Monday, January 31, 2011

Andrei Separation of Church and State, UK style

Church must make women bishops, say MPs


From where I sit the whole idea of women clergy has not worked out too well for the Anglican church - indeed there is a meeting of Anglican Primates in Dublin as I write and the turmoil in the communion is such that fifteen out of the Thirty eight primates are not attending. The center of gravity for Anglicanism has shifted from the West to Africa where they don't ordain women.

But if the English Parliament demands women bishops for Anglicans what is to stop them from going after Catholics and Orthodox under the "equality legislation" which for now has an exemption for churches.

I hope this initiative from these MPs falls flat on its face because government intervention in ecclesiastical affairs has never boded well for the Church or the Faithful.

ZenTiger Australia Week

The Unions NSW Secretary, Mark Lennon has called for Australia Day holiday to last an entire week. Oh, sure there would be some collective bargaining and the odd strike to sort out the details, and presumably pubs would remain open with free beer, whilst bar staff were paid triple time - but they are just minor details.

The point is that Unions are there to do more than worry about what goes on at work. They need to worry about what goes on outside of work. Not to mention that Melbourne Cup Day may eclipse Australia Day celebrations, so it's important to be pushing the envelope and ensuring the hierarchy of holidays is correctly maintained.

With a bit of forward planning, Australia may also be able to mark out the month of Ramadan as the official cure to a week of feasting, partying and drinking.

From New Zealand's point of view, it's a nice bit of one-upmanship. Whilst we debate the merits of getting ANZAC and Waitangi day off on the Monday, if it falls on a Sunday, the Aussies go for a whole week off. We'll never catch up unless we leap ahead. Why don't we declare that the year 2040 will be an annual year off for every-one?

I wonder if any Unions in NZ need some extra publicity? It can't be long before Matt McCarten or Andrew Little suggests New Zealand closes down for the Rugby World Cup.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Andrei Let me tell you about the "birds and the bees" II

This post has been recycled from over two years ago to celebrate the fact that DPF has used the images it uses to mock Creationism.


This is Adam as painted by Albrecht Dürer. He is a man.

Adam was a father, the father of the human race. Since the time of Adam all fathers have been men. No man has ever been mother to a child.

All children that have ever been born have had exactly one father.


And this is Eve, the other half of the painting. She is a woman.

Eve was a mother, the first mother and mother to all humanity. And since the time of Eve all mothers have been women, without exception.

And all children that have ever been born have had exactly one mother.
And whether Adam and Eve actually existed or whether they are figures of myth is of little consequence in this regard. It is self evident, supported by human experience and biology that the pairing of exactly one male with exactly one female is what required to produce a child - the next generation to carry on.

To meet this necessity God, if you are a believer, or culture if you are not, has provided the institution of marriage. And necessity it is, for without the next generation there is no future at all. Cultures which fail to procreate disappear, overwhelmed by those that do.

And Marriage is the union of one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation. And it has been this way, to coin a phrase, since Adam was a cowboy. To be sure there have been societies that have adopted plural marriages(1) but no long term progressive society has ever been anything other than monogamous, unique pairings with one man married to one woman.

Other benefits from marriage ensue of course, such as companionship but it is the raising of children that is the primary purpose.

And none of this was in any doubt until very recently.

But in this age of absurdity there are those who see this arrangement as a civil rights violation. And those that point out what used to be called the "facts of life" are called "bigots".

Perhaps we should to go back to first principles for these folk - and give them the kindergarten talk about the "birds and the bees".

But they probably would be sloganizing far too loudly to hear a word.

(1) In societies where men can have multiple wives many men have no wives. This leads to violent warlike societies which have a need to conquer their neighbors. This serves two purposes foremost the capture of additional women to make up for the shortfall of wives and secondly the elimination of surplus males.

The only time christian society has supported polygamy, that I am aware of,was in parts of Germany after the thirty years war. In this case there had been a major population decline through the ravages of that war - and the males had suffered far more than the females leading to a shortage of the former and a surplus of the later. Thus for one generation polygamy was permitted to rebuild the population as a pragmatic solution to rebuilding their society.

Related Link:

Saturday, January 29, 2011

ZenTiger You never know where life might lead you

And surely it's better than being killed before your first step? Well, there are a group of people in our society that would strongly debate that concept. They can be quite pushy about it too, and one of their best arguments could be "Would you want me as a parent if I had wanted to kill you?"

But the reality is not all mothers facing abortion think that way. They may be letting others think for them. They may simply make a bad decision or a poor choice, based on a variety of factors that make them feel they have no choice. The irony, I suspect, of being pro-choice is that this is demanded because they feel they have none. I say irony also, because you can never be free of the consequences of some decisions.

Equally, the reality of taking on board such responsibility (looking after a baby) without the capability to manage it, without emotional and financial support can be (I imagine) absolutely crushing. Maybe society has to change for the abortion numbers to change. What would that change look like?

This is why it is so important to have these discussions in the public arena, and so I urge you to consider checking out the current 2011 Prolife NZ Tour. It's on the road right now, so check out the web site and expose yourself to some deep and meaningful thinking. Hear first hand some amazing and thought provoking stories, and spend a bit of time wondering what life is all about. Maybe just heal a little, feel a little and get real a little.

2011 Prolife NZ Tour is happening right now

Friday, January 28, 2011

Andrei Friday night free for all

Another week gone and darn near another month, 2011 is well under way.

Any chat time - it sure is a wet night here. I hope we don't float away before morning.

My gutters are overflowing and I have a damp cat drying herself by rubbing herself against my legs. Sigh

Andrei What the world needs now is another Genghis Khan?


Get this

In 1206 AD Genghis Khan began the Mongol invasion: a horse-crazed bow-wielding military force that swept through much of modern-day Asia into the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But aside from creating the world's largest empire, the Mongol invasion had another global impact that has remained hidden in history according to new research by Julia Pongratz of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology. Genghis Khan and his empire, which lasted nearly two centuries, actually cooled the Earth.

"It's a common misconception that the human impact on climate began with the large-scale burning of coal and oil in the industrial era," says Pongratz, lead author of the study in a press release. "Actually, humans started to influence the environment thousands of years ago by changing the vegetation cover of the Earth‘s landscapes when we cleared forests for agriculture."



Well I guess eliminating half the population across much of Eurasia as Ghengis Khan did was "good for the planet" but it most surely wasn't very good for those people who were the non survivors, indeed it wasn't very good for most of the survivors.

And that is the problem, isn't it? If human activity really does impact on the climate and it does to some extent, how much it does is up for debate, then the only real solution is less people and taken to its logical extreme no people whatsoever.

Is this why we are decimating our population with abortion?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Lucia WWII behind closed doors - the first episode

Wow. The deportations that my Dad experienced as a child are in this episode. And a whole lot of stuff on how the Soviets were directly helping the Nazis at the beginning of the war.

