The Whig

US WRITERS STRIKE.

I have a friend who works at Universal Studios in Hollywood. It’s quite interesting chatting to someone who has an inside view of such a large and well known organization. Naturally the film writers strike is on many peoples minds at present. I am told that while initially there was a lot of in house support for the writers claims for higher wages through a wider range of residual payments, ie commissions on internet film sales etc, this is now starting to change. That because the writers strike is now threatening thousands of other film production related jobs, in house support for their cause is rapidly waning and even turning into despise. For example in one small accounting department seventy five people’s family's incomes are now at stake because the writers have chosen to keep on striking. Because of this strike there seems to be the  growing belief and even the hope that Universal will rid itself of unionised writers and actors completely.

George W Bushisms.

One of the most interesting, and may I say frightening things I’ve read this Christmas was a diary pad with a series of  George W Bushisms on it. Ie different quotes from speeches given George W Bush, the President of the United States of America. While I know from experience things you say in public can be distorted, it certainly gave me a new view on this man. All I can say is thank God the USA is a thriving democracy and that people in power can and do get replaced on a regular basis.

 For example here are but a few.

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” Washington DC; August 5, 2004.

“I aim to be a competitive nation.” San Jose, California, April 21 2006.

“The Senate needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce all marginal rates, but to eliminate death tax, so that people who build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the next, regardless of a persons race.” Washington DC; April 2001.

The big problem is there are several hundred of them, all pretty much similar slips of the tongue.

Dear Leader decrees tax cuts

What's the bet that these tax cuts will most likely resemble cynical income redistribution. Those that pay the most tax (not labour supporters) will get little or no relief. This ineffectual exercise will prove once again, that Labour is National in drag.

Hippies

Coge's general classification of hippies.

The most common type is the "Field hippy".
At one time you might have found these hippies living in a potato patch, or similar disused agricultural settings. They are also known as the "common garden hippy" or the "bearded cardiganed" variety.

Often found in an urban setting, where they occasionally go unrecognized.

Another numerous variety is the "Coastal hippy"
Typically living within 300 metres of coastline, often in communities of high unemployment. They tend to congregate with artists, left-wing activists, pot-smoking conspiracy theorists etc. Strangely enough many now own million dollar beachfront properties with deferred maintenance issues.

Charity Case

I remember this  being discussed a while back, but then the issue died as far as I could tell. It's a huge surprise coming from the government that hates tax cuts. They've actually lowered tax. Incredible.

The changes  will apply from  2008/09  financial year and its about bloody time. You can claim deductions and rebates for donations for any sum up to the level of their your net income, instead of the measley $1890.00 rebate threshold on individuals or the 5 percent deduction limit on donations made by companies and Maori bodies.

They reckon it will lower tax take by about 25 million bucks. Money well spent if you ask me. Private donations and charitable organisations need all the encouragement they can get.

Kiwis (indeed people generally) are fundamentally good generous people, and want to help. The concept of the government benefiting from this through taxation always pissed me off. Plus, small government ideology relies in part on people helping other people voluntarily. Plus me and many others stand to gain more financially from this law change than any income tax change proposed by National lately anyway. 

Drumming up a crisis

The year was 1986, the venue The Terminus in Wellington (now Saatchi & Saatchi), the hard rock bands were Strikemaster with Blitz supporting them. Wellington had a thriving music scene, lots of great bands doing original material. On that night an underaged coge had just finished playing his fender jazz with Blitz & was hanging out by the lighting console, enjoying the show.

These were the years following the '81 tour, & there was still a strong sense of dislike between some of the population & the cops.  The riot squad had served its purpose by that stage, but the training & desire to use it was still there. On the nights Wellington rock bands played the bars were typically raided by large numbers of police, dragging many of the paying patrons outside to search & harrass them. This went on night after night. That Friday night in July they hauled some long-haired guy out by his neck down the stairs. The people revolted, the bar exploded with rage & bottles rained down on the ten plus police who retreated down the stairwell. Strikemaster stopped their performance, & those of us who knew where to go sheltered in the dressing room. We all expected kitted out reinforcements to arrive, but they didn't return. The top bar at the Terminus lost it's license that night.  In my opinion & that of others who were there, the events of that night were caused by the the actions of the police. The entertainment might not have been to everyones liking, but essentially we were just a bunch of young people having fun on Friday night.

Following the arrests last Monday under terrorism laws I can see certain parallels. It is a feeling you get seeing the police being used as the blunt instrument of the state. The trials will be murky affairs. There are some serious reputations at stake here,  & the prosecutions will reflect this. So when will we get to hear the truth? If there was/is a serious terrorist plot then good on the police for taking strident action. But where were the suicidal religious zealots you would expect to be involved in such a plot?  If, in fact there was no genuine plot, then there is a much greater reason to be afraid.

POEM

This is a poem I recently wrote and I wish someone would put music to it and make it into a song.

THREE WISHES.

If I had three wishes,
the first I'd wish for you,
the second for your love
and the third that you'd be true,

If I had three wishes,
I'd wish them all for you,
hoping that you'd love me
as much as I love you.

copyright Robin Booth 2007

David Bain

Anyway, David Bain? If he's guilty he's nearly done most of his time already, something no amount of compensation will return. While if he's innocent then  God help every other New Zealander since from here on out we won't have the right to go to the independent body of the Privvy Council for final justice any more. The rest of us will be stuck with the same old judges belonging to the same old law society of New Zealand, without even an appeal to more distant and independent judges in Australia, let alone Britan.

Chinese Replica?

Japanese bloggers  at http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1678 have discovered a theme park which is very similar in some respects to other famous theme parks. What do you think? You can see the theme park site at http://www.bs-amusement-park.com/
What do you think about copyright and trademarks? Is it an outdated concept in the cyberspace generation? Should good ideas be allowed to flourish and be built upon without constraint?

INTEREST RATE RISES

At present

New Zealand

has a very high dollar, soaring property prices and very high interest rates. While people like our Minister of Finance, Dr Cullen and the head of the Reserve Bank Alan Bollard don’t appear to see the connection, let me try and explain.

