New Zealand Conservative

Chat time!

It seems to come up with annoying regularity - the myth that Pius XII supported the Nazis. You've got to wonder how a myth of such ferocity could be born, and yes, it wasn't accidentally. The KGB wanted to destroy the moral authority of the West and what better target than the Catholic war time Pope? As they said, dead men can't defend themselves. KGB intent on linking Pius XII with Nazis, says former spy Washington DC, Jan 26, 2007 / 04:18 pm (CNA).- A former high-ranking officer with the KGB claims that the Kremlin and the Russian intelligence agency in the 1960s were set on executing a smear campaign against the Catholic Church, and the main target was Pope Pius XII. In a recent issue of the National Review Online, Lt. General Ion Mihai Pacepa, who eventually defected from the former Soviet bloc, recounts how the KGB and the Kremlin designed the deliberate campaign to portray the Pius XII “as a coldhearted Nazi sympathizer.” “In February 1960, Nikita Khrushchev ...

Interesting that I found this soon after Lucyna posted on Marx below. It's probably easier for me to quote Wiki here to tell you what it is - "This Godless Communism" was an American comics feature that appeared in Treasure Chest , a biweekly, subscription-only comic book distributed in parochial schools from 1946 to 1972. Designed to inform students of the then-prevalent Western-nation conception of Communism and the Soviet Union, the 10-chapter feature began in Treasure Chest vol. 17, #2 (Sept. 28, 1961), and continued appearing in every second issue until #20. It was drawn by artist Reed Crandall. The series begins with a scenario of what the writers believed might occur should the United States fall to the Soviet Union. After this, the series took a historical approach, giving brief biographies of Karl Marx and Lenin, and depicting Joseph Stalin's rise to power. The series climaxed with an edition about the Russian people, as distinct from the Soviet governmen...

Somehow, I'm not surprised. Related Link: The Midnight Sun

My brother sent me these photos he took of the moon eclipse of the 28 August 2007 as seen from Wellington, NZ.

I am totally against paid parental leave. Most women that I have talked to have discovered that once their babies were born, they did not want to work. I did not want to work when my first child was born. But because of financial necessity, I had to try and work out a way of doing so. It just about tore me apart in the first year of my baby's life. But the solution is not to then pay for women to take that year off. The solution is to make it affordable for their husbands to bring in enough money to pay for their families. Rather than keeping tax rates high, and then giving tax money to women to take time off from work, let the money remain with those that earned it. Make it financially viable for a man to work over time without being penalised with a high tax burden. Remove progressive taxes - progressive taxes make it necessary for a woman to go back to work after she's had children. Progressive taxes penalise everyone, parents and single people alike. Simple, really.

I hope everyone's taking the time to watch it as it's happening right now! Very cool. I'm hoping that we'll get a blood moon! [edit] 'Blobby' pics added by Fletch

The Families Commission is calling for paid parental leave payments to be increased, and for the leave to be longer and easier to get. The Government started funding paid parental leave in 2002 and parents are able to take 14 weeks paid leave, one to two weeks unpaid paternity leave and 38 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave. Family Commission Chief Commissioner Rajen Prasad said current provisions were moving in the right direction. "However we recommend that by 2015 parents are provided with a total of 13 months paid leave, including a month's paid leave for fathers," he said. Related Link: Call for 13 months paid parental leave

It has been revealed that Mother Teresa experienced what could be considered a "dark night of the soul" where she lost all contact and experience of God - that lasted years. Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me? The Child of your Love — and now become as the most hated one — the one — You have thrown away as unwanted — unloved. I call, I cling, I want — and there is no One to answer — no One on Whom I can cling — no, No One. — Alone ... Where is my Faith — even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness — My God — how painful is this unknown pain — I have no Faith — I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart — & make me suffer untold agony. So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them — because of the blasphemy — If there be God — please forgive me — When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my ve...

