New Zealand Conservative

From the Wall Street Journal, an ancient gold exhibit from Crimea that has travelled to Europe, now may not be returned to it's mueseum given that Crimea is no longer part of Ukraine. Here's some background: The Scythians were nomads who inhabited much of modern-day Russia and Ukraine from about 600 B.C. to 300 A.D. They fought off their enemies from horseback with bows and arrows and interred their nobility in elaborate tombs, where they buried horses, gold and other treasured items alongside the dead. Higher-ranking Scythian warriors often had elaborate tattoos, according to Greek historian Herodotus, who described the Scythians as barbaric warriors at times prone to indulge in marijuana. Alexander Blok wrote about them in 1918, months after the October Revolution, in his famous poem "The Scythians." Frustrated by Russia's dragging involvement in World War I, Blok lashed out at Europe. He presented the Scythians as a savage eastern streak lingering in Russi...

On a crack down on independent journalism that doesn't follow the pro-Russia line : Russophobia, a Pretext for a War on Information ~ The World Post Self explanatory: Booting Russia from the G8 Ends 16 Years of Pretending Moscow Should Sit at the Big-Kids Table What a relief ~ New Republic The Polish response to the Ukraine crisis is to not overreact: Poland Is the Boy Who Didn't Cry Wolf ~ Huffington Post Very worrying developing on crackdown on religious freedom in Crimea - if you're not Orthodox, then you're a potential traitor: Priest: Ukrainian Catholics flee Crimea to escape threats of arrest ~ Catholic Herald, UK

Fiona O'Reilly from Catholic Voices defends traditional marriage over same-sex marriage in two minutes on BBC News. Well said!

On the blogs and even on the radio just now, I have been hearing that some people find the Bible as offensive as Hitler's Mein Kampf. Aside from the obvious differences between the two books, I consider making the comparison extremely offensive, even though it's said as some sort of justification for Dot Com owning a rare, signed copy of Mein Kampf. Medieval Bulgarian Bible - Source: Wikipedia Let's see. One is a book written by a man who then went on to attempt to wipe out the entire Jewish race and the other is the story of the Jewish people, culminating in their (and our) Messiah being born on earth. And people want to call both offensive? I'm detecting a bit of anti-Semitism coming through in the attempted downplaying of Dom Com owning his personally signed book by the man responsible for the Holocaust. Related link: Dotcom admits owning Mein Kampf ~ NZ Herald

The two girls stood for an hour in a busy shopping arcade They were filmed as part of a social experiment for television Astonishingly, only one person stopped to help them Is it any wonder - if a man like me started to talk to two little girls, personally unknown to me there is a high possibility I'd end up in jail accused of all sorts of nastiness. Hell in this day and age it could even be a police sting to identify pedophiles - they do this on the internet so why not in a mall. And men will not be seated next to unaccompanied children on Air New Zealand flights - men are dangerous to children you see. After fifty years of feminist harping men have gone from being the protectors of women and children and been transformed into predators 1 (1) I used Ele's post because she is a very nice woman, as all agree, to show just how pervasive the men as predators meme has become.

I had parent/teacher interviews for both my boys on Monday night, and after a semi-argument with my older son's English teacher about criteria for success in a recent assignment, I think English as a subject, has been knocked off the pedestal that it commanded in my mind for so long. English seems to have been taken over by spinsters with a mission, a mission to find out what our children think and feel about things. I always thought that English was about learning to communicate clearly and showing that there is understanding of reading, but no, that doesn't seem to be how it is now. The teacher that I have the problem with has been working for NZQA since the time of University Entrance. Coincidentally, I was in the last year of pupils that took those exams before that system disappeared forever, to be replaced at the time with the precursor to NCEA - Sixth Form Certificate (which I did as well because we were made to do both). I think there has been a lot of experime...