Various wealthy investment institutions overseas collectively have hundreds of billions of dollars to invest on behalf of their investors. It is their responsibility to get the best return on their money. If these institutions took all this money and put it on fixed term deposits in

Japan

they may get a one or two per cent return per annum on their money. A profit which they may very easily lose if the weak Japanese Yen continues to decline. While if they buy New Zealand dollars and then put it into fixed term deposits in this country they will now get a seven or eight per cent or more return on their money. On top of this because they all have to buy New Zealand dollars before investing their money into New Zealand this forces the New Zealand dollar higher and higher through supply and demand. Thus not only do these big institutional investors get a very high interest rate but make a killing from helping the New Zealand Dollar soar as well.

With all this extra money flushing around

New Zealand

’s the banks and finance company's then have to find ways to lend it out to make a profit for themselves. In such a competitive market with so much money slushing around they have to loosen their lending thresholds to property buyers and developers. This makes it easier for the property people to borrow money and thus pushes the price of property higher and higher.

The problem is that the  Reserve Bank seeing how property prices are soaring have decided to increase interest rates again to try and calm things down. Unfortunately an increase in interest rates won’t calm things down since all it will do is draw more investment money into New Zealand dollar and drive our dollar higher, thus killing our exporters in the process.

The problem created by all this is the government either has to keep increasing the population of New Zealand to keep the rising property market buoyant with new buyers, or suffer an enormous economic turn down when  one of these  three bubbles pop, probably due to lack of  overseas income from a serious down turn in export revenue due to our soaring dollar. If this happens then

New Zealand

may suddenly enter a major recession and property crash.

PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEMS

As one who is elected to the Canterbury District Health Board, one of the biggest problems running this organisation with it's eight thousand staff and one billion dollar tax payer financed budget is employment issues. Righ now there's a long queue of industrial actions lined up by various health sectors  within the CDHB all demanding higher wages and better conditions.

While one of the causes of this is how there's an international shortage of health proffesionals, the other is arguably the New Zealand Governments semi monopolly over the provision of health services in this country.

Because the government is insisting all new funding it gives the DHB should have priority in the public health sector over that of private providers, it is strengthening  its monopolly over health provision and by doing so strengthening the bargaining ability of the various health worker unions as well.  Since unions in New Zealand have a history of becoming increasingly militant when they have the opportunity, this is what is happening now. Just like the Cook Straight Unions used to get incredible wages and hours by going on strike virtually every school holiday because they had the monopolly of travel, this is what is also starting to happen in health.

While everyone has the right to ask for better wages and condition, the problem of this combined government monopolly over health and the resulting monopolly over the supply of  medical labour is that  strike after strike in this area can and probably will put numerous peoples lives at risk. 

FLUORIDATION.

As an elected member of the Canterbury District Health Board I recently put this Notice of Motion before the Board with the following explaination of why.

NOTICE OF MOTION TO THE CDHB.

Based on the recent results of the referendum held in Ashburton where 55% voted against the Fluoridation of their public water supply, the Canterbury District Health Board should advice Community and Public Health and its funder, The Ministry of Health, to cease all attempts to try and fluoridate water supplies in our district, including

Christchurch

.

Motion put to the Canterbury District Health Board on 30^th March 2007  by Robin Booth. Ph 3821628 or  cell. 021 485656, email robinbooth4@hotmail.com.

SUPPORTING EXPLANATION FOR MY NOTICE OF MOTION.

I am told that Community and Public Health, with the support of the CDHB, spent around $47,000 of the Ministry of Health’s money, the tax payers money, on their high profile “Smile for Life” campaign. The stated purpose of this campaign was to influence the people of Ashburton to vote in their Council held referendum for the Fluoridation of their public water supply.

The day before the result of the Ashburton Referendum came in at 55% against Fluoridation, Chair, Syd Bradley told last months CDHB meeting their most recent polling showed 60% of Ashburton were going to vote for Fluoridation. That upon this basis steps were already underway to try and have the October local body election voting papers used to include a referendum to Fluoridate the public water supplies of

Christchurch

. That if this could be arranged a campaign similar to the one being run in Ashburton would be launched in

Christchurch

to help sway the public to vote for Fluoridation.

Since the CDHB own legal opinion has just come through saying the CDHB can’t legally hold their own referendums this will mean intense lobbying of the Christchurch City Council to get them just to vote on whether they want to hold a referendum on this matter to begin with. On top of this to persist trying to fluoridate the water supply of

Christchurch

when any referendum results could be similar to Ashburton’s seems to be a complete waste of time and money. This is especially true when hugely important scientific and medical minds around the world have continually disagreed with the scientific basis our Ministry of Health are using to promote water fluoridation here in New Zealand.

While the population of Ashburton is around 26,700 people, there were around 11,400 people on the Ashburton electoral roll and 7,400 of these actually voted. This means 64% of people were concerned enough to vote in a postal ballot, which is quite a high turnout for such an event. Significantly out of the 7,400 or so people who voted in the referendum only around 3,300 people voted for fluoridation. This means Community and Public Health spent over $14 per person to secure their vote for fluoridation. This money could have brought numerous tubes of Fluoridated tooth paste.

While only theory, if a referendum to Fluoridate Christchurch’s water supply went ahead and a similar campaign to promote Fluoridation was run in

Christchurch

, extrapolated out for 360,000 people, it may cost around $600,000 to finance. Whether such a campaign would actually cost this figure, or more, arguably there are more productive things to spend our health dollars on such as Oral elective surgery.

Based on various statements made by certain CDHB members and Community and Public Health staff of late, despite Ashburtons referendum result  against Fluoridation, this matter still seems very much alive and firmly on the CDHB and the Ministry of Health’s agenda. I argue it now shouldn’t be.

(While initially I was told by one senior staff member in the CDHB that they couldn't hold their own referendums, I've now been told that they legally can at any time accept by using the local body election voting forms to do so).

HELEN CLARK SMACKS HERSELF?

Until now I would have given Helen Clark and her Labour Government fairly even odds to be the next government of New Zealand.  Until now their steady as she goes, economic growth orientated way of running the country has been enough to keep enough people happy to the point where they either voted Labour or weren't motivated enough to strongly oppose them. With the Labour Government and Helen Clark now blatantly aligning themselves with Green MP Sue Bradford's Anti-smacking Bill this I believe has changed.

How a wiley old political animal such as Helen Clark has made such a serious mistake in misreading the mood of the country is beyond me. Maybe it's because she sees Sweden as the ideal economic model and they have banned smacking there, or maybe it's because she has never had children herself and therefore doesn't fully understand how deeply parents feel motivated to do what they believe is good for their children. What ever the reason the  reality as I see it is that if Labour doesn't back down on this issue they are doomed.

