New Zealand Conservative

George Osborne took the first step to make Britain a more business-friendly country yesterday by announcing changes to corporation tax designed to reverse the trend of companies moving overseas to escape punitive rates and red tape. Mr Osborne announced that a new 10p rate for corporation tax would be introduced on profits generated from new products generated and developed in Britain . That was immediately followed by an announcement that GlaxoSmithKline would, as a result of the change, invest £500m in the UK. Given the immediate announcement by Glaxo, this move can hardly have been a surprise to them. In the midst of slashing government spending in one area, only to increase it in another area, these talks of low corporate tax rates seem to be a mere distraction. After all, they have just instituted a 50% tax rate for high earners and the VAT (GST) rate goes to 20% in January 2011. The only thing that appears to be off the table in these discussions is the size of governmen...

This is a dreadful story. The more I hear about it, the worse it gets. Now the Muslim leaders in Pakistan don't want the President to pardon a Christian woman who was unjustly condemned to death on blasphemy charges. Muslim religious leaders in Pakistan are urging President Asif Ali Zardari not to pardon Asia Bibi, the 45-year-old Christian mother of five whose death sentence on blasphemy charges has provoked an international outcry. [I added my name to an online petition, so was part of this "international outcry"] Shahbaz Bhatti, the nation’s minister for minorities, has found that Bibi was wrongfully convicted, and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer has told CNN that the president will pardon her. “I mean, he’s a liberal, modern-minded president, and he’s not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed,” said Taseer. “It’s just not going to happen.” Bibi told Taseer, who visited her on November 20, that her accusers had raped her. [This is where it got...

Chat time!

There is little meaningful to say in this time of grief and national mourning. I take comfort from music and in particular hymns so here is one of the most ancient of Christian hymns, Phos Hilaron or Joyful light. Versions of this hymn are known and used across many Christian denominations. It is probably more than 1800 years old. O Joyful Light of the holy glory of the immortal, heavenly, holy blessed Father, O Jesus Christ. Having come to the setting of the sun, having beheld the evening light, we hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God. Meet it is at all times to hymn Thee with reverend voices, O Son of God, Giver of Life, wherefore the whole world doth glorify Thee.

Is sex meant just for fun - for recreation - or is it's real purpose self-evident? Society sure sees it mostly one way: sex now mostly seems to be seen as a pleasurable experience shared between two people who are willing ― whether they're married, boyfriend and girlfriend, just friends, or have only just met that same evening. As long as the girl is on the Pill or the boy uses a condom, then it's OK they say; do what you like. In a excerpt from a new book, Light Of The World , in which Pope Benedict is interviewed, he says - [...] the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also a part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effec...

On her visit to Australia to promote her new book, Portia de Rossi refused to be interviewed by men. Portia is a woman who is "married" to another woman, therefore, I presume is attracted to women. So why would she want to be put into temptation's way by being interviewed only by women? It would be like me (a woman married to a man) wanting to be only interviewed by men. That would certainly look odd. Surely it would be better to be interviewed by the gender she scorns? Just a little side note on the gay marriage debate going on over there right now. Related link: Portia de Rossi's gay campaign does nothing for marriage ~ Herald Sun

Archbishop of Canterbury has been 'abducted by aliens' says bishop in battle over gay clergy Say's it all really - where have all the adults gone?

This You-Tube clip is a little more explicit than what I'd normally post here at NZC. However, it does highlight the disturbing direction the security pat-downs are taking in American airports. If you refuse to be full body scanned so that the agent scanning you can effectively see you naked, you are then subjected to a full body groping that is pretty close to sexual assault.

Another great cat video, there is a hint of fear in the women's voice at the start but the baby really enjoys this incident.

First of all, this is what was said: [The Pope's] comments to Peter Seewald reaffirm his belief that the use of condoms is not “the answer” to Aids – but he goes on to say that “in certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality”. He also says: “There may be justified individual cases, for example when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be … a first bit of responsibility, to redevelop the understanding that not everything is permitted and that one may not do everything one wishes. But it is not the proper way to deal with the horror of HIV infection.” This does not mean, that the Pope is encouraging condom use for male prostitutes. The Catholic Church's position is that all sexual activity should be limited to a man and his wife within matrimony and that sexual activity is to be free of contraceptives, ie open to life.  What the Pope's comments seem to i...

DPF has posted a cat video and so have I.

