New Zealand Conservative

It's been a gorgeous day just north of Wellington. Warm, sunny, slight breeze. Today is the last Friday before the Christmas season starts. Last Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King - the end of the Catholic year. So, belated Happy New Year everyone. The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man's thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ's royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations. Today is the Feast of Saint Andrew, the Apostle, as Andrei reminds us . Last year at this time, it was my first Christmas as a Christian in nearly 20 years. I was acutely aware of when Advent (the countdown to Christmas) started. This year, Advent starts on Sunday on December 2nd. During Advent, we are admonished to: to prepare ourselves worthily to celebrate the an...

Trevor Mallard is in trouble again for punching out Helen Clark. Dr Cullen has clarified the issue. "This is the most acceptable kind of violence . Mallard was simply defending the Queen's honour." Related Link: Helen Clark insults the Queen Hattip: TBR - Mistress of the text message Excerpts from above links: Prime Minister Helen Clark has been accused of insulting the Queen by text messaging while the monarch was making a speech. ------- Senior Cabinet Minister Trevor Mallard was "defending a woman's integrity" when he thumped National MP Tau Henare but his actions cannot go "unnoticed", Prime Minister Helen Clark says. [No - she later gave him more important portfolios]

With the retrospective legislation to vindicate the Election Pledge Card expenditure, and the latest moves to push through the Electoral Finance Bill at all costs, I'm thinking Helen Clark must be an admirer of Henry Kissinger. It was he who quipped: The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer. Unfortunately, not much longer.

Dr Cullen is quick to blame Japanese housewives for our rising mortgage rates. Obviously, NZ housewives are too poor to invest due to Cullen's high tax policies. But the sub-prime market is rather volatile in Japan, and maybe the housewives are in trouble? In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai bank announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday is was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song while today shares in Kamikaze bank were suspended after they nose-dived and 500 back office staff at Karate Bank got the chop. The Bank of Judo finally tossed it in last week. The fallout from the Bank of Hiroshima blowing its top has still not been quantified and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi bank and staff fear they could get a raw deal... Based on an anon email currently circulating

It's pretty simple. If an adult has sex with an 11 year old, it's rape. An 11 year old cannot give informed consent. If her parents stand by and do nothing, they are party to rape. And possibly pimping. Get them all in front of the court. Instead, over at DPF some seem to be saying there's nothing wrong with the police deciding not to prosecute. The Police prosecute people for defending themselves against violent thugs. The Police prosecute people under the banner of 'smacking'. But the Police allow an adult to rape an 11 year old...? ..and it has no bearing on 'the public interest'? This is just sick. 5:00AM Sunday November 25, 2007 By Stephen Cook Police chose not to lay charges against a 21-year-old who fathered a child with a 13-year-old girl - even though he confessed to police he had been having sex with a minor. The pregnancy was highlighted last week by Children’s Commissioner Cindy Kiro, who used the case to illustrate “the wall of silence” pr...

Just heard about a quote made by Labour President Mike Williams in regard to the change of government in Australia. There were comparisons being made between Kevin Rudd and John Key - both not having been in parliament long etc. So what does Mr Williams come out and say? "[Mr Rudd] is also fluent in Mandarin. I don't think Mr Key is fluent in English." Sorry, how old are you again Mr Williams? 9 years old? It seems like it. That's just pathetic. Start acting like a human being.

Dr Michael Cullen today announced news that NZ Labour's successful policies were the obvious reason over 3,000 Kiwi's have booked return flights from Sydney this week. Kevin Rudd issued an angry denial and argued the credit was entirely due to the Australian Labor Party.

