New Zealand Conservative

Our much traveled ex-Minister of Education, more latterly opposition spokesit for Education and even more latterly an independent MP is off to greener pastures. He is off to Kabul apparently at the behest of the United Nations to tackle corruption there. It hasn't been reported if his husband will be joining him there - if he does that will raise an eyebrow or two I'd posit.

RTDs are disgusting things, not my thing at all. So I think we should ban them - NOT . They are linked to crime and car crashes we are told , sniffly, and banning them will reduce both we are told . And the fun police who resent anything that gives other people pleasure chalk up another victory. My friends many many people enjoy RTDs (why remains a mystery to me but there it goes) and don't crash their cars or commit crimes. And the people who get tanked up and crash their cars or commit crimes will get tanked up on mouthwash if that's all that's left to get tanked up on after the dreary have banned everything else and crash their cars or commit crimes as ever before. Hands up anyone who believes that when RTDs have become a distant memory the disorderly members of our community will suddenly see the light and fill in their evenings by joining a sewing circle? Related Reading: RTDs linked to crime, crashes

The Gods are angry with us apparently or is it Gaia ? It all goes to show just how irrational Socialists really are.

Mr Key has received a letter , via Labour MP Grant Robertson. The letter expresses concern about the epistler's mother, a sixty three year old woman apparently about to be made redundant from the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry. In the letter, the woman says her usually "loving and vibrant" mother is now "depressed and anxious" after learning she is not likely to get one of the few vacancies left open. "This has terrified her and she is in turmoil and worry about her future, something that a woman of her age does not need." Her mother may have to leave her one-bedroom flat as she will no longer be able to afford the rent, apply for the unemployment benefit and state-funded accommodation. Do you think that whatever woman is doing in the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry is mentally stimulating and emotionally rewarding? Or has she been so conditioned to socialistic worker beehood that she cannot see time spent with her grandchildren might...

This would be capitalism at its finest folks. My guess is that Mr Farrar gets paid per click - so go to his site and if you see this banner click on it . Let's all move money from Greenpeace's bank account to Mr Farrar's. Also if you like Tuna go and buy some Sealord Tuna today. Support the company. From now on when ever Greenpeace campaigns against anything, I am going to buy it and so should you.

In the old days the BBC and the punters who watched it hadn't been told yet that this was offensive So for twenty years this show was very popular fare. We all know better now and white men who are photographed with their favorite Rugby player better not dress up to look like him because that would be racist .

There are people in this country who living in circumstances that if you kept an animal that way you would be prosecuted. But a penguin in distress ...... Fans in tears as Happy Feet makes tracks Priorities priorities ?????????????????

"Primary school may be the only big audience that our society has. The shared values that it teaches are very important. I would definitely like to keep this. What do you suppose this man is wanting to keep? Do you want to see what it might be? These would be toys in a "sex box" used for teaching sex education to children in kindergatens and junior classes at primary school in Switzerland. Click to close X The story is here

On discussing Holy Days of Obligation , I left this comment on another blog, I'd thought I'd file back here at NZC: Reference was made to the idea that in a Christian/Catholic culture, we made time for going to Church. Indeed, it seemed that the Church, by setting multiple days of Obligation helped the population step outside their daily work-life and think about bigger things – their relationship with God, their family and life. It was good. Now, we tip-toe around this word “obligation” because we understand that with Sunday trading (for example) we can’t be talking about obligations and responsibilities in this “new” society, for fear of putting pressure on people. The key is to understand that we are now back in Roman times for the Catholic Church. We are now counter-cultural*. It is understanding our obligations and responsibilities that will differentiate us from the main-stream culture that is currently suiciding. Obliged to go to mass? Oh, lets make it optional....