If you have a couple of hours spare, watch this very enjoyable debate between two great Catholic minds. For the summary, read this link: Is the only good Muslim, a bad Muslim? ~ Inside Catholic

A mining accident on the West Coast, let's all pray for a favorable outcome

I will be voting in tomorrow's by-election in Mana. Trying to decide who to vote for has been agony. If National had reversed the terrible piece of social engineering legislation that they apparently tried to soften when they were in opposition, I would have grudgingly voted for them. Whatever else they would have done to that point that I'm not happy with (I'm thinking ETS and the potential repeal of the foreshore and seabed act), they at least would have demonstrated an understanding of the dreadful anti-family forces that have been gaining power over the last several decades, and made a principled stand against those forces. But no, the anti-smacking law has stayed. National has showed itself to be either ignorant of the true civilisational foundations of the family as the fundamental societal unit, or are themselves one of the anti-family forces that is actively seeking to draw more and more power to the state by destroying the family. Where ever they stand, I...

Who'ld have ever thought that in the land of the free the day would come that in order to travel you would have to have your arse crack examined by a government official before being permitted to proceed. That is exactly what is happening here . And you and I know, as does the government lacky doing this that this poor woman has nothing untoward down there. It's a pointless and needless harassment. It looks like the American people are beginning to rebel against this and so they should - the people behind this travesty can waffle about increasing safety (which this doesn't) but people also need to be kept safe from intrusive government officials. And it doesn't get more intrusive than having your butt examined and your genitals fondled. In other circumstances this would be called indecent assault.

Call it fate or a fortuitous co-incidence but whatever its a controversy that has now found a tidy resolution. Auckland's historic Palace building demolished

And this is definitely bad touching. The context the boy is about to board an aircraft and the authorities have to make sure he isn't a terrorist on a suicide mission so they are doing a body search. A few days ago under the headline "the terrorists have won" Drudge carried this photo. A Nun being searched by a hijab wearing TSA employee. Says it all doesn't it - we have a lot to fear from four year old American boys and nuns every time we get on an airplane. Yeah right! Related video: 3 Year-Old Girl Accosted By TSA

This video is titled super bride theft. It's a brief glimpse of brideknapping where a woman is grabbed and forced to marry her abductor. It is a significant problem in the Caucasus particularly the republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya. What bought this to mind was this post about the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton and Ele's disquiet about Prince William seeking Kate Middleton's father's permission to marry his daughter. The connection to this video? Over the years courtship rituals have developed to protect women from forced marriages (and rape) and I personally find it slightly amusing that in our enlightened age this knowledge has been lost and slightly frightening that some would have us forget it. Because it wouldn't take too much for us to return to the ways of the past

3D presentation showing conception to birth in 6 minutes.

On Sunday evening (14 November), Professor Jane Kelsey was detained at immigration at Sydney airport for about an hour. She was informed by a senior immigration official that she was not eligible for visa free entry to Australia on the grounds that she was not an ‘appropriate person’ under Australia’s 1994 immigration laws. Professor Kelsey thinks this may be linked to her efforts in promoting critical debate on the TransPacific Partnership negotiations. I find it ironic that a professor that is critical of free trade, seems to think unfettered free access to the Australian market by herself a fundamental human right. Not having automatic access is her policy in action. Better get a visa son, better get a real good one

Front page news on 15 November 2011 was the tragic story of "Unborn baby, mum among road dead." The story goes: "A 42 year old mother-to-be heading home from a Gin Wigmore concert was killed - along with her unborn child..." Most of us instinctively know and understand this as a terrible tragedy that terminated the life of the mother-to-be and her unborn child. I wasn't going to post on this story because it was obvious where my point was leading, and I was thinking this isn't really the right time. However, the talk back radio has been flooded with calls from listeners commenting on just how sad and tragic this story is, and that in itself is post worthy. It is enough to say, and have people agree, that two lives were lost in that crash, not one. May her friends and family take some comfort in the fact that most of New Zealand has paused and reflected on this sad story, and our prayers and best wishes go with them.

The Mana by-election is on us next week, and although a labour stronghold, there is the remote possibility that the seat falls to National. Admittedly, unlikely, but the statement makes a great lead in to discussing Matt McCarten and is probably the most interesting part of my post. Well, the dumb-ass coconut comment coming up later might be better, but if you read past this point, don't blame me for a boring post about a boring by-election. So Matt McCarten, staunch Unionist, is running as an independent, presumably realizing that he wont win, but may erode Labour's vote. They really have fallen low, if the Unions are fighting them. Or is it the Unions are enjoying their raised profile after beating up on the little people (I'm referring to the recent Union activism on the behalf of the bit part actors who will play hobbits, who mostly said "stop helping me") Matt is running a campaign along the lines of rugby union match, with what I call "The Firs...

