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Showing posts from November, 2013

Is it important to find your parents?

A winning formula Dr Manny writes: Over the years, as sperm donation has increasingly become a public matter, more of the children born from donor sperm are attempting to find their biological fathers. As people see this movie over the Thanksgiving holiday, I think that it will open up some broader questions about how we can better regulate this industry. I think the film should also raise discussions about just how much information should be available to children born from donors in order for them to better explore their own identity. I think everybody wants to know about their backgrounds, and for some people, this information might make them feel more whole and create a more stable sense of identity. Is it important to find your biological parents? Is your family tree an artificial construct, potentially filled with pairs of fathers and mothers that are irrelevant to your genetic history? This will increasingly become the case, and even with a certain amount of social condi

Female Roast Busters

The best decisions are made after a good nights sleep OK the heading is somewhat misleading, but now that you are here, you may as well read the post.  It isn't that long. I saw a billboard advertisement that was supposed to be funny. Girl takes boy to a hotel room (the point of the advertisement), barely knows his name, and so uses a sticky note to remember in the morning. We sow what we reap. By that, I don't mean I blame the women.  I mean that sending mixed messages such as these confuses people and there are no clear boundaries being set on what is moral, and healthy.  The outcome of such promiscuity are many cases of hurt and emotional pain.  Furthermore, the Chads of this world think consent was valid even when the women can't remember his name.  If it is, that's a pretty low bar to set for future interactions.

Dunne sounds more than a little desperate over his warnings over the Conservatives

I could not believe what I read in the paper today. Looks like Peter Dunne is feeling very threatened by Colin Craig and his Conservative Party: United Future leader Peter Dunne is warning John Key he will have a tiger by the tail if he throws his weight behind the Conservatives. Dunne is famous for his dramatic rise in popularity in the 2002 election thanks to his popularity with TV's "worm", which turned his party from a one-man band to an eight-strong caucus. But he has claimed that some of the Christian MPs who rode his coat-tails into Parliament that year believed it was God, not him, who turned the worm. "The explanation I got was I was God's vessel. It was nothing to do with me. I didn't move the worm . . . that was all God's great plan and he used me and the worm debate to achieve the outcome." Many of the MPs whom Dunne took with him into Parliament that year were promoted by Christian backers, and he has since severed contact wit

Exorcism performed in Illinois after same-sex "marriage" bill signed

Bishop Paprocki in Illinois is brave man: In front of 500 followers, Paprocki asked God to “deliver us from evil” caused by same sex marriage. “I exorcise you, every unclean spirit, every power of darkness, every incursion of the infernal enemy, every diabolical legion, cohort, and faction, in the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he said. “Be uprooted and put to flight from the Church of God from souls created in the image of God and redeemed by the precious blood of the divine lamb. “Dare no more, oh cunning serpent, to deceive the human race, to persecute the church of God, to shake the chosen of God and sift them like wheat.” “Be gone Satan, father of lies, enemy of human salvation,” Paprocki said at the conclusion of the exorcism. “Give way to Christ, in whom you found no trace of your works. Give way to the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic church, which Christ himself won by his blood.” If only one had been performed in New Zealand by our Bishops, or even one of

Problems with homosexuality in the priesthood in Scotland

I'm watching this story with interest. From Congregation unite in protest at suspension of parish priest : Only a handful of parishioners remained yesterday to take mass at St John Ogilvie's Church in High Blantyre with Archdiocese of Motherwell acting Bishop Joseph Toal after Father Matthew Despard was removed from his ministry the night before. Before they went into church, people signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of Father Despard, suspended for writing a controversial memoir that claimed there is a culture of homosexual bullying in the Catholic Church . Father Matthew Despard suspended for writing a book about homosexual bullying in the Church Fr. Despard was suspended for writing Priesthood in Crisis , available on Amazon in Kindle format. I bought it yesterday morning and am nearly halfway through.  So far I've read about the incident that occurred that prompted him to write the notes that lead to the book, his experiences in the seminary whic