Family, and the desire of parents to do what they believe is good for their children will override all party loyalty. Until now I have quietly cringed at how the National Party led by John Key  would try and debate the next elections against Helen Clark. The economy is good, the people are generally happy and Helen Clark has proven a strong and reliable leader. Now because of this anti-smacking mistake by Helen Clark all National have to do is stand up and tell the country that the moment they are elected Government National will throw it out and replace it with the Chester Burrows alternative.

The reality is family and whats good for the children of that family will always out weigh the economy, the nuclear issue, the health and welfare issue hands down. Because of this if Labour pushes this anti-smacking bill through, they will be doomed.

Most decent law abiding parents in New Zealand smack their children when they believe it's for their child's good, to teach them right from wrong. For parents this is a matter that has no party political  loyalties, only emotional loyalties.

WHERE'S RODNEY HIDE ING.

As one who enjoys a healthy interest in New Zealand politics I often find myself wondering what ever happened to our great New Zealand  "Perk Buster" Rodney Hide? Apart from winning the Epsom seat about one and a half years ago (with a good deal of help from the people of Christchurch) and dismally Dancing with the Stars soon after this, ( he says it showed his human side) we haven't seen much of this man Hide in the media since. In fact it can be argued that  half way through his first elected term Rodney Hide as MP for Epsom appears to have done very little of note politically at all. Nothing to enhance  ACT's cause of late. That instead of going into Whitcoulls and playing "Where's Wally?" we could all play "Where's Rodney Hide ing?" instead

In his announced attempt to  'be a statesman" Rodney is either saving up his luxes for a big flash before the next elections, or he's foolishly hiding his light under a barrel. As an old political saying goes, to survive in politics not only do you have to do the job you're elected to, but you have to be seen to doing it as well.

In my opinion someone is giving Rodney Hide all the wrong advice on how to survive as the leader of a very minor New Zealand political party by keeping him quiet. The reality is that now the National Party has swung back to the political mid center under the leadership of John Keys,  ACT with Rodney Hide leading is in a very good position to redevelop it's feisty profile and knock enough left leaning heads together to reclaim it's lost numbers while also holding onto the Epsom seat. The problem is that Rodney's low profile is getting so deflated that the other day I heard someone joke this is because Rodney's so busy fending off a leadership challenge from Heather Roy whose busy trying to rally the caucus numbers to dispose of him. (There's only two of them.)

My biggest complaint about all this statesman justified none action by Rodney Hide and ACT, is that as the Labour Government grows stronger and more arrogant during  in it's third term in office, all the bureaucrats they employ are also growing proportionally stronger and arrogant as well. This means there's more and more  hard working and honest New Zealanders being unjustly beaten up by the IRD, ACC, MAF, OSH and the revenue gathering antics of the Police etc etc, than ever before.  That while more and more  people are crying out for a white knight in New Zealand politics to rally forth to beat these bureaucratic bastards back, our once great Perk Buster now  appears so busy preening himself as a dancing statesman that their pleas for help are falling on deaf ears.

So where's Rodney? Probably listening to the unelected Heather Roy give him advice on how to stay in power. A person who probably listens to Brian Nichole whenever he says at her house in Karori. Who is still doing exactly what Catherine Judd, his ex-employer and the past President of ACT tells him to do. Who with the support of people such as Gary Mallet and Richard Prebble took a perfectly healthy political party of nine MP's and mangled it into the silent couple they have representing ACT today.

Where is the Perk Buster, where is the man who defended Dave Henderson against the unjust audits of the IRD? Where is the big bold Rodney Hide MP we all knew and loved who breathed fear into every New Zealand MP who even had a dishonest thought, let alone carried out a dishonest action?

Or maybe Rodney to become the leader of ACT made too many promises to too many people to get there, and is now punishing himself by fading into oblivion for not keeping many of them?

ALLERGIC REACTION.

In the last  last couple of weeks I've been recovering from quite a severe allergic reaction. It appears I may have eaten some fish called Leather Jackets that had turned toxic from being frozen, thawed then frozen and thawed again then left too long before  being half cooked and eaten by me. Since I did all these things myself before feeding  the fish to myself I can't really blame anyone but my own sillyness for what happened.

But on the first day I had a rash start to  cover one third of my body. On the second day my feet and hands started to swell up and itch. On the third day my lips started swelling to twice their normal size and I started having small nervous spasms. At about three in the morning the next day I decided all the numerous self cures and over the phone medical advice I'd recieved wasn't  working so headed on into the Emergency Department of the local Public Hospital.

Here they said I'd come to the right place and gave me injections of anti-histomines and steroids which had a good effect and over the next few days started to fix the problem. Now apart from losing energy fairly quickly and needing to have an hours or so  nap in the afternoon I seem to have recovered reasonably well.

I just keep on wondering what I did to pull this into my life since I often see these health scares as some sort of wake up call or message that I'm doing something inappropriate in my life. I guess the fact I was so pushed for time and didn't remember how old the fish was is a pretty good indicator as to where I should start a severe bout of self analysis on this matter.

HOW TO AVOID SPEED CAMERA FINES.

There I was chugging along in my car, going with the flow of the traffic down a main flow street in Christchurch, the sun was finally shinning, there were ducks on the nearby river and all was at peace with the world  when a Police Car suddenly flicked on it's lights behind me. Sure I hadn't broken the law  I slowed and pulled over onto the broken yellow line of the roads edge to allow it to pass. Instead the young girl driving this Police Car directed me to pull over.

Since it was illegal to do so on a broken line I drove another three hundred or so meters and did so in another street. I was soon informed that I had been clocked going 14 kilometers an hour over the speed limit of 50 km/hr.

When this girl wearing a police uniform continued to glare at me as if I was a hardened criminal  I quickly denied  her accusations and asked for the photo proving it was my car she'd clocked. I had to ask several times since she kept ignoring my question and kept telling me I could look at the speed camera reading in her car if I liked. Which I finally did, then asked her  again to prove it was my car she'd clocked.

When she couldn't and yet started writing out a ticket I informed her that I intended to ask for a Notified Hearing on this matter so I could defend myself in court. This made her pause for a second or two before she continued writing down my details from my Drivers License onto the Infringement Notice.