You can get a high resolution version suitable for printing here .

At the request of the Vatican, 26 injured Iraqis who survived the massacre by Islamic militants at the main Catholic church in Baghdad, were transferred with some of their families to a Roman hospital. It is hoped that they will be able to heal more easily in a more tranquil environment. Italy airlifts 26 Iraqis injured in attack on Baghdad Catholic church for treatment in Rome

A man was humiliated and had the police called on him for taking two photographs of his nine year old daughter shooting goal during her netball game. He says he was made to feel like a pervert. Video LINK What is the world coming to when a father can't take photographs of his children playing sport without feeling like some kind of pervert? It's political correctness gone mad. Sure I understand that people want to look out for their kids but I sometimes wonder if these people aren't projecting their own perversity onto others.

Chat time! I've been somewhat distracted over the last couple of weeks. My 13 year old boy wants to go to college. After home-schooling for nearly four years, this will be a really big change for him. And me. However, after really thinking about it for a while myself, I think he needs to do it. If only to get an idea of why we've been home-schooling. A couple of days back in the Dominion Post, I noticed an article on the numbers in various NCEA exams this year. The most popular subject was NCEA Level 1 English at almost 50,000 exam-goers, followed by Maths at around 45,000. The smallest exam subject was scholarship Latin. What frustrated me in reading that is the difficulty a pupil has in actually being able to study Latin as very few schools offer it. I've not been able to find one in the Wellington region. So my 13yo, who has been studying Latin for a couple of years now, is unable to continue his studies by going to college. The closest language he can ch...

I don't often agree with Dominion Post editorials, but today when he/she/it opines that teachers sometimes knows best and parents should not automatically spring to the aid of their little princesses. I really wonder what type of parents are more worried about a teacher pointing out a girl who is wearing her skirt hiked up looks like a slut, than the fact the skirt was hiked up in the first place. Do they like their girl looking that way?  Do they encourage that type of attire at home? Where the Dom Post editor and I part company, is that he/she/it thinks that the length of the skirt is a trivial matter. I beg to differ. That girl, aided and abetted by her parents, is seeking to objectify herself. She's more interested that when her classmates look at her, they don't see her, they see her body. Is it any wonder that she's not doing well at school? A body doesn't need good marks, or good behaviour or any sort of future - it just needs to be used by others. ...

Can you believe this is in anyway socially responsible on Amazon's part? The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure [Kindle Edition] Or is social responsibility a quaint old fashioned idea?

A Christchurch GP (called an expert by TVNZ) has said that NZ women need more modern contraception, funded by the taxpayer. She believes that better contraception will lower our high abortion rate. I would have thought that the best way to lower our high abortion rate would be to stop allowing so many abortions to be done for mental health reasons that are totally bogus. That would wipe out most of them pretty quickly. As for wanting to encourage more promiscuity among women, funded by the taxpayer, I despair for NZ. Related link : Contraception key factor in abortion rate ~ TVNZ

The Australian Army is paying for gender reassignment surgery for one of its officers. ARMY Captain Matthew Clinch served twice in East Timor and after his final sexual transformation to become Bridget Clinch wants to return to his previous command role. After months of uncertainty, the army has confirmed that taxpayers will pick up the full tab for Capt Clinch's gender surgery and any other treatment that is required by her. Capt Clinch is in Brisbane with her partner and two daughters , on extended sick leave from her job as the second in command of the army's Adventurous Training Wing based at Wagga Wagga in southern NSW. This person's mother is not impressed Her immediate family, including both daughters, have accepted that Matthew is now Bridget, but her mother Deidre told Channel Seven that she and the wider family unit were not convinced. ``Matthew had a healthy body know that he was very particular about health and lifestyle and for him to mutilate this beaut...

