The above is a NZ Herald heading over an American news-item.

It recounts the arrest of a black bloke for breaking the law prohibiting food and drink consumption on the transit system. That’s an excellent law about good manners which in a perfect world, shouldn’t be necessary. Alas it is.

Here’s the point. Regardless of the law’s merits. Why the reference to the offender being black?

If he was short, fat, Chinese, besuited or whatever, would any of those descriptive adjectives have been used? Of course not. However, being black allows the opportunity to create a news-item, namely introduce the currently fashionable quiet news day fall-back of racism.

The man was not arrested for being black as a Martian reading this item might reasonably think, thus the reference to his ethnicity was totally gratuitous. But of course, then there’d have been no story.

The Dominion Post reports public servant Carrie Buckmaster has delivered a petition to Parliament which is long overdue.

From the report it appears Carrie wants Parliament to stop public servants sexually assaulting the public. “The public service is particularly susceptible to the misuse of power for sexual gain,” Carrie is quoted saying.

“Totally Inappropriate”, proclaimed Auckland Mayor Phil Goff about Shane Jones’s response to an Indian migrant’s complaint about the Immigration Department. But inappropriate to what? Phil didn’t tell us, instead preferring to jump on the current fashionable bandwagon, led by the Indian community, with the wearingly wrong cries of racism and hate speech.

It transpired the Department had declined the migrant’s application to bring in an arranged marriage potential bride he’d never met. The Department declined permission for the excellent reason that the rules required it to do so. Specifically, couples must have lived together for a year before their migration applications can be considered.

The above is a Stuff website heading. I couldn’t bring myself to read the accompanying account for fear of a heart attack. However, the question arises whether this is a reward or a punishment?

As always I see the commercial opportunities this, and I say that seriously.

A couple of days ago the Dominion-Post cartoonist portrayed an air steward addressing two passengers, they shown reading a newspaper with the heading, “Ex-Air NZ boss parachutes into adoring National Party.”  The steward is quoted saying, “If reading about the deification of Mr Luxon by the National Party is making you feel unwell Sir, then please use the sick bag.”

That message couldn’t be more inaccurate. Neither the public nor National Party members have been guilty of this deification silliness, rather it’s been solely political journalists.