Upon giving me this fine for $80 she rattled off where and how I could pay it and started to walk away. Being the nice guy I am I quickly called her back and asked her if this helped her fill her ticket quota for the week and then asked her to seal her cars  speed camera since I wanted to have it's calibration tested.

My reason for doing this is that it is the main witness in my alleged crime and therefore I needed the right to cross examine this witness for it's accuracy at this moment of accusation, as is my right as a New Zealand citizen.

This she refused to do saying she'd filled out her log book that morning regarding the issuing of the speed camera and the car, that this was what she was trained to do and that was all she intended to do.

All in all I asked her to seal her cars speed camera three times and each time she refused. In the end she just walked away.

So it's going to be an interesting case, if it ever gets to court. My main witness has already been compromised, my ability to cross examine this witness for accuracy has thus been denied and upon this basis alone (there are several other arguments against my being issued this Infringement Notice as well)  I'm sure I have a strong argument for the dismissal of my case. But that is for the courts to decide.

Apparently no-one has tried this defense in Court yet. You never know it may just set a new legal precident for Police Car issued Speed Camera Infringment Notices.

ANTI-SMACKING BILL.

Sue Bradford.

The question whether it should be legal for the parent of a child to discipline their child by smacking  may soon be answered by the all wise and all knowing New Zealand Government. ( some who don't even have children of their own,ie. Helen Clark.) At present Sue Bradford, a New Zealand Green List MP has successfully had her anti smacking bill passed through its second reading in our Parliament, mainly with help of the N.Z Labour Government.

Personally I think she (and them) are confusing the difference between smacking a child to quickly break it of a bad personal habit, versus the merciless beating of a defenseless child for no rational reason by it's much bigger parents.

The way I see it, if a child's bad habits aren't broken early they may become permanently ingrained in that person for the rest of their life. Thus if a child who often has a violent tantrum for not being allowed to always have his (her) own way isn't broken of this very destructive habit early, usually by a good smack on the back side, then imagine the terrible damage this guy may do when he's six foot two tall, weighs fourteen  and a half stone, drinks alcohol, smokes dope and still acts this way every time someone says no to him. He may unwittingly commit murder or rape etc in such a blind rage.

With my own child I only smacked her three times. Each time  was for having a very bad and uncontrolled tantrum. Following the advice of a guy trained in counseling I never smacked her before telling her what she was doing wrong and then warning her that if she hadn't stopped it by the time I counted aloud to three she would be smacked on the backside.  The reality is that by following this method of discipline I soon had to only start counting loudly to three to make her stop what she was doing wrong.

In fact this giving of a clear verbal  warning and then counting to three before smacking my child was the best advice anyone ever gave me. Not only did it teach her to put self  control on her own emotions and actions, but it also forced me to take a few seconds out to think things through for myself. While Ms Bradford may love me for saying this, there  is no denying  that in times of stress shock and surprise it is quite easy for a parent to  get angry and just  lash out at their child. To shoot first and ask questions later.  Unfortunately, experience  also tells me there are few other forms of discipline that actually work as well on a child when that child is obviously forming a very bad habit that really needs changing fast and permanently.

As a child myself some of the things I witnessed other kids do that I believed they should have been physically punished for included poking another kid in the eye with a sharp stick just  because he wouldn't play with him. A kid smashing  numerous school windows with  a chair because someone  wouldn't share their lollies with him. A girl who after crippling  several small kittens by breaking their legs then started torturing them with ignited matches because they didn't crawl away fast enough. Like it or not naive kids can at times be very cruel and destructive if not punished for being so.

Upon this basis there really needs to be a clear differentiation between smacking as the intelligent and calculated way  for a parent to discipline a child, versus the merciless beating of a child  by its parents for no real reason except out of viscious anger. Arguably  smacking should  put a child back on the straight and narrow path of right and wrong that will enable him or her to grow up to be a happy healthy well balanced person. While the mindless beating and bullying of a child will do nothing but leave him or her  bitter and twisted  and unbalanced for the rest of his or her  life.

The reality is that if asked to vote against a Bill that outlawed the smacking of a child by it's parents I wouldn't, but if I was asked to vote for a bill that outlawed the mindless beating of a child by it's parents, I would. 

USA PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS.

If you're an American Democrat or just hate what George W Bush and the Republicans have done in Iraq over the last few years, and  you intend voting Democrat in the 2008 Presidential elections you will be offered two historic firsts as your choice of Presidents. You can either make history and help vote a woman for President, or you can make history and help vote a black African American man for President. While I have nothing against women or African Americans, if I was a cynic I would feel there was a real Either/Or sales job was being done on the USA by the Democrats. The American people are now being  cleverly asked,  "Would you like the black male President or a white woman President?" Not, "Who do you really want for President?" 

Because George W Bush has been such a weird and much hated President for the Republicans, until now it's almost like the Democrats have the Presidency being offered to them on a silver platter. The real question is will they screw it up big time by forcing the people of the USA slowly revolt against the two historic Presidential firsts being  so blatantly offered to them?

If  the people in the USA do what they have done for the last last two hundred years and vote for a for a white male President all over again, they will be forced to vote for a Republican President by doing so.

TO KILL AN AMERICAN.

Written by an Australian Dentist...

  To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a
report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a
reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone
know what an American is .  So they would know when they found one. (Good one,
mate!!!!)

"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish,
Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian,
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or
Afghan. "

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache,
Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as Native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.  In
fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference
is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion.  For that he will answer
only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the
government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.  The
root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which
recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous.  Americans have helped out just about every other
nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came
with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country.

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other
nation to the poor in Afghanistan.  Americans welcome the best of
everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food,
the best services.  But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and
your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest
tossed.  These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001
earning a better life for their families.  It's been told that the World Trade
Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first
languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must.  Hitler did.  So did General
Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the
world.  But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself.  Because Americans
are not a particular people from a particular place.  They are the embodiment of
the human spirit of freedom.  Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is
an American.

Please keep this going!

Pass this around the World ?

then pass it around again.

It says it all, for all of us

THE POLITICS OF SURVIVAL.

Rod Donald

They say the most fundamental desire of all living things is to survive. Oddly enough rarely is this desire to survive seen so openly and so blatantly displayed than in politics. Especially if you accept that all war is politics and as some claim, all politics is the war of ideas to dominate.

