Opportunity Knocks

I have spent the first days of 2010 focusing on building my DRM GROUP business, watching a couple of very funny movies and training a new batch of aspiring Security Officers.

The current crop have really surpised me with the initiative they have shown in making the effort to read the material and answer the questions unaided. Ordinarily, I have to push the students to give me the most basic of answers to what is really, a very basic theoretical proposition. But this group have fired on all 8 cylinders from the flagfall and this gives me hope.

I have noticed, sadly, an embarrassingly low level of literacy and numeracy amongst far too many students attending my courses. I wonder how it is they manage to slip through to adulthood with such low levels of competence, but nontheless I admire the determination of each and everyone of them as they struggle to improve their lot.

As many of you know, I have a background that includes Policing and Correctional Services as a Prison Guard. I witnessed with dismay, the victim mentality of the incarcerated - mostly without substance. Qld has a state of the art, modern prison system and do make a valiant attempt to deal with their growing prison population, but the ideals of the politicians are in this case let down by the low quality and work ethic of the majority of their paid employees.

Plus we endure the problem of having been too cowardly for our own good to stand up and be counted on the important issues.

You know, the defining blow for me leaving my homeland of New Zealand had it Genesis in David Lange's Prime Ministerial era. At the time, a British soapie known to all as Coronation Street was running twice weekly on enzed's main TV channel and it ran about 6 months behind the UK where it is produced. Such is the devotion and love of the series (now it must be well in to it's 50's) that TVNZ decided to increase coverage to 5 nights per week in order to bring us into a very current time line with England. The plan was to stop at about two weeks behind to allow for various transportaion issues and the like.

Well once TVNZ caught up with their British counterparts, they announced to the flatlining populace that coverage of the whinging pommie soap was to revert to three nights per week.

Adolf Hitler's re-incarnation and stated desire to declare NZ a neo Jewish nation and burn it to the ground would have gone unnoticed in the storm of protest that followed. David Lange spotted this mile wide ignorance of the populace and made his move.

If only Biggles, Algy and Bertie had been around to spot it we would have witnessed the birth of another classic adventure!!!

Meanwhile, as the braindead Press and TV coverage of the time focused on the protest and outrage of Coronation Street being taken from the flatliner's TV channel's, portly Dave slipped in a 2.5% increase in the GST, under cover of darkness and contrary to the Labour party's absolute -read my lips "We will not increase the GST" - policy, and what do you think happened, dear reader?

No, the flatliner's did not change tack and howl in protest at the GST increase, they sat back or rather bent over, and let Davey boy give it to them. Did the Coro St protest lose impetus? Absolutely not, in fact a nationwide petition was organised, stars of the show were flown out to NZ to assist with the protest, and we railed against the horror of losing an hour of rubbish on tv per week.

Davo's GST increase got through unnoticed and unchallenged, and without a whimper from the maojority. No that last one is not a misprint.

So I decided to look for a brighter more stimulating environment, and Australia shouted out " Where the bloody hell are ya Biggles, get over here mate!". I've made huge stride's in leaving my dislike and utter contempt of Politicians behind, and I have watched in detached fascination at the antic's of the Australian "Servants of the People" although I still love to give them a size 9 now and then.

I have happily found much more to interest and embrace about this totally fascinating nation. Australia has presented me with seemingly endless opportunities that NZ never could and for that I am extremely grateful. But don't waste your time trying to turn me against the All Blacks...won't happen, no way, no how...read my lips!

Think Long and Prosper
Biggles