New Zealand Conservative

I've removed this post, the world is a sad place at times with sad people in it.

This is sad - a French vegan couple have been charged with neglect after their 11 month old breast fed daughter died of vitamin deficiencies arising from the diet of her mother or so it is claimed. These people are eccentric not criminals, is there any merit in bringing such a case to trial?

Goodness gracious the world's a dangerous place. And unless action is taken New Zealand is about to get more hazardous - for the "vulnerable" anyway. And evil KFC are behind it . We need protection from their latest offering according to this story. A nutritionist says New Zealand's 'vulnerable' should be protected from KFC's newest burger, which has no bun but double the meat. The controversial Double Down - a bunless burger with two slices of bacon and cheese sandwiched between two slabs of fried chicken - has been confirmed for New Zealand release. And who is going to do the "protecting" , pray tell? You know who BIG GOVERNMENT. Well I for one do not want BIG GOVERNMENT telling KFC how to run their business or telling me what I can or can't eat. We need protection from goody two shoes "nutritionists" not from KFC IMHO.

Hubris - 1. pride or arrogance Hubris - 2. (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc, ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin. I wonder why that word might have come to mind over the last few days?

"Conservatives change the rules" blares the front page headline of the SST. Apparently, showing sex scenes on a G rated program during hours where school children may be watching has been par for the course since the TV was invented. So the TV stations push the envelope, and have the audacity to complain that it's merely conservativism that prevents them from getting more and more explicit on TV. Here's the money quote: He said research showed whilst sexual attitudes might be liberalising, attitudes to sexual material during children's hours were not. Damn those conservative attitudes. Meanwhile, a few pages later an article on the rising issue of bullying. A note buried in the disturbing article: 5 and 6 year olds are now being sent home from school for bullying. Why? We get the clue on another article - concern by the anti-smacking lobby that a father didn't go to jail for cutting his son's hair on one occasion, and washing his mouth out wit...

Was the intervention in Libya justified – and if so, does that mean the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was justified? The conditions laid down by the French for their participation in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libyan air space go some way to answering those questions. Before they would join in any military action in Libya, the French were asking for (a) a clear UN resolution for the intervention(b) it had to be a UN operation, not one led by NATO (c) there would have to be some Arab involvement in the force, however token and (d) there would have to be a direct request and support for that intervention from a significant part of the civilian population. What a pile of rubbish. The UN resolution puts it squarely against its own doctrines. The intervention was not about saving civilian lives, it was about offering direct support to one of the two sides in this dispute, something the UN Charter does not allow. And both sides are not interested in Western Democratic Principles, so the li...

Earth hour must be resisted.  It pays homage to the pagan gods of the planet.  It signifies a guilt for our human presence here on this planet.  It calls for cultural suicide. Previous Earth Hour Posts: Not dancing naked under a full moon ~ 2008 Worshipping the Environment ~ 2009 --ZenTiger Neighbourhood Message Insert-- Read about Dirt Day and Save the Planet in one hour and other ideas

Chat time!

Going to Church regularly apparently .

Phil Goff has made a pigs breakfast of the Hughes affair, no question about it. This has lead to speculation he may be rolled in some quarters. What would I know about that but who in their right mind would take up the reins of the Labour Party at this juncture? The party is in disarray and heading for a drubbing come November, it would take a miracle and a miracle worker to overturn that. If someone does decide to challenge him and take that on good luck to them but it seems like a loosing proposition to me.

Creedal Christian Affirming the Faith of the Church Sunday, March 13, 2011 The Greatest Danger in the Modern World "In the better than 16 years or more that I have known Archbishop DMITRI of Dallas (my retired Archbishop), I have heard him warn repeatedly that the greatest danger in the modern world is the attack on man as the image of God. That God became man in order to unite man to God is the only sure Divine underwriting of human worth. We have value because of the image we bear." ~ Fr. Stephen Freeman, " Smashing Icons " On the left is a post from the Blog Creedal Christian , a blog well worth visiting as it often has wisdom filled posts. In any case the quote that is this post I find very striking, in its very truth. Of course reading the news today what is striking is not man in the image of God on display but rather the converse, utter human degradation. In particular our latest political scandal or the comedian of suppressed name fame. Ther...

