New Zealand Conservative

A federal judge rejected Bernard Madoff's plea for leniency Monday, sentencing the 71-year-old swindler to spend the rest of his life in prison for an "extraordinarily evil" fraud that took a "staggering toll" on thousands of victims. So Madoff gets 150 years in prison with no parole (none of that concurrent sentencing nonsense we get in NZ) and his wife walks away with "only" 2.5 million, losing the 80 million she felt was rightfully hers. And maybe there's a Swiss Bank Account, and maybe there isn't. For all those that lost their life savings, it may be a small comfort. I wonder exactly where those billions ended up. Some people have made money out of this somewhere. Related Link: Bernie Maddoff in 150 year fixed term deposit

Here's an amusing little clip on Obama employing his super powers . It's really my small protest against the Democrats passing the cap and trade bill last week - something that symbolizes the left wing belief that taxes fix everything, and can even control the climate. New Zealand is bound to follow the rest of the world on the path to a new form of global taxation. George Orwell, in 1984 , suggested totalitarian control might be more palatable to the populace if they (Oceania) were engaged in a ceaseless battle against the remaining superstates - Eastasia and Eurasia. That idea is slightly problematic in today's times of rapid communication. It's a truly brilliant move therefore to make ones enemy the climate. Even Orwell would have been astounded at this master stroke of propaganda. It's now a race for bureaucrats (UN, EU) and multinational financial trading organisations (think Enron, Saros, and the multitude of investment firms recently bailed out by US ta...

After today's News coverage on TV with John Key saying he wouldn't change the smacking law regardless of the outcome of the referendum, I got to thinking about what he said during the election about the 'will of the electorate' with regards as to why he voted against the Prostitution Bill. The below is from the NZ Herald almost exactly a year ago [bold emphasis mine]- But the reason he changed his mind about prostitution was because some constituents visited his Helensville electorate office and suggested that supporting the bill would send the wrong signal. A couple of the constituents had 16-year-old daughters. As parents, they felt that whether Key liked it or not, the bill would legitimise prostitution as a credible pathway for the girls. Key said he started to think that in the end, he was a representative of these people. He firmly believed that if he asked his electorate what they wanted, they’d want him to vote against it. “So I did. And that’s always been the ...

Murray Edridge, Chief Executive of Barnardos New Zealand, has called on Sheryl Savill, the instigator of the petition that gathered over 300,000 signatures to pull the referendum, and "save" the country 9 million dollars. Over 300,000 signatures makes for a compelling reason to proceed with a referendum. Actually, it's the law. Asking Savill to can the referendum disrespects all those people that signed. They signed to force the issue. They signed to ask the question. It might be 9 million dollars, Mr Edridge, but it's tax payer dollars - it came largely from the pockets of those signatories. Let your taxes fund those pointless alcohol advertisements. You are actually telling us to save OUR money, not yours and not the government's. Anyway, it's not Savill's referendum. She did it for the people of NZ, well, at least over 300,000 of them. It belongs to the people. Remember that Murray Edridge. If democracy is not as important as money, will we ...

It had to happen. A poll was done to see if New Zealanders thought there was any point to the upcoming smacking referendum, and surprise, surprise 75% of us think it is a waste of money. Congratulations media people and politicians, you have achieved your aim of ensuring that the citizens of this country continue to think of themselves as completely powerless. An extra big congratulations to John Key, who torpedoed the whole referendum at the start by saying that whatever the result, he would ignore it anyway. Not that he could understand the question of course. And like regular little yes-men, most of the media followed suit. With a couple of notable exceptions such as Karl du Fresne and Tracy Watkins , who despite everything stacked against them still regain the ability to think for themselves. So what's wrong with apathy anyway? Why not just vote the politicians in every three years and then let them get on with it all, because most of governing is really too complic...

