Faith in humanity restored

So KFC is bringing the double down burger to NZ, resulting in howls of outrage from the food nazis and wowsers.

That said, the comments (179 at time of writing) are overwhelmingly in favour of trying the burger and letting people make their own choices about doing so. Well done people!

War on drugs

Take note, son. This is exactly how your Right Wing Dad feels.

"By any objective measure, the War On Drugs is a disastrous failure. It's time to end this madness now."

The war on drugs is expensive, ineffective and ill advised. Drug taking is a public health issue, not a criminal issue. What you do with your own body is your own business. So long as you don't impose negatively on other people, that is fine. Your actions whilst on drugs may well be judged to be criminal, but the action of taking drugs shouldn't.

h/t American Thinker

Libya: Setting a precedent?

So, now that the free world, lead by the US (well, most of the Tomahawk missiles have been their's), has the precedent been set? Are we now obligated to deal to every despot who attacks their own citizens?

NOT PC has the perfect quote:

It is not a free nation's duty to liberate other nations at the price of self-sacrifice, but a free nation has the right to do it, when and if it so chooses…

Does donating to charity set a precedent? Yes, but I have every right to choose not too the next time. It just depends on the circumstances.

Obama's illegal war

Now, don't get me wrong. Gaddafi is a dictator and a tyrant and should have been removed long ago.

But surely when you launch an attack the first thing you'd do is ensure you were allowed to? Only the US Congress is allowed to authorise use of force against an enemy in this instance, written into the US Constitution.

Obama took the oath of office, stating to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States". Did Obama even read it?

What's wrong with this picture?

There is one highly offensive item in this photo. Why would you celebrate a philosophy and regime responsible for millions of deaths and enslavement of many millions more?

I wonder how the Soviets would have handled a disaster of similar magnitude...

State school teachers

If only this would happen in New Zealand!

Removal of tenure (teachers effectively have that in NZ where they are only fired for serious misconduct) and introduction of merit based pay. Imagine a world where teachers get paid more based on the performance of the students!

All we need is a politician with the intestinal fortune to do the right thing for the millions of taxpaying parents and students, rather than pandering to the militant teacher's unions that prop up the Labour party.

Armageddon!

Or maybe not...

What staggers me is that 1,000s lie dead and yet all the media leads with is the unfolding nuclear "catastrophe". The public have an irrational fear of radiation, fed by a media chasing a sensationalist headline. In the final wash up, I imagine the deaths from the tsunami will be 1,000s times more than die from the nuclear incident.

How many died at Three Mile Island, the only other analogue? (Chernobyl was a reactor without a containment system). The answer is Zero. To be honest, I'd be quite happy to be in Tokyo right now and would ignore the requests of our Government.

And those thinking that all nuclear reactors are susceptible ignore that fact that the affected reactors are 1960's and 70's technology. Hasn't the technology moved on since then!

Threat of nuclear meltdown?

It doesn't take much investigation on the internet to realise that the risk associated with a "meltdown" are being completely overstated by all media.

The incident is currently a level 4 on the INES.

Andrew Bolt links to a description of the incident and the likely consequences. As long as the tertiary containment remains intact, the consequence of a nuclear meltdown will be abandonment of that reactor but no impact on the enviroment. Bolt also links to a list of deaths per TWh for different generation methods. Guess which one is the lowest!

It is clear that there is an irrational fear of nuclear generated energy, completely disproportionate to the actual risks posed. Deaths associated with nuclear power number in the 100's over the past 50 years; coal numbers in the 1000's per year!

And let's not forget we get the majority of our energy every single day from nuclear fusion!

UPDATE: And it continues. David Shukman of the BBC was just shown explaining a nuclear reactor. Apparently if the steel wall of the container stays intact, there won't be a leak. Hang on, what about the tertiary containment system designed solely for the purpose of containing a meltdown!

Conservation estate mining

For all of his failings, Rodney does get it right sometimes, hitting the nail on the head with his call to increase mining in the conservation estate.

The well off middle class pinkos are to blame; they don't understand what opportunities mining would bring to those less fortunate. Interestingly the Labour party are opposed to increasing the opportunities for members of their natural constituency (EPMU anyone?).

New Plymouth is a great example of what good can come from mining (petro) dollars: above average incomes, multicultural community (due to expats and others), vibrant cafe scene amongst others. Luckily the oil has been found outside schedule 4 or it never would have been produced.

And the argument that mining would affect tourism is fatuous at best. Do we consider what mining is undertaken in countries we visit on holiday? Or for that matter, whether their energy is partially nuclear generated!

Freedom to offend & freedom to be offended

Hard to argue with Deborah Coddington this week. Most of the comments would suggest the readers have missed the point: we have a right to offend other people and we have a right to be offended.

Gang patches are not intimidating on their own, it's the actions and behaviours exhibited by those wearing the patches that are intimidating. There are already laws in place to deal with these behaviours, so the gang patch simply limits freedom of expression. It is the thin end of the wedge, where does it stop? Is wearing a swastika acceptable (or legal)? At a recent Taranaki vs Russia rugby match, someone in the crowd was filmed wearing a CCCP shirt with hammer and sickle insignia. This would be equally as offensive to someone who suffered under the Soviet regime, as a swastika to others.

So where do we draw the line? Gang patches or swastikas or communist symbols? And where does it stop?

"Shoot the natives"?

Shoot the natives

This is a sensationalised headline par excellence. I'm afraid the truth is far less interesting. To summarise:

• Brash says Maori were and are treated well in comparison to other countries, such as Australia where the Colonial powers used to "shoot the natives".
• Idiot in crowd says to bring it back.
• Rest of crowd groans and distances themselves from the comment.
• MSM takes quote out of context and gives the impression the ACT party want to shoot Maoris.

Where do they get these journalists and sub-editors from?

In no way should this be construed as acceptance of what the bigot in the crowd said. He/she should be heavily censured and party leadership should forcefully state that those views are not welcome in the ACT party. Sadly each political party has their bigots, one just needs to look at the Maori party.

Disclosure: I am a paid but non-active member of the ACT party.

So why now?

So why start a blog now? I've followed blogs for a number of years and thought, why the heck not? I've recently become a father and want to ensure I instill a strong sense of personal responsibility. How do I do that? My father is part of the "low tax, but I still want all the services" branch of the National Party.

My philosophy is different: I want low taxes, but only so I can buy the services that I want, not the services that the Government thinks I want.

With this blog, I hope to vent my frustrations with New Zealand and the way we are governed, focusing on politics and economics but also musing on any other topics. This will be a record of my journey to being the best right wing dad I can.