And if you can't get it in the warehouse complain loudly and vocally to the manager. Greenpeace are being exceptionally silly again and apparently the warehouse has buckled. In a sane world we would round up the Greenpeace PIAs, relieve them of everything including their clothes and dump them in their precious rain forests and tell them to get on with it. They could end their days as tiger food - and that would be a win, win

Life in 21 st century New Zealand A mother is shocked that her 17-year-old daughter was raped after being "turfed out" drunk from a suburban Christchurch bar. OK nobody should rape a drunk 17 year old, that is hideous and disgusting but there are repulsive people out there and we all have to live with that. And it is not the alcohol's fault, nor the people who make it or sell its fault that this girl got drunk. Who should have taught her that over indulging is a bad idea and one that could have unpleasant or dangerous consequences - Hmmmmmmmm ? Of course it's hard to teach this - the elites have been undermining parental authority for years now and replacing it with their own destructive ideals - one of which is of course their disdain for old fashioned femininity. And along with that the old fashioned notion that boys protect and value a girls honor and that it is shameful not to do so.

Another week. Another round of tests - no one said life was supposed to be easy now did they?

Is quite possibly Moammar Gadhafi. Creepy

Damien Thompson, of Holy Smoke says: The crowd-pulling power of Benedict XVI is almost miraculous, given the contrast with his openly charismatic predecessor, and his former image as a conservative “enforcer”. Who could have predicted that at World Youth Day in Spain – which was not even his first visit to that country as Pope – he would attract a crowd of a million young people? Related link: Benedict XVI in Spain: a triumph for this 'meek man of mighty action' (despite the best efforts of the BBC)

The Federal Government has raided Gibson Guitars - again. Seeking evidence no doubt that their guitars are made from illegal wood. It always strikes me as odd that nations which have developed themselves by clearing large tracts of forest are so against undeveloped nations doing the same. Of course as the USA goes down the toilet and the queues of jobless grow there is an easy solution for Gibson - move their factories to China.

I'm not talking about some sort of a spiritual church, but the real incarnated physical Church on earth, set up by Christ Himself to whom He gave the promise that the gates of hell would not prevail. Doesn't seem to stop hell from trying, however. Gramsci (1891-1937) was born in Sardinia, studied philosophy at the University of Turin, became a member of Italy’s Socialist Party and editor of L’Ordine Nuovo (The New Order). Shortly after founding the Italian Communist Party (1921), Gramsci, fearing imprisonment by fascist leader Benito Mussolini, fled to the Soviet Union. In Moscow, Gramsci shocked his hosts by daring to dismiss Marxist nostrums on dialectical materialism, economic determinism, and the violent overthrow of capitalist systems by the proletariat. Instead, he argued that Marx’s “Worker’s Paradise” could not be realized as long as Christian culture had a hold on the masses. For Gramsci, the number one enemy was the Roman Catholic Church, not capitalism...

It's coming soon, the normalisation of adults having sex with children.  Society is almost ready for it.  The word just has to be redefined to "minor-attracted person" - that's a euphemism for a paedophile for those slow to catch on.  Then we have to think of them as being unjustly persecuted and the whole notion that children could consent to sex.  Just revolting where this is heading. BALTIMORE, MD, August 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-family advocates who attended a controversial pro-pedophilia conference in Baltimore last week say they were profoundly shaken by what they saw and heard. “As a former law enforcement officer I’ve dealt with situations involving suicide, homicide and other violence. That said, I’ve never felt the level of spiritual oppression and evil that I felt in that room,” Liberty Counsel Action Vice President Matt Barber told LifeSiteNews. " I've never felt the level of spiritual oppression and evil that I felt in that room ,” ...

This weekend, the Wellington Diocese is hosting a Stewardship Conference at St Patrick's College in Kilbirnie. Don't think about trying to attend as registration closed on August 8 and it would have cost you $220.  Not that there is anything wrong with charging for a conference.  I mention the registration and the cost, just in case any amateur journalists try to get in to report on the goings-on at the last minute. I've been trying to find out more about this whole concept of "Stewardship" and why a conference is needed to teach it, but to no avail. A number of sites do promote Stewardship, but they don't really say what it is beyond a sentimental description that could mean anything. However, I eventually found the online brochure for this weekend's conference , which then linked to the an Australian website , which had a bit more information in some resource documents .  Here's the document on Hospitality:

This is how Stuff in its wisdom decides to draw you into reading its story on the proposed extension of mining in Waihi. The stories lede A $1 billion plan to mine gold and silver under Waihi has divided the town with Newmont Waihi Gold denying claims it has bought the town's silence to ensure the proposal gets the green light. Well they haven't bought "silence" have they since the reporter who wrote this found at least one person who would make this claim. But there is nothing sinister in this is there? Newmont spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in the township. That includes $100,000 on the town's six schools and college, and sponsorship of local sports teams and facilities. Waimata Primary School has just received new classroom computers. For goodness sake the company is putting money back into the town and into the lives of the people who live there and anybody with half a functioning brain cell knows without the company there probably wou...