Stick with me on this one. Firstly, have a listen (and WATCH) of the first video to refresh your memory. Maybe 15 seconds is enough for my purposes, but if your constitution is higher, then go maybe twenty five seconds. Then stop the video, and once you've recovered (did I tell you to have a paper bag ready? Sorry.) watch video two. This time, you should be able to handle the whole thing. Make sure you get to at least 3:09. Hilarious. Well, I thought so. Step 1 - minimum 15 to 25 seconds Step 2 - Get to 3:03. Come-on, it was good!

A joke for Saturday night: A woman was at her hairdresser’s getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded: “Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It’s crowded and dirty.. You’re crazy to go to Rome. So,how are you getting there?” “We’re taking Continental,” was the reply. “We got a great rate!” “Continental?” exclaimed the hairdresser. “That’s a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they’re always so late. So, where are you staying in Rome?” “We’ll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome’s Tiber River called Teste.” “Don’t go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it’s really a dump.” “We’re going to go see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope.” “That’s rich,” laughed the hairdresser. You and a million other people trying to see him. He’ll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of y...

Stephen Walker, age six, called a media conference tonight to advise that he was actually John Key trapped in a six year old's body. Stephen was cool, calm and collected as he explained the situation: "From what I can gather, Stephen attended a traveling Romanian Carnival a few weeks ago. Having been denied a ride on the Ghost Train by his parents, he stamped his foot and said You'd let me if I was Prime Minister of New Zealand , and ran over to an old magical fortune telling machine and made a wish. The next day, I awoke in Stephen's body, in his bed." The young but articulate child continued: "I tried to explain to his mother who I was, but apparently Stephen had pulled this sort of stunt before, claiming invariably to be Sue Bradford, Mike Mallard or myself, so I was sent to school. I would have called a press conference earlier, but Mrs Flippery was reading "Little House on the Prairie" and I wanted to find out if Laura was going to survive ...

Why does big news always strike when I'm half asleep? 9/11 was like that. Waking up to the news of planes flying into the twin towers was a little surreal. Quite possibly the news of Princess Diana's death was also delivered as a news item on my radio to wake me up. Likewise, this morning, Michael Jackson dying of a heart attack somehow penetrated the fog of sleep as I dozed in the morning due to being sick enough not to want to get out of bed. I'm a bit better now, but am still coughing (which is the most annoying part of what I've got), and every once in a while need to go and have a lie down. While I'm eating or drinking, I'm not coughing, so right now while I type this out, I'm munching pieces of apple that really ought to be far crunchier than they are now. When I was living in Sydney, the apple prices were about $10/kilo. But, for that cost, it was very easy to get crunchy apples. Not apples are are almost past their use-by date which seems to b...

Heteronormativity. What a word! My spellchecker doesn't even recognise it. But then my spellchecker doesn't recognise spellchecker either, so maybe that's not really saying much. So what does "heteronormativity" mean? The following will explain. "Despite the assumption that children's media are free of sexual content, our analyses suggest that these media depict a rich and pervasive heterosexual landscape," wrote researchers Emily Kazyak and Karin Martin, in a report published in the latest issue of the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) publication Gender & Society. Kazyak and Martin said they studied the role of heterosexual relationships in several of the highest-grossing G-rated films between 1990-2005. The results, say the researchers, illustrate two ways that the children's films "construct heterosexuality": through "depictions of hetero-romantic love as exceptional, powerful, transformative, and magical," a...

Employers this morning wait apprehensively to see if anyone is about to quit, following a single winner of the Big Wednesday State Gambling Scheme. Some lucky person from Masterton is $34 million plus better off. Did they have a job? On the other hand, are beneficiaries one less in number? Judging by the latest figures - some 302,000 on benefits and the highest since 2005, we may not notice. For most of us this morning, it's back to the grindstone. Oh well, standing in those long lottery queues to buy a ticket is good training to stand in those long queues to register for the dole. Or can you do that over the internet now? What will the lotteries commission do with all that extra money raised from this latest gambling splurge? Fund the gamblers support line? Lobby to curb excessive gambling? Maybe fund remedial reading lessons for politicians ? The lotteries commission has one important message for those who "invested" heavily in their retirement fund, and that ...

