NEXT STOP FOR GANG FREE TOWN - MASTERTON

We were a bit gobsmacked at the Sunday markets last weekend in Masterton, when we ran smack bang into two big hairy arsed Nomad gang members in full regalia. They dont wear their patches so we can all admire their embroidery - no. They do it to intimidate. Allowing them to parade the streets in their gear normalises them. And they aint normal.

We are delighted that Wairoa is looking to ban patches. Its a bloody tough little town and any effort to reduce the power of the gangs is a step in the right direction.

And while we are at it - all government departments should ban gang patches from their buildings..

Get to it guys.. Get rid of gangs and you will make a serious dent in P problem.

ARRESTING

We read this story on Stuff - apparently the swinging dick skin heads are not going to take an invasion of Hells Angels into Nelson lying down. We were particularly interested in the following quote. We reckon - it is a criminal threat. We wonder why the police aren't acting on it. We would expect if it is taped then they can charge "Max "with threatening to kill among a whole host of other offences as well.

The threat has come from Southern Skinheads president "Max" who told Newstalk ZB the Angels were not welcome in Nelson because they would bring P with them. "We will burn any pub they drink at, any motel they stay at and may take it to the extent we will probably try to shoot them off their motorbikes," he said.

We hope that the local police show zero tolerance. And we are pleased to see that the charities are shunning the bikies as well.

Doing " charity runs" has been a long established method of the gangs to get legitimacy in the community.

No charity should take their money - its dirty.

SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER

If Nikki Kaye has broken her ankle how will Ranfurly cope?

Which well known mover and shaker is a Nigel No Mates on one board because his fellow directors are having trouble trusting him?

Is it okay to fart in cattle class on a plane? And do planes make you fart anyhow?

And does the fact that 32 light bulbs at Dockside need replacing mean that its not being managed like it used to be?

How much money is going to leave the country next week ?

Isn't Lisa Lewis the best marketer we have seen in a while?

HIT THE GANGS HARD

The government today announced its strategy against P. The bit that got the most press was the restriction on the purchase of pseudo ephedrine laden compounds that relieve the symptoms of colds and snuffles.

They are the panacea for the worried well. So will the restriction change our lives ? Nah. A few drug companies wont make so much money.. Tough.

So we think that's okay but its the crime bits of the government strategy we are particularly interested in.

We think the government is heading in the right direction. Here's the good bits.

Using the proceeds of crime legislation to fund anti-P initiatives, including additional Police and Customs activities to fight gangs and organised crime. Proceeds will also fund an expansion of drug treatment services.

• Assigning 40 additional Customs officers to special dedicated drug-taskforce duties to help break the supply chain.

• Implementing a new Police Methamphetamine Control Strategy from November this year, which aims to use intelligence in new ways to target gangs, investigate drug syndicates which import P precursors illegally, target P ‘cooks’ and seize funds and assets gained through P-related activity.

• Reviewing the outdated Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966, to provide a more effective legal means for families and doctors to get P-addicts into compulsory assessment and treatment.

However, we would like to see a mass media campaign targeting gangs - denormalising them.At the end of the day it is the gangs and the parasites above them who are profiting in this menace.

Take them out and we have no supply.

It will take a cross community response backing the government up to make it effective happen. The sort of campaign that had us buckle up our seat belts and stop drink driving and reduce the rate of smoking. Make it socially unacceptable . If the government took all of the government money still being spent on social marketing and pumped it into in the strategy) then we might get somewhere.

And where to start?

Headhunters

Hells Angels

And the rest of the arsehole gangs who are now fashionable accessories at the best celeb parties.

The government has made a start and we are delighted that they actually have a cross government strategy - lots of strands. We haven't seen much of that before.

But it is going to take a shift in societies thinking , that gangs aren't cool even if they fund raise for poor people and we certainly don't want them as dinner guests.

HEADHUNTERS ARE RAPISTS.

The sad story of Millie Elders fall from grace from P is a wake up call for all New Zealanders that we must renew any efforts to reduce this social plague on so many houses.

The saddest part of this story is not that she is facing jail or that her father is no longer talking to her, it is that she is in the thrall of the Headhunters. These arseholes have infiltrated the top end of Auckland society whose populus also thirst for this drug. In fact it is clear to see that this gang of bad bad men are now part of what would once be seen as the Auckland establishment.

Every third celebrity kid is on P and undoubtedly it is because they are being fed the drug by the gang. The gang members and their ilk are now fashionable accessories at all the best parties. They have been legitimised. And Aucklanders who have the wit, will and station should stop legitimising the Headhunters and others of their ilk by shunning them.

It is time for the police to go to war and we mean that in the most literal sense. Headhunters are little more than paedophiles preying on the young, their gratification coming from the power they have over their victims and the money they get in return for P.

These drug paedophiles should be treated the same as their sexually deviant cousins. Their drug crimes just as odious as baby rape. These crimes against some of our brightest and best strips innocence , just the same. Leaving the victims spent shells, scared forever.

If you have worked with those who have been raped and those who are under the spell of drugs you see in their eyes the face of the same ugly demon.

We want girls like Millie to grow up good. Not growing up believing that the very men who fed her the stuff that fried her brain are her saviours. We owe it to her and the growing legions of good kids to come, to stamp out the Headhunters and brand them the evil soul sucking bastards they are.

Bugger charities like Kidscan - this is the cause that New Zealand celebrities should be supporting without question. It should have been the cause for the Telethon and the Government should backed it up with tougher legislation not food parcels.

So, we want a taskforce of old gang members who have turned their backs against the old ways, Heads of Police, Social Welfare, TPK, and legislators to write rules to break the back of this growing social pestilence.


However we disagree with Paul Holmes. He should always leave the door open for his daughter. She needs to know she is still loved and she can still come home. He should, even in her darkest hour, never stop talking to her, making sure she can always find her way, as its going to be a hell of a long road for her to travel on her own with the demons on her back .

YES YES YES

Collins is getting tough on gangs. Good - bout time someone did. And this is something we have more than a passing interest in

This is going to take the efforts of the whole community and it will require a multi agency approach. This is not just an issue for police and corrections - its also about Social Welfare, Maori and Pacific Island Affairs among others. It is time for zero tolerance. And it is time to really focus on P - We have witnessed its ravages and nothing we have ever seen turns sane people into lunatics in such a ferocious way.

So we are delighted to see Collins take a tough stand, she maybe the first Minister to make a real difference.

BLOODY KIDS

Who would have em. Two kids with high profile parents , Craig Norgate and Paul Holmes are under the spotlight. We feel very sorry for them, parents that is - not kids. Now we had a bit of a problem with the son and heir to BB's mortgages. He left school barely 16 did the drug experimentation at an early age. drank, got caught drink driving, peeing in a public place and crash a car. So he has been far from the model kid. A decade later he is a Helicopter pilot and instructor. But it has been a tough journey for him and me, moments of abject frustration and disappointment and fear and joy. The rollercoaster of parenting.

So the only thing we can say to parents of wayward kids is play it tough, be firm - don't mother them too much. Always be there for the little buggers.

Form alliances with other parents - the more eyes the less you miss.

Instill in them respect for the police no matter how you feel about them. Children must know that our society needs policemen and we must honour their position.

And after they get to about 25 - they are in charge of their own lives and you have to stand on the sideline.

Its time that the media stopped doing stories on rich kids in trouble. Would they be writing the story if it was about a tagger from Mangere? Or a P addict from Porirua? We know they wouldn't. All the media is doing to these kids is making it so much harder for them to get their shit together..

And thats just bloody tough on the kids...