Situations Vacant Transgendered Sami pipefitter required to complete our team. If you are a transgendered person with Sami heritage and working in a diverse environment appeals to you then we want to hear from you. Pipefitting experience not required as we are willing to train a suitable candidate who meets our requirements. NZX chairman Andrew Harmos has confirmed that publicly listed companies may soon be required to have a gender and ethnic diversity policy. Harmos told a meeting of business people this morning that the NZX would propose a rule change mandating the policy and requiring companies to report back on how well they are doing at appointing more women and ethnic groups to their organisations .

You've really got to wonder about the discretion of whoever decides whether or not to prosecute a case. This foster mother case for instance, where an elderly lady who had fostered more than 50 children was prosecuted for not ensuring her 13 year old foster child stayed in school, shows a complete lack of judgement and empathy by whoever gave the go-ahead for it. Wellington District Court judge Tom Broadmore said the woman did not deserve a conviction and questioned whether she should have been prosecuted. ''It is not easy to see how anyone could have tried harder and over a longer period of time as a parent to get her to school,'' he said. ''It does make one wonder whether the prosecution was initiated without full consideration of the consequences.'' The judge said the woman, whose has raised over 50 foster children, had taken on the girl when she was two, after her adopted daughter all but abandoned her. He said the woman had tried to ge...

In his Year 9 class, my oldest son who used to homeschool and is now discovering the joys of a secular education, told me yesterday that many children in his class considered themselves slaves of their parents . I kid you not. My son was astounded. As he told me, they don't know what real slavery is. Many of them had a hard time getting their heads around a society with instituted slavery, where a person couldn't just beat up their master and run away. My son studied ancient Rome (and to a lesser extent, ancient Greece) while at home and thought his co-pupils were really missing out on a fundamental basic understanding of how the world works. I'm not sure better literacy and numeracy is going to solve this problem. UPDATE: It's seems I posted too soon. Joyful Papist has linked to another blog post where slavery is being redefined as being an earner by having the Government pay for a child's existence. Hmmm...

In each World Youth Day message from the past, the Roman Pontiff has been the only world leader to consistently call youth to a high moral standard of living. He is the lone voice entreating the young to pursue greatness. In his message inviting the youth to participate in this year’s event, Pope Benedict XVI speaks directly to the attendees recognizing that the world has offered them the easier way, the choices which are “ultimately deceptive and cannot bring you serenity and joy.” He observes that the “eclipse of God” and moral relativism do “not lead to true freedom, but rather to instability, confusion, and blind conformity to the fads of the moment.” Not a bad description of the events in London. The pope’s phrasing here highlights a common theme of his assessment of Europe’s moral crisis. By untethering the anchor of Judeo-Christian values, society has no moral grounding and begins to drift. If moral relativism is allowed to be the centering principle of one’s life and society...

Research presented today at a " National Diversity Forum " in Hamilton today reveals a " dark underbelly " of racism in on-line behaviour. The researchers arrived at this conclusion by analyzing the comments threads on Youtube videos of Paul Henry and Hone Hawawira. Both videos featuring the protagonists making racially charged statements. The researcher is one James Liu - Deputy director of Victoria University's Centre of Applied Cross-Cultural Research. He frets many of the comments were freely accessible to children on popular websites and social media. "The worry is the younger posters are getting no civil education about how to be a good citizen and how to behave online. If they think this is alright and then go into a smaller community (with those views) there could be consequences." without seemingly recognizing that the comments are in response to the pronouncements of public figures which are also freely accessible to children ...

