The Whig

New Attack Line on John Key

Interesting watching Labour in Parliament today.  Full house on their side all afternoon, while National pretty much buggered off after John-boy did his thing.

But what's really interesting was what they were saying about the Smiling Assassin.  Their new line is that he made his millions betting against the New Zealand dollar and driving it down!!!!  The bastard!

If this is all they've got, they're toast.  But it's not.  Amidst all the bullshit, there has been some very stinging criticism.  The gist is that, basically, John Key has no alternative ideas and the only policy he has so far has been adopted from Labour.  Which is true.

I think today should be a lesson for the blue team that this year is going to be far from a cakewalk, and that they had better buck up.  As John Key himself asked "Where's the beef?"

Who Will Rid Us of This Turbulent Priest?

I am a strong supporter of devolved Justice.  I believe, for example, that if Tuhoe and Ngati Porou want their own justice system separate from the New Zealand system, then they should be allowed one.  This already occurs in Britain, where Scotland and County Durham have their own systems.

What is crucial with any system of justice is jurisdiction.  This must be absolutely clear-cut.  You could not, for example, easily have a Ngati Whatau Justice system - there are just too many white people in Orakei who would not wear it.  Jurisdiction has to be strictly defined by geography or some other basic means.  In fact, in most cases, I would argue that individuals should have sole jurisdiction over their own property, with obvious exceptions to protect innocent and invited visitors.

All of which makes Archbishop Rowan Williams' comments not particularly out of the ballpark for me.  If they'd been made by a secular politician, I think the opportunity to debate systems of Justice would have been a good one.  Only one problem - the Archbishop is a religious leader.  Of another religion.  Advocating another religion's law.  What a prize dumbarse!

Aside from any of the substance of his argument, if you are the head of a church, supposedly, I am assuming, you are there because you think it's better than the alternatives.  By faith you reject other believe systems and advocate for your own.  Am I naive in thinking this?!  Why would the managing head of the Church of England, representing five hundred years of heritage, tradition, and biblically based English law, suddenly decide that it's not good enough for some people?!  It's like the CEO of Coca Cola suddenly proclaiming that more people should drink Pepsi.  Who will rid us of this turbulent priest?!!!

Williams should resign on this basis alone.  But aside from that, he is wrong.  There's no clear demarcation of jurisdiction for Sharia law in Britain, nor would you ever want to impose one on any human being, let alone non-muslims.  Nor is Islam an indigenous religion of Britain such that it would be justified to allow such jurisdictions.  This call comes from recent immigration, not mass conversions, and it could be argued that those who willingly move to a place where Sharia is not the law, and don't like this fact, should simply move back somewhere where it is.

All of this escapes the dickhead with the pointy hat, who should stop pretending he's the head of an organised religion as opposed to a glorified middle-class singalong club, decamp to Riyadh, and see how he likes it there.

Spot the Leadership Challenger

Y ou can always spot the Labour MPs with high ambitions - they're the ones attempting to score easy runs off fish-in-barrel right-wing talking points.

Good on him though.  Labour's chances of winning in November are currently slim, provided National can campaign as it should and provide a credible alternative policy programme.  Their only chance with the current leadership is hoping that they can put up credible tax cuts to catch the Nats with their trousers down.  This will involve a great deal of luck and a sympathetic media.  They no longer have the latter, and the former has not been going their way since the last week of the 2005 campaign.

If Shane Jones mounted a successful coup in the next two or three months, and makes at least a half-arsed attempt to fix the Electoral Finance Act, I'd probably vote for him.  As much as I loathe the nanny-statist Labour Party, I really do fail to see what improvement National would be, and I worry about letting authoritarians like Jacqui Dean and Paul Hutchinson anywhere near the treasury benches.

Why Councils Shouldn't Own Shipping Ports

The ARC have, once again, got their begging bowl out.  You know something is wrong when Mike B is caught less than dead, smiling in the same photograph with maverick leftie Mike L.

It's proof that lefties are never happy.  They spent much of the '90s crowing about the blood sweat and tears they exerted to keep Ports of Auckland in public hands.  But now they've got it, they don't want to fork out for the maintenance.  They can't even divvy up their own land without whining to the government taxpayer about it.

All this displays the lunacy of public ownership of a commercial shipping port.  I can understand wanting to own the land, sure.  But owning the operation itself is ridiculous, and deeply inefficent.

Here's an idea:  Float the Ports of Auckland on the sharemarket.  Offer up 49% of the shares to investors, and vest the remaining 51% in a second private company which in turn distributes shares to every single ARC ratepayer.  That way, you retain ratepayer control of the asset, while raising the money to redevelop the waterfront.

A simple idea, which would fly anywhere in the civilised world... except here, where blind ideology and incompetence reigns.

In Defence of Helen Clark's Motorway Tunnel

When I initially heard of this proposal I was disgusted at the expense and the cynicism of the tunnel to complete the Western Bypass.  However, I've come around.

There are three reasons for this.  The first is that it actually will be cheaper than the alternatives, which I did not realise.  The second is that, after hitherto foolishly heeding public opinion by promising no tolls, the government has now decided that the best people to pay for the motorway are the ones who actually use it.  Well done.  The third is that, joy of joys, most of the houses to be knocked down in the process are owned by the state!  Less state houses are always, ALWAYS a good thing.

One day we'll get rid of all the crap and regulation that stops private companies from investing in roads like this, but until then, I'm pretty happy with this project, and I'd be disappointed if National played politics with it too much.

Thought for the Day

Having secured a Presidential nomination by appealing to the base, a politician normally has to move to the centre to achieve nationwide appeal.

Now that John McCain has secured a Presidential nomination from the centre, it seems like he might have to move to the right to appeal to the base.

Weird.

Ann Coulter Endorses Hillary Clinton

Seriously.  She does!  Watch:

I lust Ann Coulter so much.  But it's funny how vitriolic people are being towards McCain now that he looks to have the nomination sewn up.  He's like the Bill English of the Republican Party.