Arming our Police force

When a police constable in the course of his duty, patrolling our roads, trying to keep us safe, is brought close to death as a result. What do we as a society do?
The immediate cry is, GIVE THEM GUNS!!
My immediate reaction to that is. If two young rascals can sneak up behind an unarmed man and beat him nearly to death, how is giving him a gun going to protect him? It seems that Senior Constable Bruce Mellor was totally unaware of the danger he was in. As such was easy prey for their attack.Had he had a firearm on his person they could have easily taken that and done a lot more harm.
The Police are going to be a lot more unforgiving in the future, if they stop you, they may even demand that you step out of your car and check you for weapons, before writing you a ticket. I for one will not blame them.
Farmercorby.

Where Are Our Priorities?

While the inquest is going on in Auckland into the death of the Kahui twins, our news media reports that a fund of money is being offered to encourage farm employees to report instances of animal abuse.
Now I love animals, I earned my living from the management of them. What is more I cannot understand how people can call themselves farmers and abuse them.

Hang on a minute though! What about those human beings who are being abused? Little children no less.
Isn't it time that we stood back and took a hard look at society? Why are we waiting until parents, who never wanted kids in the first place, hung them on the washing line or beat them to death.
Wouldn't it cost a great deal less than endless court cases, years in jail, to fund and utilise our child child welfare officers to intervene at an earlier stage.

We have in New Zealand an outstanding child welfare group more commonly known as Plunket Society. Although now contracted to Government as a provider of early child health advisors. Initially this was a community funded organisation and to a degree it still is.
If we funded those Plunket staff to visit the homes of every new born infant,for the first few months of a child's life,we would be more aware of where to intercede.

Would that not be better for our society? Farmercorby.

The Teen Years

We are approaching the Ball Season when colleges throughout New Zealand have organized a ball for their senior students. The young women spend hundreds of dollars on a suitable gown and a hair do for this special occassion, and the young men have to dress accordingly. In years gone by it would have been a coming out Ball, where the young lady was introduced to society.
Getting back to College Balls these have been followed by boozy parties well away from the college and the guidance of responsible adults.
I am very heartened to hear that at least one college has canned the Ball and is replacing it with a formal dinner under the guidance of responsible adults.
Hopefully we will see much less of Teenage boozy parties and pregnancies.
Farmercorby

Remembering Mothers

Many years ago now a young mother drove her 2year old son to the local town for an appointment. The necessary tasks being completed, they returned to their car, after seating young son in the car, mum inserts the key into the switch and presses the starter button, nothing happens. Young son is observing this procedure. Next thing, young son comments Oh Bwow!! Mum suddenly realizes that he has learned just what she was about to say.
Our children learn all their important lessons in the home from mum and dad. Those are the lessons that they will take out into the world. Those are the foundation that will stick with them in later life.
Remember Mothers because they are special, fathers too. May 9th is the time to say thanks MUM
farmercorby

Todays edition of the Waikato Times reports the sad death of a 22year old woman, through motor accident injuries, as a result of alcohol addiction.
This young woman had a history of no less than 4 drink driving charges. Had lost her license at least once. She is now another of our fatal road accident statistics.

Now that we have finally seen the light with regard to nicotine addiction, why can we not do something with our alcohol problem, and I don't mean just increasing the age to 20. I mean to increase the tax on alcohol, particularly RTD's and use that extra tax to assess and rehabilitate,particularly young alcoholics.

Our hospitals do not need the extra work that the over consumption of alcohol creates.

Farmercorby.

Justice and the common man

Having recently retired from a very minor part of the District Court system. A part that lay people can serve on, to assist in the administration of justice. I have become very interested in the communities perception of the above system, more particularly the perception of guilt or innocence and the sentencing of defendants.
Many and varied are the cases that come before the courts and the defendants could be described in the same manner.
The way the defendants appear in court and respond to the questions put to them will to a large extent, determine the outcome.
Few of the cases dealt with are black and white, open and shut. The justice who is sitting on the case has to use his eyes and ears and even then, interpret the response, to questions and answers given.
What you may read in your daily newspaper is not always a good representation of what actually happened in the court.

Living in Retirement

After a busy life dealing with animals large and small, tractors, motorcycles, harvesters, (milk & green feed) to suddenly become a town dweller, has been a shock to the system. That was 5 years ago we have now moved to a retirement village. Although I can say that we enjoy living within this environment. Our neighbours, many of them long standing friends, are facing, like us the problems of aging. Parkinsonism, Heart disease, Cancer, Creaky Joints.
It is not all bad news, we regularly have pot luck meals, and watch out for one another and share the humorous anecdotes from our lives.
I feel that I am very lucky because I can still go back to the farm and get my hands dirty and make myself useful. I can still visit my neighbours and help to cheer them up.
Life is still good and I am still useful.