New Zealand Conservative

Melissa Johnson from Paraparaumu never thought that she would work online, until curiosity got the best of her and she filled out a simple online form. Before she knew it, she discovered her secret to beating the recession, and being able to provide for her family while at home with her three children. I read Melissa's blog last month and decided to feature her story in our weekly consumer report. In our phone interview she told me her amazing story. "I actually make about NZD $8,000-$9,000 a month working from home. It's enough to comfortably replace my old jobs' income, especially considering I only work about 15-18 hours a week from home. Melissa Johnson is a very common name I suppose, so it might be hard to verify if the story is actually real or not. The advert even has a bunch of selected comments saying how wonderful and genuine the offer is, but you scroll down to the end and get to see that "comments are closed" now that the required comments ha

Agape - I'm not going to define it, you can see it for yourself in the video below

If you can Vote When You're Senile ... That was the title of a recent Green Blog post about the need to grant the vote to 16 year olds. I have explored the general arguments made about  lowering the vote in a previous post - " Emancipating Youth ". As I said then, this can be seen as a push by parties of the left to perform gerrymandering by demographics rather than geography.  I also said this issue would continue to be pushed by the left every few years until it finally takes hold.  Thus, time to fisk this recent Green Vote post to say much the same things in a different way. If I wanted to suggest that maybe a lack of maturity was one of the reasons for denying the vote to 16 year olds, then I'd have to look no further than the title of the post: "If you can vote when you're senile...". It also gives me permission to be equally as flippant in my response post. Yes, totally uncalled for, but it is meant in the spirit of "talking at the

Every now and then the secular blogs like to pick up a generic story highlighting the evils of religious fundamentalism and open the chat threads for a bit of religion bashing. Kiwiblog has one going at the moment ( Religious Fanaticism ), and the Standard kicked one off recently that kind of backfired: Peter Jackson - Satan's Little Helper . By pointing out how some presumably extremist religious group had identified Sir Peter Jackson's upcoming Hobbit movie as a sell out to the deep and distinctly Christian themes running through the original Tolkien LOTR books, it should have been fair game. But being a left wing blog, Christian bashing had to take a back seat to Jackson's supposed capitalist, anti-union, commercial sell-out motivations. Kiwiblog, on the other hand, has used a story of ultra orthodox Jews acting like the Taleban with regard to the treatment of an 8 year old girl for dressing "immodestly". This has provided an entree for atheists to de

Despite the historical belief that sexual offending during adolescence was “experimentation”, data would indicate otherwise. A random community sample of adult women reported that 25% of the sexual abuse reported by 500 women was perpetrated by adolescents aged 18 years and younger. Similarly, Mullen et al (1991:2) state that: “teenage offenders were a large and often quite violent group, who carried out one quarter of the offences”. New Zealand Police statistics indicate that for the years 2000 to 2005, youth under the age of 17 years committed on average 15% of all sexual offences in New Zealand (Statistics New Zealand 2005). [ p10, Getting It Right, August 2007 ]

Earlier, the detective leading the investigation into the attack said New Zealand society " needs to have another good look at itself ". I've already discussed this at length: If it's my problem, give me the power to fix it . The people of NZ, when this incident came to light have poured in messages of condolences and support, along with donations. Let's not disregard that as the various hand-wringers who wish to blame every-one but the actual perpetrator ask for more government intervention and raising the minimum wage by $3/hr to cure this evil. If society itself needs to take a look at itself, lets start by shining the light very brightly on the animal evil person that inflicted this horror. If we really must go one level deeper, then look at his upbringing. I suspect easy access to porn and violent movies from a young age might figure largely in his history. Possibly also a life of some level of abuse. Whatever the case, this should not deter u

Well, it had to happen sooner or later: Garth George is leaving the NZ Herald. His last column is today, and he says- The editors decided back in October that this column does not fit in with their future plans for the opinion pages. And while I shall miss penning my weekly opinions, and have to adapt to a painful drop in income, I hold no rancour. One can only wonder who the Herald intends in their "future plans" for opinion columnists. Perhaps someone like Pam Corkery or her ilk? It will be sad to see George go. He is a conservative and a Catholic, and as such perhaps didn't fit in with the liberal opinions and tastes of those who helm the Herald. I didn't always agree with everything he wrote, but I did so more often than not. He will continue to write his columns for in the Bay of Plenty Times in Tauranga, and the Daily Post in Roturua. It's interesting to read that he is actually a Member of the New Zealand order of Merit (see photo above)

