New Zealand Conservative

Just watched the "debate", I'm a masochist I suppose. Anyway at the end they read out some viewer texts including one that started out with the title of this post. Does anyone really believe that an uncommitted voter sent that text in? Sheesh we wern't born yesterday you know TV One but you would have us believe you were since you chose to treat that text at face value. What a load of hooey!

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. This little boy is nearly six, his name is Boaz and the picture was taken by his father Andy who put it on hsi Facebook page from whence it went viral. Read more here .

 Jim Rockford (James Garner) gives an Occupy Wall Street protester a telling off. OK, the show (The Rockford Files) is too old for that, but he may as well be :) h/t Big Hollywood

Which one would the Greens Loath most? Inspired by this

Election silly season sigh So we can expect political posturing from our pollies. Stuff like this from Gareth Hughes Hughes last night called for an independent inquiry, saying many New Zealanders would be "shocked" at the magnitude of the shipments, some of which could eventually be used in weapons. "We have to look at the history of these shipments. Why did the authority fail to approve it for so long, do we have adequate safeguards and response strategies, and what role is New Zealand playing in the international nuclear cycle?" he said. "Radioactive yellowcake uranium is on between six and 30 containers on these fortnightly shipments and it is deeply concerning that the government has allowed these shipments to occur. I think many Kiwis will be shocked ." Are you shocked ? Or even deeply concerned ? Not me - hell you go into many of our stone "heritage" buildings and they are more "toxic" and radioactive than a drum of ...

Another story of a poor little boy whose life is being wrecked by gay activism . No mention of a FATHER in any account of this perversity that I have read.

The hand mirror regularly post on the necessity and rights of abortion, and I try to stay away from them, being from Mars and all. However, every now and then I take my life into my hands and pop in with an opinion. It can be very wearisome to defend the opinion over there (for both sides), such is the divide, so I'll record my thoughts here for any others that wish to discuss those ideas on this blog rather than swarm the other. Maybe short exposure to challenging ideas from both sides is more productive for all? Your morality is in the way of my rights [Link] This argument is fairly common. Some-one has a right, and no-one else has a right to interfere with that. Even worse, no-one can use "morality" as an excuse to interfere with the exercise of rights. So the rights of the unborn don't exist or are trumped by the right to terminate, and no moral argument should prevail. Although on what basis is this "right" asserted? Is there any relatio...

The BBC approves, the New York Times does as well and so does Julia Gillard - An historic change, driven by David Cameron, to the institution of British Monarchy. From now on primogeniture will not apply to the British Monarchy and a first born girl will take precedence over a younger first born son in keeping with 21 st century sensibilities. What does that mean to you and I as we go about our daily business? Should we be excited that an as yet unborn girl may at some future date marry a Roman Catholic and succeed to the British Throne? Yes this is an issue our betters feel the need to address - the rights of a hypothetical girl, who if and when born, will be born into privilege . A significant nothing my friends, something that will not change a thing in your lives and most likely will not even come into play in your lifetime. Still it does show how modern we now are.

"If you had to readjust the constant in Newton's law of gravity every time you got out of bed in the morning in order for it to agree with your scale, it wouldn't be much of a law But in finance they just keep on recalibrating and pretending that the models work." This comes from a Scientific American Article: Why Economic Models Are Always Wrong No surprises here for the numerate and although the article picks out the models used in financial risk analysis the conclusions apply to any and all models of complex dynamic systems. Including of course all those IPCC models used to justify making everything more expensive in the name of saving the planet ie Nick Smith's insane ETS. Of course I can sum the conclusion everybody should draw from this. It is impossible to predict the future with any degree of accuracy and nobody can do it. Just ask Harold Camping who has now withdrawn from public life .

David Farrar has been very busy today on his blog, quite a few political posts. Probably something to do with the upcoming election here in New Zealand.  Here is the beginning of his post on the Labour Party's Interfaith Policy: Labour’s interfaith policy is mainly harmless platitudes such as: Labour will commit to building harmonious relationships between communities of different faiths as intrinsic to ensuring strong, healthy and safe communities of understanding and tolerance in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Hard to disagree with that! I did appreciate the irony that the policy sites approvingly the ratification of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, considering Labour in Government refused to ratify it! But one section grates with me: Labour will work collaboratively across all government sectors to ensure that New Zealand’s diverse cultures and communities of faiths will be protected from racism, discrimination, prejudice and injustices. First ...

