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(A.K.A. Non-Original Rants)

–Co-opting good stuff from all over the ‘Net and maybe some original thoughts—ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

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New Zealand had a 100M loss due to DEI

The New Zealand navy was so proud and happy to have a lesbian from Britain come on board that they gave her a $100M survey and dive vessel, which she crashed and sank.

The lesbian “diversity hire” captain of a Royal New Zealand Navy ship that ran aground and sank off Samoa has been charged with negligence along with two other officers over the loss of the vessel.

The $100 million HMNZS Manawanui, which was under the command of UK-born homosexual Yvonne Gray, crashed on the south side of Upolu on October 5, 2024, due to human error including failure to turn off autopilot, an inquiry found last year.

Commander Gray, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Gajzago and a third officer will now face court-martial over the disaster, which was the navy’s first ship loss since World War 2, and resulted in New Zealand paying Samoa NZ$6 million in compensation for environmental destruction that resulted from the crash.

Of course the female New Zealand Defense Minister, after the crash, was making claims of misogyny if anyone dared suggest that the sex of the captain was a factor.

After the sinking of the ship, which was one of just nine in the New Zealand Navy, Commander Gray was given blanket positive corporate media coverage for getting all 75 personnel on board off alive, and Defence Minister Judith Collins called the evacuation a “triumph” and criticism of the captain “misogynistic”.

But her position as captain then came into question after it was revealed she had been promoted amid a push for diversity and inclusion in the NZDF, and many New Zealanders asked why she was given command of a ship ahead of local candidates.

Because DEI is always accompanied by virtue signaling.

Apparently she went missing from the bridge when the boat was near a reef and the folks that were there forgot that the autopilot was on and never turned it off.

In addition to the loss of the vessel, the government of New Zealand had to pay another NZ$6 million to Samoa for making a mess on their beach.

This isn’t the first time that a NZ naval diversity hire damaged a ship. It happened in 2024 with a different female captain.

And that’s what happens when you choose diversity over competence. Wonder if the New Zealanders will actually learn from this??

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Midwest Chick

10 responses to “New Zealand had a 100M loss due to DEI”

  1. B Avatar
    B

    It isn’t the gender (although that might have something to do with it) but more the fact that in the rush to diversify, metrics besides competency are used…all in the rush to “balance” things to make sure that a woman has a position of power, forgetting that those positions are (or were) earned after years of experience.

    When plumbing and ancestry become the rungs on the ladder rather than competency, things like this happen.

    Just be glad it wasn’t an airliner full of people, or a Ferry full of tourists.

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  2. TRoy Avatar
    TRoy

    Homosexuality is a character defect, certainly not a “quality” to seek out for leadership. Our own military had far more integrity when homosexuality was considered dishonorable. Effin dumb as hell.

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  3. Midwest Chick Avatar
    Midwest Chick

    B–Excellent point. If the standards have to change to get a certain melanin content or genital content and configuration in a seat over competency and experience, then that’s that problem. And yes, it could have been much worse.

    TRoy–Gonna disagree with you on homosexuality being a character defect. It is not. There are fine and competent people who happen to be homosexual. On the flip side, neither is it a quality that would indicate competence in a candidate. The key in this situation is more that a female was granted a boat over candidates born and raised in NZ, not her sexuality, even though the NZ government made a big deal about it. Also going to give a warning–you’re on the edge with your comment.

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  4. TRoy Avatar
    TRoy

    MC- Hey, it’s your world, I’m just a dude with some opinions too. You didn’t change my mind.

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    1. Midwest Chick Avatar
      Midwest Chick

      TRoy–Yep, my world–I pay for it. Didn’t figure I’d change your mind but gave a warning to watch your Ps and Qs and let you know there’s a line. Chill, seriously.

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  5. Unferth Avatar
    Unferth

    Jordan Peterson has a video up that explains the statistics behind why if you use a metric besides merit for hiring and promotion, you cannot have the best people for the job. For some jobs, it obviously doesn’t matter. For other jobs, you cannot sacrifice competence for any other metric. War is one of those jobs where competence is required or (the wrong) people die.

    I admit that I like using the example of gay being deemed a mental illnesses in the 1980s. When someone makes a seemingly benign statement “mentally ill people should not have firearms,” I like to ask if gay people should universally be bared from having firearms simply because they are gay.

    Inevitably, the leftist will react in horror. I then point out that in the 1980s being gay was considered a mental illness. The lesson to walk away with is that the definition of mental illness changes and is subject to political maneuvering.

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  6. Tennessee Budd Avatar
    Tennessee Budd

    I’ve said for a long time that diversity is fine as a side effect, if it happens, but if you make it a goal you’re making merit secondary. Excellence must always be the prime deciding factor.

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  7. KurtP Avatar
    KurtP

    What I can’t understand is why a multimillion Dollar ship doesn’t have autopilot that you can’t override without turning it off.

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    1. Phil B Avatar
      Phil B

      It did have an over ride function but the bridge watch was inadequately trained and were unfamiliar with the operation of the autopilot system. All it needed was a push of one button to disengage and revert to manual control but the watchkeepers did not know which button to press.

      The ship was built as a civilian oil rig support and anchor handling vessel and the autopilot was meant to be the default system for station keeping as it is a better helmsman and navigator than a human in the North Sea conditions (very stormy with steep and cross seas making course keeping and station keeping a challenge) so for precise course keeping and mapping, the autopilot would have been the best and most accurate choice.

      As they say in computing PICNIC – Problem in Chair, Not in Computer.

      The failure of the captain to be on the bridge during critical and close proximity to navigational hazards is against standing orders so that is another strike against her.

      I daresay any report that is made public will be heavily redacted because … reasons.

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  8. Old NFO Avatar
    Old NFO

    Sigh… They will never learn.

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