Garth George talks about how the Greens support abortion and euthanasia . Putting opinions about these issues aside for one moment, I note a comment on the thread by a Mr Ian Findlay :   I never heard the NZ Greens campaign or mention any of the issues Garth discusses. I did hear them campaign on clean waterways, the state of the ocean, climate change and stopping asset sales. That's why they got my vote. I'm quite surprised that this might be a genuine opinion of the Greens. Surely, they are just as well known for their social policy as their desire to have a pristine environment? The Greens are clearly pro-abortion, even when they say they are anti-abortion. As Nandor once said : "I put it clearly on the record that I am anti-abortion....but I am also very strongly pro-choice" and then goes on to support abortion. He's one of the milder in the Green Party on this issue, but he's gone now. You'll find other Green Party MP's are more strong

I love the solar panels and the satellite dish - and I bet you they were paid for by some Government program initiated in Brussels.

The Rape of the Sabines - Pietro Da Cortona, 1629 In the days when being educated meant you actually knew and understood things rather than just being credentialed everybody with an education would know the meaning of this picture. I wonder how many do now? It tells of the early Romans who needed women if what they had built was to persist. Without children their legacy would be nothing. They asked their neighbours, the Sabines, if they could marry their daughters - the Sabines refused. So the Romans took the women by force - you can check out the whole story if don't know it and feel inspired. Whoever heard of the Sabines - where are they now? But the Romans legacy is huge. Right or wrong doesn't come into it (according to the story the Sabine women preferred to stay with their Roman Husbands anyway). It is what it is. And that's the point, unless a culture finds a way of reproducing itself and transmitting itself to the next generation, who do the same -

Somewhen in the distant future, perhaps as distant as the year 2014, sugar is an illegal substance, and possession of such is almost a capital crime. So it was portrayed by Judge Dredd, of 2000AD comic fame in " The Line " and other Judge Dredd stories written back in the 80's. Tony Falkenstein thinks starting with a 20% tax on the wicked white powder is the way to go. MacDoctor explains in more rational terms why it is a bad idea: Sugar Sickness . Why do so many (progressives*?) think that there isn't a problem that cannot be solved by a new tax and the strong arm of government? Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree? Travel the world and the seven seas Everybody's looking for something Some of them want to use you Some of them want to get used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused * Maybe Tony can drop in and explain his political stance to satisfy my curiosity on why people reach for the IRD when

Of course all of this was made in the third world, some of it by children working long hours for subsistence wages. It was bought by wealthy people in the first world who manufacture exactly nothing and who paid for it all with borrowed money. What happens when you can't borrow anymore? We are about to find out, my friends.

I'm not ideologically opposed to partial privatization of state owned assets. So that makes my current opposition to the sale of Mighty River Power one based on pragmatism (we'll get a low price) and lack of trust in the National Party. I just don't buy into their story. First, I recall them talking about how much money they could unlock to help reduce the debt. Then later, they say they will use it not to reduce debt, but "invest" in infrastructure . Looking at the world economy, now seems hardly the time to make a killing floating shares. And what will the impact be to open up these places to foreign investment? On one hand we have National saying that it will never be more than 49%, and on the other hand...we have the classic misdirection technique of the magician. What if the percentage doesn't actually matter? What if the mere act of floating the companies changes the governance structure so that the ultra rich can skim profits in ways that w

And anyone who thinks she is is a fool. No she is something much much better than that and she has done something that no man could ever do. Why feminism has sought to and largely succeeded in debasing women, is a mystery, a real mystery. And of course the only real achievement of the women's movement has been the degradation of our culture and thousands of women living in poverty while bringing up their fatherless children. Which hardly seem an advance in human rights, whatever that may really mean in practical real world terms.

Our liberal elites are not that fussed on either tradition or God - there is plenty of both in this. Whether or not this was played on TV last night I wouldn't know but it doesn't seem to be getting much attention in the local media this morning. And it is really good, worth giving up 7 minutes of your time for.