A well written post on how Christians ought not to call God, "Allah", that includes a great quote from GK Chesterton, where he explains why all religions are not the same. As why all religions are not the same needs explaining, but with the thinking problems so evident in a number of commenters on blogs today, it obviously does: There is a phrase of facile liberality uttered again and again at ethical societies and parliaments of religion: “the religions of the earth differ in rites and forms, but they are the same in what they teach.” It is false; it is the opposite of the fact. The religions of the earth do not greatly differ in rites and forms; they do greatly differ in what they teach. It is as if a man were to say, “Do not be misled by the fact that the Church Times and the Freethinker look utterly different, that one is painted on vellum and the other carved on marble, that one is triangular and the other hectagonal; read them and you will see that they say the same th...

Heh. The cloth cap and punter brigade from Sydney get shirty with the Catholic Diocese of Sydney over the use of Royal Randwick for the World Youth Day next year. Admittedly, it appears it could have been better handled, but Papal masses have been held there before without any threat of legal action or compensation. Now, two days later, as soon as the lawyers might get involved.... this happens . Of course its just co-incidence.....

It's chat time!

Calling Ragged Glory... Where have you got to?

I'm not going to type out the entire rant this morning. In today's Dominion Post, Chris Trotter in his From the Left column on page B4 is vainly trying to bring the 2003 invasion of Iraq back to life. Oh if only the NZ population could just see that Australians are international pariahs and that Alexander Downer deserves everything he gets and the NZ Government is justified in it's hysterical reaction to the fact that Air NZ ferried Aussie troops to Iraq! However, the following paragraph really takes the cake: Mr McCully's and National's current position is indistinguishable from that of the government of Nazi Germany in 1939. The invasion of Poland, and the later attacks against other European states, were all defended as Germany's "sovereign right". The Nuremburg court disagreed. Yet, Trotter doesn't mention that his position is sympathetic to the Soviet Union, who also invaded Poland in 1939. A couple of years ago I remember being horrifie...

In my hunting around for good articles about pornography, I came across an introduction to a book called "Sexual Wisdom" , by Dr. RICHARD WETZEL, M.D. There is a myth floating around about men and sex that is so entrenched, that it is presumed as a given in any conversation about sex. I noticed it come up again on TBR where a commenter is saying that there is no way you can stop teenagers having sex, that they are going to no matter what you do. Why? Because many people today believe wholeheartedly in the myth that men need sex, not just want it, but need it. The greatest misconception about sex today is that people, especially men, have specific, genital, sexual needs. It asserts that men need to climax, need to fulfill fantasies, or need to have sex with a certain frequency, or in certain positions. [...] The "needs" misconception is the fundamental attitude underlying abuse of sex in society today - it gives men unwarranted power and control over women. Wides...

Barnsey Bill asked me (in a round about way) on the Boobs on Bikes post how to explain why the parade was wrong and how to explain it to his kids. With the huge preamble on how much an atheist he is, I've taken to time to find a non-religious explanation of the dangers of pornography. So, I've found a real, eye-opening article that connects pornography with the destruction of democracy and doesn't invoke anything religious. In the meantime, now that I have everyone's attention, let me just say how fitting that John Key's speech on the Government's Electoral Finance Bill and the Boobs on Bikes parade occurred on the same day. It's like a divine coincidence. John Key talked today on how dangerous for democracy the bill is. Yet, how on earth did NZ get to the point where we voted in a Government that would even contemplate such a crack-down on free speech as the Electoral Finance Bill? It's because moral restraints in NZ have just about completely f...

TBR has a post up on a documentary that will be screening in Britain of the Islamic version of Jesus . Suffice to say, Muslims do not consider Jesus to have been divine. Or as Hilaire Belloc says in his book (available to read online) The Great Heresies , Islam is a simplified version of Catholicism: Mohammedanism was a heresy : that is the essential point to grasp before going any further. It began as a heresy, not as a new religion. It was not a pagan contrast with the Church; it was not an alien enemy. It was a perversion of Christian doctrine. It vitality and endurance soon gave it the appearance of a new religion, but those who were contemporary with its rise saw it for what it was - not a denial, but an adaptation and a misuse, of the Christian thing. It differed from most (not from all) heresies in this, that it did not arise within the bounds of the Christian Church. The chief heresiarch, Mohammed himself, was not, like most heresiarchs, a man of Catholic birth and doctrine...