With the New Zealand Labour Government having just done a deal to survive by bringing the Green Party into Government to make up for the defection, (if not the criminal incarceration) of Philip Feild, it will be interesting to see how much influence the Greens will have over Labours policy in the next year or two.

Some argue that with the death of Rod Donald the Greens may have a hard task getting over the 5% threshold needed to survive as a list party under MMP next elections. To many Rod Donald was the face of the Greens, the spokesperson they knew and respected as a voice of semi reason. Without him to put the smiling face of normality on things it may be very difficult for them to survive next elections.

In fact in an attempt to survive the Greens will be torn between trying to subject the country to their more extreme ideas and actively canvasing votes from all those New Zealanders who actually drive cars and use electricity in their daily lives.

For some it maybe interesting times ahead.

THE FUTURE. My Future?

As one who has been an elected representative in Christchurch local body politics for the last three terms, (eight years,)  I now have to decide what I am doing in the next local body elections. These are to be held in October this year, 2007.

In the past I've been on the Christchurch City Council, the Shirley Papanui Community Board and the Canterbury District Health Board, twice holding two different positions at the same time. For me the most interesting of these positions has been the CDHB. On the DHB the issues often seem much bigger and more vital than that of Council and Com Board since people can live or die from your decisions. Even if at times these decisions are a tad restricted by the Ministry of Health. But then the the reality is that local body politics is almost always the bi-product of central government decisions and legislation.

Because of this there are times that I find myself aspiring to be a Member of Parliament in the hope of being able to change some of the silly laws, rules, regulations and unnecessary complexities I've witnessed around me in this country.

While fairly center right in my leanings I at one time threw my weight in behind the ACT Party. But having witnessed  and suffered first hand the weirdness with which this Party was run under Richard Prebbles leadership and Catherine Judds presidency I soon went across to The National Party. I really did have a lot of time for Don Brash and am still quietly waiting to see whether John Key actually fires up to take the country by storm as he's intimated he intends doing. I just hope that Bill English isn't guiding John Key too much because while Bill is a nice guy and a good MP, he certainly didn't lead National to any dynamic victory's whilst he held the helm.  In my opinion he seemed to hum and ha too often to make any real stand on anything significant. As the old saying goes, "if you stand for nothing you'll fall for everything."

So I guess I'll just bide my time and pursue another area I have a great love for which is writing novels. While I'll soon start posting chronological chapters of the one I recently finished called "Up from Down Under," on this blog site, the one I will be working on to finish over the next few months is called "The Philippine Dream." 

In this novel I will try and explore how the USA is the most wealthiest, powerful and civil democracies I've ever visited in the world, while the Philippines is one of the poorest, corrupt and uncivil democracies I've ever visited, even though they both share virtually identical political structures and systems.

ZIMBABWE

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Lately I've run into a number of people who were born in the peaceful and rather beautiful country of Rhodesia but eventually fled from the African hell hole now called Zimbabwe. The joke being that the letters Z.I.M.B.A.B.W.E really mean Zero Intelligence Mainly Because All Bloody Whites Emigrated. But then it's not just whites fleeing the iron grip of the aging dictator Robert Mugabe, there have been hundreds of thousands of black people also packing up and moving to which ever country will accept them as well.

Apparently after the civil war ended, in the ten years of  Zimbabwe's black dominated democracy its economy actually thrived. For black and for white it was still the land of plenty where where two Zimbabwe Dollars were equal to one Australian dollar. But once Robert Mugabe decided he wanted to be dictator for life and started killing his political opponents, confiscating land from white farmers, printing much more money than the country was earning to buy off the army and then bulldozing the houses of those who voted against him, the Zimbabwean currency plummeted until there were seventy thousand Zimbabwe dollars to one Australian dollar.

This was the highest rate of inflation ever witnessed in the world. Higher than even pre war Germany. People literally had to take wheel barrows of money to the local shop's just to buy something to eat. People who had well paying jobs and a car soon found themselves paying half their monthly salary for a single tank of petrol.

One person told me that after working hard for twenty years to pay off their house in Bulawayo, by the time they decided to leave the country they finally  manged to sell it for just enough money to buy themselves one way economy tickets to New Zealand.   

GEORGE W BUSH and CRONIES"

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Is Ignorance Is A Sin? There is a moral obligation to be informed of what is happening, and to have an opinion, and when required to take a stand.Cop outs such  as “just more politics”, “nothing I can do about it anyway,” or  “we elected them to do a job”  will cost you freedom. Also even thoughts such as these limit your ability to perceive reality, to understand, and reduce your capacity to act.

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For my holiday reading, I am taking in Robert Bryce’s “Cronies”-- Oil, The Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America’s Superstate. If you were looking at Earth through a magical scope from the moon, you could probably say that we deserve to have the Texans trample over us, because we have been naïve, lazy, gullible- and compared to them- inactive.

To understand how a man like George W. Bush became President, it is at least therapeutic to read this superbly chronicled and specific book. The book tells the story of how George W grew up in the oil industry, the Baker law firm in Houston, the Brown and Roots-later Halliburton –contracting firms, and the politicians who served them, combined with an incestuous family of snakes that had a serpentine hold on the State legislative and Presidential offices of the country.

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Particularly interesting is the great S & Loans  debacle of the late eighties which would see a further $200 billion of taxpayer funds transferred to the superstate, to bail out the often privately held S & L’s so lavishly plundered by the Texan cowboys, shysters, conmen and  nouveau riche real estate developers. This combined with the entwined lives of Lyndon Johnson, John Connally, Caroline Rose Hunt, James Baker, Halliburton, Enron, Houston and Bill Clements makes fascinating reading.

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View the websites at www.cronies.biz  or www.robertbryce.com

Stephen Maxwell

YOUR FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

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If you believe in freedom of the individual versus the tyranny of the state, one of the things you need to know to enable this freedom to survive is whom the real enemies of your freedom of choice are.

