New Zealand Conservative

Really highlights our parliamentarians' priorities. The last cartoon by Hodgson that attracted my attention was the Paula Bennett and Dr Josef Mengele cartoon .

Outright blatant Lie: Alcohol contributes to quarter of child deaths - report Alcohol contributed to the deaths of one in four children and young people who died between 2005 and 2007, a new report has found. Of 357 deaths reviewed by the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee , alcohol contributed to or was the cause of death in 87 cases. Fact 1: This committee has the deaths of some people between 28 days old and 24 years old referred to them for analysis. When do people become adults? - at 25 according to the data used to produce this report - which is BS since 24 year olds and younger are indubitably adults . Fact 2: There were 1391 deaths of people within the target demographic excluded from this analysis - this number (assuming my addition is correct) comes from the report itself. Make no mistake this report and the shock horror press is not worth the paper it is printed on and the best use anybody could make of it is as toilet paper as its real purpose is ...

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

At least it is according to Russia's finance minister Alexei Kudrin . '“Smoke a packet of cigarettes, and you make more resources to tackle social problems: it supports the demographic situation, develops other social services,” said Kudrin at a plenary session of the Finance Ministry’s Tax Academy. The government’s economic chief was promoting amendments to the Russian tax code that would significantly increase “sin taxes” from 2011. The cost of sin If the proposal is accepted, cigarette manufacturers will have to pay 360 roubles ($12) per thousand cigarettes plus 7.5 percent of their production cost – approximately 280 roubles ($9). And from 2012 this sum will be increased a further 100 roubles ($3.30), according to the finance ministry’s website. “Kudrin is following international practice,” said Martin Gilman, a professor at the Higher School of Economics. “If you look at countries in Europe or North America, what you’ll find is that their taxation on alcohol and c...

Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink actually tend to die sooner than those who do. The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is that many of those who show up as abstainers in such research are actually former hard-core drunks who had already incurred health problems associated with drinking. But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that - for reasons that aren't entirely clear - abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one's risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers. Actually this has been known for years but it is good to see it reinforced. God save us all from zealots and politicians that go along with them.

The Headline: Liquor companies bombarded minister Get a grip, all sorts of wackos bombarded the minister in the lead up to the so called "Alcohol reforms". Its just Calvinism without the softening elements of Christianity to moderate it. And the press "bombarded" us with their advocacy for these changes. We should be surprised that those who have a stake in the outcome should want to have a say? Not if the press can help it.

The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, The Right Reverend Ross Bay, has waded into the Alcohol debate Bishop Bay says MPs can take the lead with cross party action on such an important issue for the nation. He is pleased to see some changes being treated as government policy. "Legislation will not fully solve the problem but it can send a strong signal to society that it is time to change attitudes. MPs can provide leadership on this and vote as a unified body rather than turning to a conscience vote for the proposed age split regarding the purchase of alcohol." The Bishop supports the Alcohol Action New Zealand 5+ proposal as evidence based solutions to the alcohol crisis. The Auckland Diocesan Synod convenes from September 2-4 and one motion for debate is for parishes and ministry units to be involved in the 5+ solutions campaign . On the planet earth for the last couple of 100 years, in the English speaking world, people have perceived that there is an alcohol problem and h...