I'm just flabbergasted. Really. John Key is now indicating that the Government may adopt Sue Bradford's proposed bill to prevent "misleading" and/or "ambiguous" questions from making it as referenda. He says not much can be done about the current referendum, but that this sort of bill would prevent this sort of problem from happening again in the future. Unbelievable. The absolute arrogance of the man. Nevermind that more than 300,000 people were quite happy to sign the petition. Nevermind that my 8 year old can understand the question that John Key tells us he finds "confusing". Confusing is just code for politically inconvenient . Yesterday John Key said on NewsTalkZB that we have a referendum every three years and it's called The Government. Indicating that once we have voted for a government, the populace should just be quiet and allow The Government to do whatever it wants. No matter how stupid. It does not want to hear from us, esp...

Related Link: Should a smack be a criminal offence - Vote NO

The cartoon was drawn by Andrzej Krauze, a Polish cartoonist living in the UK. Upon learning of the threats from the pro-homosexual groups, he laughed, saying, “This only proves that the cartoon message was correct and that I was able to represent the whole absurdity of so-called civil unions.” He also pointed out that many countries have registered associations of zoophiles and pedophiles that wish to have their perversions legalized. “I am sure that in coming years, some of these groups, especially animal lovers will achieve their goals,” Krauze said. The reference may be to a registered Dutch political party called PNVD, a Dutch acronym that translates into "brotherly love, freedom and diversity,” whose party planks consist of working towards the legalization and acceptance of pedophilia, pornography, bestiality and easy availability of soft/hard drugs. The party also lobbies for private possession of child pornography, the right of children to smoke, drink and vote at the age ...

This morning on NewsTalkZB, John Key again repeated his confusion mantra on the upcoming referendum against smacking. Specifically, he said: "The question is so confusing that if you want to vote yes, you have to vote no." The question being: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" My advice to John Key is to take English comprehension lessons aimed at 12 year olds. The man needs help. Doesn't he have advisors that could explain the question to him?

The government has taken the surprising step of making driving illegal. They point to a staggering number of deaths caused by driving, and caused in particular by dangerous driving, ignoring speed limits and driving whilst tired, drunk, or inattentive. However, the news is not all bad. Police will not be enforcing the law unless they feel there is good cause. Police are quite pleased. Explains Officer Bradford: "Previously, we tried to set speed limits to moderate behaviour, but this proved ineffective. If road conditions, visibility, density of traffic or ability of driver varied, then driving at the allowable speed was still dangerous. I think we all realise that it doesn't take more than a couple of trips to the shops before most drivers turn into raving petrol heads. Furthermore, there is no question there are better, more environmentally friendly ways of traveling. Buses, trains and bikes offer more positive methods of travel on a number of fronts. People are rel...

Yup, apparently this 'Swine Flu' thing isn't new. There was a big scare in 1976 and as a result a huge vaccination programme was wheeled out in the US. One person died from the 'Swine Flu' but hundreds more were killed by the vaccination that was supposed to prevent it. The episode triggered an enduring public backlash against flu vaccination, embarrassed the federal government and cost the director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control, now known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, his job. I can see that the Main Stream Media seems to delight in it here. it excites them and gives them something to put on the 6pm News. And when someone is critically ill, well, they go into overdrive. As Don Henley sang in 'Dirty Laundry' - We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who Comes on at five She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam In her eye Its interesting when people die- Give us dirty laundry

Should a smack be a criminal offense? It's a simple question that politicians do not want answered, as either way the answer requires them to act on behalf of their constituents. Something they seem disinclined to do when actually up against the wall. In any event, Sue Bradford makes it very clear jail is her end goal for good parents that might smack (not beat, not abuse) their child in discipline : I still believe the strongest statement we can make to demonstrate our commitment to protecting our children from violence is to vote ‘yes’ in the postal referendum. ” Sue still believes, has always believed that smacking should be illegal. Right, glad to have got that clear. Banning contrary opinions next on the agenda perhaps?

