Hey Lara,
Well my post was a little tongue in cheek (which is such a weird expression). But I actually do like him and 90% of his advice. But I am not so silly as to realise that the advice that backfires, or situations that leave the man looking less that capable are sure to be editted out.

I havent bought any of his books though so I only contribute to his empire by watching his show.

Whats happening in Oz Lara. In NZ things are getting crazy. We are seeing less and less choice, less freedom of choice and rights being removed left right and centre. Parliament is set to remove the right to smack a child at the end of this month if it is not defeated. And while the spanking debate can go on and on forever I am just concerned at the state getting involved in parenting and criminalizing regular people. Next thing that was floated yesterday was the commisioner for children announcing he wants to set up a register and gather information on all children from birth to adulthood to intercept abuse early. Sounds laudable. but it means that EVERY family will have a government social worker that you have to prove you are a good parent too. The document that was tabled was 4 pages long and not ONCE mentioned parents. It talked of government, communities and children. But not once mentioned the roles and rights of parents. We have also seen midwives have their scope of practice reduced. Or it is about to. The college of midwives fought and fought making 60 submissions against the new rules. The govt have opted to take on board 12 of the least important. The consultation process was a farce and lip service paid. It means that women will have less choice and less ability to avoid a medicalised labour. We will see our 35% caesarean rate sky rocket. No one seems to think it is wrong or bizzare that within a decade or so 40 to 50% of our children will be born via the abdomen. The majority of these deliveries will not have a medical reason for occuring.

It is illegal to home school in Germany. I can imagine it may well become so here. And I am saddened by our slow loss of freedoms.

Meanwhile our youth, who have few boundries are out of control. Angry young men are comitting the worst crimes randomly like never before. A 16 year old killed a 14 year old kid a few days ago. On school ground. They never knew each other, it was totally random.

I saw on the news the story of the boys in OZ that captured on film the tormenting and attack on the special needs girl and then sold it as a DVD. I was horrified. Is the same stuff happening over there?

All very depressing.