theRead More →

For a long time I have supported Palestinians, who ask for no more than Israelis ask for themselves.   A country and a dignified way of life. I re-circulate cartoons and articles about Gaza. I recently received hate mail and death threats. All anonymous. I don’t even know if the threats  come from NZ, the US or anywhere else. I have deleted them. Blocked the names. I have always wanted to know  “threat” people more. I want to know names, addresses, occupations and family backgrounds. But, alas,  conscience does make many cowards especially when your name is anonymous.  Years ago I worked in a PacificRead More →

Netanyahu, Hitler and Herod have something in common. Murder  of the Innocents.  Herod wanted Jesus killed and according to  Boccaccio, 144,000 babies were murdered. Hitler wanted Jews exterminated and murdered millions of men, women and children. Netanyahu continued the brutal tradition and banned journalists from Gaza.  But journalists risked their lives, talked  and they were also murdered with the innocents.  Netanyahu continues to starve those who remain. He is attempting extermination. He might not say the words himself, but his Minister of Finance Bezalei Smotrich does not mince his belief  on what should be done. His words would do credit  to the Nazi propaganda leader. ItRead More →

I do not think this French film could have been made in NZ. I am sure the idea or a completed film script would have been kicked out of the sponsor room with no more free lunches for either the writer or director.  Why?  The audience are asked to laugh for around two hours at the mental and physical mishaps and bizarre behaviour of a group of permanent  disabled young people at a  summer holiday camp. The  group disabilities are wide ranging and include needing toilet care, help with showering, going to bed  and dressing.  People get hit in the face, one person gets lostRead More →

Being away from the hurly burly of the classroom, I still believe the government’s decision to remove the Maori learn-to-read book from classroom circulation shows a lack of understanding of the need for diversity in learning and how learning occurs.   The book, for five-year-olds, includes six Māori words – marae, karanga, wharenui, koro, hongi and karakia – which some officials argue sit uneasily within structured literacy . Professor Gail Gillon, who developed the wider Best Start Literacy Programme, told RNZ’s John Gerritsen there was “absolutely no evidence” that children found the reader confusing,  “And in fact, our data would suggest the opposite.” Even withRead More →

Much of my life has been in teaching. It started with Primary  Schools  in NZ, moved to Secondary then to Non-Formal Education  followed  by Radio Broadcast Journalism at a University and later still with  NGOs in Africa using media as a tool. These are the wisest words I have seen written on  education. “Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: ‘You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best weRead More →

The land of Palestine was not empty when the first Zionist settlers arrived there in 1882. This fact was known to the Zionist leaders even before the first Jewish settlers arrived. A delegation sent to Palestine by the early Zionist organizations reported back to their colleagues: “the bride is beautiful but married to another man.”1 Nevertheless, when they first arrived, the early settlers were surprised to encounter the locals whom they regarded as invaders and strangers. In their view, the native Palestinians had usurped their homeland. They were told by their leaders that the locals were not natives, that they had no rights to theRead More →

If you had to invent an ending for Trumpian America, what would it be? I think it would be impeachment – which, in my view, would be a good ending. I would love to see him retired, let’s put it that way. The bad ending would be that he gets a third term and takes things over completely. It’s a horror story either way. Trump is a horror story, isn’t he?Read More →

‘Somewhere over the Atlantic,’ wrote Robert, ‘there is a giant glass curtain through which Americans view the Middle East, which utterly distorts their vision.’ Embedded in that view is an arrogant colonial attitude that only the West and Europeans truly appreciate democracy. The West offered the Middle East democracy in the form of military operations – overt or covert, either directly or with the help of its regional allies – but no one should expect the people in these countries to fully understand or value democracy because they were not Europeans. Fisk, Robert. Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East (p. 537).Read More →