Chat time! ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Welcome back, Your dreams were your ticket out. Welcome back, To that same old place that you laughed about. Well the names have all changed since you hung around, But those dreams have remained and they're turned around. Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya) Here where we need ya (Here where we need ya) Yeah we tease him a lot cause we've got him on the spot, welcome back, Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back Well, vastly premature, but anything for Mister Kot-tear! Related Link: Marrying an Anglican Hattip: Put Up Thy Sword: Pope Gets Radical

A Masterton man is one of the first to be convicted under the law against smacking after he spanked his eight-year-old son three times on the bottom. Post updated 9:15PM This man's crime was to get angry. You shouldn't apply discipline when you are angry. Instead, the issue is cast as "smacking". Do you see the difference? Is it so paranoid to expect a zero tolerance policy towards smacking in the future? One where government social workers remove children from parents immediately if the child should be physically disciplined. We wont hear about such cases, because they will not go to court. Parents will trade silence for access to their children. In the leftist mind, physical punishment is far worse a crime than removing children from parents and placing them into the 'care of the state'. In the leftist mind, they believe smacking inevitably leads to beating children to death. Is it therefore possible to extrapolate that State intervention inevitably...

I attended the Wellington March. There were not a lot of people (100+ I'd guess), but in my office only one other appeared to know anything of the EFB - and they could only see it in terms of stopping the Exclusive Brethren from spending money on brochures. Apparently, Labour and Green supporters fear that their voter base are easily (mis)lead. They want to be the only ones that can mislead them. Jeanette spoke. She seemed terrified of allowing other people and groups to voice an opinion. Too much free speech is dangerous - it has to be rationed. So who decided that $120,000 is a fair cap? Why is that fair, and $60,000 unfair? Why not $300,000? How much TV time does $120K buy - 30 minutes? Why is it not inflation adjusted? Most importantly - WHY ARE THE PUBLIC NOT GETTING AN OPPORTUNITY TO INPUT INTO THE REVISED VERSION? We don’t have an upper house, we have no special safeguards for the MPS to change the rules that enable them to advantage themselves over any concerted effort to r...

So Labour want a level playing field? If that's the case, then we need to look at a wider landscape. Or maybe, they just want to tip the balance in their favour? It started off being about the Exclusive Brethren attempting to influence people's minds. And anonymous donations and parallel funding was also included. Maybe the EFB blocks all these things now, maybe it doesn't. But what else do we need to consider? 1. Press Releases. Presumably, any mob can make a press release and then rely on the MSM to print it, make it a story, or ignore it. The NZ Labour Party are very adept at getting the message out free of charge. The MSM seem to be very keen to regurgitate their 'news'. A canny operator will learn how to make press releases that are irresistible for the Media and get free advertising. Remember the CTU helping Labour with this one: National to fund tax cuts with workers' lives 2. Television Time The big parties get more TV time than the smaller pa...

Unions receive money directly (and indirectly) from the government. They also donate money to the Labour party. Effectively, the Government pays for their electioneering using our tax dollars. They have affiliations to maximize their political impact. They have many staffers that go on to become politicians. No surprises so far. In their submission on the Electoral Finance Bill, the CTU wanted the $60,000 cap on election spending raised to $100,000. Perhaps that gives one an idea of their budget? They also asked to limit this amount to external costs. Using staff and members to print and distribute material (free labour) should not be counted, especially in 'market rate' terms. A critical point was also to lobby to make sure 'communications' to members were not treated as political advertising. Last election, at least two unions were dobbed in for leaving these 'communications' in public places (reception desks etc). Within the news letter, they ask ...

I would like to thank TV3 for putting Californication on TV. While I would never have watched it (as my limit seems to have been Boston Legal) nonetheless I'm sure it wouldn't have ended there. I bet Californication is just the beginning of the next slide downwards to which all of TV programming is being sucked - even if at a milder level. Even the TV ads are bad. Thus, I have finally been given the impetus I needed to save $600 + a year and have cancelled my SKY TV subscription, which I needed to access free-to-air TV as well. Good by TV connection, I won't miss you. Related Link: David Farrar succumbs to temptation

Just when you thought it was safe to venture from your home, REGIONAL WARMING strikes. Is no one safe? Not in this REGION. That dull humming sound? No, it's not the next door neighbour's lawn mower - its the thundering tsunami created by glacier melt. Arrgh. Related Link: Glacier Melt - A new way to die