I saw this statement released by the Green Party today, regarding the so-called 'discrimination of Catholics' not being able to be made Monarch in England. Green MP Keith Locke says that any changes to the royal succession laws must end all discrimination against Catholics. British Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed to other nations with Queen Elizabeth as Head of State a change in royal succession law to remove the bias against female heirs and the disqualification on a heir who marries a Catholic. The move, which Mr Cameron is pushing at CHOGM, would require legislative changes in several Parliaments, including New Zealand’s. “The Government should tell Mr Cameron that any reform bill going through our Parliament will also end the prohibition against a Catholic ascending to the throne,” said Mr Locke. “To do otherwise makes a mockery of our Human Rights Act, which prevents discrimination on religious grounds. “We should ask Mr Cameron to be a little bolder...

Good heavens they can't be serious, can they? Auspicious 'Abortion Statistics Day' I'm afraid they are - Ed You know whenever those of atheist bent claim that you don't need God to have morality. I think if there is one thing that gives a lie to that statement it would have to be our appalling abortion statistics. Bringing another human beings life to a premature end for the sake of personal convenience cannot be under any circumstances be considered moral. My personal opinion is that the mass murder of infants underway in this country and paid for by you and I through taxation is a crime against humanity pure and simple. We all have blood on our hands - whether we like it or no. And no amount fancy rhetoric is ever going to change that.

Alexey Arkhipovsky plays "The Road Home". Watch, listen and be amazed and then you maybe you'll have one answer for HomePaddock's Thursday's Quiz - or then again maybe not but you could give it a go anyway.

Shortages of sugar could create food production problems nationwide. As well as being sold directly to consumers, sugar is a key ingredient in thousands of products. The article mentions breakfast cereals and Weet-bix possibly running out in days, but any one who home bakes could be in trouble, as well. I hope all our readers are stocked up. Thankfully, I bought a whole lot of cereal yesterday, but then, it doesn't last that long. All because of a gas leak! Related link: Breakfast cereals, sugar could run out in days

Oh my - the Catholic University of America is in the firing line (again) - it is alleged that CUA does not provide space -- as other universities do -- for the many daily prayers Muslim students must make, forcing them instead to find temporarily empty classrooms where they are often surrounded by Catholic symbols which are incongruous to their religion. Furthermore, it appears that Muslims on campus may even be forced to do their meditation in the school's chapels or in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception – hardly places where students of a very different religion are likely to feel very comfortable. Perhaps if Catholic symbols in an institution with an overt commitment to Church Teaching are a source of discomfort going to another University might be the solution?

Get this - a politician who lost his seat in congress is suing a pro-life organization for contributing to his "loss of livelihood" for campaigning against him. How far can this possibly get? How did it even get to court? Even worse the judge who has allowed this to proceed is a former president and director of the Planned Parenthood Association, a target of the group being sued. What a circus! .

I'm fairly certain that this one would run afoul of the law in this country. It definitely sends a message - sheer genius!

The object of this book is to support the tendency now everywhere apparent and finding expression, a tendency to expose and ridicule as it deserves, to destroy and to supplant the system under which Parliament, the governing institution of this country, has been rendered null. We write to show why governments suddenly abandon causes which they have enthusiastically espoused, and why Oppositions tolerate such abandonment and lend themselves to such manoeuvres. The former are less obliged to consider the will of the people than to consult the sense of the Governing Group of which they are for the time the representatives, while the latter are less anxious to overthrow their rivals than to preserve the system which in due course, and by the connivance of those rivals, will bring to them also the opportunities and emoluments of office. A sincere conviction common to a rapidly increasing number of men that, under the present international and domestic condition of England the game is n...

Now that the Rugby World Cup is over (and we are rulers of the world!) it's time to think about the election. Very soon, New Zealand will be voting for a new Government, which will most likely be a National Government, because when it comes down to it, we are team players. Right now it's still National's turn, and it will cease to be National's turn only when National annoy everyone too much and we've forgotten just how bad Labour was the last time we let them be our Government. Along side voting for our Government, we will be asked whether we want to keep MMP or not. Personally, I see no reason to dump it. Going back to First Past the Post will mean that NZ will never get out of the National/Labour with Maori seats tacked on cycle. Never. No alternative party will ever gain enough traction in order to seriously challenge the status quo. I'm not keen on STV, either. STV gave Kapiti our mayor and the rest of the councillors, who are hell bent on introd...