The episode is in 4 parts, further parts should be obvious as you watch each one.

Lucia WWII behind closed doors - the background

The first of a series of You-Tube clips on the WWII story that many people are not aware of.

Lucia The 2nd Polish Corps and the London Victory Parade [update 2]

I was asked yesterday (by Kowtow) on DPF's General Debate for more information about the Polish II Corps denied a place in the Victory Parade in London after WWII.

I found the following from Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade, which shows when and why Poland was excluded.  It was because Stalin wished it so.
Among the veterans who will march along The Mall on Sunday [July 2005] in a parade marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the second world war, few will participate with the same pride as a contingent of elderly Poles.
For the Poles and their military standards will be present for the first time in a British victory parade. Even though Poland made one of the largest contributions to the Allied war effort and there were thousands of Polish troops stationed in the UK at the time, the country was excluded from the original London celebration in 1946.
Stalin, who had established communist rule in eastern Europe, indicated that he did not wish Poland to be represented and the British authorities agreed for fear of offending their ally.

Today Kowtow expressed relief that this dishonour occurred 1946, after Churchill was no longer in power, having been replaced by the socialist Atlee.  However, the denial of a place in the victory parade was just visible confirmation of the policy that had been in place towards Poland for a number of years previously.  The alliance with Soviet Russia became paramount in the desire to first defeat Germany, while as Poland became collateral damage.

The one book I really recommend to truly understand what happened is by General Władysław Anders: An Army in Exile: The Story of the Second Polish Corps (Allied Forces Series). He conversed a number of times with Churchill, and various members of the British Government during the war, and relates some of those conversations in the book.

All in all, as the introduction by Harold Macmillan states: "No Englishman or American can read this record without a sense not only of sympathy, but of something like shame." 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Andrei What is odd in this picture?

It's a strange old world, sad at times. See if you can spot the strangeness in this photograph, it's not that hard, then click on it to get the background story.

Lucia Communist board game

Experience communism in a new Polish board game similar to Monopoly.

Players try to buy basic goods but food supplies run out before they reach the counter. If a bed is needed, they may be offered stools instead. Players needing the shop's last pair of shoes can get edged out by someone holding a "mother with small child" or "friend in government" card.



Related link: Polish board game recalls communist hardship ~ AP

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

ZenTiger Labour pledge to attack the middle class

Well, I predicted it. [and here] Remember how National dropped the income tax rates IN EXCHANGE for putting up the GST rate? Well, when Labour come in, the income tax rates go back up and the GST rate stays the same. They throw in a tax free threshold to appeal to the low incomes, but it, in socialist reform terms, is pathetically low (5K) and is only going to be introduced in "stages". Blimey, such conviction. At least he's held off doing GST exemptions for certain items.

Labour on its own looks unlikely to win the next election, but with the magic of MMP could find itself in the tax and spend seat under a coalition of all the minor parties: Elderly suffer tax shock

ZenTiger The cluster bomb

Kiwi children are running the gauntlet of fast-food restaurants every day – with outlets five times more likely to be clustered around schools, research shows.

And by running the gauntlet, are becoming extremely fit. Just imagine the gains if they put giant mouse wheels in front of fast food restaurants? But unfortunately, they didn't think of that. However, newer research [not yet released] shows that fast-food restaurants aren't being built around schools, but instead schools are being built around fast-food restaurants. Those lazy teachers.

The high number of burger joints and chip shops close to schools is thought to be a factor in the childhood-obesity epidemic sweeping the Western world.

Because walking past food is highly contagious. Can't people just get a vaccination for this and be protected? I heard a dose of the word "NO" can do wonders.

The problem has prompted the Secondary Principals Association to call for restrictions on what dairies near schools can sell during certain hours.

Thus proving Secondary Principals are ill-equipped to teach our children anything useful, unless they want to join the Hitler Youth Movement for their optional subject. The extremely reasonable and practical request to put half of the food on the top shelf between 8am and 4pm though doesn't take into account some kids are quite tall, but the Primary Principals Association (the cleverer ones) are calling for even higher shelves to be installed as mandatory and suggested a tax on ladders to remove the obvious loophole in such legislation.

A new study by Canterbury University's GeoHealth Laboratory shows that fast-food outlets are five times more likely to be clustered around schools than other areas. They are three times more likely to be nearby in poorer areas.

Did they also find schools were "clustered" around transport routes? Did they find that in areas of high density living they were "clustered" around shopping malls containing the aforementioned food stores, including yummy sushi, curries, and health conscious shops? Did they find that they were also "clustered" around school playing fields, sports centres and swimming pools? Is there no end to this madness where people refuse to build schools miles from civilisation?

"We would like to have some say in what can be sold in those dairies, particularly during school hours and after school finishes." Mr Walsh said it could be part of their licences that dairies agreed not to sell sugary and fatty foods at certain times.

But that at least paves the way for dairies to make money on alcohol, smokes and drugs. Or it paves the way for them to walk next door to the fast-food outlet (or was he going to simply ban those from operating?) But he has a point. I'd also like to have some input into what TV programs Mr Walsh watches, and what books he reads, because I think I could do a lot of good for Mr Walsh.

"We need support from the Government and parents. We can't do it alone.

So are you with me on fixing Mr Walsh? Don't worry, he'll thank us eventually.

The whole flavour of this article reminds me of Happy Days so long ago. All the time spent at the local fast-food outlet and Ritchie Cunningham and Fonzie didn't seem so chubby. So what went wrong?

Lucia European Parliament resolution condemning persecution against Christians

The European Parliament has done a most incredible thing.  It has issued a resolution against the world wide persecution of Christianity.  Recently it hosted a conference on world-wide persecution against Christians, and I think this conference must have awoken something.

It is one thing to live in a country where Christianity is disdained, such as NZ where very little outrage is elicited when an Anglican church is broken into and communion wafers stolen, and quite another when you realise that there are countries in the world where Christians live daily in fear for their lives. It's quite a sobering thought when you realise that 150,000 Christians a year are killed for their belief in Christ.
Virtually every human rights group and Western government agency that monitors the plight of Christians worldwide arrives at more or less the same conclusion: Between 200 million and 230 million of them face daily threats of murder, beating, imprisonment and torture, and a further 350 to 400 million encounter discrimination in areas such as jobs and housing. A conservative estimate of the number of Christians killed for their faith each year is somewhere around 150,000.

Christians are “the largest single group in the world which is being denied human rights on the basis of their faith,” the World Evangelical Alliance has noted.

In a report to a conference on Christian persecution hosted by the European Parliament last month, the U.S. Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life put it this way: while Muslims and Jews worldwide and Baha'is in Iran certainly suffer too, Christians were “harassed” by government factors in 102 countries and by social factors, such as mob rule, in 101 countries.