It is a mark of a humane and decent society that being respected is not just a matter of having a large bank account And this applies to the dead as well as the living. Katrina Shanks an ex National MP has noted that those who receive paupers funerals are cremated even though their wishes would be to be buried and is suggesting that we cater for their wishes. Lindsay Mitchel isn't impressed . But for Catholics (discouraged) , Orthodox (forbidden) , Muslims (Forbidden) and Jews (forbidden by strict adherents of Judaism) cremation is a touchy subject. I personally have been to Orthodox Funerals of paupers, where the deceased was cremated and very disturbing it was. The last time was for a man who through no fault of his own but after years of debilitating illness died penniless and cremation is what he got. We should be able to do better

Did you ever see the movie "The Deer Hunter"? The main characters in that movie were Rusyns (called Russian in the movie and sometimes derogatorily called Hunkys in the USA)- Orthodox Christian refugees from the Austro-Hungarian Empire originating from what are today parts Poland, Slovakia, Hungry and Ukraine who found a new home in the USA - back when it stood for something worthwhile. In the past week Rusyn families have been fleeing Ukraine for Slovakia (how large this exodus? Who knows it is not being reported) Anyway FYI Open Letter to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation Most Honourable President of the Russian Federation! We appeal to you… the President of a Great Country… a country that has traditional ties with our country, which wasn’t and isn’t unmoved by our colonial subjugation by the Ukraine, which wishes for our recovery, stability, and unity. We always appreciated the very high level of civilisational values ​​(education, ...

[Update] The film opened strongly this weekend in the U.S, making it the #3 highest grossing movie on Friday, and #5 for the whole weekend. The low-budget PG-13 drama about a college student (Shane Harper) who sets out to prove God's existence raised eyebrows Friday when it brought in $2.8 million from just 780 theaters — an impressive $3,613 per-screen average. That was better than any movie in the market except for “Divergent” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” It was running third after Friday and will likely come in around $8 million for the three days. ~ Source The biggest surprise of the weekend is undoubtedly the success of God’s Not Dead, an inspirational drama about a college student who defends his belief in God against a non-believing professor. Here’s how the top five played out: 1. Divergent – $56 million 2. Muppets Most Wanted – $16.5 million 3. Mr. Peabody and Sherman – $11.7 million 4. 300: Rise of an Empire – $8.7 million 5. God’s Not Dead – $8.6 mill...

A U.S website for the DC Abortion Fund  (an organisation that gives grants to women who cannot afford abortion) has a page where you can donate $10 a month to (as they put it), "make abortion access a reality for women in our community!" . Just for donating, they'll send you a nice necklace with a coathanger hanging off of it. Yes, you read that right - a coathanger! (see the image). It looks like they're not trying to disguise it anymore, or sugarcoat what it is they're doing; it's brutally honest and out in the open. It's the killing of unborn children. Disturbing. h/t National Review Online

Enough of the self righteous posturing already

When I read the following article on New Republic by Julia Ioffe, it was called After Crimea, Putin is going to take Eastern Ukraine Next . It's now called The Maps That Show the Inevitability of a Russian Land-Grab in Eastern Ukraine , because when it comes down to it, Russia cannot support Crimea without taking the east.  Already a gas plant in Ukraine has been taken over by Russian troops, a gas plant that supplies Crimea with gas.  On Sunday, the new pro-Russian prime minister of Crimea was appealing to Russia to send in the fleet to "protect" this gas plant.  Julia explains, based on the geography, why it's important to Crimea (and Russia) to get gas from the Ukraine and ensure that it's not cut off and how in order to do that, the likelihood is that Eastern Ukraine is next in the land grab: Crimea qualifies as a peninsula on the slightest of technicalities, dangling from the Ukrainian mainland by an isthmus (Perekop, on the left side of the map) that, ...

Cover and sample page (click for larger) If you're looking for some inspiration this Lent, I notice that Faith Gateway has a FREE 40-page devotional to download as a PDF. You have to register your email, so it might pay to use one you don't mind getting a few devotional snippets from upcoming books mailed to you. Disclaimer: We are not affiliated with the publisher, and do not gain anything from this post. I got a random email about the download and just thought some people might like it :) LINK

From NewsBusters, a threat directed at the United States, from Russia: As of 11 P.M. Eastern Time Sunday evening, searches at both the Associated Press and at the Politico on "radioactive" returned nothing relating to a comment made on TV by Russian "journalist" Dmitry Kiselyov reminding viewers that his country, as translated by the wire service AFP ,  "is the only one in the world "realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash." Reuters also has a story here . Further evidence of AP disinterest is the fact that its two "10 Things to Know for Monday" relating to Russia as of 9:03 p.m. noted the West's intent to impose sanctions and penalties but did not mention the Russian threat. Kiselyov isn't some freelancer mouthing off for "look at me" attention. As such, the failure of these two outlets to report what is clearly a serious escalation in rhetoric emanating from Russia is breat...