Ah, a holiday weekend, an extra day of freedom and the weather is benign. So why not spend a holiday Monday at the beach on white sands under azure skies. And you never know who you might come across while you are there .

Movie 1 : Site Clearance Movie 2 :The site in use today click here to close X click here to close X   The image above is the "Palace of the Soviets" a planned monument to the new world order. Work on its construction began 1n 1937 but never got very far - if built it would have been a monument to man's vanity but it wasn't built - things just kept on getting in the way and obstacles to its construction were never overcome Zen's post below bought it to mind - those who would reshape humanity in their own image are with us still. Same old story really - in the old supposedly irrelevent book the Bible we can read the story of the Tower of Babel an attempt to build a tower to reach heaven by a people who had rebelled against God. And the failure of that enterprise as all enterprises will sooner or later once you loose sight of God. Now here's a curious thing, the site upon which this magnificant structure was to rise once held ...

Could the number of lies in the world be growing? Could this tip the political situation into an uncontrollable cycle of violent reaction? Do we need to start taxing lie emissions and lies by omission? Is it possible that if we don't apply a tax on lying that politicians will think they are simply inexhaustible, and continue to use up more lies than our political environment can handle? Have we reached "peak lies" on Climate Change and is it time to recognise that they are going to start running out, eventually becoming a weak parody of a lie, a mere hyperbole, until even high tide is seen as incontrovertible proof that the sea level rise over the last 12 hours proves our imminent destruction by man-made CO2 production? I challenge all readers to take the Amazon free "read inside" this book to get a flavour for the magnitude of lies and distortions that surround the Climate Change Bible - the IPCC report that is touted as all the proof we need. If the wor...

It's time these aggressive christian sectists stopped judging other people's lifestyles and recognised they are a tolerated minority in a secular world. The time they used force and violence to dictate has finished. Perhaps we need more of these cases to make them face reality and not rely on their outdated myths and untruths. - Agent Smith, S.Yorks, 23/10/2011 10:35 The force and violence exhibited by a supposedly "aggressive Christian sect", was a comment by an individual about gay marriage made on a private Facebook page a work colleague ("friend") called intolerant : I don’t understand why people who have no faith and don’t believe in Christ would want to get hitched in church. The Bible is quite specific that marriage is for men and women. If the State wants to offer civil marriages to the same sex then that is up to the State; but the State shouldn’t impose its rules on places of faith and conscience. So that comment is judged as "agg...

Police pepper spray Utah haka

With the score 8-7, John Key is reportedly very happy with the election campaign so far. He was seen earlier in the evening pressing palms with the members of the *National* team.

Not sure if anyone predicted this for the halfway mark, but cinq/zero in the AB's favour is better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. In terms of margins, I wouldn't be describing it as a winning one though. I'm thinking the French look dangerous, but the ABs will probably keep the amps up and wear down the French until the ABs can capitalize on the inevitable mistakes? Update - Sacre Bleu. A real nail biter. Not the way I thought the second half would play out, but what a relief! The ABs held off the French and managed a one point win huit/sept. The result NZ desperately wanted. But it could have gone either way. We shouldn't forget that. And the ABs were the premier team of the cup I think, so tonight, party on NZ.

Oil has been discovered off the coast of Tauranga near a reasonably accessible reef. So far, hundreds of tons of oil has been extracted and could be sold on the open market for a tidy sum. A new business venture is seeking investors in order to manufacture low lying reefs, and disperse them around busy harbours to capture more oil. Gareth Hughes of the NZ Green Party has called for a moratorium on deep sea drilling until this alternate business opportunity can be fully investigated. Related: Our Worst Disaster (Satire)

But Andrei I'm puzzled Is your question about this one? Or this one?