“Altogether, Christians faced some form of harassment in two-thirds of all countries,” or 133 nations, the report said. Muslims also face “substantial” harassment, the Pew report found, but in fewer countries.

Christians face harassment in more countries “than any other religious group,” a Pew Forum spokesperson told the Star.

Put in sharper focus, “at least” 75 per cent of all religious persecution in the world is directed against Christians, the conference was told.

The euphemistic term “harassment” encompasses vigilante and terrorist attacks against Christians in more than a dozen Muslim countries. In Sudan, an estimated 1.5 million Christians have been murdered by the Islamic Janjaweed militia, including some who were crucified. In Nigeria, 12 states have introduced sharia law. Thousands of Christians were killed in the ensuing violence.
Related link: Christianity arguably the most persecuted religion in the world ~ The Star

Anyway, here is the resolution.  Have a look at the end to see who it was forwarded to.

Andrei Poor Sir Elton John

Oh woe, are his civil rights are being violated?.
So what might be required to fix it?

Monday, January 24, 2011

ZenTiger One more girl


More about this project and their plea for help

ZenTiger Ratana Relationship Repaired?

Politicians make their annual pilgrimage to Ratana, near Wanganui to celebrate the birth of the religious movement's founder.

The National Government and its Maori Party partners presented a united face when Prime Minister John Key visited Ratana Pa this afternoon.

In a comment clearly aimed at Mr Harawira, Mr Key said: "I say to those critics, what can you achieve from opposition? And the answer is nothing.

"You achieve things when you are part of the solution, not when you are solely carping on about problems."
[United Front at Ratana]

And the National Government backed this up with a promise to spend an average of $27,000 on maintenance and insulation on each of the 100 homes ($2.7M total) in the Ratana community.

Link: Thumbnail Sketch of Ratana (The man the religion is based around) and a bit more here

Lucia When atheists are angry at God

I’ve been mad at just about anything you can imagine. Except unicorns. I’ve never been angry at unicorns.
I've shaken my fist in anger at stalled cars, storm clouds, and incompetent meterologists. I've even, on one terrible day that included a dead alternator, a blaring blaring tornado-warning siren, and a horrifically wrong weather forecast, cursed all three at once. I've fumed at furniture, cussed at crossing guards, and held a grudge against Gun Barrel City, Texas. I've been mad at just about anything you can imagine. Except unicorns. I've never been angry at unicorns.

It's unlikely you've ever been angry at unicorns either. We can become incensed by objects and creatures both animate and inanimate. We can even, in a limited sense, be bothered by the fanciful characters in books and dreams. But creatures like unicorns that don't exist – that we truly believe not to exist – tend not to raise our ire. We certainly don't blame the one-horned creatures for our problems.

I've noticed this as well.

Read more: When atheists are angry at God ~ CERC

Sunday, January 23, 2011

ZenTiger National promoting larger families

"They will now be able to transfer their property portfolio to their children. If, for example, a person earning $150,000 also earns a net $42,000 from their property portfolio and receives this personally, they pay $14,000 in tax on it (33 percent).

"But if they transfer this to their three children, the children then each have an income of $14,000 which is only taxed at 10.5 percent," Phil Goff said. "That means the total tax paid is $4410. That is a tax cut by stealth of $10,000 in this case."

Goff was blabbing on about the scrapping of Gift duty, and his example was rather useless, as the same scenario could be repeated in other ways under the old system.

So I think the main message is that National seem to be encouraging bigger families according to Goff. Three minimum. Well, that's nice.

PS: I think it is illegal to arrange your affairs so as to make tax avoidance the main reason for a transaction, so be careful following Goff's advice.

ZenTiger Making a mountain out of a tapu

[Partly Satirical]

Taranaki Department of Conservation Boss, Phil Mohi has declared no food may be cooked in New Zealand, but bringing in a packed lunch from overseas is permissible:

"The act of cooking over an ancestor is tapu – it's something that you just don't do," he said. "There's a difference too between eating prepared food for sustenance and actually cooking

And went on to explain all of New Zealand is an ancestor, with Northland the mohawk haircut, Auckland Harbour the mouth and eye, Mount Taranaki a nipple, the Cook Straight it's private bits and he declined to talk further about other locations. "Although there is no brain, it hasn't got a brain" he added thoughtlessly.

"Graffiti is also right out, unless you call it a tattoo or "ta moko".

"Also, in line with cultural sensitivity we also demand no New Zealander eat meat on Friday's and give up bacon. This prohibition will last 12 months until New Zealand is governed only by all things Māori."

Also: Experienced Mountain Guide surprised about Tapu.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

ZenTiger If its my problem, give me the power to fix it

"It's our problem"

I don't think I need to verify the countless editorials and statements from politicians and a dozen or so child care agencies that describe the extreme cases of child abuse that make our papers with all too much frequency.

Andrei Boy George gets good press

And deservedly so in a feel good story of the day.



"Before this, I had no idea who Boy George was," Brussels-based Bishop Porfyrios who led efforts for the icon's recovery told The Associated Press.

"He was positive about returning the icon."

The church said it was alerted about the icon's whereabouts by an informer who saw the singer with it on a Dutch TV show last November.

Boy George, who said he was unaware of the icon's history when he bought it, personally handed the icon over to Bishop Porfyrios in London on Tuesday. In return, the bishop gave him a modern icon of Christ as a token of gratitude and "with the wish that others soon follow his example."
The leader of the Cyprus church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, lauded the singer for doing the right thing.

"The moment he heard that the icon was stolen, I think that he did right to return it to the Church of Cyprus to which it belongs," the archbishop said. "We thank him and if he ever comes to Cyprus, we will certainly welcome him."

Fletch Co-opting "Civil Rights"

40 African-American political and religious leaders just got together on Martin Luther King's birthday to decry the Left's stealing co-opting of King's term "Civil Rights" for their own agendas, such as the push for homosexuality in society.
Of course, the mainstream media (who were given advance briefing of the event) largely ignored it, because it doesn't square with their ideology.

Andrei Say it isn't so

We are doomed, the wonderful scheme to save the planet from human economic activity by transferring wealth from the productive to the parasitic, chattering classes is rife with fraud.

Under the flagship trading scheme, companies need permits to emit carbon dioxide as part of the global fight against climate change. Polluters are granted a certain number of emissions allowances that can be traded.

However, it has been plagued by fraud, with Europol estimating that criminals trying to play the system accounted for up to 90pc of all market activity in some European countries during 2009.


Well I'll be! Who'd have thunk it possible?

ZenTiger Palin Derangement Syndrome


Friday, January 21, 2011

Lucia Friday night free for all

We missed out last week (I blame Summer time), but, here we are again. I have a glass of red and time to chat.

