New Zealand Conservative

Hawaii upholds marriage as being between one man and one woman – In a day when elected officials and activist judges in many states across America are maneuvering to undermine the traditional and legal meaning of marriage, the clear thinking of a federal court in Hawaii is as refreshing as an island breeze. On August 8, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii upheld that state’s definition of marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman – supporting the will of the people over that of a small group of activists and a recalcitrant governor. Yeh, right on. At least one state in America truly gets it. “Throughout history and societies, marriage has been connected with procreation and childrearing,” the court said in its order. “It follows that it is not beyond rational speculation to conclude that fundamentally altering the definition of marriage to include same-sex unions might result in undermining the societal understanding of the link between marriage, pr...

It has not been a good week for free speech, not a good week at all. Shout down mode has been the predominant form of public discourse. The adult equivalent of a child sticking his or her fingers in his or her ears - " nya nya nya can't hear you ". Well if it works why not. So it's no real surprise to learn that the Warehouse and Paper Plus have announced that they will not be stocking Ian Wishart's new book . Jubilation in some quarters over this, the tail has wagged the dog. But when it comes down to it what the would be book boycotters have accomplished is a bit of an own goal. The publicity boost for the book has been enormous. I doubt sales will be harmed very much, just the converse in fact, especially since most book sales these days are on-line. Keep your cynicism in check here boy - what you are thinking might have happened probably didn't. Be hilarious if it had though.

Ronald McDonald, the iconic mascot of McDonalds is under fire - from the usual suspects. They want McDonalds to "retire" Ronald McDonald as part of their campaign to stop McDonalds marketing aimed at children. This particular campaign has been put together by a group calling itself "Corporate Accountability International". There is no doubt eating too much McDonalds will make you obese but there is also no doubt that eating too much weetbix will also make you obese - and I'll bet that obese kids in this country, over whom much handwringing is done, eat far more weetbix than McDonalds because cheap as McDonalds is weetbix is even cheaper, much much cheaper in fact and is a staple food of very many of the poor. And it is generally the kids of the poor who are obese. Make no mistake about it - these campaigns against McDonalds are not really about obese kids, they are attacks on a successful business operating in a free enterprise capitalist society. And i...

David Garrett has quit Parliament - no real surprise there, and I assume Hilary Calvert who is next on the list will take up his seat. On the other hand: I'm still a Labour MP, says Carter. Which says something about the differing takes on personal responsibility for ones actions displayed amongst individuals from the left as opposed to those on the right perhaps.

The headline reads: Agency to rule on new cures And the lead paragraph says A powerful agency will decide which treatments to provide at public hospitals under a major revamp of the health system. The Government yesterday made public a long-awaited report on the health system after details of a Ministerial Review Group's recommendations were leaked to The Dominion Post last week. But by reading through to the bottom, if you have the stomach for it, reveals that this may not be a particularly popular idea amongst those who will actually make the final decisions. Health Minister Tony Ryall said the Government was not obliged to accept any of the report's 170 recommendations, and he would not support any that increased bureaucracy. The Cabinet is likely to consider the report in the next few months. So the whole story turns out to be a think tank piece which the Dominion has obtained and gone off the deep end with. And the headline and first paragraph are utter BS Update: Homepad...

But why is it there? Where did it come from? Could this be the end of life as we know it? And is it really to late? All is revealed in the Dominion post . A group of self-described anonymous artists claimed responsibility for the 'iceberg' via email. "We are not affiliated with any formal group. "We're just people who care, people who have children. This is an appeal to every New Zealander who sees this artwork to stand up and take action. It's time to really do something about climate change, before it's too late." Before its too late, huh? What is a man to do? I guess if he has enough disposable income to spare he could get Weta workshops to make him an iceberg, out of non renewable, non bio-degradable resources incidently, in the hope that he might " create conversation and awareness around the issue ". Yeah, that ought to do it.

So saith Peta campaigner Ashley Fruno who has got herself worked up into a lather over Sam Neil. "And just what has Sam Neil done to attract Ms Fruno's ire?" , I hear you ask. hmmm Well, he has appeared alongside a chimpanzee in an advertisement for red meat - that's what! My guess is that Sam Neil likes to eat although I have no idea on how often red meat appears on his personal menu. But to eat Sam Neil has to work and performing in front of a camera is what Sam Neil does. That is how he puts tofu on the table to feed his loved ones. Something often seen as criminal in the eyes of over privileged Liberal activists.