China FTA

So, New Zealand, in a few days time, is going to have a revolutionary free trade agreement with China, the first Western nation to do so. And as usual, John Minto and his group are out protesting in force, trying to end any economic ties which might, in time and in force, actually contribute to the freeing-up of China in other areas.

It is true that the treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese Government is to be questioned. But one question: how will a free trade deal such as this one contribute to the (supposed) violence and mistreatment? A free trade deal doesn't mean that China as a whole, or the government, is trading with New Zealand -individual businesses are. A free trade deal would also contribute to the flow of citizens between the two countries, which means that New Zealanders have more prominence there than they would without the deal.

A free trade deal doesn't necessarily mean that Kiwi jobs are lost, either. Instead, it gives us a chance to specialize. Just as China is flooding the NZ market with cheap goods, we can export products, such as meat and diary goods, to them. China is a HUGE market, and New Zealand has to look for its niche there -like Western Australia has done with its raw materials (and look at them!).

Free Trade means that the two countries can engage in more peaceful business activities, and corporations in either country can learn off corporations in the other, and become more flexible. Free Trade also means more flow of capital resources between the two countries.

Free Trade has had innumerable benefits for many countries throughout history, and a NZ-China FTA will not be different in its overall outcome over the course of several years. Free Trade is good for opening countries up and making them more transparent, moderating and/or ending government-imposed violence, such as in Tibet. Free Trade acts as a check on a nation's military record, and has been very successful in stopping international conflicts. The benefits from a nation acting in its rational, economic self interest will always outweigh the perceived "benefits" from a nation acting in its irrational, political self-interest.

First Casualties of the EFB/A

The Electoral Finance Bill/Act came into effect two days ago, meaning that any voices who oppose the government can effectively be silenced by the power of the gun, the government deciding who's fit to receive money to campaign and who isn't, and who is allowed to donate money and who isn't (all the while supporting the ideas of those who they don't support with their own tax money).

The first casualty on this war on free speech, ironically, is Helen Clark. At the start of the new year, a group called "People Power" threw a rock through the window of her electoral office in Mount Albert, to protest the act. It wouldn't be the first time someone has vandalized Helen Clark's electoral office; the first time, however, the offender was charged with sedition (!).

Tim Shadbolt, the usually Labour-leaning and provocative mayor of New Zealand's southernmost city Invercargill is now touting the opposition to the Act, telling his citizens and those of the entire country to not vote Labour.

To protest this act further, Cameron Slater of Whale Oil and Andy Moore of The Section 59 Blog have started up www.dontvotelabour.org.nz, and they could be the first people brought to court under the new law.

...but where's their $1200 that supports claim that the Act will stop? Maybe they should realize that the $1200 cap on personal anonymous donations is truly pitiful compared to the $4.8 million of public money Labour spent on election campaigning in 2005. But which party received the most anonynous funding last year? ACT!

Or perhaps you'd like to do a Chris Trotter, getting quickly off the actual issues to do a bit of scaremongering non-existent concepts in his twisted, Marxist view of reality.

Hugo Chavez NOT "Dictator Perpetuus"!

In a smart move to combat Hugo Chavez's dictatorial ambitions, the Venezuelan people have voted in a referendum against Hugo Chavez being named "dictator for life" in Venezuela. Even so, those are still his ambitions. But still, a good step away from socialism and the trash heap of the world, in a nation that prefers capitalism more than the US.

I can imagine why. With the country being the incredibly dysfunctional, corrupt and dangerous it is (its murder rate is nearly 7 times that of the US), it's just not a place you want to be.

The Road to Hell, Again

Welcome back, Nazi Germany!

Children's Commissar Cindy Kiro, the Socialist busybody who would happily follow the political examples of Venezuela and Zimbabwe, is proposing to, according to Stuff, "make it compulsory for every newborn's caregiver to nominate an authorized provider to assess their family's progress through home visits". The alleged aim of this is to "halve New Zealand's shocking child murder rate".

If Kiro really wanted to terminate the problem of child abuse, she would see to it that irresponsible parents are disallowed any government benefits and put in the necessary incentives for responsible parenting. Of course, this isn't her real aim, which is to increase the amount of government intrusion in Kiwi's personal lives-the result of which is all this child abuse and murder.

The new regulations would "depend on the establishment of a suggested database tracking the development of every New Zealand child". Maybe she needs to read Orwell's 1984.

NZ's record of child abuse and murder is hardly something to brag over, and we're consistently at the bottom for the quality of life of NZ children. Most, if not all, of these poor children are born into families that rely very heavily on welfare for their existence. They're paid to breed, abuse, rape, and kill their children. But, being a big government Socialist nutcase, Kiro turns a blind eye to this. Instead putting every decent parent in the country to blame.