ZenTiger This really is the Pitts

So let me get this straight.


Twenty people shot.
Six killed.
Fourteen wounded.
And guess what?

It appears Sarah Palin is the principal victim of the shooting.

No, really.

So William, I'll help you get it straight.

Twenty people shot.
Six killed.
Fourteen wounded.

By a lone gunman with no connection to Sarah Palin
And guess what?


Thursday, January 20, 2011

Lucia Abuse smoking gun nothing more than a boiling kettle

Catholic haters have jumped the gun on this one. Again, the world's media falsely accuses the Vatican of a sexual abuse cover-up with yet another newly discovered document that is inflated to mean more than it actually does.

A newly revealed 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic Bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police - a disclosure that victims' groups described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the Vatican enforced a worldwide coverup.

That's from an AP article on the front page of today World section in the Dominion Post.

So, what is wrong with this picture?

Signed by the late Archbishop Luciano Storero, Pope John Paul II's diplomat to Ireland, the letter instructs Irish Bishops that their new policy of making the reporting of suspected crimes mandatory "gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."

In other words, the Irish Bishops are being warned that mandatory reporting is not a good idea. Mandatory reporting, of the type where there only has to be an accusation made of abuse and it must be reported to the police. Mandatory where the victim doesn't want to go to the police, no that would not matter, any crime of a sexual nature would be automatically reported to the police. Proof would not matter, credibility would not matter, the wishes of the victim would not matter - all that would matter is that the Bishops would be seen to be tough on sex abuse.

That's what is wrong with the picture.

The late Archbishop Luciano Storero never says to not report credible sexual abuse crimes to the police, all he warns against is the mandatory reporting policy the Irish Bishops were thinking of implementing.

This does not show that the Vatican enforced a worldwide culture of coverup as the article states. The only people making such a leap are those that already believe this and no evidence to the contrary is good enough for them.

The only story here is that no matter how small the pretext, the worldwide media, New Zealand's included, is ever ready to accuse the Vatican, Catholicism, the Popes and even every day Catholics of the most heinous crimes without any evidence. I suppose we can be relieved for now, that unlike the Muslims, they are not calling for our blood, yet.

Read More : Vatican warned Bishops not to report child abuse! ~ National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin

Andrei Philadelphia's house of horrors

The devil's work exposed in Philadelphia.
An abortion doctor who catered to minorities, immigrants and poor women was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.



The Grand Jury's report if you have the stomach for it.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

ZenTiger A couple of years race by

Boy Racers. Mostly annoying and often dangerous, but I say that in largely stereotypical fashion, because the species is wide and varied.

A couple of years on Judith Collins is reporting the success of her car crushing policy. At first glance, an 18% decrease seems to be a success. It depends how we define success though. I'm sure Stalin often had great reports on how the population was behaving themselves following 20 years of incentivising good behaviour.

We shouldn't crow too loudly on how easy it is to solve complex social issues, because for 8 cents and a pine box per problem, we could be publishing PowerPoint Graphs that the department of Statistics would simply gush over.

On the other hand, the policy seems to have a whole pile of caveats and exceptions, with the smell of hundreds of extra hours of valuable court time and piles of extra tax dollars spent to make sure we don't actually crush a car if it's going to cause extreme hardship, such as (in this day and age) hurt feelings.

So far no boy racer, nor boy racer car, have been crushed, but unlike smacking, it's legal to carry through on the threat.

Anyway, here's my take on Boy Racers back about 2 years ago (rehashed just below). Whaddya recokon?

Boy Racers

Mr and Mrs Smith returned home after a weekend away to find their house crushed. Previously, a charming three bedroom and study bungalow with carport, it has become a 3 metre by 4 metre compressed block.

"Frankly, we are stunned" said Andrew Smith. We had no idea our teenage son had organised a party in our absence. Apparently things got out of hand, the police were called and made the decision to crush the house. The thing is, without a house, we can't even ground him."

Andrei Quote of the day

Discrimination law is meant to act as a shield to protect people from unfair treatment, not to be used as a sword to attack those whose beliefs you disagree with.
This quote comes from an opinion piece in the Telegraph commenting on court case involving an elderly Christian Couple who run a guest house in Cornwall and two gays.

The couple have always maintained a strict policy of only allowing married couples to share a double bed. This policy is articulated in their brochures.

You can guess what happened, the happy couple turned up, were offered alternative arrangements but went off in a huff, and initiated a taxpayer funded discrimination suit.

And you can guess the rest.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

ZenTiger With egos this big, who would notice the bruise?

You woulda thought that with egos that big, a small bruise would be barely noticeable. But one of these bruised egos declares that Ricky Gervais will never work in Hollywood again. I guess every cloud has a silver lining, or do I mean every silver lining has a cloud?

So Redbaiter found a few of his one liners, and I thought they worked. Well, maybe to the TV audience, but the live audience oscillated between deadly quiet, and making those gasps they practice for finding a loved one completely dead in the opening scene.

They were no doubt all set for an enjoyable night of Bush, Palin and Tea Party mockery and they accidentally put a Brit on the stage. Whoops. You know those Brits, no class. Probably came from jersey-side or maybe New Brunswick. I hear that's a Northern State of America where the immigration issues aren't nearly as bad as in Arizona. Say, when can we have more of those Tea Party jokes? Maybe next year they can get Sheen and Downey? I don't think they are Tea Party, more like Teetotaler (before breakfast).

I found a couple of positive reports.
Some celebs loved it: Alec Baldwin wiped tears from his eyes while Robert De Niro cackled at a particularly vile Hugh Hefner joke. This morning, CNN host Piers Morgan tweeted this pearl of wisdom: “Complaining that Ricky Gervais was too rude is like inviting a shark to your pool & moaning when it bites the kids.”
So I wonder if they'll find this completely unrelated video clip (coming up in the link), as funny as I did. It's something to do with those Liberals wanting more Tea Party jokes: [Link Oh, shut up!]

Canadian Globe and Mail on Ricky horsing around at the G-G awards

Andrei Grieving for Eden

PM has blogged on the latest death of an innocent child, the very same child I posted on yesterday.

He starts off well enough noting, as I did the commonality between all these cases - and then notes how mealy mouthed political correctness stifles discussion when it comes to finding the solutions.

From here he goes off the rails.
Alas poor Milt conservative solutions are the only solutions.

If you read the Bible, a book of great wisdom God's plan for humanity is spelled out. Men and women are supposed to bond with one another, a lifetime bond.





It mattes not a whit whether this is a metaphor or is something that actual historical event it describes the idyll of human existence.

Alas we fell from grace and the idyll God intended for us is not always achieved and secular Government policy in the past forty years has been hell bent minimizing the marital arrangement.