A well-known comedian/entertainer in NZ has pleaded guilty to performing an indecent act on a child - a 4 year old girl. This man has had his name suppressed all the time he was waiting for his trial, and if he was found not guilty, then this name suppression would have protected him from an unjust allegation that was eventually proven false. For that reason, I will grudgingly allow for concept that temporary name suppression is a good thing. Such a vile crime should not smear the innocent. However, the man now admits to his guilt, and it appears from the news items I've been reading that he's not going to be jailed, and was offered a "non-custodial sentence" by the judge if he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. This is where I really have to question whether the NZ justice system really thinks that child sex abuse is a serious matter. Why not have a trial? Why not then imprison him on the more serious charge of unlawful sexual connection? At least other ch...

In a paper presented at an American Physical Society meeting in Dallas it was revealed that New Zealand is heading towards becoming a religion free country . Not only New Zealand but eight others besides, those being Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The boffins came to their conclusions after applying non-linear dynamics to census data questions on religion. Then comes the hand wavy stuff to explain the results in non numerical terms. The research pivoted on the idea that social groups that had more members are going to be more attractive to join, and that social groups had a social status or utility. The researchers found that the relative social and utilitarian merits of membership of the "non-religious" category were similar across all the countries studied, suggesting that similar behaviour drove the mathematics in all of them. And in all the countries, the indications were that religion was head...

Darren Hughes, a Labour opposition MP, is being investigated by the police for some sort of incident with a young man, age 18. Darren says he's done nothing wrong, but he doesn't say what it is that he is accused of. What I find interesting is the level of damage control that Kiwi-Blogger, David Farrar is undertaking. The post on this issue has comments turned off. Comments in the General Debate that indicate glee at what is occuring to Darren or any indication that he is guilty are deleted. I've not seen this level of damage control for any other Labour MP undergoing police investigation. It's almost as if the potential male sexual nature of these allegations elevates this person to a special level of protection. Related links: Darren Hughes confirms he is MP in alleged late-night incident

There's a State election coming up in New South Wales, in Australia this Saturday on the 26 March, and it looks like the Greens are getting a little bit of unwelcome scrutiny from the Catholic Bishops. AUSTRALIA, March 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the lead-up to a March 26 state election, the Catholic bishops of New South Wales, Australia, have issued a declaration condemning the pro-abortion and anti-family agenda of the state’s Green Party. The bishops note that while “abortion involves the deliberate killing of an innocent unborn child, and current NSW law offers some limited protection to mothers and their unborn children,” the Green Party “will pursue the removal of abortion as an offence under the Crimes Act in the next parliament.” They also point out that the party supports a law “that specifically denies doctors and other health practitioners the right of conscientious objection to participating in or being associated with the practice of abortion.” “It is rema...

Somewhere hiding in this picture is a Vicar. Can you pick him out? It might be harder than it seems. Mouseover the questionmark and the vicar will be revealed. This story which generated a snappy headline does not have a happy ending, you can read about it here .

This man claims he is treated like a second class citizen Second class citizen Guess what Clint there really are a lot of second class citizens out there but they aren't who you think they are.

The other day, Clint Heine of the Clint Heine and Friends blog launched a scurrilous attack on myself and this blog. When his first blog post was picked apart, he tried to make out that my reply to his false assertions was "frothing" . I really don't want to give him to much attention, as I think he enjoys it a little too much, however I do have to answer his accusation that I "hate gay people". First off, I do my very best not to hate anyone. Every person has vices. My vices can be as dangerous to my soul as the unrepentant sex addict's vices can be to his. Vices that are not resisted tend to drown out any hope of redemption, yet that redemption nevertheless exists and is available to all who seek it.  So, I think of the "gay person" as having sexual vices that they have succumbed to, that make it difficult for them to imagine any other way of being. I feel sad for them that this is the case, but also hopeful that God may work a miracle...

A fairly sizable one, at 5.1, at around 9:34pm. Early reports are that people are shaken, but safe. This completely debunks Ken Ring's prediction that there might be a strong earthquake on the morning of the 20th of March. He was nearly 10 hours out. That should settle things.

