US president-elect Donald Trump. Photo / Getty Images
US president-elect Donald Trump. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION
For the first time, the United States has a president who has absolute power, with the Senate and House of Representatives controlled by his party and a Supreme Court ruling he can do as he pleases with impunity.
The US could now easily be thoughtof as an autocracy, like China and Russia.
Still, that could be a cause for some relief, as the democratic US has always railed against the evils of autocracies and caused wars because of them.
I wonder how truancy figures for the historic charter school experiment or te kura kaupapa compare to the figures from mainstream state schools, which seem to border on calamity?
Students from these schools would seem to come from stable households who have seriously considered their child’s education, have a sense of pride in their background and culture, and have a committed desire to see children mature into strong moral adults.
There seems to be a gross lack of these sentiments in mainstream New Zealand right now, morality at an all-time low, lawlessness at levels not seen in recent history and God has been discarded in favour of self.
We should wonder, indeed.
John Williams
Ngongotahā
Remi, 14, owned by Welcome Bay resident Donna Matheson, was euthanised on November 6. Photo / Supplied
Fireworks incident distressing
I was so saddened to hear of the beautiful horse that had to be euthanised following severe injury caused by the terror of fireworks in Tauranga (News, November 8).
The stress the horse and owner endured is unimaginable.
In the past, I watched in horror as a beautiful stallion bolted in fright from fireworks. The distraught owner was powerless to help, the horse was horribly injured and the vet bills were immense.
One Guy Fawkes, a breeder discovered some of her valuable show birds had abandoned their nest boxes when fireworks went off. Injured adult and baby birds died.
This Guy Fawkes, my greyhound suffered, despite all precautions taken. Violently shaking for hours, and hiding in corners, she panted and drooled endlessly, finally standing still in shock, unable to move.
Nothing I could do helped her in her distress, which lasted well past the protracted fireworks. It was awful for her and me.
These events are just a minuscule sample of what guy fawkes and random fireworks are like for many pets and their owners.
Is this so-called fun justified when for our animals real suffering, stress, and injuries are an absolute certainty every year?
It’s time for a ban.
Heather Loughlin
Tauranga
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