Scoop Feedback: Schools, Traitors, Tall Masts & NZDF
In This Edition: Schools Are Failing Industry - What A Joke - Tall Mast Syndrome - The Sorry State Of NZ Defence
Scoop welcomes Feedback. Please send your news and views to editor@scoop.co.nz.
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Schools Are Failing Industry
Sir,
New Zealand's manufacturers are spending millions educating their workers - half of whom can't read, write and speak
well enough to do their jobs.
"In the EMA study - involving a random sampling of 60 manufacturing firms - 85.7% of respondents said completing
documents sometimes resulted in missing or inaccurate data while only 56% of workers were found to always follow verbal
instruction." "Another 30% didn't understand workplace safety hazards, which could expose employers to "painful and
unbudgeted expenses if an accident occurs."
"Recent results from the National Certificate of Educational Achievement showed concerning levels of performance in
literacy and numeracy, with 40% of fifth form students unable to produce formal writing to the minimum standard and 49%
unable to estimate and determine probabilities."
"The situation is exacerbated by the high number of manufacturing workers from Asia and the Pacific Islands, many of
whom speak English as a second language. Literacy goes beyond reading and writing. It includes speaking, listening,
problem solving, creative thinking and numeracy."
The long-term agenda of Labour and the intellectual left over the past 20-30 years is now showing its true colours.
That is:
* dump the tried and true educational policies and methods which, while they had their failings, did provide for
an education that gave people good literacy and numeracy skills;
* offer instead a system and methods of true Stalinist fashion which ensured the "dumbing down" of those who could
challenge them the most;
* and finally endorse and implement immigration policies which ensure English is the second and least conversant
language of those wishing to immigrate.
All this adds up to ensuring that the masses can well and truly be confused by both Labour and the intellectual left,
thus ensuring once in power, lethargy, illiteracy and innumeracy will also ensure they stay there.
Role on the proletariat.
Mirek Marcanik
Wellington
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What A Joke
I visited your website today for the first time and about threw up!! You print lies and feed anti-American sentiment,
which is your mission obviously. There is NO fair and balanced opinion on your website nor do you care. In the article
titled: "Vigorous Anti-War Protests will greet John Howard," it states, "The huge majority of the world's population are
opposed to his warmongering plans which are illegal and immoral." HAHAHA, it's obvious your blinded to the truth and
you're wrong, wrong, wrong!
The HUGE majority of the world's population you talked about accounted for only four one-hundredths of one percent.
That's a huge number; what are you a bunch of stupids? What about the atrocities Saddam Hussein has committed? What
about the thousands of his own people he gassed? What about the torture chambers and open rape to teach the towns folks
a lesson? You people are hypocrites and only show your true nature of what you really are, communists. What the hell,
fascisms and communists has only killed millions of people why not give it another chance! Sincerely,
Andy Binder
U.S. Citizen
P.S. If it wasn't for democracy you would be feeding sheep on a hillside wiping your ass with banana leaves.
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Tall Mast Syndrome
Letter to the Editor
The somewhat empty and plithy platitudes that have bombarded the pages of the NZ media urging our yachting team to win
against near impossible odds causes me to question as to whether NZ'ers as a people are grounded in any sort of reality.
No amount of "ra, ra, go team, go" seems to have made any difference to the results. Instead, the opposition is attacked
by the locals for being successful in their endeavor. I see a parallel in how our best and brightest are often treated
by their own in other disciplines besides sport. I wonder if the loss of the Americas Cup is a solemn and concrete
example of why it is important to truly value those who excel in our country.
To not do so is to allow their true worth to be recognised by others who will attribute both proper respect for their
talent, and sufficient remuneration for the use of it. Barker & Co. didn't "lose" the Cup, and Alingi didn't "win" it; we as a nation gave it away. If only we would learn from the
consequences of our own wrong-headed actions.
Yours faithfully
Steve Taylor
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The Sorry State Of NZ Defence
Sir,
Just when the Defence Force was under the impression all its Christmases had come at once, we find that the government
has cancelled an Orion upgrade and the Navy finds that both its Anzac frigates will be in port being overhauled at the
same time.
In the event, an Orion was assigned to the Gulf resulting in an emergency upgrade of one aircraft at the same cost it
was going to be for all three.
We now have the situation where the only frigate left to patrol our shores is going to be the ageing HMNZS Canterbury.
Defence must now be wondering where on earth the money is going to come from to manage the upgrade of the two remaining
Orion's so that all three have the same capability, and what happens to our coastal defences should the Canterbury
breakdown during the prolonged maintenance required for the two Anzac frigates.
This is a very sorry state indeed.
Mirek Marcanik
Wellington
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