New Zealand Conservative

‘People tired of #US bombing their countries, #America ’s interventionism & exceptionalism’ @DanielLMcAdams https://t.co/sOFXNpcyDE — RT (@RT_com) February 27, 2015

New statue of Stalin, with Churchill and Roosevelt at Yalta From The Interpreter, Three Disturbing Developments in Russia : [T]he whitewashing of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and of his GULAG prison camp system continued and expanded. Last week, Russian officials put up the first Stalin statue in more than 60 years , and to add insult to injury, they did so alongside statues of Churchill and Roosevelt showing the Western leaders deferring to him and in recently occupied Crimea. The Russian media justified this by saying that this trinity created the post-war world that Vladimir Putin would like to go back to, but as one more thoughtful Moscow commentator put it, “erecting a statue to Stalin in Crimea is like putting one of Hitler up in Israel.” And related to this was the celebration rather than lamentation of the 75th anniversary of a GULAG camp , one in which millions of Russians and other Soviet citizens were incarcerated and died between the 1920s and the 1950s. Prais...

The Promised Part II on the Failure of Mathematics Teaching in New Zealand... I really, really like mathematics. I understood it easily at school, came first in my entire 6th form year in Maths, Physics and Chemistry in the mid-80's, and enjoyed teaching it to my boys when we were homeschooling. I grew up to be a computer programmer (and software developer and more). In other words, I moved into a STEM field with ease. Strangely enough, I have discovered that people's eyes glaze over when you talk too much maths. Even just a little bit can be too much. For instance, no one has commented on my previous post: Mathematics in NZ at NCEA Level in a dismal state .  Ok, there were a couple of comments on Facebook , but one of those comments was about the picture I accidentally chose for the post.  Also, I've gone and on about these same issues and more to my husband, and after listening politely, he is unable to comment much and changes the subject. Hopefully this w...

Finally! It took them long enough to decide to do this. Nato will establish rapid reaction force to counter perceived threat of Russian aggression Nato declared on Thursday it will set up six new command posts on its eastern borders and create a 5,000-strong rapid reaction force in an effort to show resolve and solidarity in the face of what the alliance brands Russian aggression in Ukraine. Announcing the new force in Brussels on Thursday, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said it was “the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the cold war.” Some elements of the new force will be able to deploy to a flash point with 48-hours notice, Stoltenberg said, with the rest being able to move in a week, much faster than current Nato response times. It will be supported by air and sea forces as well as special operations units, and two more land brigades on standby in the event of a major crisis. Altogether, 30,000 Nato troops will be ass...

I heard on the radio today that many years ago Robert Muldoon was responsible for New Zealand Day being renamed Waitangi Day. I'm probably one of the few people that actually celebrate the day, but not for what it supposedly stands for country wide, but for the fact that my oldest son was born on that day eighteen years ago after two days of labour. It was a momentous event for me, and for my son, well, it's his birthday. Which leads me to the idea that a day can be anything we want it to be. I've been hearing a lot over the years about New Zealand needing a special New Zealand Day and how Waitangi Day is not really a cause for celebration because of the debacles at Waitangi, year after year. Well, why not ignore all that and do what the Aotearoa New Zealand people are trying by sheer repetition, hoping the name will stick, why not call tomorrow New Zealand Day? Why not treat it like New Zealand Day? Why not? For me, Feb 6. is always going to be my oldest son...