The Occupy Wall Street movement seeks to call attention to what many perceive as excessively high remuneration packages. For example, Directors of large companies manage to skim large salaries for small amounts of work and justify it on their experience. Here's an example, and it's rather random because I just picked it up as the first item from this article: Ransom demands from Board of Directors : Skellerup proposes a 48 per cent fee increase in the Directors pool for non-executive directors, from $320,000 to $475,000. They have their reasons of course. Fees have not been raised since September 2006. Skellerup wants to raise its fees to attract "the highest quality directors" It's a "market rate" So what that fees haven't been raised? What raises have their staff experienced? They recently announced a huge jump in profit, but in 2010 they announced a huge drop in profit, so what's the actual net effect from 2006? Then they go on t...

OK so Obama has declared the Iraq war to be over . Jolly good but what he really means is that US troops will be withdrawing - history for better or worse will continue to be written and it would be a foolish man who said that no more blood will ever be spilled on the Mesopotamian plain. But how many people know that in World War 2 Great Britain subdued a rebellious Iraq in a mere 29 days. Or that Great Britain and the Soviet Union gained control of Iran in just under three weeks in an exercise that cost Great Britain just 22 soldiers lives. My question is if it was so easy back then why is it so hard for the great powers to accomplish now?

I just have to laugh at how vapid and pathetic the fundamentalist atheists are whenever a debate on social and political issues arise. They never hesitate to *introduce* quotes from the bible to use as weapons against any person who is known or assumed to be Christian, and then immediately winge they are debating issues of the bible! To see it in action, read this thread: The Redefinition of Marriage In particular, note how they initiate the religious strawmen arguments, complain about it, and then ignore Reid and others say "stick to the addressing points I am making, which are political" which they continue to ignore, so by the time MNIJ turns up, a fundy atheist in the tradition of a Pavlovian dog, all he can open with is yet another selective quote from the bible, doing his best to take the conversation of course to an area he can froth. On the other hand, the tactic sometimes works, as there are the occasional fundy Christian that will come along and play the ...

Here we go again. David Farrar quotes Deborah Russell who says: The state has no business in the marriage game. It does have a legitimate interest in noting who is in a committed relationship. As a society, we want to be able to tell which people happen to be sharing accommodation as mere flatmates, and which have amalgamated their interests for the foreseeable future. … It is unfair the state gives a certain status (marriage) to some households but not others. Either the recognition ought to apply to all, or none. Anything else represents the state picking and choosing among citizens, saying some are more worthy than others. That ought to be anathema in an egalitarian society. People who cry that the State has no business in the marriage game are Satan's useful idiots. Societies with weak families do not survive, they self-destruct. As I said in the comments on Kiwiblog: States that introduce “same-sex marriage” will self-destruct in the long term. This is because if ...

The powers that be in Russia are only all to aware the threat that demographic decline poses to their country and are taking many steps to address it, including large cash grants to new mothers and cheaper mortgages for those raising families. Now here's an excellent initiative that brings a smile to my face. Russians have queued to see one of the most treasured Orthodox relics, believed to have miraculous powers to boost fertility, as the country struggles to reverse a population decline. The relic on loan from Greece, that believers venerate as the belt of the Virgin Mary, arrived on Thursday afternoon in Russia's northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, where hundreds, mostly women, stood in line to pay their respects. Arriving in Russia for the first time in its history, the relic will remain in the Russian imperial capital until Monday, after being flown from its home on Mount Athos in Greece It will then be taken on a month-long tour across the country, with stops i...

Rena: NZ 'racist right' condemned Because a Filipino second mate drove a ship onto a reef New Zealand Filipinos are being harrassed by "right wing" elements of New Zealand Society? If it is true that Filipinos are getting some stick over the Rena stranding it is not coming from the "racist right" I'd posit, it is coming from the mindless moronics who protest outside the court where the Master and Second Mate appeared on charges related to the stranding and call for their hanging .

The Nineteen Sixties came to an end forty one years ago now and here is a reminder of why, perhaps, that is a mercy.

I read this post written by Trevor Wax over at his blog ' Kingdom People ', and thought it was worth sharing. It's entitled, 'How I Wish The Homosexual Debate Would Go'. Just once, I’d like to see a TV interview go more like this: Host:  You are a Christian pastor, and you say you believe the Bible, which means you are supposed to love all people. Pastor:  That’s right. Host:  But it appears to me that you and your church take a rather unloving position when it comes to gay people. Are homosexuals welcome to come to your church? Pastor:  Of course. We believe that the gospel is a message relevant for every person on the planet, and we want everyone to hear the gospel and find salvation in Jesus Christ. So at our church, our arms are outstretched to people from every background, every race, every ethnicity and culture. We’re a place for all kinds of sinners and people with all kinds of problems. Host:  But you said there, “We’re a place for sinners...

