Richard Moore: What were they thinking?

American rapper Coolio was caught with a loaded gun at Los Angeles international airport. PHOTO/FILE

I wonder if some government agencies actually think about the effects of some of the actions they take.

Here is one example of how what seems a good idea, really isn't.

Housing New Zealand (HNZ) thought it could ease the housing shortage in South Auckland by buying a motel at Takanini and using it to put a roof over the head of those who urgently needed it.

The 10-unit Cimarron Motel was bought, an HNZ spokesman said, as "part of our work to make more housing available in Auckland for those who require it urgently".

Nice sentiments, the only problem being that the motel already housed long-term residents.

They now must find somewhere else to live.

One elderly couple had been there 11 years and has nowhere else to go.

I don't know what the motel cost, its previous sale price was $1.6 million last year, but surely that money could have gone to creating more housing stock, rather than just shuffling desperate people around?

How about a bit of sensible forward thinking Housing NZ?

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I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of winemaker Jakov Delegat and his wife, Kate.

Part of one of New Zealand's richest families, worth an estimated $350 million, they have had to deal with the publicity brought about by their son's drunken bashing of a female police officer Alana Kane.

In the incident Nikolas Delegat, 19, punched the officer into unconsciousness and continued to hit her after that.

His appalling crime ended with him being sentenced to 300 hours of community service and being told to pay $5000 in emotional harm reparation to Kane.

In my view that is a pretty light sentence. Actually, I think it woefully light.

Anyway, I'm wondering about the parents' reaction to it all.

I know how I would deal with Nikolas.

Firstly, if I was financing his university life, that support would end. If you think you are a "big man" and beat up females, then go get yourself a job.

Secondly, his inheritance would be put on notice. One more incident and I'd tell him, you may not be as rich as you think you are going to be.

Thirdly, part of him rehabilitating the family name would be to do an extra 600 hours of volunteer work, on top of the court order, helping out those who support and help battered wives and families.

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Much as I am totally trusting in my beloved good lady, if I were silly enough to want to biff myself out of an undamaged plane, the last thing I would want would be a parachute packed by her.

I'd want it done by a professional.

Unfortunately, in the case of Victoria Cilliers, her spouse was a British Army sergeant and he is accused of trying to kill her by tampering with her parachute.

Victoria was lucky, however, in that she survived the 1200-metre fall, but only because her emergency chute opened and saved her.

Mind you, she still hit the turf at 45km/h and broke multiple bones.

It could have been bad luck, but her hubby is also charged with tampering with a domestic gas fitting belonging to his wife.

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In my view most of the world is dumb people and then there are really dumb people.

Among the latter is an American rapper known as Coolio.

I've never heard of him, don't really wish to, but he grabs my attention because he was caught with a loaded gun at Los Angeles international airport.

Now among all of the places to have a gun, that is not one I would pick.

As we all know US officials are on Paranoia Level 5 and so there is little more chance of getting through security at an airport with a gun, than Donald Trump has of making sense.