No fault divorce was the initial weapon, Domestic Purposes Benefits and Gay Marriage are all part of this assault.

But without question those who manage an approximation of living a marriage as given to us by God are more content, more successful in life and their children do better in the world than those who don't. And those who have undertaken a sacramental marriage are more likely, in my experience to achieve this than those who are married before a state sanctioned celebrant in a Public park or who don't bother with any ceremony at all.

There are many examples in the scriptures of the Israelites turning their faces from God and in each case disaster for the Nation ultimately follows.

We live in a Nation that has turned our face from the God of our Fathers - for what is secularism if not that.

And the results are painfully evident.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Lucia The Vatican and Communism

A number of years ago, I wrote a post for Sir Humphrey's which included the quote below.  After finally finding it again for a comment made on Crusader Rabbit, I've now also found the source, which deals with the dealings of the Vatican with Communism.

Here's the quote showing how much of a threat the Soviets considered Roman Catholicism:
'We Communists feel pretty sure we can triumph over London capitalism but Rome will prove a harder nut to crack. If Rome did not exist, we would be able to deal with all the various brands of Christianity. They would all finally capitulate before us. Without Rome, religion would die.'
~ Chicherin, Foreign Minister of the USSR in 1925, in a comment made to the Apostolic Delegate, Mons Michel d'Herbigny, from The Vatican and the Red Flag: the struggle for the soul of Eastern Europe by Jonathan Luxmoore, Jolanta Babiuch.

Fletch Reagan - Man With A Backbone II

Reagan, again, on abortion.

Hattip: Semper Vita

Fletch Reagan - Man With A Backbone I

Wisdom of Reagan. He speaks of the Liberals, then, but this could easily be directed to Barrack Obama now. Just replace "Iron Curtain" and "Khrushchev" with "Iran" and "Ahmadinejad" and he could be speaking about the United States current policy of appeasement. We need more men with backbone like this today.

Full text of video after jump

Andrei Monday morning blues and another dead baby

A contemporary New Zealand horror: Man charged over baby's death so common now that we read the report, sigh and move on.

There is very little detail in the story but when they emerge its a pound to a penny that the usual factors will be evident.

For forty years Governments have enacted policies which undermine the raising of children in families, undermined marriage while the modern conformation of "sexuality" and sexual freedom has trumped the importance of sex in procreation.

The result fewer children are born (17000+ murdered in the womb last year alone) and a large proportion of those who are are born into highly dysfunctional environments.

As a culture we have turned our back on the importance of raising children in traditional family units, often sneering at such arrangements and as a consequence we are sliding back into barbarism as evidenced in the story linked above.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

ZenTiger AGW blame not worth the toilet paper it was written on

A huge forest fire in Israel in December generated a strong statement from Greenpeace:



The rains might be coming late this year for Israel, but it would help if an environmentalist? at a Rainbow Camp in the area hadn't set it off in the first place by lighting her toilet paper at a time of hot dry weather!


How unfortunate that "ecological reasons" can do so much damage to the environment.

And how was the fire put out? Well, the rains finally came which helped mop up the fires. As of two days ago, Israel are on stand-by for potential floods as heavy rain sweeps across the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt.

Meanwhile, I note that Greenpeace in the above extract urged Israel to not build any more coal fired power stations, and the NZ Greens told the Queenslanders to consider ending their coal production to save themselves from further flooding. Is this a common theme that will continue through 2011?

Andrei Grey hair for gravitas


At the memorial two days ago

From Glenn Reynolds

WHAT, HE’S GOT SOME KIND OF “HAIR WARDROBE” NOW? Ann Althouse: “And what’s the first thing you notice — the difference between today and the speech he gave at the memorial? Right. Different color hair. Gray for the memorial, signifying the wise elder, the father figure. Back to dark hair to signify the vigorous young man, ready to forge ahead, solving problems, and restoring his party’s electoral fortunes.”

Saturday, January 15, 2011

ZenTiger Greens calling the shots

The Green Party is calling for further investigations following a ruling by NATO that New Zealand SAS troops were acting in self-defence during a night raid in Afghanistan.

It's not just a ruling by NATO, but our own Defence Force brass.

Greens spokesperson for defence, Keith Locke, says according to a Wikileaks document the President of Afghanistan, Harmid Karzai, had asked for night raids to cease because of the dangers involved.

So what? It wasn't a night raid, as such. The men had orders to go out, in response to a suspicion of imminent attacks on the US Embassy. So they went out, they got shot at, and ultimately returned fire resulting in the death of 2 security guards.

It isn't enough that a full investigation was carried out, and it isn't enough that an Afgan General was suspended, and a Colonel fired for the overall handling of the incident. No, they want more blood, because they don't agree the SAS should be there. However, it is one thing not to want our boys there, and quite another to look for ways of putting the boot into these men just to make a political point.

I'm not impressed.

Investigation clears NZ SAS, so the Greens want another investigation, and another..

But the Greens like calling the shots. Which is why they were shooting from the hip at the poor people of Queensland.

ZenTiger The Uncivil War

The American progressives are losing it. They demand greater civility in political dialogue, and then get caught out being most uncivil.

First they try to blame the Tea Party, by leaping in with wild speculation before the blood from Jared Loughner's gun has even dried. Then they accuse Palin of inciting murder, because of campaign map icons. Bulls-eyes on the targeted states for a political campaign! Oops, sorry, it was the Democrats who used the bulls-eye. An easy mistake to make.

And if incitement to murder was as bad as the Democrats say, why do so many of them own "Kill Bush" T-Shirts, or tweet "Some-one needs to kill Sarah Palin? These are not isolated incidents, Sarah Palin has racked up hundreds of death threats against her. And this most uncivil discourse is only encouraging more, and all based on fabricated progressive-hype. This report from the Wall Street Journal sums it up:

Andrei The Turkish Frankenstein's operations in Kosovo

A modern day horror, the EU has gathered evidence that organs taken from Serb prisoners were trafficed from Kosovo during the war and for some time afterwards.

This man Turkish surgeon Yusuf Ercin Sonmez is believed to be responsible for the organ removal.

He has been arrested in Turkey and if found guilty of war crimes will serve his time there.

Over 1800 Serbs remain missing in Kosovo.

Friday, January 14, 2011

ZenTiger Satire: Proof Jared Loughner is a Tea Party Follower

Andrei Mealy mouthed generation

Have you ever read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. It's been a standard classroom text for generations.

But despite its literary merit a problem has developed.

When Mark Twain wrote it the standard term for a black person was the um N-WORD and it appears 219 times within the text.

So the latest editions fix this by changing the unacceptable word where ever it appears to "slave", thereby destroying the rhythm and flow of the original prose.

