Ross Meurant: There Is No Democracy Without Debate

Germany’s President Steinmeier, said he felt it was his duty to “call for public debate over serious questions.”  He argued that “there is no democracy without debate.”

Addressing the issue of the issue of compulsory vaccination, President Steinmeier said this applied to times of crisis as well. (1)

In a previous post, Rights Denied, (2) I raised the question of being, shut out of public debate.

In particular I focused on the issue of this Labour/Green government elevating Maori above all other ethnic communities which make up New Zealand and provided specific examples of esteemed academics being vilified and blacklisted (‘scuse the pun) from public discourse.  Hon Dr Michael Bassett and Professor Liz Rata – being two of the most profile.

Guy Hatchard: Investigating the Science Behind Vaccinating 5-11-Year-Olds

An Indictment: Does the vaccination programme for teens and younger surpass the threshold for criminal prosecution?

D-Day for vaccinating 5-11-year-olds is upon us. If as a parent (or a politician) you do a google search “Is Covid vaccination of 5-11-year-olds safe?” you turn up a host of articles not only assuring you that it is safe and effective but also urging you that it is necessary.

First among these are the official NZ government information web pages. If you have doubts and persist by broadening your search criteria, the same kind of reassuring articles from a great variety of sources appear.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 9.1.22

Friday January 14, 2022 

News:
Former police officer appointed to council role
Former Rotorua Police area commander Anaru Pewhairangi will take up a new role at the Rotorua Lakes Council.

He has been appointed as Rotorua Lakes Council’s Deputy Chief Executive – Community Wellbeing.

Chris Trotter: Make or Break

He Puapua threatens to do to New Zealand’s Right what Rogernomics did to its Left.

IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS the New Zealand Right will face a battle for its very survival. If the combined votes of Labour and the Greens add up to a parliamentary majority in 2023, then the rules of the political game will be changed fundamentally. Capitalism as we have known it, along with our liberal-democratic political system, will be changed profoundly.

The re-foundation of New Zealand (a name which the new Labour-Green government will likely consign to the dustbin of history) will make it virtually impossible for the traditional Right to stage a comeback – at least democratically. Why? Because there will be literally nowhere for the force of a right-wing majority to be brought to bear. The restoration of the status quo ante will, constitutionally, cease to be an option.

Over the top? Don’t you believe it. This is how top-down revolutions work. The first decisive changes are made, and then, if the revolutionary government is re-elected, those changes are embedded beyond the capacity of practical politicians to reverse.

Henry Armstrong: Defence Overview Unbelievably Inept and Ignorant

The recently–released report emanating from the Operation Burnham enquiry in which a review of our Defence Force is recommended, demonstrates an unbelievable degree of ineptitude and outright ignorance amongst the enquiry team. The enquiry panel included two military members (one retired) amongst its highly-politicised makeup, but dominated mostly by bureaucrats with no military experience at all.

Amongst the recommendations is a clear proposal that civilians must have a far greater involvement in on-the-ground future military operations than at present. Really?  And just how might that translate in the following scenario:

An NZDF soldier is patrolling a village in a Middle-Eastern country in which ISIS terrorists are very active. Approaching her checkpoint is a person clothed head to foot in a traditional garment with only their eyes uncovered. The person is holding a small child by the hand and should not be out on the street - there is a “curfew” in place. The gender of the person cannot be determined. The soldier’s instructions are to require any curfew-breaker to halt, identify themselves and the reason they are breaking curfew. Should they desist or refuse to stop, the NZ soldier is then entitled to......?

Net Zero Watch: A third of Britons fear energy bills will become unaffordable this year

 

In this newsletter:

1) A third of Britons fear energy bills will become unaffordable
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
 
2) Boris under pressure as Tory voters terrified they can’t afford energy bills
Daily Express, 10 January 2022

Net Zero Watch: Boris warned energy crisis could topple the Tory Government

 

In this newsletter:

1) Boris warned energy crisis could topple the Tory Government
Express on Sunday, 9 January 2021
 

2) Lord Frost: Be a true Tory Boris or you're out
Mail on Sunday, 9 January 2021

Ross Meurant: Rights Denied - Denied By Whom?

Leighton Baker (1), a hard-core Christian, is reported as being opposed to gender theory, prostitution, decriminalisation of abortion, marijuana and euthanasia.

When an MP I voted for gay rights, against hanging, pro-abortion and have made a case to legalize dope. (2)  And I’m a pagan.

Baker had his Twitter page taken down a month out from the last election. NZ Herald no longer publish me.

Eminent historian, former MP, Hon Dr Michael Bassett, who clinically debunks interpretations by some Maori of the Treaty of Waitangi and who condemns the concomitant power grabs by Maori; (3) from water rights to preferential treatment and control of New Zealand’s health industry, is now blacklisted (excuse the pun) from Main Stream Media. (4)

Bonner R Cohen: Biden's 'Build Back Better' Could Have Destroyed Jobs

The Biden administration-backed “Build Back Better” (BBB) tax and spending bill went back to the drawing boards when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced he would not support the current version of the bill on Dec. 19.

BBB’s health care and housing provisions contain “the single largest permanent increase in work disincentives since the income tax came into its own during World War II,” writes Casey Mulligan, former chief economist of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration, on his blog. 

BBB would “reduce work by limiting competition in the labor market, imposing employer mandates, and increasing consumer prices for telecommunications, energy, and other products,” writes Mulligan.