Men in Cossack uniforms standing guard outside the regional Parliament in Crimea on Friday ahead of the referendum (Source: NY Times ) Last week, an article from The Telegraph (UK) , on sanctions to be imposed upon Russia if Crimea is annexed: Russia risks a wave of capital flight and a shattering economic crisis as the West prepares a package of sanctions over the seizure of Crimea. German Chancellor Angela Merkel spelled out the danger for Russia in a speech that silenced pro-Kremlin voices in her own coalition and left no doubt that Europe is now fully behind the US on punitive measures . “If Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, that will not only be a great catastrophe for Ukraine. It will cause massive damage to Russia, both economically and politically, ” she said. “None of us wants it to come to this, but we are determined to act. Let me be absolutely clear; the territorial integrity of Ukraine is not up for discussion.” The West has threatened visa ba...

The sign reads "With a Bander State our ways part" Stephan Bandera was a Nazi collaborator in World War 2, responsible for the massacre of Jews and Poles in Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia during those dark days. He is a hero to some elements of the American installed junta in Kiev and his picture even hangs in some offices in the Rada

And the Godless EU wants to create an excuse to do to Ukraine what they did to Yugoslavia in the 1990s with the aid of American Bombers and cruise missiles. The West is very good at spilling the blood of other people in other lands Meanwhile the American installed Junta that has replaced the democratically elected Government of Ukraine is recruiting a neo Nazi militia to serve as the police force and military it doesn't have and can't pay. Nato will find it harder though to occupy Ukraine with "peace keeping" forces than it was in Yugoslavia because the Russian Bear is at their doorstep. And there are red lines that you cross at your peril. Though the botoxed bozo, who looks like he has just been dug up from his grave, is promising "serious consequences" come Monday. By the way the USA is bankrupt and have just been defeated by a bunch of sheep herders who are living as they have done since the seventh century AD. And the USA needs Russia to...

Wow, journalists are going through the documentation that ex-Ukrainian President Yanukovych left behind when he fled to Russia. Part of that was information that they were being pressured by Russian President Putin: Putin pressured Yanukovych to crack down on the Maidan protesters.  Ukrainska Pravda  found that the notebooks of Yanukovych's security chief, Kostyantyn Kobzar, detail a private meeting between the two leaders at Putin's residence at Valdai on January 8, as the Maidan protests continued to grow. Ironically, Ukrainska Pravda found record of Yanukovych's suspicion of one of its own articles , an investigation into how special police were ordered to forcefully disperse the crowd on Independence Square on November 30. "Where did  Ukrainska Pravda get the documents before the interrogation?" the notebook reads, and goes on to note that Yanukovych had plans to call Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka about the issue . What are the cha...

In order to stop future inflation, the Reserve Bank has decided that our interest rates, already the highest in the world, need to be raised even more, thus increasing mortgage inflation. In an economy that is starting to recover, the Big Hammer comes out again making sure that the middle class stays down. Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler lifted the official cash rate a quarter-point to 2.75 per cent in the first move of a tightening cycle, and signalled potential for a steeper track for future hikes as he tries to prevent inflation accelerating. "While headline inflation has been moderate, inflationary pressures are increasing and are expected to continue doing so over the next two years," Wheeler said in a statement. "The speed and extent to which the OCR will be raised will depend on economic data and our continuing assessment of emerging inflationary pressures." Thanks, Graeme. I wish we could vote this bozo out. Related link: OCR up to 2.75pc ...