Literature and art are a context of their times and modifying them to match modern sensitivities kind of ruins the point of reading them.

On a related matter an old Dire Straits song has fallen foul of the language police.

Yes this song can no longer be played in its original form in Canada because the lyrics contain the word "Faggot", ironically used ironically.

How long before Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice gets banned for its antisemitism I wonder?

Funny thing is we studied that text at school and in the course of that study discussed antisemitism and various anti Jewish libels current at the time it was first written and performed. A far more valuable learning experience than would be had if we could only access it through a cleaned up version or read a more innocuous text.

ZenTiger Egypt needs to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries

The German President condemned Egypt's recent demands regarding German property, and suggested that they stay out of German affairs entirely.

This diplomatic row came about as Egyptians demanded the "return" of a 3,400-year-old bust of the wife of the Sun King Akhenaten, which has been in German hands since 1912.

Now the Egyptians want it back, if not for keeps, then at least on loan to mark the opening in 2012 of a new Grand Egyptian Museum, near the Pyramid at Giza. If the Egyptian Museum in Berlin does not agree, says Zahi Hawass, there will be trouble. “We will make the lives of these museums miserable,” the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt said. “It will be a scientific war.”

For a full background, read here: Coptic Christians the sole property of the Egyptian State.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Lucia How to look idiotic, a guide for Islamic countries

Recall your ambassador to the Vatican, because the Pope calls on you to protect your Christian minority from violent death because of their Christianity.
CAIRO: Egypt called home its Ambassador to the Vatican on Tuesday in protest of Pope Benedict XVI’s call for certain countries, including Egypt, do more to ensure Christians can practice their faith without discrimination or violence.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the Pope’s statements and labeled them as “interference”.

“The Vatican’s new statements touch on Egyptian internal affairs, which Egypt considers an unacceptable interference,” a spokesman of the ministry said.

“Egypt will not allow non-Egyptians to interfere in its internal affairs under any pretext,” said Hossam Zaki, spokesman of Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Do they even realise how idiotic this makes them look?

Related link: Egypt recalls Vatican Ambassador after Pope’s statements ~ Bikyamasr

Andrei An elegant solution

Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr have a problem.

The Pope has the answer.

Andrei The ball has left the park,

This is right on target, I guess we are still allowed to use that metaphor.

And this tosh from yesterday is exposed for what it is - foolishness.

Meanwhile the wailing starts to rise from the pens of the usual suspects.

Life goes on as usual.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Andrei Trip to Bethlehem

Well I’ve been on a trip around Israel, following almost to a tee a 10 day Christian-based itinerary provided by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. I started in Tel Aviv then headed up the west coast, across to Galilee, then down the eastern flank through the Dead Sea to Eilat and then finally back up to Jerusalem via The Negev. One notable omission from their comprehensive itinerary is Bethlehem, probably since it is located in a Palestinian National Authority controlled area. By chance of luck I had an extra day due to the timing of my flights and reserved that final day while based in Jerusalem to visit Bethlehem.

Fletch Who Are The Real "Haters"?

After the recent tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gifford in the US and the subsequent attack by Liberals on Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and the Right (which had nothing to do with it), Michelle Malkin has put together a little 'Illustrated Primer" (a link to which Zen has also given in a post below) looking back ten years that shows who the real haters are. It's not the Conservatives, who are only standing up for the Constitution and their morals rights: no, it is the progressive Left who cannot seem to contain their hate, but must express it in images like the one shown here for example, an image sold on Getty (now withdrawn) of someone pointing a rifle at Sarah Palin and her daughter, and the infamous "Abort Sarah Palin" stickers.

The ultimate in hypocrisy.

Andrei Julian Assange jumps on "vitriolic political discourse" bandwagon

People have grown bored with wikileaks - it was titillating for a while but even Julian Assange's problems with Swedish law have grown stale.

So in a sorry effort to drum up sympathy Mr Assange issues a press release

WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange said: "No organisation anywhere in the world is a more devoted advocate of free speech than Wikileaks but when senior politicians and attention seeking media commentators call for specific individuals or groups of people to be killed they should be charged with incitement -- to murder. Those who call for an act of murder deserve as significant share of the guilt as those raising a gun to pull the trigger."

“WikiLeaks has many young staff, volunteers and supporters in the same geographic vicinity as these the broadcast or circulation of these incitements to kill. We have also seen mentally unstable people travel from the US and other counties to other locations. Consequently we have to engage in extreme security measures.”


Wikileaks and its buzz are going down the same road as chatter rings, remember them?

ZenTiger Another Assassination in America

I find the continual character assassinations of Sarah Palin by the media with obvious left wing biases quite disgusting. On one hand they urge the reader to consider that the rhetoric has got out of hand, and this climate of fear and hate must be restrained. And then they put the boot in.

So the latest speculations and conjectures by Catherine Philp, [story here] who has a history of writing articles on Palin that stress the negatives and ignore the positives, declares the Arizona shooting the end of Palin's career. "Only the harshest of her opponents truly believes that Mrs Palin can be blamed...", and that would have to include Catherine Philp then, because she casts her spin-bias over the rest of the article. "Mrs Palin's silence may be more than just a simple lack of words..." she opines, after explaining that Palin has been totally and absolutely silent during this tragic time (apart from issuing her condolences, but that doesn't count apparently). Phelp is very angry about the cross hairs over the US states with Democrats in them, apparently so quick to publish her character assassination, she hasn't had the time to research that the Democrats preferred map icon are bulls eyes.

As part of her spade work, she quotes from a Republican source that has a chip on his shoulder about Palin. It's the kind of writing that telegraphs what the writer is thinking: Mrs Palin, you say nothing and I'll call that deafening silence. You say anything, and I'll point out that it is insensitive to speak up at a time when the media focus should be on the victims, not the politicians who "contributed" to the problem.

And as you would expect, the article isn't even original. She's taping into all of the anti-Palin media commentators that want Palin off the scene, using the Arizona tragedy to call it Palin's "turning point". The media want to define this as the "defining moment" for Palin, even when they acknowledge:


The progressive left may think they've got a win-win from this situation. Either blame Palin, the Tea Party and the word "right" on this whole affair, or place potentially huge restraints on freedom of speech. Make metaphors using weapons illegal, no less. Because they are above the hatchet jobs. Because they don't engage in character assassination. Because they think this hurts the enemy more than it will hurt them. Because wounding free speech is acceptable collateral damage.

If this is their best shot, they are going to lose the war of words. If they want to tone down the rhetoric though, they themselves have to STFU.