See if you can guess who this is - check your guess by using the scroll bar to reveal the answer It would be Vladimir Putin taking a formula one car for a spin. Watch him spin out

I have nothing against Len Brown. He's not mayor of my city. I don't even know the man. However, when a public figure, such as Mr Brown comes out with the word "Catholic" and seeks to redefine it, I feel I must say something. If only to set the record straight. At some point very recently, Len Brown gave an interview to a GayNZ writer. Twice, it appears, he emphatically stated he was Catholic. The first time he states is a "proud Catholic". The second looks like a question on diversity. Not sure exactly what the question was, as there is no mention of it, and so it's only implied. But here is his answer: On diversity "I'm a staunch Catholic," Brown again points out. "But I am from the liberal side. And I am very aware and sensitive to people making their own choices about their life. And I'm totally respectful of that. "You can make your own choice totally," he adds. "I've got nothing more to say....

What an amazing fact. A NZ bug collector is responsible for the whole idea of daylight savings time. The guy wanted more daylight in order to collect his bugs after work, and so came up with the idea. Only he wanted the shift in time to be two hours, rather than one. Modern daylight saving time wasn’t proposed until the late 1800s. New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson would spend his spare time after work collecting insects, an activity limited by daylight. Inspired to extend his extracurricular activities, he presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society proposing a two-hour daylight-saving shift. Hudson’s paper would provide the foundation for modern daylight saving time. So when we moan and groan about daylight savings time (as we do on this blog), those of us who live in NZ (and especially Wellington) could think fondly of the bug collector from days gone past. I wonder if this is why NZ thinks we have to lead the world in everything else. Keep up with ...

The Daily Show is a great comedy show, and Jon Stewart is a funny man. He can get serious though, and has often done so. For example, the recent Sanity gig, and further back the vocal criticism of various shows (Remember the Crossfire saga ?) for not treating politics objectively and in an unbiased fashion. All makes perfect sense to me, but there is another side to this. A minor point is that Jon Stewart sees himself as a mere comedy show, and so excused from any of the responsibility he suggests the serious political shows have to the audience to act impartially and ask the tough questions. Whilst that is true, he needs to acknowledge that comedy shows like his can and do influence people as much as any "serious debate" show. The larger point is that the danger in accepting people who appear sane is assuming their judgments must therefore be sound, sensible, and right. It's that old "truthiness" aspect that suggests facts may not be needed if ever...

Fr. Raymond De Souza has written a passionate piece calling upon God for His vengeance against those who would cry out that God is great while slaughtering the innocent at prayer. Allahu Akbar – God is great! So those Catholics on Sunday heard the jihadists shout in the church. Can there be any greater sacrilege than to kill the innocent at prayer, while shouting that God is great? The jihadists respect neither man nor God, not even their own. They have killed their fellow Muslims and bombed mosques. The Christians killed on Sunday were Iraqis, their fellow Arabs, their fellow citizens, their neighbours. They kill because they are seized with a murderous hatred. The least we can do is to summon a righteous anger in return. The Christian always hopes for conversion and offers forgiveness. There must also be justice and prudence, and prudence demands that those who would kill in the name of God are best despatched quickly to their judgment. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. So Scr...

One cow says to another cow: So, do you ever worry about catching Mad Cow's disease?" And the other cow says "Why should I care, I'm a helicopter?" Here's a personal favorite of mine: In the period that Einstein was active as a professor, one of his students came to him and said: "The questions of this year's exam are the same as last years!" "True," Einstein said, "but this year all answers are different." And in very poor taste: Did you hear about the terrorists who took control of the American House of Representatives and the Senate? They threatened to release one politician per hour until their demands were met. And now for the main event. If you never watched Amadeus, then do so. Released in 1984, it doesn't date, because it already had. This scene is classic - raw talent and joy completely oblivious to the undercurrents swirling around him. And yet, his own challenges will be set according to his pot...

Hmmm, doesn't look like anyone has teed one of these up (maybe everyone is playing with fire crackers?), and it's almost 8:30, so here ya go! Hope you all had a great week!

The Dominion Post today opines that while the healthcare reforms undertaken by Obama recently are a laudable goal, that American voters are far more interested in him fixing the economy and that interest was reflected in the recent elections. But as the shellac dries, it is apparent that Mr Obama allowed his dream of reforming healthcare to obscure the more pressing concerns of those who elected him in 2008. At another time, fairer and more accessible healthcare might have been exactly the issue middle America wanted the president to spend his political capital advancing. But during the past few years millions of Americans have lost their homes and their jobs as a result of the financial crisis. The issue they want to see the president wholeheartedly addressing is the economy. However, what the Dominion Post does not take into consideration is the Catholic vote. Over the last couple of days, I've been reading online about a massive Catholic swing against the Democrats. And n...