It is  so hard to see the people we elect as leaders .  The American FBI has now formally established an office in Wellington. Our leaders show they understand the art of vagueness. Winston Peters said the new office was “a really serious utility added to our crime fighting capacity in the Pacific, and crime and drug dealing and narcotics is an awful scourge, and we’ve got to get on top of it, so it’s great news”. He said the subject of China had not been raised in their meeting. “We never raised that issue, we talked about the Pacific, what we could do toRead More →

I watched the film Oceans and like the film producers and researchers I marvelled at the sea, the sea life there and its future  or lack of future???????  I also marvelled in  disgust  at the way we trawl or bulldoze the bottom of the oceans with chains to fuck it up for our children. I read this Radio NZ item and marvelled too at the ignorance and arrogance of our leading politicians  who obviously have a clear vision of self-preservation, but not one for New Zealand.  Shane Jones is one politician. But there are others. Some talk. Many remain silent. A silent guilt. For theRead More →

I have just read this in The Spinoff, a NZ media outlet. Just a couple of days ago I was writing about shoplifting and the law. Obviously this shoplifter needs help. Her jail penalty is going to cost you and me around $600,000. This coalition government  talks big time about money, money, money!!!!!! It needs to extend the money dialogue on how the money is used. It does know how to thump a person with a big stick.  Will it bother itself  to become  wiser  and to spend more money to try and get inside  the head of Misty  and   help  her? Is ” intensiveRead More →

I am not a criminal. Too old to risk it. I don’t want  to commit a crime, but I do believe the  coalition which talks about safety and cutting crime and boosting the economy needs to think about the future of NZ, not just the future of their own egos and arses. If I steal from a retail store this may happen to me … a maximum prison sentence of one year for thefts valued around $2000 or less, and up to seven years if the stolen goods exceed $2000 in value. Including police, courts and prison costs it is already approaching $200,000 a yearRead More →

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I’m a fan of Shakespeare. His thoughts and words have been inside me for many years. I understand part of him. I’ll die without knowing the writing of the whole man. But, no worry. Until my last minutes  I hope to keep exploring his head and heart. Frequently I think,  is there a way to reach into the head of a child with the Bard? Because, if that is possible then the Sweet Swan of Avon may become  a lifelong friend and companion to the child as he/she grows.  What a gift!. But, things go wrong, eh!  Politicians want  to force him down our throats.Read More →

I have been reading a little modern history today from the US Brown University Watson  Institute of International and Public Affairs . It notes  that US led wars resulted in in 940,000 deaths since 2001 in conflict zones. This ignores other indirect deaths such  as war related diseases, US military deaths and those linked to them, such as the tasks of contractors. DT says today ‘CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, ITS’ TIME FOR PEACE. A friend of the US, the Israel Culture  Minister Miki Zohar says, ”….what we’re facing – a regime that is trying to kill innocent people. When you are dealing with evil, this is aRead More →

…would surely be welcome. The President says his Director of Intelligence has got it wrong about Iran. Where does the DT get his information from?  Trump secret files and social media $$$$$$. Awful, Angry, Airy Intelligence.   Any intelligence at all? And let’s dare not talk about  care and concern and humanity!!!! Here in NZ, like the rest of the world we are sadly impacted by this DT man.   He  admires Israel. Please give him citizenship, an air ticket and a house.  Now!!!!! His talk about waiting for two weeks on an Iran War decision may be yet another message of false intelligence.  Read More →

In NZ we  trade with the world. Our P.M.today is in China  for that purpose. But  we sit on the fence about this latest war and did you look at today’s murder/genocide by Israel of the defenceless . This  headline was from the BBC. We trade with the world, how come we choose to ignore much of the world action? Its nothing to do with NZ, I hear you say!!!!!! Israeli forces kill 51 Palestinians waiting for flour at Gaza aid site, witnesses and rescuers say  Read More →