The Health Department has congratulated parents who are refusing to vaccinate their children. "Finally, parents understand that inflicting physical pain on defenseless children cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. They serve as a shining example to the brutes stabbing their children with sharp implements. If we can now convince them to keep kids away from contact sports, we might have a society worth living in. Those brutal games inflict more damage on a child than a small smack. Besides, if the French are going to win all the time, it's hardly worth it, is it?"

It's Friday. The end of a busy week. I've caught snippets of the whining outrage over the referendum question. Sue Bradford want's to legislate to ignore it, and John Key says he can ignore it anyway. Some people say it's a silly question, not realizing the collective actions of Bradford, Clark and Key are directly responsible for over 300,000 signatures confirming their inability to listen has led to this. It's actually not a silly question. It is unfortunately a necessary question to answer because the answer exposes the agenda of the hard left. No discipline by parents whatsoever, and a state willing to back them on a particular viewpoint rather than allowing what I would call a minimal degree of individual liberty. Bring it on!

Ever since National was elected last year (and I voted for them too), I've taken a wait and see approach. Yes, there have been a few criticisms. But those have been tempered criticisms. Until now. The Government will consider adopting a Green MP's bill to prevent confusing and ambiguous referendum questions, Prime Minister John Key said today. John Key, after first saying that the upcoming referendum question was ambiguous (huh?), is now indicating that the Government may support Sue Bradford's quest to make it impossible for non-politically correct questions to make it as referenda. Sue Bradford absolutely hates the referendum question with a passion because of it's complete clarity. "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" Most people will of course answer NO. And therein lies the political problem. Because New Zealand's current law recently changed by Sue Bradford and all the useful idiots who suppor...

In the mornings, NewsTalk ZB typically has a couple of politicians on that discuss topical subjects. I think the idea is to have two opposing politicians, so they have a National MP and a Labour MP. Maybe someone has gone even further and prefers the MPs to also be opposite in sex, so, currently the National MP is male and the Labour MP is female. This morning the upcoming referendum on smacking was discussed. The referendum was openly disparaged by both MPs, with nary a word of disagreement from the radio host. Who normally is really good in bringing politicians up on ridiculous positions they may hold. It's like NZ has entered the twilight zone. On the positive side, the radio host did bring up the notion of binding referendums to make everyone treat them seriously. For right now, we are going to have a referendum which will not be taken any notice of. Or so the politicians say. Steven Joyce, for the National side, appeared not to be a fan of binding referendums. He mentio...

In today's Dominion Post I read that John Key does not intend to change the anti-smacking law, no matter what the results of the upcoming referendum are. The debate may turn out to be an expensive waste of effort for both sides, with Mr Key saying yesterday that he had no intention of changing the law regardless of the outcome of the referendum. "I think it's important that governments listen to the public, but the test I've had is that if I don't think the law is working I will change it," he said. "To date I have not seen any evidence that it is not working." The question being asked in the referendum was ambiguous as it did not directly call for the law to be changed or repealed. The issue was of significant public concern two years ago but had died away, he said. Let me explain something to you, John. Public concern has died away over this issue BECAUSE of the upcoming referendum. As a mother, I thought that the Government would to listen to me ...

There's a great article on the early Christians and their attitudes to abortion posted on LifeSiteNews. As I've said before, one of the things that really distinguished Christians from Pagans in the centuries after Christ was the Christians opposition to contraception, abortion and infanticide. Abortion was considered to be murder and at one time the sanctions against those who had an abortion were as severe as for those who molested children. Let's not even get into what the punishment in Hell was for those women. Oh, what the heck. Dating from just before A.D. 150, the Revelation of Peter was still read in church services in fifth-century Palestine. It describes in detail the various punishments in hell according to different types of sin. The punishment for women who induced miscarriage was to sit up to their necks in blood and dirt while the aborted children shot sparks of fire into their eyes (Chapter 25). Clement of Alexandria, the principal of Christendom's for...

