Donald Trump has racked up an appalling number of crimes, a correspondent writes.
The immorality of Donald Trump
Many thanks to Shane Te Pou for his hugely insightful piece (HoS, July 21). I had been trying to add up the total crimes of Donald Trump with all due diligence, but Shane has already done that and it appears to be an appalling total of 34.
Patriotic Americans would remember back to when Trump’s wealthy father managed to get him excluded from the Vietnam draft on a pretext. They would also recall how the gloating Donald Trump cruelly referred to those who served as “suckers and losers”.
He was also gifted $1 million by his father, which would equate to more like NZ$20m in today’s money. But that didn’t stop him from going back for more later on. So if anyone is under the illusion of him being “self-made”, think again.
I hope Donald Trump doesn’t try to visit New Zealand; he should be denied entry due to his crimes should he attempt to. His only visit so far was a brief single day to support his consortium’s casino bid.
His immoral lifestyle has been revealed and when he bragged about entering women’s store fitting rooms saying “I could do anything”, I would have thought that would have immediately lost him at least half of the votes.
His wife has been conspicuously absent for a very lengthy time, but then he managed to coax her out to stand around looking awkward for his latest gathering of self-promotion. Attendees grabbed signs from under their seats and not only those awful MAGA hats but also hats designed like huge blocks of cheese, apparently due to Wisconsin being a dairying state.
I cannot understand how Trump’s deeply questionable attitude sits with Americans as many are deeply religious and attend church services regularly.
Colleen Wright, Botany Downs.
Housing drives Kiwis abroad
NZ is confronting a brain drain and exodus to Australia of unprecedented proportions – 60,000 people, the equivalent of three cities, left in the past year.
Inevitably, family will follow. This dire situation needs to be carefully analysed and addressed. The immense loss isn’t solved by increasing immigration and when NZ is a back door to Australia.
Could this loss be partly caused not by the alleged lack of affordable homes in NZ, but rather by the lack of desirable homes, ie by intensification? Crammed-up three-storey landless homes may not be how people want to live and raise their families, while Australia offers more choice in this regard.
The political solution to open up the rural/urban boundary to flood the country with housing to bring the price of property down (Chris Bishop) may only act to exacerbate matters.
Quite apart from the economic instability caused by radically altered debt-to-equity ratios, if this is done. This is not responsible planning with sensitivity to people’s needs, NZ’s temperate outdoor climate and our geographical isolation.
NZ needs to learn from its colonial history. We urgently need to identify suitable areas for “beautiful new planned cities” on the rail or near the harbour for efficiencies of public transport, and to set standards that ensure a high quality of life, meeting people’s needs at different stages of life.
This would encourage people to stay in NZ, a higher quality of life offsetting higher incomes possible in Australia and in time it would solve this difference also. This is challenging, but the high price being paid for our failure to plan thoughtfully has become obvious.
Victoria Lowe, Shamrock Park.
School punishment
Corporal punishment was lawful violence within our schools, our homes and other institutions.
Starting teachers college as a “mature” student, I was horrified while visiting schools at the violence led by headmasters.
Many ruled with unspoken threats, a strap in the back pocket while striding up and down in front of an assembly, letting them know he could whack both boys and girls.
Another school allowed a male teacher known to have a drinking problem to get away with flicking bra straps of young growing girls. He was also allotted the role of strapping young boys, causing the more sensitive enough fear they wet their beds.
Challenging this, I was threatened to “watch where I stood”, as I was not only a trainee in a learning role, but I was the mother of a son at this school. But the kindness and care of another principal allowed me to see that time was running out on these bullies.
He allowed me to see a school managed safely and I continued to qualify. Within my first year of teaching, corporal punishment had gone.
Emma Mackintosh, Birkenhead.
Lowering poverty targets
How does anyone expect to achieve child poverty reduction in New Zealand when their highly qualified representative has been totally ignored?
The Chief Children’s Commissioner, Dr Claire Achmad, wasn’t even consulted by Louise Upston, the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction. Why? Because she just wants to “get things done”. Just another example of expert opinion being roundly trounced?
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon lauds “outcomes” but raising the poverty bar in this case to make it “achievable” is cynical. They hand out plastic medals in primary schools to those achieving a first day back after the holidays. Will Upston crow loudly about her plastic results by having lowered ambitions for reducing poverty?
Children in poverty have few lobbyists if their chief representative is snubbed, so all the talk about equality of opportunity is just ephemeral diarrhoea. You can smell it but it’s of little nutritious benefit.
This coalition is about “entitlements” – for landlords and the wealthy with minimal need for tax cuts but not for children with poor parents. The 24,000 extra being ignored by Upston can beg for equitable access to food, clothes and health while landlords accept their taxpayer entitlements.
The seesaw is being tipped by Upston to inexcusably cheat some children out of their entitlement.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest.
Healthy eating
Eating a healthy diet, avoiding processed foods and staying active can significantly reduce the risk of numerous costly diseases and conditions.
Taking personal responsibility for our lifestyles is crucial. It’s also a wise investment for the Government: spending $1 on prevention today can save $10 in healthcare and productivity costs tomorrow.
Given the rising expenses of healthcare, it’s prudent for the Government to invest more in prevention. This could include subsidised programmes and education on diet and exercise, along with consultations with dietitians or health coaches. For instance, my workplace offers annual health checks and cardiovascular risk assessments – making these accessible to everyone could be beneficial.
As the old saying goes: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Perhaps it is time we dusted off this time-honoured wisdom and converted it to modern dollars and sense.
Nigel Owen, Hamilton.
Nurse warns Hawke’s Bay Hospital is “holding on by the skin of our teeth” due to staffing.