There was once an expression about ‘ Hitler’s Children’ . It had an ominous  feel and fear to it.  I think we can now talk about ‘ Netanyahu’s Children’. Who would be an innocent Israeli or a Jew (not the same) living outside Israel and feeling fearful for their safety? Trust in the US must be moving downhill at great speed.  Rubio says the US did not know about the attack on Iran, Trump says he knew . What I do know, is that I feel sick about war and peace.  The former word, war, seems to be the same as the latter for theRead More →

A dialogue on values.  Elon Musk says, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy”. Hannah Arendt who lived in Hitler’s Germany and covered the Israel trial of Adolf Eichmann, a German war criminal wrote, “The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.      Read More →

I have always read  the world news. Guess it’s the DNA of being a journalist and I was that for many years.  But theatre has been a huge love too.  I see world events recurring on stage again and again.. Today I saw it.  Some years ago ago I directed  the play Antigone, the Greek  legend about how a ruler stops the burial of a dead Prince after a war. His mourning sister. Antigone, defies Creon, the ruler and buries her brother. She dies too. When Russia invaded Ukraine, I revamped the legend  to  a modern setting  and made  Vladimir Putin, the ruler.  Today  theRead More →

I have been  watching “Good Night and Good Luck” with George Clooney on Broadway. Exciting  Relevant. And… am I the only person thinking that President Trump was mentored by the philosophy of  the Junior  Senator from Wisconsin.Read More →

You’ll find snippets in this section of my website about William Shakespeare . I’ve been interested in the playwright and bis plays  since childhood. As a small child I lived in Scotland between Aberdeen  and Inverness and not far from Forres. This is Macbeth country. I was a child, around seven years of age when I arrived in the north of Scotland.. After school was over, we  would fight  each other  in  fatal battles with branches from trees and bellow at our opponents  “Lay on Macduff, and dammed be him who first cries,  Hold. Enough ”  We  shouted  “How far to Forres?”  without knowing why! Read More →

Interesting. Within  hours of my last post, I find that Alexa gives more  accurate information about Trump. I rephrased my questions in different ways. Got different answers.  Some accurate, some less so…some which maybe devious…with Alexa saying I don’t have an answer to that question, but you can look at …..???????  Alexa – if you make mistakes, perhaps you are on the way to becoming human?  Read More →

Ask Alexa if Donald Trump is a convicted felon?  She is not forthcoming with good and accurate information. According to what I can find out this morning, Alexa is frequently being updated. There must be a story here for an original  writer, not AI though…… HOW TO SCARE A COMPUTERRead More →

Mark Rylance,  the first artistic director Shakespeare’s  Globe Theatre  in London, between 1995 and 2005. suggests  theatre rap productions of Shakespeare plays. He says  Shakespeare’s precise words should be less revered, and  compares the Bard’s use of language to the rappers of today. Rylance says Shakespeare should not be worshipped on an intellectual level, saying too many performers speak his lines too slowly. Instead, he said, actors should learn from a generation of young people growing up on rap music, to reconnect with the quick-speaking emotion Shakespeare originally intended. “If I have a general criticism, which is true of my Shakespeare acting and most ShakespeareRead More →

The Government  has passed the first reading of  David Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill through Parliament. Doing it in the shadow of the Budget is  cynical move for Seymour  and his claims is about “transparent” lawmaking. The Government  timed it to avoid public scrutiny.  ACT tried three times before before to pass a bill of this genre . It has already drawn widespread public opposition. Over 20,000 people submitted on the bill’s first consultation -under one percent  supported it. ACT with less than 10% of the electoral vote acts like Trump. Arrogant and narcissistic .  He will become Deputy PM, soon.Read More →

Our Minister of  Education  has a narrow view of drama  and what she wants young people to  appreciate. A culture needs diversity and that means colleges and their teachers must have  flexibility to select and teach drama without  being locked into any one dramatist or poet or writer. The word is diversity. A good English teacher will read widely  and know many dramatists. If he/she teaches about what they love  in drama, there is a fair chance some of the emotion and learning  will rub off to their students. As a lover of the Bard and in possession of at least five DVD versions ofRead More →