The British comedian who made the character Borat famous, has now turned himself into Bruno, a flamboyant homosexual fashion journalist from Austria. And all is not good with this. [His character] is supposed to send-up the ignorance and intolerance of real-life individuals he meets during a filmed journey across the US. However, he has instead been accused of promoting gay stereotypes. Surely not! Several liberal groups claimed this week that Bruno's behaviour and image - he has bleached hair, wears copious amounts of make-up, and appears to strip-wax his legs, buttocks and chest - will actually end up promoting rather than undermining homophobia. "Some people in our community may like this movie, but many are not going to be OK with it," was the stern prediction of Rashad Robinson, of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "Sacha Baron Cohen's well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others." Ms Robi...

We are now in the midst of a pandemic. A world-wide pandemic no less! Is that like repeating something to make it true? So let me get this straight. The Mexican Flu mutated to the Mexican Swine Flu and then mutated again to become the Swine Flu. That's mutation by media, not by viral cell forms. Apparently, the Swine Flu is unstoppable. I've seen predictions of 30% to 50% infection rates across the population. If we are lucky. So of 110 million Mexicans exposed to the highly contagious, unstoppable Swine Flu, about 150 died. And some of those deaths may not have actually been from the Flu. They're not sure. Do you know what 150 divided by 110 million is, in percentage terms? I tried to work it out but my talking calculator suggests that it's an insult to work with such small numbers. Apparently, I need a particle accelerator to generate the digits. And then this deadly flu spread to New Zealand. And the people that were diagnosed with it were fed pizza and p...

Just a bit of a fun weekend post.. Has anyone else seen the Scary Washing Machine for sale on Trade Me? Good for a bit of a laugh :) Here's a snippet - Once while washing a load of towells it got a bit out of balance and it got so out of control for a minute that I swear I actually saw a porthole to another dimension open above it just for a second, there were dinosaurs on the otherside and they looked scared too, it almost sucked me in but I held onto for my life to the deepfreeze. It sucked my shoes and pants off though and it got the iron as well which pissed me off because it was quite a good one. Luckily it sucked it's own power cord out of the wall and stopped before the whole house went in.

I listened to David Bain's infamous 111 call when he reported his family all dead , and could not hear the alleged words, "I shot the prick" . However, there is something odd in that part, a change in the style of breathing exhalations. Something to bring up on the cross-examination? No, that's right. He never testified. Funny that. Related link: Readers split over Bain 111 call ~ NZ Herald

Is a light smack exactly the same as a beating? The two descriptors are typically used as if they are, so we need to spend $10 million dollars to decide if we are going to let the left continue to mangle the way we think and the way we communicate. If the referendum comes out in our favour, then ordinary people are capable of discerning the difference, and are rejecting the idea that a parent that smacks a child is the same as a "partner" that beats a child. They are rejecting the idea that one drink makes an alcoholic; that killing in self defence is the same as pre-meditated murder. It's a dangerous society when lawmakers can't be bothered to legislate the differences, and that is what started this. Perhaps a dozen cases since the 1980's managed to successfully argue that the defendant used "reasonable force" for the purposes of correction when they hit a child. Whilst we haven't had those cases fully examined in the public arena, it has always...

Seems like the Bain case is not over. What do we need to do to end this ceaseless chatter? Does the NZ Justice department give approval to invent a time machine and go back and install security cameras in the Bain household? What's the bet it's the discovery of those cameras that set off angry accusations and ultimately led to the murders. Is the NZ Justice system to blame? Given the tortuous path from the courts to the Privy Council, perhaps it's not so far fetched. Speaking of flogging dead horses, Phil Goff would make a good Minister for Racing. I haven't been following Goff's "attack National for all they're Worth" campaign but even from the far end of the stand, it seems to me that he's waving his tickets, cheering his horse and not realizing the race is over. Every now and then, it's nice to sit back and wait for facts. The story may well have the substance behind it to scratch Worth, but Key is not the jockey. One rabid man kill...