A feature it seems in the run up to November is the falling by the wayside of candidates for public peccadilloes. The reason for dumping of New Zealand First's candidate for Rimutaka by the party mandarins though would be hard too top. He drank a glass of his own urine on TV . I missed that show, how sad.

New York Times: The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest reached unexpected early success today when the banking industry indicated they had taken on board the widespread criticism and offered to reform the financial system by next Tuesday. The reforms were seen as modest by some but were described as "a good step forwards".  Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank offered a 10 point plan in response to the OWS protests sweeping the globe: Government bonds would be scrapped.  Investing in government was an oxymoron, as was government investing Fiat currency would be abolished and there would be a return to the gold standard The gold standard would then be abolished, and return to coins minted in the realm of USA, bearing the noble head of Caesar Obama Caesar Obama would appoint local Lords to ensure the rights of citizens were upheld. A small tithe would fund this activity The noble head of Caesar Obama would be phased out for glossy beads Glossy beads would be exchanged for...

Oklahoma cancer patient trades her life so her baby could survive

So Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have made a Tintin movie. I dunno I've watched the trailer and it don't seem very Tintin ish to me. A rip roaring yarn maybe but does it capture the essence and magic of Tintin? We will see Yesterday Lucia posted a trailer for Bitwa Warszawska or Warsaw Battle 1920 by Polish filmaker Jerzy Hoffman and that looks far more to my taste rather than Spielbergian eyecandy, which maybe dazzling perhaps in execution but of little substance. In any case the post from yesterday reminded me of this Jerzy Hoffman film I saw some years ago (and no Lucia it did not as far as I know see a New Zealand release). A scene from the film With Fire and Sword (Ogniem i Mieczem - a famous work of Polish literature which you can get in English translation ) This scene recreates the battle of Battle of Zhovti Vody fought between the Poles and Cossacks who were allied with the Crimean Tarters long long long ago. This is a great scene. Ukrainians do ...

The evangelist of Atheism has a new initiative, a support group for priests and pastors who no longer believe. Complete with testimonies, a protestant idea I believe - this one from "Lynn" a Methodist minister “I resisted my doubts at first, but the nagging in my brain wouldn’t stop. So I embarked on a journey of researching and discovering that what I had believed for so long wasn’t true. I’m still in the pulpit, as I stated above. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, I made a commitment to my church and my denomination to serve this appointment. Second, the financial issue. If I walk away now, my family will suffer greatly…Every week I struggle with the fact that I’m lying when I stand before my congregation. I’m leading a double life.” Sigh All of the above would be answered by this

In 1920 there was a little known war between the brand new Soviet Union and Poland, whereby Poland stood in the way of the imposing Communism by force over Europe. Over a million Soviet soldiers attacked Warsaw, certain defeat loomed - yet, despite all odds, the Poles turned them back. This victory is known as the Miracle on the Visula, as the invading Soviets were said to have seen Our Lady on a cloud over the city, thus causing confusion in their ranks and leading to their defeat. A Polish chaplain told me of the Miracle of the Vistula while kilted Scottish pipers played the Polish national anthem. He told me of that eve of the Feast of the Assumption twenty years ago when Our Lady's Poland fell back in demoralised retreat before the anti-God hordes of Soviet Russia. THE MIRACLE OF THE VISTULA " We were beaten," he said. " Bitterly and terribly beaten, demoralised, crushed. It was at that moment that the hearts of our men went out to her whom we had cr...

Fairfacts Media has a post in which he proposes that opposing Gay Marriage is a distraction from advancing the conservative agenda. Hmmmm The question should be why should the State have any interest in whatever personal relationships you have? And the answer to that my friends is It Shouldn't . It is none of the State's business who you decide to shack up with - none . So why marriage then? There is one type of human reltionship that does benefit from public acknowledgment and that is the HUSBAND/WIFE relationship which produces children and that benefits because the MAN acknowledges and takes responsibility for any children born of the woman, they by presumption being his offspring. Furthermore for any society to persist into the future it is necessary for that society to produce children because, like it or not, we are all mortal. So if a society does not produce enough children to replenish itself it dies. No way around this my friends - none. Because of thi...