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While it’s so easy to blame ones lack of freedom onto those people over there, either the beauracrats, the politicians, the socialists, the communists, the fascists,  the tyrants, the dictators, the statists, or one of several political conspiracies rumoured to be out to enslave the world, in reality one of the real enemies of your own personal freedom of choice, especially here in a free and democratic country, maybe your own self. Or to be more specific your own apathy to the matter of standing up and voicing your heart felt demand for more individual freedom in the form of less red tape, less bureaucracy, less taxation, less welfare dependency, less government regulation and more personal responsibility of for ones own decisions and actions.  To quote Edmund Burke, "Evil triumphs when men of good will do nothing.”

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So upon that note what have you done recently to fight for your own freedom of choice? What have you done lately to help beat the bastards back?

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by Robin Booth and Stephen Maxwell.

WILL DON BRASH JOIN ACT?

The recent semi dramatic resignation of Don Brash as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party, and from Parliament, begs the question about what he intends doing now. In many ways the National Party owe Don Brash an enormous vote of gratitude because of how he as a novice MP  and political leader restored it to being a major political force in New Zealand politics.

Until then The National Party's with it's mish mash of often contradictory policy's was losing public support rapidly in a constant and heart breaking downward trend. A trend which if continued would have soon seen the New Zealand First Party having a greater presence in Parliament than National.

Under Don Brash's leadership the rise in popularity of the National Party was dramatic. Within a couple of years and one General Election they went from potentially becoming a major minor  New Zealand political Party to restoring themselves as one of New Zealand's two major political Party's again. Under the leadership of Don Brash the number of National Party MP's in Parliament nearly doubled in one election. In fact there's now so many new  MP's in the National Party  that it's often hard to know who they are unless they're wearing a  name tag to tell you.

Arguably Don Brash achieved this dramatic turn around for the National party by simply adopting many of the policy's of the more right winged ACT Party. To the astonishment and dismay of ACT Don Brash instead of joining  them as they so desperately wanted him to do, took virtually all of it's best policy's from Tax Cuts to Race Relations,  to being tougher on Crime and by marketing them in a much more down to earth way. By doing so he took the country by storm coming within one seat of taking Parliament.  In many ways Don Brash the archetypal New Zealand gentleman proved that it's often not what you say, but how you say it.

Now that John Key has taken over the leadership of National, it has been made quite clear that the National Party intends swinging  back towards the center  ground policy's of the past.  On top of this to the dismay of  many Don Brash supporters John Key didn't even see fit to give their hero Don Brash a senior position within the National Party caucus to enable him to remain a dignified MP.

Upon this basis it would be interesting to see what Dr Brash decides to do next.  In my opinion he is a great asset to the National Party if they choose to use him. If not he could simply retire and spend the rest of his years with his wife and kids. The other alternative is that he goes the way of other senior National Party MP's such as Ruth Richardson and Derick Quigley and  actually join the ACT Party as they did.

Lets be honest Don Brash already has adopted most of  ACT's philosophy and policy's while the leader of the National party, so why not in his retirement actually join the Party as well.

Nutricidal Codex

By Shannara Johnson

Ever heard of the Codex Alimentarius? If not, don’t be surprised. It’s one of the best-kept “open secrets” of the U.S. government. It’s scheduled to take effect on December 21, 2009, and it may present the greatest disaster for our food supply—and thus for our health—this country has ever seen.

What is the Codex Alimentarius, and how did it come to pass?

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1897 and 1911, a collection of standards and regulations for a wide variety of foods was developed, called the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. It wasn’t legally binding but served as a useful reference for the courts to determine standards for specific foods.

The post-World War II rebirth of the Codex Alimentarius (or short, Codex), however, is much more dubious. To understand the full implications, we need to go back to the history of one huge conglomerate: The Interessengemeinschaft Farben, or IG Farben—a powerful cartel that consisted of German chemical and pharmaceutical companies such as BASF, Bayer, and Hoechst.

IG Farben was, you could say, the corporate arm of the Third Reich. Having lucrative contracts with Hitler’s regime, IG Farben produced everything from ammunition to Zyklon B, the nerve gas that was used to kill prisoners in the concentration camps. IG Farben was the single largest donor to Hitler’s election campaign… and later the single largest profiteer of World War II.

“Whenever the German Wehrmacht conquered another country, IG Farben followed, systematically taking over the industries of those countries,” states the website of the Dr. Rath Health Foundation, a non-profit promoter of natural health. “The U.S. government investigation of the factors that led to the Second World War in 1946 came to the conclusion that without IG Farben the Second World War would simply not have been possible.”

Auschwitz, the largest and most infamous German concentration camp, also benefited IG Farben. New, unsafe pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines were liberally tested on Auschwitz prisoners—many of which died during the tests.

Not surprising, the Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal prosecuted 24 IG Farben board members and executives for mass murder, slavery and other crimes against humanity. One of those convicted was Fritz ter Meer, the highest-ranking scientist on the executive board of IG Farben, who was sentenced to seven years in prison (of which he only served four). When asked during trial whether he thought those human experiments had been justified, he answered that “concentration camp prisoners were not subjected to exceptional suffering, because they would have been killed anyway.”

In 1955, ter Meer was reinstated as a member of the supervisory board at Bayer and one year later became its chairman. In 1962, together with other executives of BASF, Bayer and Hoechst, he was one of the main architects of the Codex Alimentarius.

“When he got out of jail, he went to his UN buddies,” said Dr. Rima Laibow, MD, in a passionate speech at the 2005 conference of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP). “And he said, ‘[…] If we take over food worldwide, we have power worldwide.’”

The result was the creation of a trade commission called the Codex Alimentarius Commission, now funded and run by the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

At its foundation in 1994, the World Trade Organization (WTO) accepted the standards of the Codex—and by the end of 2009, all member countries of the WTO will be required to implement the Codex, “to harmonize the standards” for the global trade of foods.

In the U.S. meanwhile, Congress passed the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994, which defined vitamins, minerals and herbs as foods, therefore not to be regulated by pharmaceutical standards. The Codex Alimentarius would reverse all that. It would treat those dietary supplements not as foods, but as toxins.

“How do you protect somebody from a poison?” asks Laibow. “You use toxicology. You use a science called ‘risk assessment.’”

Risk assessment, she explains, works as follows. You take the toxin in question, feed it to lab animals and “determine the dose that kills 50% of them. That’s called the LD 50. And you extrapolate what the LD 50 for a human being might be. Then you go down to the other end of the dosage range and you start feeding [little] bits of it to test animals, and you come up with the largest possible dose—the maximum permissible upper limit—that can be fed to an animal before a discernible impact is shown. […] Then you divide that by 100. […] And now you’ve got a safety margin, so you got 1/100 of the largest dose that can be given with no discernible impact.”