I saw the image today on another site and it kind of sums up what Christmas is, or should be about. Many - especially in the secular world - forget that Santa Claus is actually Saint Nicholas, an actual Saint and a Christian who worshipped God (and of course, Jesus). The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

The "day" is over for us for another year - all that remains is the debris of wrapping paper string and the wine bottles that contain just the dregs of yesterday's joy. You can put away your CDs of syrupy songs for another year, now and go clean up the mess. Bigger mess in Nigeria though where celebrating Christmas by going to mass can get you blown up and killed. BBC: Nigeria churches hit by blasts during Christmas prayers . However this is not the biggest human rights issue in Africa, no, both Hillary Clinton and David Cameron have slammed Nigeria and threatened her with reduction in AID in recent days if they don't mend their ways. BBC: Gay rights: Africa, the new frontier Nigeria in particular has received a lot of focus in this because they have legislation before their parliament that would enshrine Marriage as only being between and man and a woman. Quelle horreur!

And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people: For, this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. Et dixit illis angelus : Nolite timere : ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum, quod erit omni populo: quia natus est vobis hodie Salvator, qui est Christus Dominus, in civitate David. Luke 2:10-11

Man tries to shoot mouse but hits friend in chest... then cops arrive and find girl, 13, locked in closet and arrest roommate on child sex abuse charges

I don't particularly like this time of year to be frank - the whole thing seems both bogus and saccharine - it's way off skew. Christmas is a Christian feast - but its hard to see it among the other dross that this time of year throws up. Anyway the Daily Mail on the sorry state of English Christianity and it might be worse here. Last night on TV One they showed a "Vicar of Dibley" Christmas special. Never seen that show before but if that is an accurate portrayal of Church of England clergyperson - well is it any wonder nobody goes to Church there anymore. A female vicar fantasying about being a lesbian and lesbian sex served up as Christmas fare? Sheer genius and very seasonal, I'm sure you will agree. No wonder people don't bother with Church anymore - the BBC has pooped all over Christmas by making this and TV One has by showing it. Cultural barbarians

The Star of Bethlehem was most likely the planet Jupiter. In the years 3 & 2 B.C, Jupiter did some pretty weird and amazing things from the perspective of an observer on Earth, but fully understandable if you consider that both Jupiter and Earth are moving in their own orbits. The Magi who came to see the God of the Universe born here on Earth would have followed Jupiter's weird and wonderful movements of this time.  Jupiter came to a complete stop on December 25, 2 B.C. over Bethlehem, coincidentally the date we celebrate Christmas every year. There seem to be a few theories of when the Star appeared, but of them all I find this one the most compelling as among other things, it references the corrected date (1 B.C.) of Herod's death. For a complete explanation of what I've just said, read The Nine Points of Christ's Star and The Starry Dance ~ BethlehemStar

The idiot attacks the goalie, the goalie floors him, the goalie gets red carded, the goalies team walk off in protest. Best way of stopping idiots interfering in games is to let them get dealt to, you would have thought - not in these enlightened times.

No doubt the oblivious will see this as a significant advance in the mankind's progress - the US Navies first Lesbian homecoming kiss . But like every decaying and decadent culture that has fallen before it there is a brief moment where vapid self indulgence rules the roost. The problem is when the barbarians come it takes self sacrifice and courage to beat them off. And of course if you are going to sacrifice everything to preserve your culture and heritage against barbarians it has to be worth preserving - and ours no longer is.

Awful lot of hand wringing over this horror: Mum is girl's worst nightmare . Yes - the usual fix, more money for more Government intervention. We live in a culture that doesn't value children - Liberals will never see the contradiction between their hand wringing over murdered babies and their total commitment to abortion whereby 17,000 babies die in this country every year. Liberals hate the concept of motherhood - that's why the Virgin Mary receives such stick actually. She is the epitome of MOTHERHOOD, the perfect ideal MOTHER - they hate that. They hate the concept of a stay at home mother raising her children. To be a housewife was a title of respect not so long ago - it was a good thing to be. Now it's associated with being a looser. The word has gone replaced by homemaker where it cannot be avoided. So now we bring up girls to have careers, family that's a nice to have one day maybe with a male or female partner according to sexual preference

It's so easy to forget what Christmas is really about - the birth of God made man, our Saviour. In a country where so many people treat Christmas as the day that they set out on their holiday and jam up the roads, a reminder of what we celebrate on that day is necessary. Dear Brothers and Sisters, As Christmas approaches, I offer prayerful good wishes to you and your families for a spiritually fruitful celebration of the Lord’s birth. At Midnight Mass, we sing: “Today a Saviour is born for us”. This “Today” evokes an eternal present, for the mystery of Christ’s coming transcends time and permeates all history. “Today” – every day - we are invited to discover the presence of God’s saving love in our midst. In the birth of Jesus, God comes to us and asks us to receive him, so that he can be born in our lives and transform them, and our world, by the power of his love. The Christmas liturgy also invites us to contemplate Christ’s birth against the backdrop of his p