Trying times for the nation, trying times indeed.

And we got twunty. No hard feelings, cobbers.

I agree with what Redbaiter said, and given I’m far more mild than he, I suspect he held back, because I know I still am. He said: "The social liberals are really authoritarians in disguise. Nasty and vicious intolerant totalitarian scum." And we were talking about these particular totalitarians way over in the Undemocratic People's Republic of Victoria, Australia, via a link from Crusader Rabbit

We slaughter 17,000+ of these every year in New Zealand and nobody bats an eyelid. And yet if one of these gets accidently covered in oil it is a sure sign of how wicked mankind really is It's a mystery to me.

in the latest report from the unfolding drama on Astrolabe Reef a single terse sentence. This morning, operations around the ship were disrupted by four boats inside the exclusion zone. In the latest update for the media on the Maritime New Zealand website URGENT: There are currently four vessels with media on board breaching the maritime exclusion zone. They are close to the Rena and they are disrupting salvage operations. Air operations cannot be undertaken while these vessels are in the area and have ceased while this is resolved. This is because we cannot risk lifting or dropping off heavy equipment while these vessels are nearby. We are at a critical stage of the salvage operation and these vessels need to leave the area immediately. They are pretty good at reporting other peoples failings it would seem but not their own.

Monday morning quarterback : a person who, after the event, offers advice or criticism concerning decisions made by others; one who second-guesses

Volunteers have been asked to "suit up" when helping rid the beaches of toxic sludge. Nice one Goff.

The Rena’s oil is polluting plans for New Zealand’s deep sea oil drilling. The Government wants it to go ahead, but Labour has now decided that what has happened here proves the risk is too big. So Phil Goff has promised Labour will put a moratorium on any deep sea drilling. An oil spill was always going to have political fallout. That means photo opportunities and politicians fighting each other on the beaches. Rena Disaster sees Labour rush out policy to stop deep sea drilling Jolly good. But if we don't dig stuff up out of the ground, to sell to people who want to buy it where does the money come from to pay for all the early childhood educators, the doctors and nurses to run our hospitals, the plastic wakas and Maori films that nobody watches, the gender and queer studies lecturers, the plane fares to and accommodation at climate change conferences and so forth. And when our children grow to adulthood and seek gainful employment to provide their means of support in thi...

The spells of protection woven by Druid Rod Donald and High Priestess Jeanette Fitzsimmons have crumbled following a year of inadequate sacrifice to Gaea, explained Metiria to a New Zealand public awash in a sea of black crude. "Mother Earth calls for a higher ETS" confirmed the Ginger Druid, Russel Norman. "This is what you get when you don't vote Green". Ironically, the point that the Greens wanted to dramatically expand coastal shipping and expose NZ to further accidents such as this only underscored the Greens effort to appear ecologically business friendly coming up to the election. "Nothing stronger regulations and taxes couldn't prevent" thundered a Green supporter. "And more money spent on the bureaucracy of Maritime affairs", piped in Goff from the sidelines. Local iwi were also apparently helpless to stop thousands of litres bubbling out into the foreshore and seabed. "We are natural guardians and custodians of t...

Today in history, 94 years ago on October 13, 1917 a miracle occurred in Fatima, Portugal. Three shepherd children had said that the Lady from Heaven, who had been appearing to them that year, would perform a miracle on that day. So a huge multitude of people gathered in the rain waiting for the miracle to occur. They got more than they bargained for, as you can see in the dramatised clip below when the sun appears to fall on them. The Lady from Heaven was Our Lady of the Rosary and her message was that the war would end soon (WW1 ended a year later) and that the people had to stop offending God, who was already much offended. The rain stopped, the sun danced around, a number of people were healed from various ailments.