How embarrassing. NZ is denying entry to an overweight British woman. And it's made the international news. Here's the Fox News report: New Zealand Denies Immigration to U.K. Wife Because She's Too Fat

Scrooge is out, it must be coming up to Christmas The National Party is questioning why taxpayer funding is being used to train coal miners in China on safety issues. The party's industrial relations spokeswoman, Kate Wilkinson, said Labour Department officials confirmed to MPs on Parliament's transport and industrial relations select committee that $84,711 had been granted to the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) for "safety training for safety representatives in Chinese coal mines". ..She said it appeared as if the Government was effectively subsidising the Chinese coal industry. "How does that square with Labour's position on carbon neutrality and greenhouse gases?" She said the money would be better spent on workplace safety issues in New Zealand. China are certainly rich and capable enough to spend their own money on their own people. But they don't. China has an appalling safety record when it comes to miners. I for one, do not begrudge this sma...

Back when I blogged at Sir Humphrey's, I had a look at the EB's brochure and investigated the points they made. Some of my material was lost (long story), but I'll work over the next few days to post here whatever I can find. For the record. [Largely from Sir Humphrey's - 10 September 2005, with minor updates] The Exclusive Brethren (EB) exercised their democratic right to print political brochures. Unfortunately, they bucked the trend and rather than blasting National Policy, they came out with a brochure criticising the Greens. They made 15 points, and provided an assessment of the environmental impact the Greens have had on our Flora and Fauna in the wake of a Labour-Led government. The Greens were quick to brand the brochure as a "campaign of lies". Jeanette Fitzsimons, Greens Co-Leader also referred to the brochure as 50% outright lies and 50% gross exaggerations. Other pro-Green commenters and main stream media seemed to accept that this "cult...

[Adapted from previous post back in 2005]. The Greens are outraged an EB pamphlet has printed outright lies about their policies. Clark lies. But not the Greens. No. No. No. Throughout their Frog blog, commenters are saying how horrible it is to have outright lies told about their policies. So I thought I'd see what "lies" the EB are promoting and investigate them. Here's the first: Outright Lie 1: Introduce a capital gains tax on family homes Here is a Greens Statement from their 2001 tax submission: The Green Party believes the Review needs to seriously examine a capital gains tax (CGT). Absence of a capital gains tax has been noted for some time as a gap in our tax system. Here we have a case where they seriously recommend something that (because apparently it is an outright lie) they don't mean. Well, does that mean all their other policy recommendations are outright lies? The Greens are making out that they wanted the family home exempted. However, the...

So, to summarise. A communications manager is sacked from the environment ministry, directly attributable to the fact that she is involved with John Key’s press secretary. A contract role in the same department, in a communication role, is taken by a labour party official. The head of the SSC expresses concern that the ministry of the environment may be planning to run an information campaign which will be too political, and hence that was a factor in getting rid of Setchell. At the same time the government passes legislation enabling Govt Depts to produce information campaigns during election year, with a budget of millions of our dollars, while capping the ability of the general public to use our dollars in reply. If Mugabe was subtle, he’d be Helen Clark. I think slightlyrighty covers it.

Late yet again. Well, if you are still around, drop in to have a chat.

It's Big Bikkies to run a factory. So Griffins are tossing their cookies and closing down the Lower Hutt factory and consolidating in the face of increasing competition from overseas. Another 228 jobs lost. I reckon it's all National's fault, right Helen? Related Link: Griffins have Ginger Nuts that are now past the use by date.

This is a major step. As far as I can tell, all other theological differences have been resolved. Acknowledging the Primacy of the Pope has been a huge stumbling block. The Vatican issued on Thursday a joint declaration agreed last month that said the Pope held the highest rank in the unified Church before the 1054 Great Schism -- a statement that could allow Catholics and Orthodox to work more closely. But the document made clear neither side yet agreed on what power came with that rank. The Orthodox in the old Byzantine Empire rejected the universal authority of the Roman Pontiff and gradually developed autonomous national churches with no papacy. Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican department promoting Christian unity, said the document gave Catholics hope but cautioned there was still a very long way to go before Catholics and Orthodox could speak of any kind of unity. Related Link: Vatican hails "step" to healing Orthodox rift