Well I'll be darned: Naughty five and six-year-olds are increasingly being turfed out of school as experts say the behaviour of young pupils is getting worse . One child psychologist says poor parenting is part of the problem, and exposure to drugs or alcohol in the womb is having a terrible impact of some children. The story comes with it's very own opinion poll whereby you can express your opinion as to why the " behaviour of young pupils is getting worse ". In a Government guided by experts initiative, of course, a tool that had been in the parental arsenal for guiding wayward children for ever - the humble smack was ruled to be not only poor parenting but illegal besides. And although a public opinion poll on the matter, a referendum no less, revealed that the ordinary New Zealander thought the tried and true smack was not poor parenting but in fact a way of instructing non conforming young children that their own will was not the be all and end all and tha...

MUST READ: Young person’s account of harassment and violence at WYD ~ WDTPRS

I read with interest Not PC's thought for the day on suffering . He puts forward a quote from Ayn Rand who believes that "the work of the creators have eliminated one form of disease after another, in man’s body and spirit, and brought more relief from suffering than any altruist could ever conceive." Suffering according to Rand is a disease, you see. The only problem is that suffering cannot be eliminated. The more you seek to avoid it, the more you lose empathy for those around you, the more selfish you become, the more useless you become to everyone around you and to yourself. So, here is an entirely different view of suffering as an antidote to Any Rand's view of suffering: We live in a world that runs from suffering. Since the time of our youth, we have been conditioned to view suffering as an impediment to happiness. This worldview which is so imbued in our culture, tells us, that the less we suffer, the happier we will be. Yet, in the writings of the Sai...

Now for some good news! The big picture is the following: World Youth Day offers the clearest possible proof that the Evangelical movement coursing through Catholicism today is not simply a “top-down” phenomenon, but also a strong “bottom-up” force. Read more: Big Picture at World Youth Day: 'It’s the Evangelicals, stupid!' ~ National Catholic Reporter

I read with sadness and frustration the other day a post that Bosco Peters has on the rebellious Catholic priests in Austria who are demanding certain changes to the Church. I had seen news items on these priests before, but like with a lot of bad news, just tried to ignore it. However, if this problem of disobedient priests were just limited to Austria, it would be easy to ignore, but it's not just limited to Austria. For I can see a great deal of the things that the Austrian priests want changed are also being pushed for here in New Zealand. The Call [to Disobedience] speaks of “the Roman refusal of a long-overdue Church reform and the inaction of bishops.” The priests agree to pray for Church reform at every liturgy, since “in the presence of God there is freedom of speech” not to deny the Holy Eucharist to “believers of good will,” including non-Catholic Christians and those who have remarried outside the Church to avoid offering Mass more than once on Sundays and h...

A picture is worth a thousand words and this one says a great deal. A bizarre protester with rainbow flag haranguing praying teenagers. I didn't even know World Youth Day was happening in Madrid until Sean mentioned it here . On trying to find out more it seems the most interesting thing for the media who care to report on it is the protests against it . And that says a lot in itself. More pictures here .

What on earth are these nongs doing? I'll give you a clue, they are RAISING AWARENESS about something. None the wiser? Your awareness hasn't been raised ? Never mind Oswald will explain if you care know more.

Bit of a strange week it was, what with an advertising campaign aimed at the sexually active, trying to get them to "abstain for the game". Not that there is anything wrong with abstaining from sex, any unmarried person should do so, and married persons should be able to as well when they are trying not to have children. But I couldn't quite see how abstaining from sex was supposed to help the All Blacks. Maybe it was some Grace from above that misfired in the minds of those that came up with the ad that inspired it, given that this week started with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Monday, which is the Patronal Feast of the Church in New Zealand. Maybe there is hope for us yet!

Michael Voris begins his chat with the socialist protests in Spain against World Youth Day and the visit of the Holy Father. They say that Spain cannot afford such an extravagance in a period of economic downturn, as if the Government is paying for the event. Yet the Government of Spain is not paying, World Youth Day is entirely financed by attendees. Obviously truth does not matter to the opponents of the Catholic Church.

Another thing I wont be loosing sleep over reported in the Guardian It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim. Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

If you think "Gay Marriage" is wrong and you are a Floridian teacher you had better keep it to yourself because if anyone finds out you will be find yourself in serious strife .