This says it all: Ex-President Carter sends condolences to Kim Jong-un

This is getting a bit old now, but for those who haven't tried it, go to Google and try this search and see what you come up with: do a barrel roll

I was in the mall today, waiting to get my hair cut. As I do when I'm hanging around a mall, I browse. I love books, but hardly ever spend much time looking at the bookshops here, because they are typically full of cook books and crap fiction. It's so much easier to hone in on what I want online and order it. But today, since I had a bit of time I wandered into Whitcoulls where a new book by Philippa Gregory caught my eye. I opened up the jacket cover and read the following: The Lady of the Rivers is #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory’s remarkable story of Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, a woman who navigated a treacherous path through the battle lines in the Wars of the Roses. Descended from Melusina, the river goddess, Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card

Carrying on from yesterdays Joy to the world post I present Christmas tree fires and Christmas ham accidents I'd better be careful, Government nannies may be reading and get ideas.

The bride wore white, as a symbol of her virginity. Her two daughters, by different men made wonderful bridesmaids, while her son, whose father was a different man again looked so cute in his page boy outfit. The groom's children sat with their grandfather, who watched stony faced as the female celebrant bound his son to his second wife, for as long as it may last I guess, in a wedding venue decorated in the height of modern wedding kitsch. I wasn't there, thank God, but some close to me were. Here's the thing my friends getting married is (was?) a rite of passage. It did once mean that the participants were now ready to undertake the adult responsibilities of raising a family. Conception outside marriage was frowned upon - with good reason. Marriage was protective of both women and children. And it was good for men too - it gave them a reason to grow up and a purpose in life beyond satisfying their own immediate desires. We live in a world where its meaning has

T'was five days before Christmas and all through the land the Christmas traditions of yore were on display. The booze bus round up - a seasonal favourite Church Billboards go up some proclaimed via press release to ensure as wide an audience as possible, Catholic Bashing People collecting in Public Bars for charity Office Christmas parties are always good for a laugh Christmas Kittens And perhaps the most important question we ask ourselves in the lead up to Christmas - Plastic or pine

More rubbish from the herald: 'Why are men so mean?' Christmas grinches revealed . This is true because a charity collector told the herald it's so - and it's backed up by a psychologist from South Auckland. Is the Herald good for anything? - I can get two rolls of toilet paper for the price of one copy of the Herald and it is lot softer besides.

It's about time. I think Christians and Conservatives are getting sick of Liberal Politically Correct rubbish and aren't taking it lying down any more: case in point - an Atheist group complained that someone in a Texas town had been offended by that town's nativity scene and wanted it taken down. Around 5000 people turned up to support the nativity, and the Texan Attorney General also talked tough, saying that they wouldn't bow to pressure from such Atheist groups.  The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group based in Wisconsin, sent a letter to Henderson County explaining that a local resident had complained and they wanted the Nativity removed from the courthouse lawn. The FFRF alleged that the Nativity sent a message of intimidation and exclusion to non-Christians. But their attack prompted a tremendous outcry not just in Henderson County, but across the nation. The Texas Attorney General offered to defend the county in the event the atheist

It isn't plutonium which is positively benign when compared to SECOND-HAND SMOKE . Is it any wonder New Zealand's life expectancy is so low at a mere 78.4 years for males and 82.4 years for females with all that SECOND-HAND SMOKE about.

Glynn Cardy basking in his glory - he's got another bite at the cherry because his billboard has been vandalized . Does he mind, that it has been damaged, that people who he has upset have reacted? Of course not, this is exactly what he wants. He is an attention whore and he is getting it. The people who did this are playing into his hands. The pompous little man knows full well that by taking a dump on Christians at Christmas and Easter will attract the media to him like flies to shit and he can preen in front of the cameras in his dog collar and blather on about " starting conversations ", " making people think " and " Christian intolerance " yadda yadda. He knows full well that there are many many people, myself and all my co-bloggers included (1) who are hurt by this - just as virtually everybody would be if their own mother were insulted and publicly degraded. But it's best not to react, not to give his infantile attention seeking,