I was asked a while back what my home schooling curriculum was like, and at the time I promised I would write a post on it some time in the future. It's been difficult to write such a post, because major part of home schooling's strength is going at the pace of the child. As I have just started, the last four or five months have been a constant re-evaluation of where each child is at and how they best learn. It's all very well to have grand plans (as I did) but when the plans don't work because they are at a different level from what the child needs, everything falls on it's face until you re-adjust. For the above reasons, I haven't wanted to use a pre-made curriculum as I had some idea that there would be a hit and miss period before I started. So, I've been gathering various books to help with the teaching of various subjects and then been working out as I go what the children can learn and what I can teach. What has worked from the beginning has been...

Get someone to assassinate the prime minister, the new one, next year's one. Just been in office five days, bang ... Yeah, John Key ... just drop a bomb ... Just wait till he visits somewhere and just blow them ... They won't even find you." Related Link: Strange People

The Dominion Post and another newspaper have obtained details of the 156-page affidavit presented by police to Manukau District Court and published some details of it. To my mind it makes for pretty scary reading, what with the talk of killing people and blowing things up, etc, etc. Am I right in understanding that none of this evidence can be used, now that the people detained aren't being prosecuted under the Terrorism Act? "Get someone to assassinate the prime minister, the new one, next year's one. Just been in office five days, bang ... Yeah, John Key ... just drop a bomb ... Just wait till he visits somewhere and just blow them ... They won't even find you." - Alleged bugged conversation And what do New Zealanders think about it all? I think that the phone-in poll the other night on Close Up was pretty telling. There was something like 21,000 people who had rung in; 87% of which agreed that the Police had done the right thing. All a bit strange and ...

How to tell if a person is possessed, in the words of the Vatican's Chief Exorcist: "It is not easy. There are many grades of possession. The Devil does not like to be seen, so there are people who are possessed who manage to conceal it. There are other cases where the person possessed is in acute physical pain, such agony that they cannot move." "It is essential not to confuse demonic possession with ordinary illness . The symptoms of possession often include violent headaches and stomach cramps, but you must always go to the doctor before you go to the exorcist . I have people come to me who are not possessed at all. They are suffering from epilepsy or schizophrenia or other mental problems. Of the thousands of patients I have seen, only a hundred or so have been truly possessed. " How can you tell? "By their aversion to the sacrament and all things sacred. If blessed they become furious. If confronted with the crucifix, they are subdued." But couldn...

The interests of any healthy democracy lie in unrestricted debate, not laws that favour incumbents with public finance and suppression of free speech. Related Link: Democracy under attack NZ Labour tried to push through a very draconian Electoral Finance Bill. They've also tried to change the rules on spending public money (to their own advantage of course). They've pushed through legislation which validated illegal spending and negated a pending high court case against them. They thought they could get away with it. Maybe they can. That wont make it right. And more people are noticing. That wont make it easy. It's time to stand up. Politicians are there to serve us, not control us. If they have any problem understanding the principles of democracy, then they need only read the submissions against the EFB with an open mind. I trust this latest article wakes them up and they do the right thing.

[Satire Alert] OK, listen up you worms. I may not be able to belt you, but I do get to teach you. But lets make things clear - my success rate isn't particularly good. Illiteracy is on the way up....what's that Ure? Illiteracy? No, I'm not saying you are a bastard, that's illegitimacy. I'm just saying your inability to comprehend the English language is not my fault. Now, there are a few other things that are inevitable. Firstly, some of you are going to steal. Armed robbery is on the cards and we need to face this like adults. I'm not here to say whether that is right or wrong. I'm just saying minimise the consequences. So here's a ski mask. Wear it, and chances are you wont get caught. Well, actually, statistically, 30% of all robbers who wear ski masks for at least some of the time, will get caught eventually, but hey - 70% is probably the highest mark you'll ever achieve. Secondly, some of you are going to have sex. Sex is on the ca...