It's been a whole year since the last boobs parade and during that time I've been thinking a lot about NZ society and how a parade of topless women on motorcycles has become possible here. It really reflects a growing immorality that people take as a natural right. They feel they have the right to be able to watch parades such as this in public and stuff the people who don't want to see it. I also wonder if the same people who vehemently defend topless parades are the same types who would be put off their lunch if a woman breastfed a baby next to them in a cafe. Breasts are fine as long as they are for sex and not for babies. The widespread acceptance of the boobs parade shows a societal objectification of women that increases the idea that women are just here on earth for the sexual gratification of men. Because it's mostly men who want to see the boobs parade and mostly men who will turn up today.

Five centuries ago, eight hundred men willingly allowed themselves to be executed by the same method used to execute Nick Berg (killed by Islamic terrorists in 2004). All because they would not convert to Islam. That's my contribution to Islamic Awareness Week in NZ. Related Link: How the Eight Hundred Men of Otranto Saved Rome

Daylight Saving in New Zealand starts one week earlier (2am on the 30th September 2007) and ends two weeks later (3am on 6th April 2008). That's got the potential to play havoc with computers. From Microsoft: With respect to Microsoft software there are more than 40 different versions of our products that will be affected by these changes, and unless certain product updates are applied in a specific order the time zone settings for a computer's system clock and any calendaring and scheduling applications may be incorrect during the three-week extension period. It is also worth remembering that these changes not only affect server products but also include a wide variety of desktop software and mobile devices - if this change is not treated with care there is a lot of scope for disruption. It's also rumoured that the tax office want to charge penalty interest by the hour to take advantage of the extra time.

Said the Greens: One really has to wonder at the extent of Brethren involvement in the electoral process worldwide. It seems wherever there’s an election, they are there, spending mega-bucks campaigning to support conservative parties and/or demonise Green parties and centre-left governments. [ Greens paranoid about international connections ] Meanwhile, the NZ Greens have joined up with the Australian Conservation Foundation to attack ( demonise , to borrow a quaint phrase from the Greens) the ANZ Bank because they have a company on the books that the Australian Conservation Foundation doesn't like. And their policy is Green Policy and vice versa. Not that there's anything wrong with international conspiracies. When the Greens do it .

A while ago I wrote about Green Pressure politics [ link here ]. Seems they couldn't target the actual company cutting down trees. They couldn't be bothered putting pressure on the NZ Government to ban imports derived from illegal(?) foresting, so they are trying to cripple the ANZ Bank instead. Not that many of them are probably customers. But that's another story. Let's see if any Greens working for the Bank resign in a show of solidarity. No? I thought not. I'm betting that if this political action doesn't work, they will kidnap the cat belonging to one of the children of some-one who actually purchased furniture made from native Indonesian hardwood forest. I think we can safely assume the moggy will snuff it. After all, Felix probably kills native birds. I'm also waiting for the Greens to boycott Air New Zealand . No? I thought not. Related Link: Greens target ANZ Bank because they can

At the request of the NZ Police, The Dominion Post this weekend has run a story on the personal experiences and insights of a convicted paedophile. It makes for chilling reading. What really stands out are the type of children that he could not get close to: "The ones I've found are impossible are the ones who have a close communication with their parents, they have a mother and a father, they get heaps of time and attention. They're just impossible." "There was one specific one that I remember I kept trying to groom. I tried and tried, and couldn't get to the next stage. He was from a mother-and-father family and was well loved. Just impossible". So, an intact mother and father family where the children are well loved and paid attention to (most likely especially when the mother stays at home) is the safest environment for children to grow up in so that they do not fall prey to child molesters. All the good touching, bad touching education in scho...