Ever since COVID hit NZ and the world I have been writing film scripts. It’s odd how  one big unforeseen  experience in life will shape the mind.   My most recent script is Africa Avenger.  Details are on this website, so I won’t repeat them. If you wish, the script is there to read.  I worked in Africa in several countries  in Development Aid for a NGO.  So my script used some of my experience and much non-experience. The latter is called imagination.  I love Africa. The people I worked with were  family people.  All their money supported their family and others members of the family…Read More →

He talks about democracy and equality. Yet, he loves urgency for his Parliamentary Bills. That means no discussion  and viewpoints from the public. I award him the dark star. Who voted for him. His ACT party  got under  10% of the election vote. Our P.M.  will soon have David Seymour as Deputy P.M. Something is surely rotten in the state of New Zealand.Read More →

Attended it yesterday. A wide range of people there. Several thousand maybe. Hard to tell. Old. Young.  I looked at many of the banners. The protesters  were mainly concerned like me about  the insults and double dealings of the Government on the abuse of the the Treaty. And it is a Treaty that belongs to all of us. I also saw posters about issues of Health, Disability, Education and the abuse of women right to equal pay for equal work.  As a former migrant it’s sad to see  NZ slipping downhill. Luxon and Seymour  are behind  much of this chaos. Collins added to it withRead More →

Without any warning or consultation, National government  cancelled every pay equity claim covering about 180,000 low-paid workers – including nurses, teachers, midwives and care workers. Since then, they’ve been claiming it’s not a cut. The truth is they’re taking money that was going directly to increasing women’s pay to save their budget. That’s a cut and no amount of distraction can change that.Read More →

Note him. His party vote is low.Under 10%.  He believes in referendums that he hopes will bind  the country to ignoring  our relationship with Maori through the Treaty.  Is he fascist? I believe so.Read More →

We have a P.M, alas, here is the NZ choice who seems indifferent to the weak, the unlucky  in capitalism. Has he ever seen a prison or been inside.Read More →

Anti-Semite.  It pays to be one. Take me. I’m popular as I have dealt viciously with the issue. I am Prime Minister and I want to get rid of Semites and I do,  by bombing every day, schools, hospitals and kid in tents too.  Kids grow up to adults. Don’t feed the little bastards. Can be dangerous. Nazism had the words. I have my words. Hitler, Houthi, Hate. The last is a word that resonate at all times.  It gets fed every day. When I was a child myself I learned about The Trojan War which took place some distance from I live now.  TheRead More →

It is appalling that a small party ACT with around 8% of the vote is making policy and taking away equal rights for working women.   And three political parties in  power  support it and  then take it through  to law by  urgency. The Prime Minister can’t even be bothered to be in Parliament. Don’t forget the names of these “leaders” when you vote.    Read More →

Am laughing and crying and feeling frustrated with Nicola Willis and kids and rebates and filling forms to get rebates that are mostly small amounts.  She is a mother. Has she forgotten about the  time and effort and extra effort needed to look after children?Read More →

Sexuality, male, female. It concerns you and me and when we do it in private it is of no concern to anyone else . If we both consent and do not harm others or to use an old cliche – do not scare the horses, leave us alone. Word difference  it how you will, there are so many similarities in life. We work in jobs , play sport, sing and dance.We read, listen to politicians, who fret about holes in the road, orange cones and can find $9 billion overnight but don’t want to feed hungry children. We have a P.M.  who needs training inRead More →

Pat’s career includes many years of teaching, radio broadcasting, film making, lecturing in broadcast journalism at The University of the South Pacific and working in Development Aid projects in the South Pacific region and Africa. He worked for over twenty years for Radio NZ in News, Radio Documentary Unit and was the first Manager of The Radio NZ Continuing Education Unit (CONTED). He has NZ qualifications in teaching, literature and drama. These skills were put to use in his Development Aid work with short and long term projects media education in Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and South Sudan.Read More →