Net Zero Watch: Boris Johnson caves to Tory fury with energy emergency plan

 

In this newsletter:

1) Boris Johnson caves to Tory fury with energy emergency plan
Daily Express, 6 January 2022
  
2) MPs turn up heat on Boris Johnson to cut tax on energy bills
The Times, 5 January 2022

Breaking Views Update: Week of 2.1.22

Saturday January 8, 2022 

News:
'Eyesore' of a building attracts squatters, and ongoing criticism
Members of the public are calling for action on Facebook to either save the six-storey structure, which is landbanked and under the management of Toitū Te Whenua/Land Information New Zealand, or for it to be demolished.

Te Atiawa, as part of its Treaty of Waitangi settlement deal, has first right of refusal to buy the property, if the iwi wanted it.

Henry Armstrong: The Covid 19 Dilemma - To Vax Or Not To Vax

Let me start this article by declaring that I am double-vaccinated against Covid19, with a booster scheduled for next week. 

In my lifetime, I have seen a number of pandemics in New Zealand come and go; have been vaccinated or inoculated for all of them; and had no option but to submit to these procedures in my early years under parental guidance or military law and discipline. I carried an International Health Certificate in my passport for many years, producing it on demand in many countries I sought to enter. Yes, I had a very bad reaction to one lot - TAB, as I recall - and another from the Asian Flu in the 1950s. I brought back Malaria from South-East Asia and suffered the indignities of spasms in cinemas. In operational theatres, diseases such as Malaria, Dengue fever and Typhoid were rife. Not all prophylactics were successful - especially against Malaria (Paludrin), Scrub Typhus (DBP, now recognised as deadly as Agent Orange), glandular fever and dysentery treatments. I survived!

Bruce Moon: An Open Letter to Professor Jacinta Ruru and her friends

Well, our Jacinta Ruru has certainly done quite nicely for herself: a professorship in law, an award in the New Year Honours and a nice little article, with a photograph, in “Waatea News” for 1st January 2022.[1]

So there she is, “from Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui, and Ngāti Manapoto [sic]”. Yet her photograph shows that she unequivocally has significant European heritage. Indeed one might reasonably assume that it is her dominant ancestry but it is not even mentioned in her stated lineage. Strange, given that a simple DNA test could reveal a raft of interesting ancestral information. So why does she see herself as only a part person? Does she, perhaps, mention only her Maori ancestry because she sees some advantage in that??

Net Zero Watch: State of emergency in Kazakhstan Govt sacked over fuel price protests

 

In this newsletter:

1) State of emergency in Kazakhstan, Govt sacked amid protests over soaring gas prices
Euro News, 5 January 2022
  

2) Kazakhstan declared emergency as protesters torch public buildings
Reuters, 5 January 2022

Graham Adams: 2022 - Ardern’s plans for co-governance with iwi face rough seas

As voters become more aware of the stealthy implementation of a Māori separatist agenda, the political risks for the government will rise sharply. Graham Adams reports.

When the Prime Minister claimed in her first term that her government was going to be “transformational” many voters took her seriously — until it became apparent she was unlikely to transform anything much, whether it was unaffordable housing or inadequate public transport or introducing a capital gains tax.

Perhaps, however, we should have been listening more closely when a year ago — and only a few months into her second term — Ardern referred to “foundational change”.

The change in wording was quickly dismissed as a rebranding exercise dreamed up by Labour Party strategists to distance the government from its failure to be in any way transformational. But foundational change is certainly what we are getting in Ardern’s second term — even if most citizens remain unaware of the steady remaking of the nation’s constitutional arrangements via a radical interpretation of the Treaty as a 50:50 partnership.

John Porter: Fiduciary Duty

Fiduciary, not an often used or recognised word.

So, what is a Fiduciary?

Among the most common forms of fiduciaries are financial advisors, bankers, money managers, and insurance agents. A fiduciary must always have the best interest of their clients foremost.

The most common fiduciary duties are relationships involving legal or financial professionals who agree to act on behalf of their clients. A lawyer and a client are in a fiduciary relationship, as are a trustee and a beneficiary, a corporate board and its shareholders, and an agent acting for a principal.

Clive Bibby: The casualties of freedom

Apart from the thrilling last session of the Third Ashes Test (and that only because of my son’s ability to connect his iPad reception to our holiday batch TV screen), l watched no television of any kind during the Christmas break.

I must say it was as enjoyable and therapeutic as the few days away from the pressures of normal life under Covid, enabling a brief respite from the worry watching our beloved homeland descend into an unrecognisable autocracy that is not of our choosing.

I guess we have only ourselves to blame.

Net Zero Watch: Happy New Year! EU finally publishes green label for nuclear and natural gas

 

In this newsletter:

1) Brussels proposes green label for nuclear and natural gas
Financial Times, 1 January 2022

2) Boris Johnson in Red Wall crisis as 17 out of 18 seats poised to flip to Labour over energy crisis
Daily Express, 31 December 2021

Derek Mackie: The 12 Days of Christmas - 2021 version

Reflecting on another festive season and year gone by, I thought it would be nice to revive that good old yuletide classic - the 12 Days of Christmas - and give it a make-over to represent all the woke stuff so common in New Zealand life these days.

 

Unsurprisingly, I was spoilt for choice, with a plethora of PC paraphernalia and social justice crusaders to fill my 12 days. These are the ones that made the cut. 

 A one, two, three…. 

Net Zero Watch: Europe’s energy crisis may become permanent

 

In this newsletter:

1) Europe’s energy crisis may become permanent
Bloomberg, 29 December 2021
 
2) Net Zero Britain: Energy bills explode as fixed energy deals hit £4,000
The Daily Telegraph, 30 December 2021