I'm all for small government, but in our system, a small government will always grow to be a big government, often as a response to the excesses of capitalism (OK, you got me, often as a response to being infested by socialists who fear the excesses of capitalism). A free market is a worthy goal, but in today's world we don't actually have free markets, partly because of all of the government regulation and control, and partly because multinational corporations themselves abuse property rights and engage in monopolistic practices. Chesterton said: "Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists. Equally, though, too much socialism results in too few capitalists. To my mind, Socialists don't really get the importance of property rights, and how they underpin human rights. Indeed, they get distracted inventing new human rights which require greater invasions of freedom to justify the need for the government to enforce them. ...

I'm all for small government, but in our system, a small government will always grow to be a big government, often as a response to the excesses of capitalism (OK, you got me, often as a response to being infested by socialists who fear the excesses of capitalism). A free market is a worthy goal, but in today's world we don't actually have free markets, partly because of all of the government regulation and control, and partly because multinational corporations themselves abuse property rights and engage in monopolistic practices. Chesterton said: "Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists. Equally, though, too much socialism results in too few capitalists. To my mind, Socialists don't really get the importance of property rights, and how they underpin human rights. Indeed, they get distracted inventing new human rights which require greater invasions of freedom to justify the need for the government to enforce them. ...

Jeanette Fitzsimons admits she was wrong: For 35 years I have been wrong about how to prevent climate change. Indeed, you can’t prevent climate change. Perhaps she actually means AGW? It’s an easy mistake to make, because Climate Change(TM) as a cause, works better than an endless war with Eastasia and Eurasia. That's why imprecise phrases like Climate Change(TM) are preferred to actually saying what you mean. And I wonder if the carbon trading scam perpetrated on us poor tax payers is doing anything for the planet, even on the Green party's terms, or if it is just proving to be another mechanism for wealth extraction, limiting the amount of investment money for people to direct towards efficiency and sustainability? Jeannette's new solution is to abandon any quest for energy efficiency (that's where she says she was wrong) and to go for the big banana: Ban the use of coal. I find coal very handy. Rub coal on your face and get a job in a Dickens play, or sn...

Here's a gift - Speaker Lockwood Smith has backed down over hiding MP Expenses. That should please Goff, because you can't sell the public the policy of envy if you aren't quite sure what there is to be envious about. Sure, we could misoverestimate, but that would be beating about the bush. The Key word is transparency. And the other gift this week was the announcement of intent to abolish Gift Tax . It was never a fair and sensible tax, because the workarounds were many. It does however, illustrate a fundamental point about the process of tax collection - how much money it wastes. Apparently, the Government would spend half a million dollars to collect a relatively paltry 1.5 million (or 2.2 million depending on what you read). And the Public would spend up to 70 million in compliance costs to pay (or avoid) the tax. This demonstrates the point I was trying to make about excluding GST on some food items. The industry could do it, but the compliance costs wo...

Sometimes, what you say reveals more about yourself than your subject: The Catholic Church, the world’s first highly structured global corporation, specialises in providing dividends to its stock holders in the form of saints. Saints are like shares, and duly rise or fall in popularity depending on the fancy of the spiritual flock at any given moment. The entire article was penned by Dr. Binoy Kampmark . For a scholar, this populist drivel should be beneath him. But opinion writers are all too aware that they duly rise or fall in popularity depending upon the fancy of the mass market at any given moment. Where Catholics see prophets, he sees profit. Dr Kampmark has mistaken Saints as the dividend, when it's virtue that we value. He believes there is no such thing as a miracle, which is a debate in itself, but that too is a little beside the point of sainthood. Even in secular terms, one could consider the value of role models (Mary MacKillop in this case), and role mode...

Owen and Eunice Johns are a couple who have fostered 15 children over the years but are no longer deemed suitable foster parents by the local authorities in Derby. You can probably guess why people who were deemed eminently suitable in the dark ages of the 1990s are totally unsuitable in the enlightened 2000s. The reason is the Sexual Orientation Act brought in by Labour and the Derby City Council’s equality policy drawn up in response to this. But Bible believing Christians are not equal under this policy apparently .

Wow! I just finished a great book - Star of the Sea, by Irish writer Joseph O'Connor (brother to Sinead, as it happens). The quality of writing was superb, and really brought to life the history of the Irish Potato famine, in a deeply personal way. Somewhere in the book, it says: "History happens in the first person but is written in the third. This is what makes history a completely useless art" and yet the book is a living contradiction of this, blending fiction with fact in such a skillful way as to place the reader in the same space as the desperate, the lost, the hungry, the starving, the dying. His writing style is simply impressive, and I enjoyed feasting on the imagery and prose as much as the people those words created, allowing me to imagine the events as if they were all too real.