No Minister: The Citizens aren't buying it

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

ZenTiger Awesome

Actions speak louder than words, and whilst the USA debates how loud words are allowed to be, looks like these quiet actions by Egyptian Muslims made all the difference: Moderates are willing to die for their beliefs. Extremists are willing to kill for them

ZenTiger Razing Arizona

The Loony Left at work
The efforts to blame the Tea Party Movement and/or Sarah Palin for the terrible and tragic mass shooting event in Arizona from the self-described peace loving, rational, progressives above the flaming rhetoric and incitement to violence is easily unmasked by Michelle Malkin.

The Progressive Climate of Hate

Sometimes, people who take the higher ground are just looking for a better shot.

Update 11:30PM : The left and the H Bomb and check out Crusader Rabbit and True Blue NZ (and most of the blogosphere for that matter) for a variety of coverage.  True Blue has a list of the victims and their profiles.

Andrei Matching Vladimir's manliness?

Is there anyone out there who might match Vladimir Putin for machismo?

Perhaps there is, click on the image below to find out just who it might be.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Andrei In search of holiness

My last post displayed an ugly video, the misuse of religion.

In response to that here is a video with Holiness on display. A camera crew go in search of Anchorites in Romania and find one.

Andrei Things to make your stomach churn

We live in a fallen world and we all struggle to negotiate the snares and pitfalls that entails.

And bad things happen to good people as we saw yesterday in Arizona. But this is not a punishment delivered from God for the sins of the American people. Apparently Judge John Roll had just attended Mass and had just dropped by to see Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on impulse.

Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Greene who was born on September 11, 2001 did nothing to bring this upon herself. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is with the Lord now, of that I am confident.

And those who would disrupt her funeral, as is threatened, bringing further pain to her grieving family in order to advance their agenda are not doing the Lord's work, they serve another master entirely.


Sunday, January 9, 2011

Andrei Metaphors don't kill but nutters can

The big story of the day is the shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords seriuously wounding her and 12 others, leaving another five people, including a federal judge dead.

And craziness ensues - in the media, in the blogosphere and on Twitter.

An early claim was the culprit was an veteran of Afghanistan, appearing in many reports - nope turns out the fellow tried to enlist but was rejected. Too bad the crazed vet meme is a dog that wont run.

More persistent is a campaign map from the girl everyone loves to hate. It had targets over seats believed to be winnable by the Republicans in the last election cycle. And one of those seats was the one held by congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And this may have incited todays events according to the excitable.

Phooey - everyone knows its a metaphor and it is highly unlikely the culprit ever saw it unless he was directly engaged in the campaign or is a total political junkie. Neither of which seems likely.

And nor is modern American politics more divisive than in days or yore. Far from it.

For example Vice President Aaron Burr killed United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel back in 1804. In fact through the years several congressmen have died this way.

In just about all the assassinations and attempted assassinations of politicians since Lincoln the assassins have been loopy, upset about things that are not on either parties agenda or anybodies else's for that matter.

John Hinckley, Jr's motivation you may recall for shooting Ronald Reagan had something to do with Jodie Foster. You can't really unravel that, it doesn't make sense but it happened.

It had nothing to do with partisan politics though.

Same with todays tragedy - I predict we will never get any sensible explanation as to why.

And empty chatter about campaign maps and KOS postings is just a waste of time.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

ZenTiger Squatting Rights

With a tent and an airbed packed into his old silver Mercedes-Benz, and a kayak strapped on top, overstayer Jurgen Karl Ahrens made the New Zealand outdoors his home.

For 20 years, the 72-year-old German avoided authorities and deportation back to his home country because he was always on the move.
Alas, after 20 years slipping past the entire NZ Police Force, our armed forces, the Department of Conservation Park Rangers (second only to Texas Rangers and those rangers that catch people stealing too much paua), and the nosey next door neighbours, Jurgen has been captured and summarily deported.

This is a travesty, and I think we have to take a long hard look at the rights of the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, as Jurgens most surely is, and wonder if we too are on borrowed time? 20 years out bush and we treat him as an over-stayer? He obviously loves the place. What hope for those who have spent the last three years doing Year 11?

Friday, January 7, 2011

Lucia Friday night free for all

It's Christmas again.

Chat time for anyone not busy celebrating.

Lucia Why homosexuality is incompatible with conservatism

A very succinct explanation on why homosexuality is incompatible with conservatism.



For example, an article in the Utne Reader highlights individuals who came out of the closet as homosexual, but were later attracted to heterosexual relationships again. The article quotes psychotherapist Bret Johnson explaining that people today “don’t want to fit into any boxes — not gay, straight, lesbian, or bisexual ones.” Instead “they want to be free to change their minds.”

What we’re seeing, Johnson concludes, is “a challenge to the old, modernist way of thinking ‘This is who I am, period’ and a movement toward a postmodern version, ‘This is who I am right now.’”



This contradicts conservatism at its philosophical core. Conservatism bases human rights on the recognition that there are certain non-negotiable givens in human nature, prior to the state, which the state is obligated to respect.

As political scientist Philippe Beneton explains, in conservatism, equality “is grounded in the recognition of what is human.” By contrast, in liberalism, equality “is founded on the claim that nothing is specifically human” — that human nature itself is a social construction, something we make up as we go along, including our psychosexual identity.

In that case, however, there is nothing in the individual that is given, which the state is therefore obligated to respect. Liberalism undermines the basis for inalienable human rights.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Andrei Christmas

For many Christians of the East the 7th of January is Christmas Day. I am a Orthodox Christian and the Church day begins at sunset. Since the sun has set where I am it's Christmas.

As you may have read Christians in many parts of the world are coming under attack in their Churches. A Coptic Church in Alexandria was bombed last weekend with many deaths

What you may not know that an open threat has been issued against the Coptic Christians to disrupt and attack their Celebration of the Nativity.

This threat includes not only the Copts in Africa and the Middle East but extends to European and North American Copts as well.

Let us pray the celebrations of the Prince of Peace remains peaceful.

What is for certain in many places it will be somewhat subdued.

ZenTiger Goff announces new cabinet line-up

Phil Goff has ended speculation by announcing a new cabinet line-up in order to lift Labour's flagging position in the polls and face the upcoming election with at least a small chance of success.

John Key has been offered Deputy Prime Minister, with Phil Goff confirming rumours that John Key was thinking of retiring from National "if Labour wins the election".

"With John Key on board, we think we've got a great chance of winning and we fully expect John to turn our fortunes around. He has great experience with implementing Labour policy, and brings some fresh new centrist ideas to the mix", said Goff.

Goff has appointed Donald Duck as Shadow Minister of Women's Affairs, suggesting that the popular Disney Character has mainstream appeal and can relate to both younger and older voters. "Assuming he beats the recent groping and sexual assault charges, we think Donald adds a certain amount of integrity over our former line-up".

