Wasteworks Kaikohe - Warning

On 15th July we were asked to cater for the official opening of the new $3million Wasteworks complex, for 70 persons.
The catering was done, the food was excellent, there was plenty of it, we completed our part of the bargain, at a very cheap price -$6.50 per head plus GST.
Payment was initially promised on Tuesday 18th July - NOTHING.
A few weeks went by, a phone call to Wasteworks. Yes,says Barbara, the authorisation has been sent to head office for payment. - NOTHING
Another 2 weeks go by - yes, says Barbara, the cheques are being collated - you will have payment in a day or two - NOTHING
To-day, Barbara tells me the owner, Warwick authorises which cheques are sent out -ours is not on the list - NOTHING
So I complain - Would I like to speak to Warwick - NO - I want to get paid.
Meanwhile, we arranged a wheelie bin from Wasteworks, complete with liner. Payment of $86 is demanded (including a $50 bond) paid by us to Wasteworks, the bin will be delivered to-morrow. It arrived 3 days later, without a liner. Since then it has been emptied twice with the liner replaced only once.
WHAT A JOKE, WASTEWORKS.
Just lucky I have kept all the e-mails confirming the catering, they may come in handy in legal action.
Meanwhile, I strongly suggest that you steer well clear of this company - They have lost their credibility, they are dishonest, they are very slow payers to us little people.
Am I angry with this mob - you bet I am - What a load of rubbish!!!!

Maori Queen Dies

The funeral of Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, age 75, was conducted to-day,with N Z Prime Minister Helen Clarke among tens of thousands of mourners who have attended the ceremonies over the last 5 days since Dame Te Ata died.
Dame Te Ata was taken in one of a dozen Waka (Maori War Canoes) to her final resting place at the foot of Taupiri Mountain.She was Queen for 40 years, the 6th sovereign in the Maori royal line that began in 1858.
While the role of Queen was largely ceremonial, over the years she had hui (meetings) with many national and international dignitaries, including Japan's Emperor Akihito, South African President, Nelson Mandela and US President Bill Clinton.
According to Maori protocol, N.Z. now has a new Maori king,Te Ata's eldest son, Tuheitia Paki, who was crowned before the funeral of his mother commenced.
The name Te Atairangikaahu means "The soaring bird of the dawn"
Dame Te Ata was dearly loved by her people, and her passing has seen an outpouring of national grief.

Brendan at World Champs

Local sailer Brendan McCarty recently participated in the World Youth Laser Yachting Championships in Los Angeles.Only 17 years old, Brendan performed really well in a borrowed yacht,in conditions unlike those in N.Z., against the best junior yachtsmen in the world, with far more experience. While he finished the regatta mid-fleet, beating about 60 other sailors,the experience he received will benefit Brendan for future regattas, and he will be in the top echelon of sailors in his class in the future.His efforts must have made his parents and family very proud.
Well done, Brendan, you have achieved what others have failed to do.Your dedication and committment, and your ability, has been proven, and the experience you received in Los Angeles will only lead you to greater results in the future.

Our future - No Worries

With the ease of international travel,more affluence and the changing world order, I have no fear for the future. Far North District Council yesterday welcomed students from Yuasa in Japan on a cultural exchange. Yuasa is a sister-city to our region, and annual exchanges have been occuring between our countries for some years.This group (pictured) was in response to a group sent from here to Yuasa. We are also hosting a student from Mexico, while other students in our district come from France, Switzerland and Argentina.Meanwhile,a work associate's son,Brendan, is competing with great distinction at the World Youth Laser Yachting Championships in Los Angeles, California.Our young people are the world's future,their opportunities and ambitions represent a ray of light in a world all but destroyed by their predecessors - us.
I stand in awe of these young people, with their aspirations and achievements.
The world is in good hands. Let us not spoil it any more for them.

Israel, Lebanon etc - who really cares !!

Those events in the middle east between Israel and Lebanon started with the capture of 2 Israeli soldiers - and escalated into a full- blown armed conflict between two countries.
In N.Z., we are far away from all this conflict, we place a value on human life,while we have our own cultural differences, we do NOT resort to violence at the smallest infraction.
That part of our world will always have conflict, due to racial,cultural and religious differences that will never be resolved peacefully.I, for one, have little empathy or feeling for either country, who's leaders have so little value on their own people, that they are prepared to sacrifce them at any whim.
Whether Israel,Iraq,Lebanon,Iran or any country in that region, violence is always going to be an insidious cancer on the populations of their countries. The chances are that the armaments for both sides come from the same source anyway.
So, as abhorrent as it is to me and my social conscience, I say, let them fight, kill each other off,destroy each other if you must, so what if a few thousand from each side get killed, so what if half a million get displaced -it is YOUR leaders that have created this situation, we are not responsible, personally I say, go for it - kill each other to preserve your beliefs.I'm getting sick and tired of seeing graphic pictures of the dead and suffering in the Middle East,I don't care if you are getting bombed every day, I don't want to know how much you hate each other!!
Just remember, for every one of you getting killed by the other side, there are 1000 people throughout the world, dying daily of AIDS.

Tane Mahuta Day

The Far North District Council recently celebrated Tane Mahuta Day, at a citizenship ceremony.
Tane Mahuta (pictured - click to enlarge, and see if you can see the person standing in front of it)is an enormous Kauri tree, native to N.Z., and is in the Waipoua forest, about an hour's drive west of Kaikohe.
The tree predates the Roman Empire, Christianity,and is well over 2500 years old.
In the citizenship ceremony,juvenile kauri trees were given to the new citizens to plant on their land.
In the early 1800's, New Zealand had over 2 million hectares of Kauri forest, but the felling of most, for their excellent timber and kauri gum,have left us with only a fraction of that now.
The Kauri is revered in N.Z.,an icon of our land,a truly natural treasure.

Timothy Selwyn - Dangerous Man

Timothy Selwyn a very active N.Z. activist, was recently jailed for 2 months on a charge of sedition, after hurling an axe through P.M Helen Clarke's electoral office window, and leaving seditious pamphlets at the scene. This is the first sedition conviction for over 70 years in N.Z.
However that is not all Timothy Selwyn was charged with - He received a further 15 months jail for fraud, amid relevations that he used dead babies identities to obtain a passport and $11,000 in welfare payments.
He was also one of 26 persons arrested in 2004 in the N.Z. Mossad spy scandal when 2 Israeli secret service agents were caught trying to obtain N.Z. passports fraudulently.
Selwyn has also served time after forgery convictions in 1996.
Now, in jail, Selwyn is using his time writing a blog on life inside - part of his prominent blog that preaches sedition, promotes social disharmony, and sees plots and political manoeuvering in every scenario.
He is, without doubt, one of the most dangerous activists in N.Z., and I for one support the N.Z. National Party's calls for his blog to be deleted.
I believe he should be held in isolation, and denied the opportunity to continue to write his vile diatribe while being held in jail.
Alternatively, let him be exposed to the gang culture while in jail - perhaps they can sort out one of the most evil, dangerous people in New Zealand with a little "hands on" mental reprogramming to rid us of this evil.