The people who gain the most from this are the abusers.

Back a few months ago, the CYFSwatch blog was under heavy scrutiny from welfare agencies, demanding the blog be closed. IF these organizations were doing their job honestly and fairly (as far as government organizations go) there would be little need to have it shut down. Nevertheless, government welfare organizations don't like being held accountable, do they?

I wonder how long it is until the telescreens are going to be placed?

Government Corruption

This Labour Government has...

...overspent illegally on election propaganda;
...covered it up and changed the law to suit it's own interests;
...spent millions of dollars of tax money on such petty services such as radio sing along courses;
...prosecuted people for not allowing criminals to kill them;
...disallowed us to discipline children;
...do anything to our property without a 14-year wait for Resource Consent;
...openly proposed that people must pay for political parties we hate;
...openly proposed disallowing criticism during elections;
...not enjoy our holidays
...not interfere with snails regardless of our livelihoods;
...openly supported a philosophy which wants us all dead (see "environmentalism");
...ignored another philosophy which wants at least the West all dead (see "Islamofascism');
...lead society down the "no-responsibility, work is for suckers" welfare state black hole";
...and most recently, fired a government worker because of her emotions for someone who didn't agree with Helen.

But to many NZer's, stuff it all as long as I get my handout.

If You're a Reporter, stay away from these Men

"Reporters Without Borders have released their new list of "Free Speech Predators".


Funny how they're all leaders of the poorest nations in the world (except for ETA in Spain).

Go to the Reporters Without Borders website for more information.

Boris Yeltsin, Russian Father of Democracy, dies

Boris Yeltsin, the man who heroically stood on a tank one day in 1991 and declared the USSR (and, subsequently, almost all Communism around the world) extinct, has finally passed away.

Yeltsin will be forever remembered for that. But he will be remembered for lots of over things as well-among them, his eccentric behaviour. He was the very first Russian leader to resign from office. And yesterday, his life finally came to an end.

So, what's going on in Russia today? Unfortunately, after Communism fell rather quickly, Russia has become a somewhat fascist state. Many Russians feel they are worse off now than under the USSR.

However, the situation of the Russian Federation is hardly a failure of Capitalism and Democracy. Russia ranked only a pitiful 131st on the Heritage Foundation's list of most Economically Free Nations. Compare that to what is easily the most well-off former USSR state, Estonia that came 12th. Russia lacks basic property-rights and doesn't have a properly organised bearaucracy, compared to Estonia, of which is also much more smaller. Russia is also plagued with corruption, which is anything but a Free-Market institution.

If Russia needs to get ahead, it needs to grant basic property rights, and gets it's government in order. Estonia, which was in fact built off Milton Friedman's ideas in his book Free to Choose as former PM Mart Laar says, would be an excellent example.

Darnton vs Clark Case Withdrawn

It's a sad day for New Zealand (or, at least, should be) as Bernard Darnton, the man brave enough to stand up to big government corruption, has officially withdrawn his case from the courts. We should remember it, however, for giving even the most hardened Socialist a wake-up call that governments are not above the law contrary of how many act, and that there's more to the running of this country than meets the eye.

The most shocking part of the whole ordeal is that, although the government's misspending of public money was widely talked about (an issue which I myself discussed with the Audittor-General some time ago), the government's passing of legislation making that money legal was largely ignored. This was an even more important action and one that should go down abysmally in the history of New Zealand politics. The government gave itself the power to be above the law. The government's actions resembled that of a third-world dictatorship, not a Western-world Liberal Democracy. New Zealanders completely ignored that. The reaction by New Zealanders was no short of disgusting and disgraceful.

On a lighter side, I also have some congratulating to do-and thanking, because these people stood up for my, and every New Zealander's, civil liberties. The first person I will thank is the Audittor-General. He bravely stood up to the government declaring that the money was illegally used, and stood beside his decision in the face of increasing government coercion. During these times, he showed us what an ideal civil servant was: not a puppet of the government, but a man independent of the government's power.

I also have to thank Bernard Darnton. The faithful leader of the Libertarianz did what's right, and what any citizen should do when the government declares it's above the law: he sued it. He, like the Audittor-General, bravely stood up for your rights. Your liberties. A true Libertarian indeed.

Everyone who signed the petition to the governor-general about the issue also needs to be thanked. They expressed, no matter how small a name their's may be out of the tens of thousands who signed, a clear concern for civil liberties, government corruption, and government power.

So, as above-the-law as the government may seem, this court case will always be around to remind us that there still are people who care about the government's size, scope and power in this little southern Pacific nation, and that these people are still alive and well today. And as long as these people live, the government will never be truly above the law.