ZenTiger The worst ideas in the world - The Midgley Award

The Darwin Awards commemorate those who yield to natural selection and "remove" themselves from the gene pool, ensuring that the next generation is fathered by one less idiot unless they were idiotic enough to father a child before they eradicated themselves. (Funny how we assume Darwin candidates are male, or is it a fact?)

What a great concept. In that tradition, I propose "The worst ideas in the world award" which could suitably be named "The Midgley Awards".

Thomas Midgley Jr. came up with some truly bad ideas. He was an engineer and chemist by trade, doing his "best" work from the 1920's. Thomas Midgley managed to severely damage the environment by synthesizing chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and also came up with the idea of adding TEL (lead) to petrol, killing people and the environment with spectacular success.

He is the perfect poster boy for this award, as he also qualifies for a Darwin Award. After contracting polio, probably due to the lead poisoning, he invented a bed with an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. His invention was the eventual cause of his death when he was accidentally entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.

I'd also like to lead with the first entry for this award for 2011. This has to be one of the worst ideas I've read all year, but don't let the fact it is early January fool you into thinking the quality of the entry may be substandard. It is truly bad, and there are many Greenies already excited by this idea, so I don't think I'm exaggerating here.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Lucia Anglican conversions to Rome far more high profile now

Anglicanism is being rescued by Pope Benedict. Who would have thought! The old ecumenism is dead...

The ordination of women, the consecration of women bishops, the rationalization of homosexual unions, the doctrinal apostasy and the open moral degeneracy has led Benedict XVI to conclude that the new ecumenism is not a diplomatic building of bridges, but a bold establishment of a new kind of Anglicanism within the greater fold of the Catholic Church.

Fr Dwight Longenecker on Anglican Catholics Then and Now ~ Catholic Online

Andrei Now this is weird

Hundreds of snapper wash up on beaches

Interesting but not earth shaking but from Canada

Hundreds of dead fish 'a natural occurrence

And from Florida

Cold snaps blamed for dead fish found floating in Spruce Creek

Not forgetting Maryland

Massive fish kill reported in Chesapeake Bay

And Brazil

We also have multiple reports of birds falling dead from the sky in Arkansas as well as dead fish in the Arkansas River and Louisiana.

Coinicidence and is it happening elsewhere where reports are slower to get out?

ZenTiger Anthropogenic Geo-Political Warming

Anthropogenic Geo-Political Warming (AGW)

Political Scientists today confirmed the human race risks extinction due to the uncontrolled increase of AGW, more commonly known as Anthropogenic Geo-Political Warming, pointing to the disappearance of the Cold War due to unprecedented man-made political activity.

Skeptics have pointed out that it may be economics, and not politics that moved us out of a Cold War. Politics may be a by-product of human activity, and not a causal factor. Political expression, they argue, doesn’t automatically require establishment of a world government and new taxes.

The United Nations has called for the establishment of a world government and new taxes to combat man-made Geo-Political Warming. UN Spokesman for the Geo-Political Environment puts the blame squarely on Western Democratic principles. Western Democracies have long since exhibited an excess of freedom and therefore a disproportional output in political discourse, which is said to be behind this dangerous increase in political activity.

The American EPA (Environmental Political Agency) has defined freedom as a pollutant, and suggests it needs to be curbed through taxes and some form of "freedom trading scheme".

ZenTiger For the love of kids

A PAEDOPHILE has reportedly made a deathbed confession that Madeleine McCann was kidnapped to order. Raymond Hewlett, who was a suspect in the case, reportedly wrote to his son, Wayne, with details, The Sun said. In the letter, Hewlett claimed she had been stolen to order by a gypsy gang who kidnap children for wealthy couples unable to have kids or adopt.

I didn't notice this news article when it came out, and I have no idea how credible it is - it just sounds too bizarre to be believable.

But then again, I am assured the main criteria around procuring children, is that they go to parents, natural or otherwise, that will love them and treat them well. A wealthy couple desperate to have a child would surely fit that criteria?

For a greater cause?

[Yes, I'm using real life to make a silly point. Don't blame me, blame real life. Just because it's bizarre, stupid and unfair doesn't mean it doesn't happen, I guess.]

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

ZenTiger Christianophobia

Pope Benedict XVI denounced the "vile and murderous" New Year's Day killing of 21 Egyptian Christians, and was rebuked by Egypt's top Muslim cleric for an "unacceptable interference in Egypt's affairs."

Bombs also killed two people in Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 30 in the latest attacks on the Christian minority there.

In two other recent outbreaks of what Benedict has denounced as "Christianophobia," six people were killed at two Christian churches in northeastern Nigeria on Christmas Eve.

At least six were injured by a bomb at a Catholic church on the island of Jolo in the Philippines on Dec. 25.

It's actually not a comprehensive list - attacks on innocent Christians by radical Muslims seems to be on the increase. For all the respect Muslims demand over their holy periods, Muslim terrorists seem to favour Christmas and Easter as great times to go killing. Check out Jihad watch for the latest information

Lucia Gay activism using babies

"What we are hoping that, by having a surrogate son, Sir Elton will make the whole concept more socially acceptable."
That's Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, one of the men who advised Elton John, from the article in today's Dominion Post Meet Dad and Dad: a morality tale for our times. Except the original article from The Telegraph is titled Elton John baby: "Thanks to Zacahary, gay surrogacy will become more acceptable".

Lucia Note to self

When sweeping up leaves near flowering hydrangeas, don't wear a floral dress, as bumblebees are likely to get confused and fly into the dress, thus getting trapped and maybe even stinging you.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Lucia Absurd comparisons used as a weapon in cultural wars

Comparing groups of human beings who engage in particular immoral behaviours, and who define themselves by that behaviour with race, is absurd. Such as this piece of idiocy, where Pink News is upset that a Christian was called into comment by the BBC on Elton John's baby.
Pink News accuses the BBC of irresponsibly seeking extremist views: "Would they ask a member of the Ku Klux Klan to comment on the birth of a surrogate child to a mixed raced couple?"
Not only is this comparison absurd, it is highly offensive. But that doesn't seem to stop anyone.

So what did the Christian dare to say? Here it is.
"This isn't just a designer baby for Sir Elton John, this is a designer accessory," said Green, who represents the group Christian Voice and is an outspoken critic of homosexual relationships. "Now it seems like money can buy him anything, and so he has entered into this peculiar arrangement. A baby needs a mother and it seems an act of pure selfishness to deprive a baby of a mother."

Related link:  BBC coverage of Elton's baby provokes claims of homophobia The Independent

Fletch MTV Abortion Programme

Andrei posted about this a little bit the other day, but MTV had a show recently devoted to following some girls who have an abortion. Lori Ziganto over at Big Journalism posts a scathing review of the show and it's abortion sales pitch ("it's just a 'ball of cells'") to youth. It's worth reading the entire post, but some snippets -