How has everyone's week been? Mine's been hard work, with both my children sick and a couple of days where I wasn't feeling too crash-hot, either. At least both of them slept this afternoon, which is really unusual. They normally harass me to let them watch TV. I also did another Amazon order yesterday of books I was going to put off buying until later, but with the NZ dollar in free-fall, waiting didn't seem like a great idea. Only downside is that Amazon don't actually charge until they ship, so looks like the dollar dropped another two cents in between my ordering yesterday and Amazon shipping today. * Big Sigh! *

Today Chris Trotter is defending the indefensible - the Electoral Finance Bill. It's a real party political broadcast, of the type that would most likely be illegal if Labour were not in Government at the time, under the bill Trotter is defending. In Trotter's world, it's the National Party and allies "under the bed". Here is his Just Left column from The Dominion Post . Best democracy money can buy Chris Trotter, From the Left NZ is the place where bad ideas go to die. If that judgement seems harsh, just think about the extraordinary response to Justice Minister Mark Burton's Electoral Finance Bill. To hear Bill English tell the story, NZ is about to enter the Stygian darkness of a full-blown Stalinist dictatorship. Every organisation, from the tiniest local child-care committee to the super-heavyweights of the Business Roundtable, is about to be fitted with a scold's bridle by Helen Clark and her minions. Freedom of expression is under threat, scre...

No wonder the police are losing mana in the eyes of the public. Well, this member of the public. Instead of investigating if charges will be laid for a farmer defending his property and peacefully arresting the two crims, they could have said "We are investigating the possibility of awarding a medal." The first message, the message the police are sending, sends a signal - don't even consider defending yourself, or your property, or trying to stop a crime. The second message, the one we rarely hear, is a message to our fine citizens that society will back the actions of the brave and of the good. That's not the message we are hearing. It's time we changed the message. The police are investigating an incident in Waikato in which they say a shotgun was fired while a farmer was capturing two intruders. They say the man and his wife confronted two men who were taking petrol from the rural Morrinsville property in the early hours of Monday morning. The farmer rep...

I'm not sure what worries me more about this bill. The blatantly and so obviously undemocratic provisions or the fact that it was proposed in the first place. And if the latter, are the Labour Party so incompetent that they do not even understand the principles of democracy in modern society, or that they do and they don't care. This bill is a sad reflection on NZ politics no matter which way you look into it. I'm trying to work out what I want to say in my submission. I have only got as far as thinking the bill should be dropped in its entirety. Let's start from scratch.

Here's a brave man. In spite of torture at the hands of the police for converting to Christianity, and death threats from some of the more ardent followers of the religion of peace, he still wants to stand up and be counted: He said he wants to officially change his religion on his ID card for two reasons — to set a precedent for other converts and to ensure his child can openly be raised Christian. He wants his child to get a Christian name, birth certificate and eventually marry in a church. That would be impossible if Hegazy's official religion in Muslim, since a child is registered in the religion of the father. That's a very brave man. He lives in a country where to believe in something means you need to be prepared to die. Lets hope our beliefs come cheaper, but that we remember what they are worth. Related Link: Decisions decisions Hat tip: No Minister

I'd like to apologise to David and Danyl for not taking the time to try and understand what they were saying to me on a previous post .

Thought for the day: A sword uses red ink.

All attempts to track Hone Harawira have failed, but calling in a double nosed tracking dog was taking things a bit too far. Apparently, the left nostril hones in on Aboriginal Child Abuse and the Right nostril detects Maori Child Abuse. Not sure how the dog decides which direction is the most important... Anyway, I understand the reasons behind giving HPTWNH (Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira) some well deserved flak for going walkabouts on the other side of the rabbit wire fence. I don't really dispute many of the points...but just to take a different perspective on this matter - I say good on Hone for taking off for a bit of field work. There is every chance he may be confronted by some unpalatable truths, and a close look at Australia may help him see things more clearly in New Zealand. Of greater concern to me is the creeping Nanny Statism when so many people think that Hone has taken off without filling in the right forms, advising the right people months in advance a...

Looks like Baghdad Bob was writing negative stories about army exploits in Iraq just to sell copy. Well, that's not helpful. Related Link: Traitor in the ranks

We're up!

While on holiday in Kenya and walking through the bush a man came across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed so the man approached very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the bottom of the elephant's foot only to find a large thorn deeply embedded. As carefully and as gently as he could he removed the thorn and the elephant gingerly put its foot down. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For a good ten minutes the man stood frozen - thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant turned and walked away and for years after the man often remembered and pondered the events of that day. One day the man was walking through the zoo with his son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the elephants turned and walked over to where they were standing at the rail. It stared at him and the man couldn't help wondering if this was the same ele...