Marriage as a social structure came into being to ensure that a women with children would be cared for and the best way of achieving that was to have the father of her children take a stake in their upbringing and to provide for their needs. Of course for a man his place in this arrangement provides a huge motivator to succeed and so as to provide. It really works - the most prosperous, successful and peaceful societies ever seen have all placed monogamous family relationships front and center. For some reason progressives have spent the last forty years undermining this family structure, even holding it in contempt. And the result is a plethora of solo mothers who are not exactly the happiest of campers: Single parents need help or life's 'a hole'

Society no longer encourages women to be mothers. Motherhood is almost a dirty word unless you are a gay male who wants to adopt a child, and then it's all about getting access to that wanted child and the mother discarded. But we used to value children, didn't we? I don't know what it was like in New Zealand, but in the United States they were considered a child-centred society after WWII. By the late 1950s however, women who saw motherhood as service to society and who dreamed of scores of little kids to nurture, were suddenly caught in the crosshairs. A new wind had blown in from academe. Chic "mental health" professionals were suddenly sneering at homemakers, even part-time working moms, accusing them of "momism" and "smother love," that was producing weak sons and aggressive daughters. I had been ignoring the sneering columns in the press and ladies magazines about motherhood being parasitical and wasting women's talent. I had

When viewing a woman wearing a bikini, the part of a man's brain associated with "tool use" lights up.

More pap in the New Zealand Herald: Sorry ladies, the perfect man doesn't exist. Well no kidding Trev. We get this sort of thing on a regular basis now - like women approaching forty and wondering why they cannot find a suitable mate - As in this Today I am 39, with too many ex-boyfriends to count and, I am told, two grim-seeming options to face down: either stay single or settle for a "good enough" mate . At this point, certainly, falling in love and getting married may be less a matter of choice than a stroke of wild great luck. A decade ago, luck didn't even cross my mind. I'd been in love before, and I'd be in love again. This wasn't hubris so much as naivety; I'd had serious, long-term boyfriends since my freshman year of high school, and simply couldn't envision my life any differently. A reality check too late perhaps - people do not stay young forever, lady you made your bed and quite frankly at thirty nine who'd want you -

An American blog (Byzantine Texas) I read has two consecutive posts featuring New Zealand. The Theotokos and a pregnancy test Immediately preceded by Kursk Root icon flown over Auckland, NZ You no doubt are fully aware of the former but it is unlikely that you have heard anything of the later. Curious.

As a person made in the image and likeness of God, I hope and pray that Trevor Rupe had a final change of heart before he died. But given the things he did to his body and the societal changes he campaigned for, this change of heart would be most unlikely. I'm reminded of a young woman who set out on a career where she would be flaunting her body to all and sundry, who experienced standing before God  at the end of her life with the last thing that she had done and finding that it didn't amount to much that was worth anything when it came to what was really important. She realised that God had given her gifts and talents and that she had been using them for herself and to bring other people down. The experience shocked her into amending her life. Related link: Flamboyant NZ drag queen Carmen dies

It gets right up my nose that there a bureaucrats who think they know better than me what I should and should not be eating. They don't. We are all individuals with individual dietary needs and requirements and what silly people in Wellington and Canberra think is appropriate for themselves is not appropriate for me and probably not for you either. Do Government issue dietary guidelines serve any purpose? Related: Tough Aussie food guidelines may be used here

• HAIL MARY • Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls. • БОГОРОДИЦЕ ДѢВО • Богорóдице дѣво, ра́дѹйсѧ, Благода́тнаѧ Марїе, Госпóдь съ тобóю: благослове́на Ты въ жена́хъ, и благослове́нъ плóдъ чрéва Твоегω; ıа́ко Спа́са родилà есѝ дѹшъ на́шихъ. • BOGORODITSE DYEVO • Bogoróditse Dyévo, rádouisya, Blagodátnaya Maríe, Gospód s tobóyu: Blagoslovéna Ty v zhenáh, i blagoslovén plód chréva Tvoegò; iako Spása rodilà iesí doúsh náshih.

St Matthews in the City's Christmas Billboard "celebrates" the Annunciation - which of course everybody else celebrated on March the 25 th .