Clint Heine advances some interesting thoughts around Capitalism in two posts which he attacks Lucia Maria, and to a lesser extent, NZC bloggers for imagined crimes ( covered here ). It's those thoughts on capitalism though that I thought worth discussing further. Clint makes these two claims about capitalism: 1. a fundamental part of capitalism is equality. 2. Capitalists believe in equality and fairness. Now capitalism means many things to many people, and this might be why the conversation gets off track, but I think I'm fairly safe if we agree the core tenets of Capitalism is that (a) it is an economic system and (b) the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit. The profit goes to the business owners, and wages are paid to the workers in exchange for their labour. Clearly, at first glance you can see that Capitalists have no intrinsic reason to believe in fairness and equality. I'd suggest capitalism is more about competition, reward ...

I've been asked to pass this on. It's a day out in the country, with free sausage sizzle, activities for the children and more. It's tomorrow, on Sunday 20 March, from 10am to 2pm. Bring a picnic. For more information, see Oxford invites you to a Day in the Country .

A blog that I removed from this site near four years ago (see Tidy Time ) has published a scurrilous attack on me because of a post I wrote the other day on the NZ paedophiles who were part of a giant paedophile ring . I wanted to know who they were and was hoping they wouldn't get name suppression. So, I am accused of faux outrage. Given that I am a parent of two children that I watch out for, this accusation has to be just for effect. Without it, I suppose the whole post might flop. Here's the justification: For a blog that is so openly catholic to now be all upset about the awful crime of kiddy fiddling is a joke. Plenty of perverts in the catholic church - I'd be willing to wager some of these perverts are part of one of our organised religious movements in NZ. If there are still any pederasts (homosexual men who target teenage boys) in the Catholic Church in NZ, I would also want to know who they were. At this point, there are no reports of who the paedophil...

Updated to serve as tonights Friday Night Free for all Gassed up the car this morning, forty dollars and there was no detectable movement in the fuel gauge. Its not so long ago that that amount of money would have filled it from empty.

Apparently some of the busted paedophiles in the massive ring that was taken down by international police involves New Zealanders who are near the top of the pyramid. They better not be getting name suppression, I want to know who these people are. Related link: NZ men 'near top' of global paedophile ring ~ Stuff

Germany has to be one of the most perverted Western nations around right now. Ve vill teach your children about sex or else! The "or else" is being imprisoned for refusing to allow the state to give their children very explicit sex education. Authorities in Paderborn, Germany, today sent two fathers to jail for refusing to allow the public school system to indoctrinate their children with a sex philosophy that "if it feels good, do it." Another student's mother already had been imprisoned for the same offense. Did WW2 teach the Germans nothing??? On related topic, police have busted the largest paedophile ring in the world .  It was run from The Netherlands and had 70,000 members. The site boylover.net posed as a discussion forum for people wanting to talk about their sexual feelings towards boys. But as covert officers infiltrated the site they discovered users were sharing films and images of children being abused. ... Most of the 184 people arres...

The Australian has an article titled, Anglicans flee to new faith , a story about how a greater number of Anglicans than expected are converting to Catholicism. It should really have been titled, Anglicans come back to old faith , considering that Anglicanism is a result of England breaking away from Catholicism so that Henry VIII could divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Bolyn. The rest, as they say, is history. ABOUT 900 members of the Church of England have quit their parishes and begun worshipping in the Roman Catholic Church, according to figures released yesterday. At least 600 laity were expected to join the new ordinariate, set up by the Pope to receive disaffected Anglicans, but the first official figures showed the number was higher than expected. More than 4700 people gathered in cathedrals across England and Wales last weekend as part of their preparation to be received into the Catholic Church during Holy Week in the run-up to Easter. Anyway, things are mov...

"... when someone denigrates another culture, then for me that's racist." That was Tariana Turia responding to what Hilary Calvert said in Parliament yesterday. To me, that is Tariana Turia seeking to redefine what racism is by expanding it's meaning. Not all cultures are equal. Some cultures are downright revolting and deserve to disappear into the dustbins of history. I'm happy to denigrate all cultures that fit into this category. Racism really means unreasonable discrimination against those of a different race despite common beliefs and attitudes. Kind of what Tariana Turia's Maori Party stands for.