Lotto is turning 20. So how good has Lotto been for New Zealanders? The money is poured back into communities they say, just like paying taxes. At least this is a voluntary tax. Ironically, whilst the Government uses our tax dollars to help people break gambling addictions, they also control and promote gambling through devices like Lotto. Perhaps the IRD could take a page from Lotto, and run a monthly draw where 1000 lucky tax payers "win" their monthly tax back, plus $1000. And 1000 lucky tax payers could get the whole years tax back if their returns are in on time. What do you think about legalized gambling?

Given my blog nom-de-plume it's not a far stretch to imagine I might like Tigers. So I smuggled three Siberian cubs in across the border and raised them from small cat size to, well, tiger size. Now, my back yard is a full traditional quarter acre. Even so, it's hardly 400 square miles of jungle territory. These guys are going to roam. Furthermore, my fence is only 1.8M high, and it isn't going to keep Hobbes, Tigger and Panteris contained. Now, I have trained them and they are very good. Very docile (unless aroused) and give them a scratch under the chin and they are putty. The neighbours on one side of my house are pretty relaxed about the whole thing. In fact, I think they feed Panteris on the side. I'm sure they had more goats last week. Anyway, the neighbours two door down on the other side are pretty uptight about the whole deal. They keep claiming their 2 year old 'babies' are at risk. Two Staffordshire bull terriers called Saint and Sinner. I...

If you subscribe to the idea that women should be sexually available outside of a married relationship and act in such a way to take advantage of such women, then child abuse is your problem and your fault. Because you help perpetuate the type of society in which it becomes common for children to be in situations where they are around men (who are not their fathers) living with their mothers. Until society looks squarely in the eye at the problem of men and women shacking up temporarily and oops, there's a baby, child abuse will remain everyone's problem. Related Link: Child abuse: "Not my problem, not my fault." ~ Not PC refers to Blair Mulholland's post

A tuck truck driver has been injured after his heavy truck and trailer carrying potatoes rolled on State Highway 1. Inspector Ken Climo said the truck is blocking both lanes but "light vehicles" can get through. There will be delays for the next two hours as heavy salvage equipment, a crane, a chipper and a deep fryer have been called in from Palmerston North. Police have also put in an order for two scoops, and expect to have the spuds wrapped in yesterday's newspaper by lunch time. An oily surface is expected to be the cause. The driver is to be put on KP for his part in the accident, and Police are apeeling for witnesses. Related Link: Potato Truck Rolls on SH1

Another dissenting opinion to An Inconvenient Truth . If you are at all worried about dissenting opinions, especially if they sound vaguely level-headed and sensible, then quickly stick your head in the sand and go "nyah nyah nyah I can't hear you". I'll put the rest of this after the "read more" to help out. And if it makes you feel better then I can confirm it is actually possible to drown in 10 cm of water - so be afraid. Be very afraid. Professor Mörner has published a booklet entitled "The Greatest Lie Ever Told," to refute claims of catastrophic sea level rise. "When we were coming out of the last ice age, huge ice sheets were melting rapidly and the sea level rose at an average of 1 metre per century. If the Greenland ice sheet stated to melt at the same rate - which is unlikely - sea level would rise by less than 100 mm - 4 inches per century. So the rapid rise in sea levels predicted by computer models simply cannot happen." ...

During the time that Warsaw, Poland was occupied by the Nazis in World War 2, there were two armed uprisings that frequently get confused . The first was in 1943, and is called the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising . Knowing that their fate was sealed, imprisoned Jews rose up in the artificially imposed Ghetto areas to fight against the impending liquidation of the ghetto and all it's inhabitants. It was a fight to the death as it had no chance of succeeding. Weapons were limited, number were few, the Allies had not even landed on the continent of Europe. The main fighting lasted from April 19 to May 16 of 1943. The second WW2 Warsaw Uprising was in 1944 when the supposed "allied forces" (Soviet army) were within reach. It's aim was the liberation of the city of Warsaw from Nazi control before the Soviets came in. It was only supposed to last only a few days and was part of Operation Tempest , a nationwide rebellion. It started August 1st, 1944, when at 5pm Home Army so...