The maximum territorial extent of countries in the world under Soviet influence after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and before the official Sino-Soviet split of 1961 (Source: Wikipedia ) Andrei and I have been having an ongoing conversation about what is going on in the Ukraine with regards to the removal of the duly elected President (who seems more than a little corrupt) and the consequent invasion of Crimea by Russia. Rather than continue in the comments with this, I thought this post important enough to become it's own entity, in response to Andrei saying: Ukraine as it is drawn on the map today is an accident of history - nobody even called themselves "Ukrainian" until the Romantic movement of the 19th century - Ukraine was a region of Europe where Catholicism meets Orthodoxy - the Western parts of the modern state were in the Austro-Hungarian Empire 100 years ago while the Eastern parts were in the Russian Empire and always had been Anyway by quirks of h...

Palace of Science and Culture in Warsaw, Poland, lit up in blue and yellow, in solidarity with Ukraine (Source: The Economist ) An important article on the deep understanding that Poland has with what is going on in the Ukraine right now. As an example: Yanukovych's regime, together with the Kremlin, have been telling us that the protestors are anti-Semites and Nazis—while simultaneously telling their riot police that the protestors are gays and Jews. This is bewildering to most Europeans. It is much less bewildering to Poles. They have experience with just this kind of shameless—and absurdist—mendacity. After all, they remember the Stalinist regime promising to protect Jews from the anti-Semitism of the anti-communists, while conducting an anti-Semitic campaign of its own. And they remember March 1968, when the communist regime justified its suppression of demonstrators against censorship by accusing protestors of engaging in a Nazi-Zionist conspiracy against Poland. T...

1. Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. "Forward, the Light Brigade! "Charge for the guns!" he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 2. "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 3. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred. 4. Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack and Ru...

Well, Pope Francis continues to surprise. Apparently, the story below came out late last year, but I didn't hear about it until reading the latest NZ Catholic , where it was reported. According to the story (and a new book), Pope Francis – when he was a priest in the 1970s and early 80s – rescued at least 1000 people using a secret network during Argentina’s “Dirty War”. ROME – Perhaps the single public figure on the planet right now least in need of rehabilitation of his image is Pope Francis, who’s got poll numbers in most places of which politicians and celebrities alike can only dream. Nevertheless, rehabilitation is precisely what Italian journalist Nello Scavo delivers in his new book Bergoglio’s List: The Untold Story of the People Saved by Francis during the Dictatorship, which was presented today at the headquarters of the Jesuit journal Civiltà Cattolica in Rome. In reply to persistent charges that the young Fr. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was complicit in Argentina’...

Below is a quote from Barack Obama's address to the nation on Ukraine - I'll post a clip of the entire address at the end of this post but I want to highlight this bit and examine the axioms that underlie it and we all know if your axioms are wrong then your reasoning will be incorrect - no matter how logical it might appear at first glance. Any discussion about the future of Ukraine must include the legitimate government of Ukraine. In 2014 we are well past the days when borders can be withdrawn over the heads of democratic leaders The first bit I put in bold are the fine words " legitimate government " and we have to ask is the government in Kiev legitimate? Were they elected? Well they were if election means installation by an armed mob but if it means were they elected by citizens via the ballot box - no they are not. Even worse those deputies (MPs in our parlance, what we in days of yore called representatives)who currently grace the Rada (parliament) h...

From a Polish post on the situation in the Ukraine , an explanation on why there are so many Russian speakers in Crimea: Stalin deportował większość Tatarów Krymskich, dokonując w ten sposób, czystki narodowościowej o cechach ludobójstwa. Następnie, osiedlał na Krymie głównie rosyjskich komunistów, tak jak Car swoich, tych najbardziej zasłużonych – potrzebujących ciepłego klimatu i wygód życia w po carskich kurortach. ZSRR, podarowała Krym Ukrainie (za Chruszczowa), po śmierci Stalina, nieoficjalnie w zamian za ludobójstwo – jakiego się dopuściły władze komunistyczne na narodzie Ukraińskim (okres wielkiego głodu), a oficjalnie z wielkiej przyjaźni a tak naprawdę, dla konsolidacji obu narodów w nowy twór państwowy, którą to przyjaźń, na naszych oczach, teraz Rosja szybko marnotrawi. Now the translation using Google Translate. Unfortunately, my Polish is not good enough for me to translate this properly myself. Stalin deported the majority of Crimean Tatars , making in this way,...