A scene from Glee, a sex education class taken by Gwyneth Paltrow. OK the song is suggestive but unless you are of a certain age and blessed with a long memory for crud music the real reason why the choice of this particular song for this scene is raising eyebrows may well elude you . Personally I think the whole thing is in poor taste, regardless.

I guess Thirteen year old Rebecca Black badgered her parents into fronting up the money for a vanity video, produced by the Ark Music Factory. A song was provided, "Friday" and electronic wizardry, including autotune, applied to Rebecca's voice to disguise missed notes and other deficiencies. But nothing could really save it from being a trainwreck, the lyrics alone are beyond inane, the tune banal and the video derivative. But the damn thing has gone viral - its popularity derived from its sheer awfulness. And this is Rebecca Black's fifteen minutes of fame, and I'll bet she is not enjoying them one little bit as her foray into pop music is lampooned by everybody from CNN to the Sydney Morning Herald . I just can't get past the fact that this is a thirteen year old child being savaged by adult journalists and how much that has got to hurt.

The Chinese ambassador reckons the New Zealand Government (in reality the long suffering taxpayer) should pay extra to the families of the Chinese killed in last months earthquake. "There is a very notable difference in terms of the family situation between the Chinese family members and other foreign family members," he said. "You can expect how lonely, how desperate they are, not only from losing loved ones, but losing almost entirely their source of economic assistance after retirement." The notable difference is of course China's obnoxious "one child policy" which means that the parents of the dead students have lost everything. I grieve for them. But I ask this, every day in China there must be parents who loose their one child, through accident, disease etc - what provisions does the Chinese Government make for those people? Hmmm . Grief knows no international borders - we all want to do everything we can to alleviate the pain of the b...

One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. Joseph Stalin Like everybody else I am watching the horrors unfolding in Japan. And the center of fascination, in the media at least, is the behavior of the Nuclear power plants. Unquestionably these are part of the story as is the battle to contain them. In some accounts we are facing no less than a nuclear Armageddon, others are a little more sanguine. But there are 10,000 dead and counting and untold devastation and the power plants bear no responsibility for any of this. In the scale of this disaster it is hard to imagine that in terms of human misery these plants will be a major factor, a factor yes and some may even die from the consequences, but the vast majority of the misery has come from the crumbling buildings and the rushing water not from purported nuclear leaks. To add to the trials being endured by Japan at this time is a major volcanic eruption but you would be hard pressed to know it, reporting of that i...

The good old Sydney Morning Herald doesn't approve of the way the Vatican appoints Catholic Bishops A SECRET Vatican document used to research possible bishops almost certainly breaches Australian anti-discrimination laws and seems designed to ensure only the most conformist candidates can be promoted . The questionnaire, sent to trusted clergy and a few laypeople by the Pope's ambassador, asks about the candidate's personal qualities, orthodoxy, loyalty to the Pope, commitment to celibacy and opposition to women priests, and his public image . It asks about predisposition to hereditary illness and the family's "condition". . I'm sure the writer would love the Vatican to appoint Bishops who would ordain women and partnered homosexuals, perform same sex marriages and all the rest - the Episcopalians have gone down this track and emptied their churches in the process. One Dr Collins is quoted in this piece The present system ensured appointed bishops...

This is not good This follows a major 5.8 quake in China yesterday And of course the Christchurch event just over two weeks ago. Our prayers for all caught up in this.

We are are coming to the end first week of Lent. For Eastern Christians such as myself it began on Monday, "Clean Monday". In the West it began on Wednesday, "Ash Wednesday". Here is a 21st century approach to Ash Wednesday for those to busy to acknowledge the rhythm of the Liturgical year. Now I can see the merit in this reaching out to the unchurched, it certainly doesn't do any harm. But it does seem a little superficial. Small steps perhaps. On the other hand setting aside time to go to Church and working through the services is surely more desirable, By way of contrast here is part of the Canon Of Saint Andrew of Crete, used in Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches for more than 1000 years during the first week of Lent. This was recorded last Monday at the Three Saints Russian Orthodox Church Garfield New Jersey USA. Update: Just to be clear, these a short excerpts from a Service of Repentance that lasts between two and three hours.