On Monday 12 December, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks met with Pope Benedict XVI before going on to deliver a talk at the Pontifical Gregorian University on the European crisis around the Euro, focusing on if Europe has lost it's soul. What I hope to show in this lecture, is first, the religious roots of the market economy and of democratic capitalism . They were produced by a culture saturated in the values of the Judaeo-Christian heritage, and market economics was originally intended to advance those values. Second, the market never reaches stable equilibrium. Instead the market itself tends to undermine the very values that gave rise to it in the first place through the process of “creative destruction.” Third, the future health of Europe, politically, economically and culturally, has a spiritual dimension. Lose that and we will lose much else besides. To paraphrase a famous Christian text: what will it profit Europe if it gains the whole world yet loses its soul? Europe is in da

I present two videos for your consideration and comparison The first I find groteseque and frankly ugly - it is of course a parody and what it parodies is a little better - but not much. On the other hand the beauty, style and grace these Caucasian kids in New Jersey display is nothing other than sublime, despite an error or two in execution it is perfection itself. You might choose to full screen this, it is gorgeous! Beats me why we choose to wallow in the muck, it really does.

A few men like this wouldn't go amiss either Posted in response to Whaleoil

How many know what an impact the Reformation had on the way the poor were looked after? It occurred to me while on my retreat that the modern welfare system could learn a lot from the abbeys. Until the Reformation, the monastery offered alms to the poor and somewhere for people fleeing tyranny to hide. Post Reformation, the safety net was undone and people threw themselves on the charity of the local lay community. With the coming of the industrial era, the state started to take up the burden of poor relief. Related link: The modern welfare state could learn a lot from the Medieval monastery ~ Timothy Stanley, History and Politics

There has been some crows of delight across the blogosphere that an eighteen year old boy from Milton is to have his car crushed - this is deemed good thing - the march of progress. But I cringe - "boy racers" , a term of derision, are a pain in the you know where, that I'll I agree to some extent but then a lot of people I happen share the planet with also fit that category. The thing is what does 21 st century New Zealand have to offer an eighteen year old boy from Milton? Chances are this fellows father was driven from his home and possibly out of his life altogether years ago. His only responsibility for his son financial and that collected through the IRD and then at a level which probably kept his Dad in poverty. And lets face it the triumph of Feminism is not that 2/3 of those lawyers admitted to the bar are female but that New Zealand has produced a nation of sluts - which pleases DPF to some extent . So even if he aspired to marriage and raising a fa

Shearer confirmed as Labour Party leader

The kids next door are nice kids - I hear them playing sometimes, the sweet music of happy children playing in their yard. In recent days, the oldest a girl about 12 years old has been sitting on their deck tootling out Christmas carols on her recorder - while aesthetically not the most pleasing it has a charm of its own - never the less. Any way not long after they moved next door there was a knock on my door - "please Mr we were playing with our ball and it has gone into your yard - can we get it back" . I smiled and told them if it happens again to feel free to just come and get it and not to worry about it. But I'm not so sure the Iranians are going to be so sanguine about stray American drones. President Obama said on Monday that the United States had asked Iran to return an American surveillance drone that the Iranians say they captured on Dec. 4. It was Mr. Obama’s first public comment about the remote controlled aircraft, which has elevated American tensi

The biggest problem in education is government control. Government control of the curriculum and government control of who is allow to teach that curriculum. The only way at present in New Zealand to escape this control is to home-school, where there is no requirement that the teacher be registered nor that they follow the NZ curriculum. A number of people in the Blogosphere that think that the problem with education is leftism infecting the schools. Seriously, leftism is a minor issue. It's only piggy-backed onto a system that was already in place for the purpose of indoctrination of children. If all the leftists were removed from schooling tomorrow, the system that allows the government of the day to indoctrinate would still be in place. Very few today can imagine a world without compulsory schooling unless they think of some backward, third world country. So I offer the following quote from 19th Century America to show that people back in those times recognised that sc

The purpose of mass institutional schooling. An interview with the writer of An Underground History of American Education * and Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling and Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling * Can be read online by following the link.

Russian Elections have led to the biggest protests seen in years in Moscow. The BBC is on the case , sure that democracy thing has not worked too well in Russia. Mind you it is not going that well in Greece or Italy right now either. And DPF evokes the Arab spring in his post on the matter - I'm not entirely sure the outcome of that is all that positive. I was reminded of the time George Bush gave Vladimir Putin a lecture on the workings of Democracy In any case the protesters in Moscow did their thing and may do it some more, perhaps not always entirely sure what it is they seek. One summed up his reason for protesting thus I didn't vote for those bastards, I voted for some other bastards And those are sentiments that many living in democracies whose functionality perhaps lies in they eye of the beholder can relate to.