In other words, classified as toxins, vitamins, minerals and herbs would only be allowed to be marketed in doses that have no discernible impact on anyone. Then why bother taking them?

And that’s not all. Where our grocery and health food store shelves are now brimming with supplements, only 18 of them would be on the Codex whitelist. Everything not on the list, such as CoQ10, glucosamine, etc. would be illegal—not as in “prescription-only” illegal, but as in “take it and you go to jail” illegal.

But the mandatory requirements of the Codex will not only concern vitamins and minerals, but all foods. Under Codex rules, nearly all foods must be irradiated. And levels of radiation can be much higher than previously permitted.

While irradiated U.S. foods are currently treated with 1 – 7.5 kiloGray of radiation, the Codex would lift its already high limit of 10kiloGray—the equivalent of ca. 330 million chest X-rays—“when necessary to achieve a legitimate technological purpose,” whatever that may be. Granted, the text says, that the dose of radiation “should not compromise consumer safety or wholesomeness of the food.” Note, however, that it says “should,” not “shall” (an important legal difference, since “should” is not compulsory).

You buy rBST-free milk? Not much longer, because under the Codex all dairy cows will have to be treated with Monsanto’s recombinant bovine growth hormone. All animals used for human consumption will have to be fed antibiotics. Organic standards will be relaxed to include such measures. And did we mention that under the Codex, genetically modified (GM) produce will no longer have to be labeled?

Say good-bye to true organic food, and maybe even food that retains any resemblance of nutritional value.

Moreover, in 2001, twelve hazardous, cancer-causing organic chemicals called POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) were unanimously banned by 176 countries, including the United States. Codex Alimentarius will bring back seven of these forbidden substances—such as hexachlorobenzene, dieldrin, and aldrin—to be freely used again. Permitted levels of various chemicals in foods will be upped as well.

What, are they trying to kill us?

Rima Laibow has done the math, she claims, using figures coming directly from the WHO and FAO. And according to those epidemiological projections, she believes that just the Vitamin and Mineral Guideline alone will result in about 3 billion deaths. “1 billion through simple starvation,” she says. “But the next 2 billion, they will die from the preventable diseases of under-nutrition.”

She calls the new Codex standards “food regulations that are in fact the legalization of mandated toxicity and under-nutrition.”

Even if you’re thinking of emigrating to Thailand or Guatemala to escape this nutritional holocaust, forget it. Once implemented, the Codex Alimentarius will set food safety standards, rules and regulations for over 160 countries, or 97% of the world’s population.

The only way is to fight it before it gets implemented, says Laibow, who is working on just that with a team of lawyers. If you want to help, send an email to your Congressman and/or sign the citizens petition on Laibow’s website, www.HealthFreedomUSA.org.

[Let’s hear your thoughts on this at feedback@caseyresearch.com.]

This article originally appeared in the weekly e-letter, What We Now Know (WWNK) -- published by, and used here with permission from Casey Research, LLC. Click here <http://www.caseyresearch.com/wwnkOptIn.php> to sign up for a FREE subscription to WWNK, or check out past editions in the WWNK archives at www.caseyresearch.com.

THE NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL PARTY.

While the change of leadership within the New Zealand National Party probably ranks below Fiji in international interest, to those of us closer to home it's been a sudden and even stunning event.  One day a slightly bumbling but likable old gent by the name of Don Brash was the esteemed leader of the National Party, the next a much younger and more dynamic John Key had taken his place.

While certain people on the left of New Zealand politics may now be celebrating their part in Don Brash's demise, chances are they may soon be smiling on the other sides of their faces. I say this since I can almost see the slow cognitive  realisation that will finally occur in their size challenged brains as to how John Key so effortlessly and almost surgically replaced his aging leader.

Slowly it may cross their minds that behind the youthful enthusiasm and contagious charm of John Key is a natural political sharpness, intelligence and even ruthlessness. After this sinks in they may laugh a little self consciously and say quietly to each other "thank God John isn't in our Party and coming after us as well."  Then slowly, ever so slowly it may finally dawn on them that due to the adversary style of our Westminster political system that not only is John Key coming after them but that he's intent on throttling them before the next General Elections. How else will New Zealands wealthiest self made Member of Parliament be able to form the next government and by doing so become New Zealands next Prime Minister? It may just dawn on them that the guy who just replaced Don Brash is their worst nightmare since he's not only a natural politician but a natural leader as well. That not only has he taken much of their policy and turned it to his own advantage,  but much of their voter support as well.

Chances are that once those in the Left who brought Don Brash to his knees see how naturally  talented, slick, charming and devastating John Key is  as the leader of National, they'll start wish a more clumsier and less able Don Brash  was once again leading the opposition.

Chances are that if National wins the next General Elections, because of John Keys youth and silver tongued ability, Labour will be in opposition for a long time to come.

IRAQ AND SADDAM HUSSEIN.

With the Democrats having recently taken control of both levels of the United States federal Government there's been a lot of talk of the USA quickly withdrawing from Iraq. In reality if this occurred Iraq and all its massive oil reserves would soon be owned or controlled by Iran who would actively use this incredible wealth to further its goal of building nuclear bombs to wipe out Israel and anyone else they declared enemy, such as the USA, the UK, Saudi Arabia, or even Australia. 

By invading Iraq the USA and its coalition troops have literally got themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. In many ways it's worse than Vietnam ever was because of the international terror angle and the huge oil reserves that exist in Iraq. In reality the USA has got themselves stuck between a gruesome dispute between the Sunni's and the the Shiites, with the poor old Kurds stuck out to the side. 

Apart from splitting Iraq into three seperate nations with three seperate army's and then trying to distribute Iraqs huge oil revenue three ways fairly, in my opinion there's really only one other way the USA could stand half a chance of withdrawing from Iraq without turning it into  the worlds largest terror training camp.

While this suggestion may seem a little bizzarre, and wouldn't entirely stop the blood shed, the torture and lack of human rights occurring in Iraq completely, it may just restore order and allow the USA to withdraw in a semi responsible fashion. My idea is that the USA declare that they invaded Iraq on false imformation regarding weapons of mass destruction and instead of hanging Saddam Hussien as a mass murderer they simply restore him as President and then simply withdraw to defending the soveriengty of the Kurds as they were doing prior to the invasion. This would leave them a potential presence in the region without the financial drain and loss of US lives that are going on at present.