Click on image to contract Click on image to expand Unbelievable - if an ordinary citizen presented such things to small children it would be a common, and probably correct assumption he was up to know good So why is it ok for the school authorities to do this? It is close to perverse I'd call showing a five year old this sexual abuse and pedophilia. From here: Is this what you want YOUR five-year-old learning about sex? Explicit materials cleared for schools

' Can you guess who has come out with a statement that he doesn't approve the new Governor General? Some people are tiresomely tedious and the sad thing is they will never have the insight to realize it. Apart from him virtually everybody else thinks Lieutenant General Mateparae is an inspired choice.

The "heritage" discussion is forefront and center in Christchurch after the destruction wrought by last months earthquake. And top of the list is the Anglican Christchurch Cathedral which when mentioned always has the qualifier "iconic" preceding its name.  Click on anywhere on the image to close it X   Another, mentioned as appropriate for restoration is Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament .  Click on anywhere on the image to close it X   A comment on a previous post alludes the future of the Anglican Church asks I note that I haven't heard a single person who wants to restore the ChristChurch cathedral actually quote a motive that involves it's actual purpose. Very sad Something I had noticed myself. And a response of sorts to that comment from one of the usual suspects scrubone, what purpose? As a tourist destination, souvenir shop and cafe? And that my friends is a very valid question to the concern raised by Scrubone, the original commen...

I've posted on this before here and here , if you are not up with the play. But the stoush of the removal of the Altar from the Teschemakers chapel carries on and is headed back to the environment court . Apparently the new owners want to use the chapel as a wedding venue. And indeed in Wellington there is a least on ex Chapel, complete with Altar that has met that fate. It provides the aesthetic surroundings but not the sacrament for these events, including doubtlessly some same sex civil unions. You would have to wonder how those who originally built these places and donated the fittings would feel about their modern profane use. In any case the people who have bought the property do not own the Altar, the Parish of the Holy Name in Dunedin does having been gifted it by the Dominicans, well before the property was sold. Its amazing to me how people worry over heritage buildings, stone and mortar, while having no interest in and discarding the real heritage of those pl...

Anglican priest earns doctorate in spirituality of snowboarding

Some blog hosted by Wordpress has seriously annoyed someone. And they have retaliated with massive DDOS attacks . Which means we can't read our friend Homepaddock's blog. Sigh

Barbarians. (AINA) — A mob of nearly four thousand Muslims has attacked Coptic homes this evening in the village of Soul, Atfif in Helwan Governorate, 30 kilometers from Cairo, and torched the Church of St. Mina and St. George. There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the Church pastor Father Yosha and three deacons who were at church; some say they died in the fire and some say they are being held captive by the Muslims inside the church. Witnesses report the mob prevented the fire brigade from entering the village. The army, which has been stationed for the last two days in the village of Bromil, 7 kilometers from Soul, initially refused to go into Soul, according to the officer in charge. When the army finally sent three tanks to the village, Muslim elders sent them away, saying that everything was “in order now.” A curfew has been imposed on the 12,000 Christians in the village. This incident was triggered by a relationship between 40-year-old Copt Ashraf Iskand...

The Egyptians have suspended talks with the Vatican that were planned for a couple of weeks back. A two-day meeting between the Vatican and an Egyptian institute of Sunni Islam set for Feb. 23-24 was suspended. Egyptian officials have said unofficially that the future of dialogue hinges on an apology from the Pope. They still have a problem with the Holy Father condemning attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt.  The fall of Mubarak has not changed this line. The bombing of the Coptic Christian Church in Alexandria, Egypt after a New Year's Mass nearly two months ago was the first in a series of events that led to the suspension. In the days that followed, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the attack and called for greater religious liberty in Egypt and protection for all citizens. His words appear to have been perceived by the government through media reports as possible calls for a western action in the country. Looks like Egypt is worried the West in going to step in. Which co...

Fifteen minutes of fame for this pair after they demonstrated the use of a motorized sex toy for a "sexuality" class at Illinois' Northwestern University. It has, to be fair, c aused a bit of a fuss but even so it does demonstrate how degraded western culture has become. Questions: just what value attending such a demonstration provide to the students in attendance? How will it help them (the students) in latter life as they negotiate this wicked world and how will the knowledge imparted in any way, shape or form improve the lot of mankind?

Catholic Pakistani Minister Killed for Protecting Christians