Boo hoo hoo the nasty Labour people are campaigning against me and hope to tip me out come November. Unbelievable own goal ! Via DPF

And this one's a beauty - Where doing the right thing for the right reasons brings its own rewards

What's with this, we are getting a succession of stories about men taking a leak in the passenger compartments of airplanes. Is it a fashion or something? Gerard Depardieu joins the ranks of the urinators

A man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple will have his name stripped from their child's birth certificate after a successful legal bid by the birth mother's ex-partner. The woman took the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and biological father, to court in May to have his name replaced with her name in the document. Ok- so this little girl now officially has two (seperated) mommys and no daddy . Wont genealogists of the future have fun.

Archbishop Chaput, in talking about the desire of secularists to push religious faith out of the public sphere makes the point that we are either Catholic all of the time with our faith guiding how we live and make decisions, or we are phonies. We can't claim to be a faithful husband or wife and then cheat on our spouse. And we can't claim to love God and be a "good Catholic," but then ignore what it means to be Catholic in our business dealings, our social policies and in our political choices. Christian faith is always personal but never private. It either guides our behavior all the time, both in public and in private, or it's phony. And if it's phony, we should stop trying to fool ourselves. We need to be faithful Catholics first. If we're good at that, then every other quality of fruitful citizenship will follow. Related link: Abp. Chaput urges Catholics to fight "for their ideas in the public square"

I have been waiting for The Rite for most of the year and last week it finally came out on DVD in New Zealand and we watched it on Saturday night. The Rite is a movie on exorcism, and a young man's struggle with his faith. Afterwards, my ten year old said he could see why I was waiting for it and that it was like watching a movie with battles, but the battles were fought with prayer. A movie worth watching and Anthony Hopkins was great!

So there is to be a shake up of beneficiaries - jolly good. The hopeless young with no future will be given food stamps. What they wont be given is a future. How depressing.

Damn it is cold today. I'm so glad our Government is on top of it though. By adding a surcharge to everything to make it more expensive they are able to control the weather so that it doesn't get too hot. And I am really appreciative of the Government's success in this area as I struggle to keep warm while the snow continues to fall outside. The carbon traders will be happy though, more dosh rolling in as they collect their cut from the money extracted from the shivering peasantry struggling to keep warm via the power companies and coal merchants to those running the "carbon sinks". I might throw another log on the fire, it's not having much success in warming my living room but it is apparently helping to melt the North Pole.

Blessed Virgin Mary Icon, dated to before 750AD, stolen in Wellington in the 1960's. On Monday Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when she was taken up into Heaven, body and soul, when she had completed her earthly life. This day is a Holy Day of Obligation for all Catholics in New Zealand, which means we all need to go to Mass just as if it were Sunday or Christmas. The Assumption is also the Patronal Feast for New Zealand. So, given all that, you'd think that a big deal would be made in Parish bulletins and websites alerting people to the fact that they need to incorporate Mass into their schedules on Monday. But no, have found no parish that even mentions that people need to be turning up on Monday. I've checked a few major parishes in Wellington and very few have online newsletters or keep their websites up to date. In Wellington, the current newsletter for the Cathedral is dated April 3, so can't tell if Mo...

Phil Goff is wearing gumboots and jeans with mud on them and wielding an axe. The Labour Party leader is chopping wood and putting some sweat into a stubborn ring from the privets he felled on the 20-acre farm he and wife Mary own in Clevedon. This piece has a knot running through it but he's not going to let that stop him. He chops and chops, splinters are flying and everyone takes a step back. Thus begins a dire puff piece in the Weekend Herald on Phil Goff. For some reason I am reminded of this .

Once a nation ceases to believe it begins to obey. As William Penn warned: "Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants." Archbishop Fulton Sheen on The Christian order and education

There have been some pretty strange opinion polls on the Stuff site in days past but this one takes the cake. Do you want Seseme Street characters Bert and Ernie to get married? Everyone knows that puppets can't get married - how silly can you get?