This post was inspired by posts on TBR and A Servant's Thoughts on male vs female church attendance. ... "We Cannot Live without Sunday," takes us back to the year 304, when Emperor Diocletian prohibited Christians, under pain of death , to possess the Scriptures, to meet on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist and to build premises for their assemblies. In Abitene, a small village in what today is Tunis, 49 Christians , meeting in the home of Octavius Felix, were taken by surprise on a Sunday while celebrating the Eucharist, defying the imperial prohibitions. Arrested , they were taken to Carthage to be interrogated by the proconsul Anulinus. Significant, in particular, was the response given to the proconsul by Emeritus, after being asked why he had violated the emperor's order. He said: "Sine dominico non possumus," we cannot live without meeting on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist. We would not have the strength to face the daily difficulties and not ...

"Darling did you put the cat out?" "Yes dear" Well, where is it" " In the boa constrictor " Crusader Rabbit points out that Australia doesn't just have poisonous things...no you can have your cat swallowed whole too. And if you are going to trip around the country, stay away from their fresh water reservoirs. It's amazing the number of people that fall in and choke to death on the dust. Related Link: Putting the cat out Related Link: They wont hurt you if you don't annoy them

Some people are given incredible gifts just in their voices. This song shares that gift with all of us. Not exactly high opera, perhaps pop opera, but so what? Just the kind of song you'd expect to be sung at a boxing match...the story goes that Sarah Brightman heard Bocelli's solo when she was in a restaurant. Sarah needed a song to sing at the retirement fight of the German world light-heavyweight champion, Henry Maske, and felt "Con Te Partiro" was perfect. She got a hold of Andrea, and with the help of the London Symphony Orchestra re-recorded it but changed the words "Con Te Partiro" (I'll go with you) to "Time to Say Goodbye", and the rest, as they say, is history. Even Henry Maske wept. Quando sono solo Sogno allorizzonte E mancan le parole Si lo so che non c? luce In una stanza Quando manca il sole Se non ci sei tu con me, con me. Su le finestre Mostra a tutti il mio cuore Che hai acceso Chiudi dentro me La luce che Hai incontrato p...

Has Robinsod found some paranoid dicks? Maybe. But I'm not actually sure what a paranoid dick is. One that will not leave the safety of its underwear? One that doesn't have the balls to stand up? One that thinks there are arseholes out there aiming to get him? Or is paranoid dick simply hemorrhoid dick's blood brother? Maybe you can drop in at Keeping Stock and have a think about the sterling advances the Electoral Finance Bill brings to our great democratic nation. Or, if it gets pushed through in spite of the massive, well articulated public opposition as evidenced in the submissions, our once great democratic nation. Or am I being an overly worried Richard? And speaking of the limp wristed. Peter likes to contribute to the TBR blog. His passion is such that if he spent any more time there, he'd possibly be considered a stalker. So he managed to get the first two posts in about men washing up after holding Richard in the John. Oops, that's baseless name ...

[Satire Alert] Imagine my shock when I heard teachers discussing certain issues with some students who were robbing local stores, and they did not want parents to know... Seems that they recognise that young people find it hard to control their impulses, and if they were going to steal from the local store they should give in to the inevitable and just ensure they were not caught. Thus they had issued balaclavas, leather gloves, a hunting knife and a machete. They explained to the young adults in question that using the ski mask considerably reduced the chance of being recognised. It seemed that a threat of violence also improved chances of the person being robbed becoming afraid and more likely to comply, and often likely not to clearly remember the details. Furthermore, they reassured the students that on top of very few of them ever getting caught, those that did get caught were often let off with a warning. Some did get prosecuted, and were given community service which they d...

I heard a story a while ago that Pope John Paul II had made a trip back to Poland a few years before his death... and bad weather forced the plane to divert to an alternative airport. The local parish quickly organised a limousine to pick him up and get him across country to the airport where his Pope Mobile waited. Since he was miles from the usual crowds, he asked the chauffeur if he could drive for a while. The reluctant chauffeur pulled over along the roadside, climbed into the back of the limo, and the Pope took the wheel. The Pope then merged onto the highway and accelerated to over 90 mph to see what the limo could do. Suddenly, the Pope noticed the distinctive dark blue / white striped FSO Polonez driven by the local policja speeding up behind him and signalling him to pull over. The Policeman approached the limo, peered in through the drivers window and noticed the Pope. He said "Just a moment please, I need to call in." The officer called in and explained to the c...