The reality is that the USA have worked closely with Saddam Hussien many times before.  He has been the sworn enemy of Iran and with the help of the USA in the past few decades he had Iraq fight them them to a stand still. The US military have also  probably treated Saddam quite well comparitively speaking  since capturing him. He may have even formed enduring friendships with some of his guards who may have even managed to educate him about the importance of human rights. Even recently Saddam Hussein gave an impassioned call for the  mindless killing and bombings between the Sunni's and Shiites of Iraq to stop.

Sure if Saddam retook power in Iraq there maybe orchestrated retaliations, the use of brute force and torture to restore order, but this was going on before the USA arrived and has continued with a renewed vengeance since they arrived. There is the chance that Saddam Hussein may even join forces with Iran to try and fight and terrorize the west. Who knows. In an imperfect world it sometimes takes an imperfect solution to solve a spooky problem. 

But what is the alternatives, that the USA and it's helpers stay in Iraq for the next fifty years? Or that the USA and its helpers withdrawl and leave Iraq to become  the worlds next big terror training camp, which  due to it's huge oil reserves and Iranian influence would make Afghanistan look fairly mild in comparison?

Surreptitiously While You Sleep, the Socialists are Scalping Your Sovereignty

So the Press is now slowly cottoning onto the corrupt  nature  of  our consumption led economy.  In this morning’s paper we read that in the last year alone, foreign investment and purchases of NZ assets amounted to over $16 billion.  This is in addition to the huge increase in private debt through the banking system, largely on homes. (Over $14 billion).

Where was the mighty roar of  the self righteous Mr Anderton ? (formerly so opposed to foreign asset sales). Quelled and enjoined to collude with the corrupt Clark/Cullen  coven, I would say by the look of it.

It should now be coming clear even to the dim witted, that there are no standards so low

that the Socialists will not prostitute themselves to in order to deceive you into giving them the reigns of power. Their insatiable greed, lust and blood sucking Machiavellian infatuation with  the corridors of Treasury  will not stop at mortgaging your future, stealing your freedom, selling the family farm or committing the next Government to a nightmare of a mess, not to mention signing up your educated daughters to decades of student debt, nor your grandchildren to a lifetime of slavery and bondage to foreign masters, as they strive to pay off the debt of this mighty Clark/Cullen inflationary spend up.

Despite this foreign investment, our deficit on trade is now 9.6% of GDP!

Slowly the figures they don’t want you to know are creeping out.  Over 2600 uncivil servants earning over $100,000 p.a.  An effete Police Commissioner earning over $680,000 at an age where he’s way, way, way past his prime and looking for pasture.

No wonder 20,000 0f our best and brightest are leaving annually for a life less shackled,

away from the Socialist shadow of the suppressive cosa nostra which is the NZ Labour Party and its sycophants.

ISRAEL VERSUS IRAN

It seems a question of when (not if) some sort of military action will be  taken against Iran to stop it becoming a Nuclear Weapon Nation. Last night on the BBC they said that Israel would do the job alone if other members of the western world weren't willing to do so. The reality is that the leadership of Iran have made it very clear that they see it as their religious mission to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. The fact is that if these people do get the ability to produce Nuclear Weapons their chances of committing this genocide would increase a thousand fold. Instead of suicide bombers with a few kilo's of plastic explosives strapped to their bodies trying to enter Israel to kill a few dozen innocent people they would instead have a a ship, a plane or a truck trying to enter Israel  with Nuclear weapons within them able to destroy an entire nation. Tens of millions of people.

Whether it took the life of one Muslim, or ten thousand to achieve this goal a quick analysis of their motivation makes it very clear that such a price is thought to be minimal in achieiving their final goal. In fact those so called hero"s who did Nuke Israel would surely go to heaven etc etc. Sixty virgins await them with their legs wide open willingly waiting to be raped.

Taking into account the incredible risks involved if Iran does finally get itself  a few Nuclear Bombs, it's my opinion that we of the West and/or Israel should strike Iran earlier rather than later. The reality is that with each month that goes by Iran gets closer and closer to committing mass murder that would make the German death camps of the Second World War look like amateur attempts at ethnic cleaning. Also to be remebered is that the more time that goes means there will be more people trained to build these weapons. With such people trained to build Nuclear bombs even if the machinery to build them is temporarily destroyed the people willing and able to try once again  will still exist.

NORTH KOREA GOES NUCLEAR?

While the western world is hopping around with shock and indignation at North Korea detonating a Nuclear bomb, chances are it`s northern neighbors of China and Russia aren`t all that concerned, even though they`ve already joined the international cry of condemnation.

Having read numerous articles on this situation it`s my opinion that North Korea was only able to detonate such an advanced nuclear device with outside help.  I say this because while initial commentary said this technologically deprived nation could only have been able to construct a basic atomic bomb using enriched Uranium, recent atmospheric tests have proven they detonated a much more sophisticated Nuclear bomb using enriched Plutonium.

My theory (for what it is worth) is that either China or Russia, or both secretly supplied this bomb for North Korea to detonate. Their reasons for doing this being explained by the obvious shudder of horror and the lingering sense of insecurity this detonation has produced in the minds of the free world.

My reasons for suspecting this is that the leaders of both ex Soviet Russia and Communist China don`t really want to have their already restricted powers undermined any more. Even Georgia, a once Soviet stronghold is not not only trying to join the EEC but has actually applied to join NATO as well. What an insult for Russia.

Lets be honest for all China`s talk of increase personal freedom and human rights, it still en-jails those who say they support support democracy in their country. While Russia while always giving lip service to democracy has been actively clamping down on any political opposition that threatens the status quo. The fact that Russia`s President Putin was once the head of the Soviet KGB must speak oodles about who is really still running the country today.

By secretly supplying the bomb or bombs for North Korea to appear to be a Nuclear country as well as a Nuclear threat automatically automatically makes both these despotic nations look so much cleaner in comparison.

Looking back on the various political regimes trialled around the world it`s been proven that while Capitalism produces huge amounts of wealth and a high standard of living for it`s people it also deprives those who want to be dictators of their ability to be so. Whi