Think David Bain is guilty and you say so online? Well, you could get sued. Even if you thought that before the verdict was in. It appears there is no right to a personal opinion on the rightness or wrongness of a verdict in NZ - once it has been decided, everyone has to fall into line and think the same way. David Bain is innocent. Um, yeah. The whole think smacks of a redefinition of history ala communist style. And I though freedom of speech was something NZ had? Related Link: Facebook users claiming Bain is guilty could be sued ~ Stuff

"Hundreds plan to freeze for Global Warming Friday" trumpets the headline (OK, last Friday , I've got a backlog to work through). How apt. Why bother waiting for Friday. Hundreds are freezing now. Something to do with it being cold. The United Nations is firmly in on the act. Trying to convince sovereign nations to pay a world tax based on the weather. Most people are keen to pay, such are the useful idiots that buy into the idea that the solution offered has anything to do with the problem. If we are to do any freezing, it should be on freezing Kyoto taxes. Let's give the idea of a world tax the cold shoulder. It's an idea people might warm to as they shiver their way through another man-made disaster: Global Warming propaganda. And look at the quality of ideas in the propaganda drive: Turn your lights off for an hour per year , stand still for 5 minutes, use mercury based light bulbs , change the phrase "global warming" to "climate change...

A leading pediatrician, Dr Simon Rowley, has outlined exactly why children are better off in the care of a parent rather than a daycare centre. He provides this information with evidence, facts, reasonable points and an argument to carefully consider. If you actually care about children. Enter Early Childhood Council Chief Executive Sarah Farquhar. Apparently, she doesn't care about truth, she cares more about inconvenience. Perhaps she doesn't like to listen to things she needs to hear? How does she counter the evidence presented? She throws her toys out of the cot. "It's going back to the times of women being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. That's not healthy for children and it's not healthy for women...making parents feel guilty about their choices is not the way to go." Adults face up to the truth, children have the luxury of ignoring it. The real issue is we as a society are allowing adults to behave like overgrown children. Maybe it a...

It wasn't us that started WWII, it was them! WW2 was Poland's fault, a Russian military historian says, because (get this!) Poland did not give in to German demands for the Danzig corridor. The report the historian wrote was posted on a Russian Ministry of Defence site, thus prompting a please explain by Poland to the Russian Ambassador in Warsaw. But apparently, the report does not reflect the position of the Russian Government. The paper, titled "Fictions and Falsifications in Evaluating the USSR's Role On the Eve of World War II," recounts how in the run-up to Germany's invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Hitler demanded that Poland turn over control of the city of Danzig as well as a land corridor between Germany and the territory now known as Kaliningrad. "Everyone who has studied the history of World War II without bias knows that the war began because of Poland's refusal to satisfy Germany's claims," he writes. Kovalyov called the d...

Chat time! Hopefully, later I'll be able to put up a photo or two of our new kitten. He's growing amazingly fast and is quite the tree climber, going much higher than I've ever seen a cat go. I am very much looking forward to when I can put him outside at midnight or at 6am (seems to be very wide awake and playful at those times). Having a new kitten is hard work, though at least he's not climbing the curtains anymore (he's saving himself for the trees outside). And David Bain's not guilty ? How many believe that? UPDATE: I've uploaded a couple of kitten photos. Click on the continue to see them. UPDATE 2: I also did the Political Spectrum Test. Again. I was hoping I'd find my last one on this blog, but no, I must have done it more than two years ago the last time. So, here are my results again. Thanks to Crusader Rabbit and Samuel Dennis who inspired me to do the test again. Looking outside Attacking the Tas toy Asleep by the window, has roll...