Looks like I'm playing host again tonight. Feel free to drop in and reflect upon the week past. I'm fed, have a nice red in my hand (to mix up two common thoughts: if only one hand types on the blogosphere, does anyone hear it?) and prepared to dig up another joke if no-one speaks up. And for great wood fired pizza with sound, try Sammy's Woodfired Pizza Or for Pizza, with Freddy, watch the intro (or choose option 1 if it doesn't play)

A few days ago on November the 6th, "the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah paid a visit to the Custodian of the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI" . According the writer of article published in the Kuwait Times: "this is a momentous occasion for anyone who knows the views the Saudis hold of non-Muslims." The visit by King Abdullah to meet with the Pope is a brilliant move in the direction of reform. The fact that he went to meet with the Pope also means that the Saudi Government respects Christianity and its leaders . It means that, whatever conservative clerics say in criticism of Christianity or other faiths, the Saudi Government no longer cares about their continuous approval of its foreign policy. Saudi Arabia is finally shedding its skin as a conservative stronghold and is moving towards modernization of its civil liberties, for Saudi Muslims and for its non-Muslim expatriates, who are estimated to be 1.5 million and still not permitted to practice C...

Some one made the comment today that they thought I was "sheltering my children from the real-world " in response to a comment of mine where I said the only TV I let my children watch is cartoons on Fridays. The comment got me thinking about what the "real world" was, and then I realised that in the commenter's mind, TV was the "real-world". How strange. Since when did mostly scripted shows for entertainment become the real world? On Saturday when we visited Craters of the Moon and Orakei Karaki to observe natural geothermal activity I thought we were right in the real world. Likewise on Sunday when we visited the Army Museum in Waiouru and moved through the exhibits showing the history of the wars NZ soldiers were involved in. Here are my kids at the museum all dressed up in army gear with wooden guns: I don't let my children watch much TV, but I do also expose them to poems such as the following, which my 10 year old son is currently memoris...

With figures like this, maybe she'll start to worry that her voter base will not even be able to vote her back in? From Mojo : Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday revealed the finding in the previously unreleased 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey ... She said about 380,000 Kiwis were identified in the international survey as being at level one, a level at which they would be unable to determine how to use a fire extinguisher from the instructions written on the bottle. ...The Labour-led Government is considering raising the school leaving age to 17 as part of a suite of measures to boost students' achievement and get them ready for the workforce. Related Link: The ayes have it

Remember how Mallard became the poster boy for Labour's 14 million dollar campaign "Just say NO! to violence, unless you are a Labour MP"? After the punch up, Rodney Hide laid a complaint with the Speaker of the House, Labour MP Margaret Wilson. From Half Done : Before Parliament began, Ms Wilson issued the letter she had written to Mr Hide rejecting his privileges complaint over the stoush. She said the ACT Party leader did not raise the matter in time and had not done it the right way. “If a member wishes to have the Speaker refer the matter to the Privileges Committee, the member must act immediately. “This you failed to do,” she said. The statute of limitations is only a few days when it comes to anything illicit the Labour Party are involved in, although that doesn't stop them passing retrospective legislation to ward off court cases ( and other bad behaviour ). Wilson’s basically found Rodney guilty of a serious crime - bureaucratic snafu. On par with submitt...

A sad commentary on our society? Or just good advice? A teacher gave her class of 11 year olds an assignment: To get their parent to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it. The next day the kids same back and one by one began to tell their stories. Ashley said, "My father's a farmer and we have a lot of egg laying hens. One time we were taking our eggs to market in a basket on the front seat of the car when we hit a big bump in the road and all the eggs got broken. "What's the moral of that story?" asked the teacher. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket!" "Very good," said the teacher. Next little Sarah raised her hand and said, "Our family are farmers too. But we raise chickens for the meat market. One day we had a dozen eggs, but when they hatched we only got ten live chicks, and the moral to this story is, 'Don't count your chickens before they're hatched'." "That was a fine story Sarah."...