Click here to see what happened when they encountered each other Humiliation And is it in anyway surprising that it did end up this way? Click on the image to close it

The face of 21 st century masculinity? So the NZX is "considering " mandatory gender diversity reporting " and in a related story the Herald is reporting that Goldman Sachs reckons we should be using females to rebuild Christchurch. Meanwhile it is only a matter of time, apparently, before we have our first penisless member of the SAS . Which is all very modern and wonderful, I'm sure. And in the brave new world we are creating there are two female graduates to every male graduate. And the only people having significant numbers of children are the underclass. And our world is becoming completely feminized. What's wrong with having feminine females and masculine men. And why have we lost sight of the fact that raising children is as an important economic activity as digging for coal - because without a new generation who hold our values to carry on from when we are gone we are nothing. Related Post - Lindsay Mitchell: Men failing

I wouldn't normally embed something like this, with language like this but given today's news it is probably worthwhile disseminating this. This is a fucking realtiy. Allow out burning peoples property. Allow out burning peoples shops that they work so hard to start their business. Do you understand? That lady is trying to make her business work and you lot wanna go and burn it up? For what? To say your war-ing and your bad man? This is about a man who got shot in Tottenham. This aint about having fun on the road and burning up the place. Get it real black people. Get real. Do it for a cause. If your fighting for a cause then fight for a fucking cause. You lot piss me the fuck off! I'm shamed to be a Hackney person. Because we are not all gathering together and fighting for a cause. We are running out of Footlocker and theifin shoes. Dirty thiefs ya know. Tut

If you are looking for an explanation of what is behind the “civil unrest” that seems to have taken everyone by surprise, here is an account from two girls in my childhood home, Croydon: “ Just showin the Police and the rich people we can do what we want ” about sums it up, I think. “I can do what I want” is the net result of moral relativism applied by the ordinary teenager affected by original sin and educated in a system that undermines any real foundation of duty to God, country or neighbour. Few people have noted the irony of the appeals by the Police to parents to “contact their children.” For several decades our country has undermined marriage, the family, and the rights of parents. Agents of the state can teach your children how to have sex, give them condoms, put them on the pill, give them the morning-after pill if it doesn’t work, and take them off for an abortion if that doesn’t work – and all without you having any say in the matter or necessarily even knowing about...

When the Government decrees how kids are to be raised there will be casualties along the way, even amongst those who administer the new regime. CYF worker loses employment case . I'm sure his kids lives will be so much better now that he has lost his job.

So we are going to have an inquiry into the price of milk? An inquiry driven by the Greens and Labour, now supported by National . Of course this inquiry will not touch upon things like the ETS component in the price, something which both Labour and the Greens want to increase by bringing dairy farms into this wacko regime. And intensification of dairy farms, which of course produces more milk, more cheaply, is also something both Labour and the Greens oppose with all their might. What a crock!

There is a bit of tsk tsk ing going on today over events in dear old blighty. And what is happening over there is not good. That's for sure. But before jumping to too many conclusions over these matters perhaps it is worth pondering this photograph. Can anybody identify these people and the circumstances in which it was taken, which was less than a month ago? It is highly relevant I promise. An electronic chocolate fish for the first person answers it.

Goff to pick ex-minister as SIS third party . The law says the Leader of the opposition, a man who has proven in the past to be entirely untrustworthy , has to be given security briefings by the head of the SIS. It does not say that they have to be given to anybody else, that the Leader of the opposition chooses to have present and indeed if somebody else is present they should not be given. Somebody fed a line of pap to a journalist based upon an SIS investigation, that very few people knew about, in order to try and overshadow the Prime Minister's trip to the USA by beating up a "spy scandal" in the midst of it. And somebody was mighty quick off the mark when that story appeared in print to get out the line the the Prime Minister needed to Come clean over Israeli suspicions . So quickly in fact it seems as though that somebody must read the Southland Times while munching on their weetbix. You might be tempted to think that somebody knew that that story was co...

What we do in our bedrooms matters to everyone, yet social liberals just do not get the link between sexual activity unconstrained by the bounds of marriage and our ever increasing dependence on welfare in New Zealand. It's as if sex should be exempt from consequences! Related link: ACT and social liberalism ~ KiwiBlog

a civilisation mécanique vient de parvenir à son dernier degré de sauvagerie. Il va falloir choisir, dans un avenir plus ou moins proche, entre le suicide collectif ou l'utilisation intelligente des conquêtes scientifiques [...] Ce n'est plus une prière, mais un ordre qui doit monter des peuples vers les gouvernements, l'ordre de choisir définitivement entre l'enfer et la raison. So wrote Albert Camus on the 8th of August, 1945. A translation reads thus: "Mechanized civilization has just reached the ultimate stage of barbarism. In a near future, we will have to choose between mass suicide and intelligent use of scientific conquests[...] This can no longer be simply a prayer; it must become an order which goes upward from the peoples to the governments, an order to make a definitive choice between hell and reason. The problem with that thought is that the use of reason isn't necessarily a choice to avoid hell. There were reasons aplenty given for droppi...