Friday again. Open chat time again.

Lawyer Richard Bodle said Bennett was an otherwise model citizen, a good parent and grandparent. Yes, other than sexual abuse of a 12 year old , this guy is great. Really, the lawyer should just STFU. Meanwhile, another person gets a mere 2.75 years for kidnapping a 14 year old girl, injecting HepC infected blood into her and apparently tried to molest her. Says the lawyer for the thug: [My] client continued to be seriously ill with Hepatitis C and Crohne's Disease while on remand in prison and had also been the target of a physical attack. Yes, lets not think about the psychological damage this man has done to a young girl in kidnapping her, attempting to molest her, and infecting her with a serious health condition she may never recover from. Silence may have been a better course of action. Related Link: Model Citizen Related Link: Kidnapping and intent to kill now a minor misdemeanor

...On second thoughts, let's not go there....

Plunket have sold their soul. Obviously they thought it disposable. After being contacted by the local Plunket Secretary and asked to advertise in the local Plunket newsletter, Snazzipants placed a $55 advert. However, a day later, Susan Rae, of the Milford branch of Plunket, phoned, embarrassed to admit that although she had sought the advertising, Plunket were not able to accept an advert from a cloth nappy company. Director and mother-of-two Pippa Jinks and her business partner Maria were astonished to be told that the head office of the Plunket Society had vetoed the advert as reusable nappies are in competition with Huggies. Kimberly-Clark is the largest sponsor of Plunket. Does Plunket give free and frank advice, or is it all based on corporate sponsorship directives? Shame. Related Link: Plunket in the poo over disposable values

In some communities there is an absurd phenomenon similar to a theological sandwich: The youngest and the oldest, who are in agreement, are like slices of bread. The age group in the middle reminds us of mayonnaise. Related Link: The Life and Death of Religious Life

There are essentially two types of feminists. Those that want women to become like men, because they see being a woman as being inferior, and then those that want women to be treated equally but still retain their feminine nature. I am the second type of feminist. The breastfeeding issue falls within the purview of the second type of feminist. Women are defined by their bodies. Our bodies create, grow and nurture children. Our breasts excrete milk to feed children. If that makes you uncomfortable, go suck on a lemon.

While living in Sydney, I remember hearing about a woman being escorted off a train for breastfeeding her baby. I wondered what the woman on the train was supposed to do with her hungry baby, if not breastfeed it? Maybe hop off the train, find a toilet and do it there? What if the train she was on was one of those that went out to those places that have train services only once an hour? What really is the big deal about a baby being breastfed, when it comes down to it, that so incenses people? Normally I don't like laws that tell people what they can and can't do, but, when it comes to babies being fed and immature people thinking that it is their right to stop a woman from being able to feed her baby because it makes them squeemish or whatever, I'm on the side of the breastfeeding woman. I've been there. I know what it's like to have a small baby that needs to be fed. It certainly kept me in the house living as a hermit and going stir-crazy, because I couldn...

Yesterday's rate was 0.77 against the American dollar. It's not really falling that much. Though, maybe I should do another Amazon order very soon, just in case. Related Link: Exchange rate table for the NZ dollar

The German Family Commission takes it's job of destroying families seriously with the publishing of a handy taxpayer funded book advocating incest and pedophilia: Fathers do not devote enough attention to the clitoris and vagina of their daughters. Their caresses too seldom pertain to these regions, while this is the only way the girls can develop a sense of pride in their sex,” reads the booklet regarding 1-3 year olds. Now that the sh*t has hit the fan, the booklet has been pulled. Gee, didn't get away with it this year. That's not good enough. People should lose their jobs over this. It's about time we remind our law makers that they were entrusted with the job of preserving society, not destroying it. Hattip Crusader Rabbit: German Government recommends incest Related Link: Germany Pulls Booklet Encouraging Parent-Child Sexual Massage, but not Child Song Book Encouraging Masturbation ~ Lifesite