A picture that is both repulsive and sad. Degraded humanity. A bit of a tiz over a survey which purports to show 56 per cent of people are behind an increase in the price of cheap alcohol . This would be a survey commissioned by the Health Sponsorship Council, a government body whose purpose is? Well to commission surveys and write reports I guess. And those who wring their hands over sights like those portrayed above are claiming that Peter Dunn suppressed the results of the survey . It is hard to come up with a reason why he would, a motivation for doing so if you will. But anyone with half a brain knows that pricing alcohol out of the range of the poor will fix nothing. The gentlemen in the photo above have not secured cosy sinecures in obscure Government bodies filling their days commissioning surveys and writing reports that nobody will read, then going home to their comfy abodes to bask in the glow of their accomplishments. No - for whatever reason there is no place fo

When Lesbian couples have a child, obviously some man has provided the sperm. It's wrong I know but it happens that way. But the Herald on Sunday has built a story (actually three stories) by finding a sperm donor's wife who didn't know he had sired three, maybe six kids in the past year and telling her all about it . "Merry Christmas and did you know your husband has been spreading his seed around - what do you think about that?" I feel sick to the stomach.

As the financial catastrophe that threatens to lead the whole world into depression and quite possibly engulf it in war comes ever closer the elites of Europe continue on their merry way The item that caugtht my eye 22. Calls on the Commission and Council to ensure access to high-quality, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, information and supplies; takes the view that this should cover, inter alia, confidential and voluntary counselling, testing and treatment for HIV and all sexually transmitted infections; prevention of unintended pregnancies; equitable and affordable access to contraceptives, including access to emergency contraception; safe and legal abortion, including post-abortion care; and care and treatment to prevent vertical transmission of HIV, including to partners and children; Just how killing the unborn will prevent transmission of AIDS a rare disease primarily found in homosexual males will lower its incidence remains a mystery. Is child sa

The current President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, is a fan of Serbia becoming a fully fledged member of the EU. Not all his compatriots are so sure that this is a good move - it might well see him removed via the ballot box next year. EU leaders may postpone a decision on whether Serbia can become an official candidate for membership until their next summit in the spring, diplomats said Thursday. The European Commission has recommended granting Serbia candidate status. But Germany is opposed, saying recent clashes at Kosovo’s border between Serb nationalists and NATO troops showed that Serbia still wasn’t ready. I suspect that Serbs in general are not a good fit with today's EU zeitgeist . 1 And I suspect there are many Italians, Greeks along with others, who in days to come will come to envy the Serbs good fortune in not sharing in their catastrophe. Source: Diplomats: EU may postpone decision on Serbia’s candidacy (1) This is was an exercise imposed upon the Serbia by Bru

You know doubt have heard about the poor woman in Invercargill who finds herself living next door to the man who raped her some years ago and has been harassing her ever since it seems. Others have blogged on this repulsive individual and the impotence of the authorities to deal with the situation. Of course we have allowed ourselves to become a nation of sheep to look to authorities to protect us and the authorities have increased their hold over us by sanctioning people who stand up for themselves on occasion. The way to fix this scuzz bag is to make him a pariah - publish his name, picture and what he has done in the paper - every day. Refuse him service in stores and give him the cold shoulder, people should give him the middle finger when they see him in the street and so forth. Make his life a misery and he'll soon move on. Why are we so prissy? Source: Rape victim 'harassed' for years

Kids shivering in classrooms where the temperature is 1°C doesn't seem like an optimum learning environment - unless the lesson to be learnt from this is cutting your carbon foot print means increased in hardship. Children left to freeze in the classrooms after head turns off heating on coldest day of year 'to show how school can be eco-friendly' I'd call this one an own goal by the school myself.

Dog bites woman's attacker A woman who was stabbed at a Lower Hutt school believes her attacker has wounds from a dog bite, police say. The woman was walking through the school's grounds about 9.30pm on Monday when a man confronted her asking for money, said Detective Sergeant Nina Pedersen. When she refused he attacked her with a knife, stabbing her in the upper arm. The woman's dog then bit the man, before he fled. The incident could have been a lot more serious had the woman not had the dog with her, Pedersen said. The woman was taken to Hutt Hospital with a cut to her arm which needed stitches. Hopefully there will be no calls for the dog's destruction though in this day and age anything is possible.