Clare Curran has made a Post from an E-mail from a student. It says in part However, the real issue of my email concerns media sensationalism by the New Zealand media of Otago University students. Today many well-behaved, hard-working and politically engaged students held an anti-VSM protest. The writer (and Clare herself, presumably) believe the media are ignoring their little tantrum during John Key's visit yesterday out for partisan reasons. They are probably right - the media doesn't want to reveal what a rude bunch of nongs these people really are. Don't believe me? Click here to see what the media is really hiding from you. From: Day 3 of opt-out watch: OMG IT’S JOHN KEY Via DPF Click on image to close

Here's an interesting idea I'm still trying to get my head around, in the realm of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". The people of Iceland have now twice voted not to repay international debts incurred by banks, and bankers, for which the whole island is being held responsible. With the present turmoil in European capitals, could this be the way forward for other economies? Unlike America, the people of Iceland got a vote on how they felt about being taxed into subsistence until the end of the world (not that long according to AGW alarmists). And they decided that they would act like fat cat company directors and simply declare limited liability - make it some-one else's job to pick up the pieces. This is a more democratic approach than simply paying the bills, or perhaps nationalizing all foreign ownership. So why exactly does the New Zealand government have to bail out so many companies? Why do tax payers always ultimately guarantee debts...

This sort of spinning I can really appreciate, unlike most of the spin we are being barraged with constantly

Michele Duff has written a story about various Maori artists concerns about a flood of cheap Maori artifacts and art entering the country for sale during the world cup. The people quoted have a real point of course and the only point of concern this story raises for me is The WAI262 claim report from the Waitangi Tribunal, issued last month, recommended a commission be set up to hear objections about the use of taonga-derived works on art, with the power to stop commercial use if it was deemed "derogatory or offensive". Wellington patent lawyer Lynell Tuffery Huria said this could potentially stop the sale of some mass-produced souvenirs, at least in New Zealand. "But it wouldn't be able to stop them from producing them in China." The reality is that if you go anywhere in the world there is cheap touristy rubbish for sale. You want to go to Rome and see some of the stuff you can buy there. My opinion is if some Philistine from where ever wants to pay top...

Labour Leader not shown Israeli document . Mr Slater has played Mr Goff like a fiddle and he is dragging out his misery until 6pm this evening . And Phil Goff would be Prime Minister? Andrei shakes his head in disbelief Update: Looks like the Whale couldn't wait and has administered the coup de grâce Update 2: There's more to come? This really is death by 1000 cuts for poor Mr Goff. As for that lunchtime press release - well what can you say? It's just plain bonkers.

In Roman times one way of determining how to proceed on matters of national concern was to slaughter and examine its entrails. The future, it was believed, could be foretold in this manner and public policies thereby formulated. This was practice called haruspicy. We have advanced since those primitive times and are much wiser. We no longer slaughter animals in order to formulate public policy. Nowadays we can use old trees and count their rings. This is called dendrochronology and some of its practitioners have been behind some of the most expensive public policy decisions of our age. Apparently the tree rings are telling us that the North Pole is going to melt in 100 years and the polar bears are all going to die. And to appease the Goddess in the hope she will prevent this calamity we must all go on a strict low carbon diet.

Chuck Colsen tries to explain the senseless slaughter in Norway and how it can be understood, not as the actions of some one who is mentally ill as the Norweigans will most likely think of him as, but as a person who made a decision to do evil. He may have justified it to himself, he may have thought it was for the greater good, but evil is never justified as a means for good. July 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Norway is one of the most beautiful places on earth. A Nordic paradise of fjords, coastline, glaciers, forests. Norwegians are rightfully proud of their prosperous, peaceful society. Well, today, Norway is in a state of absolute, total shock in the aftermath of one of the most cold-blooded, heartless acts of terrorism since 9/11. The Norwegians are desperately trying to explain this senseless slaughter. The killer has been described as a right-wing extremist, a fundamentalist Christian, an anti-immigrant fanatic, and mentally ill. Most likely, in my opinion, a fascist. ...