Well I never. Milla has named her new baby girl 'Ever'. If that name sticks, I guess it is for ever. Think she'll live happily ever after? ...To welcome Milla's baby daughter, Ever Gabo Anderson, into the world. Milla and fiance Paul Anderson welcomed their little bundle, who weighed in at 7lb 8oz at the weekend, reports People. I remember Milla from the immensely enjoyable 'Fifth Element', although others may remember her from 'Resident Evil'. So which movie has inspired this name? True love, or pure evil? You decide. Just never say never. Related Link: Milla for Ever

..cries of “shame” met Labour party members as they entered the annual Labour conference earlier today as protesters gathered outside. Over a hundred people turned up outside the Bruce Mason center in Takapua to show Helen Clark and other Labour party members their anger at new anti-terror legislation. So Helen offers tax cuts. Love her work. Related Link: Shame on Labour Naturally, she would have offered tax cuts earlier, but... Prime Minister Helen Clark is blaming Treasury for her refusal up till now to agree to tax cuts. She claims she has not been able to agree to cuts because of inadequate fiscal forecasts from Treasury. - Clark blames Treasury Those treasury folk sound rather seditious dontya think? Maybe they can be charged under the terrorist act? Although I think that makes Cullen a Treasury spy planted in NZ Labour. You get the cake and guillotine, I'll find some ladies who can knit.

Egads. All is quiet on this Friday night. I'll kick off the thread and visitors are welcome to chat about what ever, why ever and when ever. I'm going out to a cafe for a nice dinner. Back late(r)

God has come back to life. The world is witnessing a huge explosion of religious conversion and growth, and Christianity is growing faster than any other religion. Nietzsche’s proclamation “God is dead” is now proven false. Nietzsche is dead. Related Link: The Twilight of Atheism: The Global Triumph of Christianity

Wow, that's punishment. Saying Mallard is stressed because of personal tragedy so Helen gives him more work (new portfolios) and keeps him in the Cabinet. Same pay, blah blah blah. Still, I bet Mallard's furious. If he'd only punched Henare a week earlier, the whole deal would have blown over by now and Helen would have surely made him number 2 and Cullen would be out on his ear. Tough timing for Mallard. As for me, I hope I can control myself after that provocation. Related Link: Mallard Still Quacking

With the recent case of a mother being interviewed by the Police after being dobbed in for smacking her son's hand, we've seen many quotes from people who should know better, who insist in equating violence and abuse with discipline. A smack on the hand, delivered as discipline is not the same as punching someone in anger. A whack on the soccer field, as an accidental byproduct of an enthusiastic tackle doesn't get the thought police screaming "come see the violence inherent in the system - ban soccer." Oh hang on, maybe that's next? Vaguely Related Links: Not PC sends John Key to his room over this: Goodnight John Boy and of course, Lucyna points out [link] how more parents will fall into the state net, as more reasons are provided to for the state, via taking DNA records, to "keep tabs" on its citizens, and John Key again takes some flak. When so many people are unhappy with Labour, what does it take for Mr Key to understand that the public is ...

Announcing the party's new law and order policy, leader John Key says National wants DNA samples taken from everyone arrested for any crime that carries a possible prison sentence. I can see it now. Mum gets arrested for smacking child's hand. Then she has her DNA taken at the police station because if convicted, Mum would face a prison term. But then investigations are made and everyone decides that maybe the smack on the hand wasn't so bad afterall. But, Mum's DNA is now onfile so that whenever there is another smacking incident anywhere in the country, the police can track the culprit down! BAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! How's that for evil genius. Let's not forget, John Key voted to make smacking illegal in this country. And then said if anyone was prosecuted under the new law, of course National would repeal it. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Strange, how the National Party has been silent on the recent terrorisation of a NZ family because of the new anti-smacking ...