Small plastic babies are offensive and disturbing

I'm just listening to the radio where Tim Fookes compares giving plastic baby toys to children with watching a man getting run over on TV . When did unborn human babies become offensive? In the NZ Herald, the current controversy is explained: Parents are outraged after an anti-abortion stall gave their children plastic foetuses at an A and P show. On Thursday, anti-abortion groups teamed up to exhibit at the the Canterbury A and P Show on a Voice for Life and ProLife stall. Amber Murdoch said her son, 11, arrived home on Thursday with a model foetus after a school outing. "I was shown it at 6 o'clock at night when I got home from work," Murdoch said. "It led to me having a really uncomfortable conversation when I had to explain to him he wasn't actually going to be allowed to play with this thing, and having to explain what abortion was all about." Murdoch said her son also received a leaflet written for women who were pregnant. Murdoc

On keeping your legs closed and Christian morality in NZ society

I have been doing a lot of listening lately, and yesterday I listened to Tim Fookes' NewsTalkZB Morning programme as people phoned in to give their opinion of that infamous remark made by a defense lawyer on the lines of, if she didn't want sex, she should have kept her legs closed. Tim Fookes was one of those who was incredibly offended by the inference that this is all women have to do to prevent getting raped, and even apologised on behalf of all men. Good on him, I thought. A number of men phoned in and agreed that the sentiment was disgusting and offensive. Then the lawyer in question (Keith Jefferies) phoned in and explained the statement was in his closing arguments and that he didn't believe his client had actually raped the woman, and that the sex was consensual, therefore to prevent consensual sex, all she had to do is keep her legs closed. Dear Tim just didn't get it. Another lawyer phoned in and explained it in more detail to Tim and he still didn&#

Cunliffe pushes further on gender equality

Labour Party Leader, David Cunliffe has made huge strides in the Labour Party, pushing for 50-50 gender equality to the amazement and delight of many who see gender equality as essential in a balanced society. Insiders say that gender equality in the Labour Party is still not enough, though. They have hinted that Cunliffe has set his sights on a new target - something radical in this day and age, designed to shake society to its foundations and question why we ever thought it acceptable to support gender imbalance at all: Gender equality in marriage and families. (Satire)

The Progressives who are awakening to Conservatism

Society is to blame - time to get outraged by the message The Roast Busters story has fired up many sleepy liberal and progressive types that don't yet realise it, but they are waking up to conservative values. For example, the letters to the editor and talk back radio linked the story in the same week about the government providing free condoms to 12 and 13 year old's even as others are crying "what went wrong?" Sean Plunket, in today's DomPost editorial hoped to write something that would make a difference, and generate a change of culture, attitude and responsibility in NZ Male society.  Ironically, his article starts with something along the lines of "I don't want to talk about Len Brown and his adultery, I want to talk about something more important."  He failed to see the connection between Len Brown, in a position of power and influence, being defended by liberals that his "private morality" is of no concern to us.   With tha

The Bogeyman cometh

"Many of the ills of the modern world — starvation, poverty, flooding, heat waves, droughts, war and disease — are likely to worsen as the world warms from man-made climate change, a leaked draft of an international scientific report forecasts." There you have it folks. You think war is bad? It's worse under CLIMATE CHANGE. You think poverty is bad? Just wait until you experience the type of poverty brought about by CLIMATE CHANGE. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will issue a report next March... [Link for the brave] Surely, these are not wild speculations? They used the words "international", "scientific" and "leaked" all in the same sentence! You think the Nobel Peace Prize-winning IPCC's advice smacks of realism and common sense because it is Nobel peace prize quality reliability? Then let me introduce you to Barack Obama, another Nobel Peace Prize winner who, since his Peace Prize w

Radical Democracy

Labour's little red book might be modernised The Labour Party are keen to get citizens up against the wall and loving the revolution. Some of their policy proposals are designed to encourage people to vote. Possibly for any other party but them. I don't have a problem with parties having policies to attract their voters, but I do wonder if the policies are consistent with their constant references to democracy and participation. For example, look at these policies and see if you can spot that subtle hint of "Nanny" we saw in the Labour Government of 1999 to 2008. Maori language lessons in schools made compulsory Teachers forced to learn te reo Privatised state assets renationalised (theft by legislation) with compensation based on "proven need" The Government's roads of national significance project dumped in order to force people towards public transport The progressive prohibition of alcohol (banning smoking is already considered a