New Zealand Conservative

Israel showing the respect it has for human life: even the life of it's enemies - The difference between Israel and the Palestinians has never been so starkly illustrated; four months ago the brother-in-law of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had a serious cardiac problem which could not be solved in Gaza. So what did Israel do? It sent a Magen Adom ambulance to the Erez crossing, picked the man up, and rushed him all the way to a Petah Tikvah hospital where he stayed for a week until his condition was stable again. Haniyeh viciously attacks Israel every chance he gets; after the terror attack in Sinai on August 5 that killed 16 Egyptians, he joined with the Muslim Brotherhood and actually accused Israel of planning the attack, saying, "The attack's method confirms some sort of Israeli involvement aiming to achieve political and security goals, cause tension on the border with Egypt and destroy joint efforts to end the Gaza blockade.” Just today an Egyptian air...

Here is a heartbreakingly sad story from Invervargill . A 43-year-old Invercargill schizophrenic died in a smelly, damp and mouldy city flat with rotting carpet despite being visited regularly by mental health workers, her family said . This happens all to frequently an ill unwanted person dies alone and often in appalling circumstances and who isn't found for some time - often nobody notices until the smell hits the streets. A clue to what I think is terribly wrong here lies in the words I have highlighted in the quote. Here is another quote from the story again with a key phrase highlighted A friend of the Mann family, Invercargill man Mike Batchelor, who entered the flat five days after her body was removed, yesterday said it was mouldy and the smell was "beyond disgusting". "There needs to be a big shake-up if people are allowed to live in these conditions. They need to find out how this happened and make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. ...

In a triumph for the mindless, Cadbury has stopped using palm oil in its confectionarys. In recent years Palm oil has become the most prevalent vegetable oil on the market. The reasons why are economic, the African Oil Palm, Elaeis guineensis produces more vegetable oil per hectare than any other known species. This has been a boon to the poor of Indonesia and Malaysia, a cash crop with a huge international demand and an opportunity to earn an honest living. Needless to say over privileged westerners are none too pleased that the poor of these nations have an opportunity to better themselves and so begins a concerted campaign against Palm Oil. You will not be surprised to learn that the palm oil industry is apparently Greenhouse Gas emitter for example. Nor that it is responsible for the needless deaths of cuddly orangutans. The trouble is with these environmental noisemakers is that they have no concept of life on the margins, of going to bed hungry and watching your children di...