Something a lot more sensible than earth hour : eDay. On November 6th you can drop off those old outdated computers and related gear and have them recycled or converted into a Terminator or HAL9000 or something useful (not that Terminators aren't useful). As you throw your old computer on the heap you can imagine it saying "I'll be back". "Yeah, as a 10 watt Kambrook toaster you useless 286 with dual floppy and green screen CRT. Hasta la vista, baby" Details and drop off points also for your amusement - Dirt Day: Like Earth Hour but bloody brilliant instead of stupid

This is horrendous. Baghdad, Iraq, Nov 1, 2010 / 12:13 pm (CNA).- Iraqi Catholics were beside themselves with grief on Monday after Islamic militants stormed the Syriac Catholic cathedral in Baghdad and held members hostage in an unprecedented attack that left more than 50 dead and over 70 wounded. On Oct. 31, gunmen linked to al Qaeda took over 120 faithful hostage at the Syriac Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation during Mass, demanding the release of al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt. After the Iraqi military raided the church to free the hostages, over 50 people, including 3 priests, were killed. Vatican Radio reported that between 70 and 80 people are seriously wounded from the attack, many of them women and children. Pope Benedict lamented the disaster after he prayed the Angelus on Nov. 1. He condemned the “savage” attack and offered prayers for the victims. “I pray for the victims of this absurd violence, even more ferocious in that it has been inflicted upon de...

It's been a big week for terrorist news. If you missed it, then you should know that a bomb was shipped from the country of Yemen disguised as an ordinary computer printer. It traveled on various flights before being picked up by intelligence. It contained enough explosive to bring down a plane. The Yemeni authorities have since let the woman suspect go - but it's ok because she was released only on condition she would appear when summoned for questioning (right....) ANAA (Reuters) - Yemen freed on Sunday a female suspect detained in connection with explosive packages sent from Yemen and bound for the United States on condition that she appears when summoned for questioning, a relative said. At around the same time, President Barrack Obama has relaxed laws forbidding child soldiers in Yemen, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Sudan. WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move criticized by human rights organizations, the Obama administration has decided to exempt Yem...

Well, Stephen Fry has come out. He has come out and said women hate sex, and furthermore that straight men fear that they disgust women. "If women liked sex as much as men, there would be straight cruising areas in the way there are gay cruising areas," he said. What he is really saying is that he thinks gay men want to engage in sex at any cost, for any reason, and if any other straight people don't follow the same pattern, well obviously, they hate sex. It may not occur to him that whilst both men and women enjoy sex, it may not necessarily be on the basis they are slaves to their base instincts, and can actually get their enjoyment on completely different terms than his confession of " cottaging ". Does Stephen really believe that if you are not compelled to engage in anonymous sex, you must hate it? What about considering that some people think there is more to sex than just the physical act? I think Stephen might be missing out on something. So...

The details in the story of how Austin Hemmings was killed are horrible. He wasn't doing anything aggressive, he was just trying to intervene to save a woman from a man whom he must have realised was dangerous. It just makes me wonder, how do you defend against an attack like this? "I saw his left hand pull up his left side of his jumper as he did when facing me. I saw his right hand reach in and a movement of his right hand come down towards his waist and a really quick microsecond he thrusted really quickly and because I had seen the handle of the knife I realised he had stabbed Austin," Ms N said. The man who killed Austin has pleaded guilty, so there was no trial. Related link: Man guilty of 'good samaritan's' murder

A child sex offender who believes giving a DNA sample would condemn him to eternal damnation wants an exemption from inclusion on a national database. [...] Chord is a Christian and believed that, if his DNA was taken, he would be given "the mark of the Beast" and damned for eternity ... This is the problem with individual interpretation of the Bible. How the sex-offender has worked out that the "mark of the Beast" will send him directly to Hell, when his own actions to date will not, I have no idea. The judge should not fall for this one. He should get an opinion from the largest Christian congregation here (I think it's still the Anglicans at this point, and maybe get a second opinion from us Catholics) as to whether or not this is true, and then tell him, too bad. Reference: Sex offender invokes 'eternal damnation' fear in DNA fight, Dominion Post, A4, 1 Nov 2010