This address by Fulton Sheen in 1940 was referring to WW2, but it can just as easily be transferred to today's times. He refers to prayer, penance and reparation as the only way to defeat this spirit. He diagnoses the characteristics of it which are it's irrationality, it's violence and it's atheism. We know what it means to be rational; namely, to think before we act. We do not just suddenly find ourselves, for example, standing in a telephone [boo]th; a reason preceded and determined our presence there. As St. John expressed it: “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1) – first the Word, the Idea, the Thought, Reason; then the action: (hand the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The irrational is just the contrary. It is the primacy of action over idea: First you act and then you think why you did it. As Goethe put it: "In the beginning was the Deed." Reason exists, according to this philosophy, merely to justify action, or to ration...

So there's a new party launching itself into the New Zealand scene , and it's calling itself " The Conservative Party ". They even have a test to see how conservative a voter you might be. My first impressions are that the questions they ask are notable by what's missing as much as what they've put up. Very limited range of topics, and very slim dimensions taken, with sometimes two different ideas in the same question, making it hard to answer the question directly. The first press release I read was a general winge about being over-taxed: I am also opposed to the never ending cycle of increased taxation and bigger spending. With 3 tax increases (Emissions Trading Scheme, increased GST rates and cancellation of ability to claim depreciation on buildings) by the current government along with increased compliance costs (Unit Titles Act 2010) there is an ever growing burden on the New Zealand tax payer. and the profile of the over-taxed person, Coli...

And this one's a doozy .

You may know that New Zealand's climate "scientists" are refusing to debate Lord Monckton on the matter. Here is what one has to say as to his reasons Climate scientist and Victoria University professor Martin Manning said the scientific community had decided not to engage with him because that would mislead the public. The science was done and there was no debate to be had, he said. This is what I would say to Professor Manning: " The science is never done Charlie Horse. Science only progresses because people challenge the prevailing wisdom and in the process expand our knowledge of how the world works. " What a waste of space - such abysmal ignorance of how science works should be a sackable offense.

Children of livestock farmers 'face cancer risk' Is there anything of usable value in this, probably not. The story doesn't really tell us how old these people where when they died only that the sample contained people aged between 35 and 85 and that they died of blood cancers. So is it anything anybody should loose sleep over, absolutely not.

The news is out the Televised leaders debate will between John Key and the Labour leader, which Whaleoil's blandisments notwithstanding will presumably be Phil Goff. Do I care that the leaders of the "minnow" parties don't get to preen before cameras in a debate with John Key? Nope. Does beg the question though, if Labour gets a well deserved trouncing come November do they actually join the ranks of the minnows and if so what of the election in 2014? I am firm advocate of voting MMP out come November and I have been looking at the "quality" of the MPs that the party lists actually deliver. And Labour's list MPs contain a woeful bunch (National's are not much better, to be frank). But Labour's newer ones are dominated by people who have targeted politics since their "uni" days. They sure as hell aren't the Labour of Norm Kirk, they are not traditional Labour. They are actually for the most part the scions of privilege,...

Maybe she can sort them out and we'd be rid of her. But I doubt she would get very far, they are just about ungovernable. Coming as we do from a society where we are increasingly wrapped in strangled by cotton wool there is something magnificent about these dumb dzhigits following an age old wedding custom and having fun. Watch the whole thing it is quite a ride.

The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen on the requirement for Confession/Sacrament of Penance: In order that there might be a Sacrament of Penance, two things are required, both of which are, from a human point of view, almost impossible to find. First, one must create the penitent and, secondly, one must create a confessor. To create a penitent, one must take a man in his pride, enveloped in a glacial silence, which refuses to unburden its guilt, and say to him: "Thou shalt come to a man and kneel before him—a man who is perhaps no better than you are—and you shall tell him what you hide from yourself and your children. You shall tell him that which makes you blush; and you shall do all of this on your knees." However difficult it may be to create a penitent who will confess everything with a firm purpose of amendment, it is even more difficult to create the confessor. Where find one empowered by God with authority to forgive sins? How train the human heart to heal the wounds ...