David Farrar asks the following question in his blog post Labour's Rainbow Policy : My God, why can’t they just say they will allow gay couples to adopt? Are they so scared of having the words gay and adoption in the same sentence? There are thousands of children being raised by gay parents and gay couples already. The law should focus on what is best for the child, and if that is a gay couple, then they should be allowed to adopt. What is so hard about saying that explicitly? Here is my response in the comments : What’s best for a child is having a mother and a father, not two people of the same sex who are involved in an unnatural sexual relationship. That is not healthy modelling for a child. But then, neither is it healthy modelling for children who live with single mothers and their never-ending stream of live-in boyfriends, either. Nor is it healthy for children when their parents divorce. All these situations do not give a child an optimal chance of growing u...

It is the nature of the beast that things go wrong from time to time, nature throws a curveball or somebody messes up big time. We all try to find ways of mitigating these things but the world will never be perfect. Silly Philly thinks the answer to this is giving more money to bureaucrats. Some of us might wonder why the Labour Government of Helen Clark appointed a female accountant to head Maritime New Zealand instead of recruiting a Master Mariner or Marine Engineer, someone who might actually give the impression of knowing what they are talking about, but there you go. I guess bureaucracies need bureaucrats. Labour is laying in to the Government over a "funding freeze" at Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) , which it says may have contributed to the Rena disaster. The party has, until today, been cautious about attacking the response to the ship's grounding. But leader Phil Goff this morning said a funding freeze at MNZ had "starved the organisation" of th...

... pleasure is no surprise. It is hunted down. The hedonist, then, is always working against the clock, and against the deterioration of his own body. He must find pleasure while he still can. And when he is dying, the hedonists about him wish he would get on with it quietly, so as not to trouble himself or them with complaints. "Get your sobs out of here, scoundrel, and quit your whining!"... This explains a lot. I would say that a number of commenters that frequent this site are trapped in the Hedonist lifestyle, where only what is pleasurable is important. The hard, the uncomfortable, the painful are to be avoided at all costs. And those who say they are necessary for growth, that dying painfully can fulfil a greater purpose, that human life is more than what makes us feel good while we are alive; they are uncomfortable reminders that life in this world ends, and it ends very quickly. Related link: The Cruelty of Hedonism ~ Catholic Education Resource Centre

Last night's Grey's Anatomy Season Seven finale has disturbed me. One of the main characters, Christina Yang found out she was pregnant. She did not want the baby, did not want to be a mother and said to her husband when he was trying to convince her to stop and think about it all, said she wasn't a monster and of course she would love the baby if she had it. But she doesn't want it. I really wish that they had developed the idea that she already had a baby and she was deciding to kill it and not just wanting to end a pregnancy. I know this is all made up and these people aren't real, however, many people watch this programme and it would be nice if these shows inspired people to do better in their lives rather than just retreating into absolute selfishness. It looks like I'm not the only one that wanted Christina to keep her baby, check out this blog post by the writer and all the comments: Debora Cahn on "Unaccompanied Minor"... I had to c...

Maritime New Zealand is considering issuing face masks to people living near beaches affected by oil from crippled cargo ship Rena. NZ Herald: It's even worse than we thought The USS Arizona is a war memorial. It has been leaking oil for darn near seventy years now. Millions of people have visited to pay their respects over the years and not one of them has needed a "face mask". Why can't bunker oil be discussed without being prefixed the adjective "toxic"? And why are officials and Government ministers running around like headless chooks? I assume the adults, in the form of marine salvors, have arrived and hopefully they will be able to get on with it - it's a big job way way above the pay grade of any Kiwi Civil servant or Government Minister.

He lost his gig with ESPN for what he said about Obama. Now he has struck back with "Keep the change". Lyrics below the fold.

The above clip is from Archbishop Fulton Sheen's TV programme Life is Worth Living, and first screened in 1955. He was America's first TV evangelist and had a huge following of devoted viewers at the time. Here, he talks about education and it's purpose. My partial transcript starts mostly after the 3:40 mark. There are a number of jokes as part of the lead in - I won't spoil them by transcribing them. He starts with a general philosophy of eduction in college (university)... Aim of eduction is to train the whole man, intellect and will, not just the mind. If we went into a store to buy a suit of clothes, we would not take a suit that had only one sleeve, and if you bought shoes, you'd want toes - unless you wanted to be in style. And so with education. Tonight we'll only talk about the intellect. Now the intellect, if it is to be properly trained, should be developed along these three lines.