You know, I've never actually really believed that death is inevitable. I just think it`s a rumor. David Carradine has snatched the pebble, and so it was time to leave. In circumstances reminiscent of INXS star Michael Hutchence. A little weird and a lot unfortunate. Those Kung Fu episodes were quintessential Zen food in my younger days, with the wonderful merger (at least in concept) of eastern philosophy and western (the cowboy type) adventure. It just made so much sense when Tarintino cast Carradine as Bill. “If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.” Indeed. Just a strange way to end the verse. Via Barnsley: Goodbye Grasshopper

The stats for last month. Slight dip, but fairly consistent. Page Loads : 10,270 (11,760 month prior) Average per day - 331 (392) Unique Visitors : 6387 (6,241) Average per day - 208 (206) Posts : 71 (90) Comments : 472 (524) Most comments for one post: 77 (47) Technorati Authority : 44 (45) Alexa Ranking : 294661 (335,135) NZ Alexa Ranking : 644 (475) [Big jump here. No idea why] Here's my calculation for the Tumeke NZ Blogosphere Statistics based on the following formula: + 206 (Daily Unique visitor traffic from Statcounter for April 09) + 44 (Technorati Authority - although this keeps disappearing!) + 16 (Posts: 71/31*7) + 40 (Comments: (77 +34 +28 +21) /4)* = 306 (312)

All this information, and you read about it on our blog. What are the chances?

Heh. A letter to the editor in the Dom Post today (or was it yesterday?) from Dr Cullen. He said given that National are not contributing money to the Cullen fund for the next ten years, he wants it henceforth called the English Fund. If that's the game he wants to play, I also suggest we stop calling it a Super Fund. Ever since Cullen established this billion dollar super fund it has only returned around 3% pa. It would be more accurate to call it a Mediocre Fund. Why should National put our tax dollars into the Cullen Mediocre Fund?

Apparently, New Zealand is the world's most peaceful country to live in. According to an Australian thinktank . An Australian thinktank recognised our stable political situation, relatively low rate of violence and decrease in military spending. Um, the image I have is of a "sitting duck". Related Link: Why peaceful NZ leads the world ~ NZ Herald

I can't really repeat my previous blog title " Those that live by the sword " for this story. Besides, no one died. So I'm left with "the pen is mightier than the sword". Police have arrested a 16-year-old after a samurai sword attack nearly severed a man's hand outside a Palmerston North party. It might be, but one on one, I think I'd take the Katana over the Parker. Besides, you still need a hand to write with. You can't counter attack with a long essay if your hand has been severed. Ever since Antonie Dixon sliced his way to infamy, it seems the Katana has been more prevalent in the news. Was it "Kill Bill", "The Last Samurai" or "Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles" that have inspired the new Ronin? Do we ban the Turtles or Crush the Sword? Maybe we just ban parties? Do we put him in jail or give him community service as a vegetable slicer in a soup kitchen? Perhaps if happy drugs were legalized everyone wou...

George Tiller is dead. Murdered in cold blood. I'm sure George would be the first to agree that it is sad when a life is forcibly terminated. Murder is never justified, except in self defence. Although it wasn't a near term baby that wielded this gun, it was a fully grown adult, capable of making an informed decision. Unless he was insane. Surely, it is the mark of an insane person to cold bloodily murder a helpless human? We have now a male suspect who may have killed him simply because Dr Tiller specialised in late term abortions. What's the world coming too when the peaceful abortionist cannot practice his trade - some 60,000 terminations according to his own tally. Dr Tiller never had a chance, gunned down attending his Church, and the only comfort his loving wife and four grown children have is that his murderer will be brought to justice. Whilst Dr Tiller's death marks a sad moment in the Abortion debate, I hope the pro-abortion movement do not seek to ele...

"She lost because people didn't bother voting for her because they thought she was going to win it" lamented 21 year old Gordon. And on that foundation, Gordon then makes the quote of the day: "I didn't vote for her because I thought everyone else would." Seems Gordon is a product of the times. The challenge is not to run our lives that way over the things that matter to us. And for those straying across this blog in three months hence, when this matter in particular is all but forgotten, Gordon refers to the initially derided "matronly" Ms Boyle from Blackburn Scotland coming in a respectable second on "Britain's Got Talent". Although I like the quote because it survives out of context. Title of this blog post courtesy of the Constitutional Peasant sketch from the Holy Grail, of course.