Maori MP Swears at Student

In a lecture given last week at Waikato University, Maori MP Hone Harawira has been accused of swearing at a student, using the 'f' word and phrases like (ironically), "my big black ass".

Not suprisingly, Harawira has been effectively banned from giving any more lectures at Waikato University. But in an interview with a local newspaper, he said "I shut him down because he's just a racist ... He just lumped Maori in with other minorities like homosexuals and Asians. I pointed out to him that we are not a minority, but tangata whenua."

Is it just me, or isn't it racist to think of one group (of a factor completely beyond human control) as intrinsically better than all others?

I think we all know who the real racist is here, Hone. I'm pointing in your direction.

Racial Progress in Europe?

While the NAACP in the US is claiming that banks unfairly targeted black home-buyers with easy credit, a new study conducted in Germany and Eastern Europe has found that fully 5% of German 15 year olds is a neo-Nazi, with larger numbers in the far-right of German politics.

This is why I hate the detractors of America pointing to Europe as an example of racial equality: beneath the clean exterior of European statism, a huge amount of social tension still exists in the continent. In parts of Britain and France, huge numbers of Muslim immigrants live in huge ghettos that the police won't go into, where Islamic violence spreads -almost all Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe are carried out by Muslims who've lived there their whole lives in the countries they hate. In Germany and Eastern Europe, neo-Nazism is on the rise amongst teenagers and young adults, with the accompanying crimes*. In Russia, the situation in Chechnya is all the proof of racial tension in Putin's new USSR.

With racial tensions as bad as they are in Europe, perhaps race relations have in fact improved the most in that most racist of nations, the USA?

*from the article: "Government figures have shown anti-Semitic crimes rose at the end of last year."

Glenn Jameson, National SOLOist

So, Glenn Jameson over at SOLO, is a "key creative talent" behind National's latest billboard campaign. Many people, such as Peter Cresswell, are up in arms over it.

However, I digress. Frankly, so what?

The fact is, he has the right to go and work for whoever he wants to work for. He has no "duty" to go and work anywhere. Isn't that what Objectivism is about? Glenn was acting in his rational self-interest. Given the choices, benefits and consequences involved, he decided to go and work on the National Party's advertising team. This does not necessarily say, however, that he agrees with the National Party and what it stands for. Indeed, he has a rather pragmatic justification for his work with the National Party.

All things considered, I too would rather have him work for, say, the Libertarianz, just like most SOLOists and Libertarianz. But it should not be held against him. He chose to do what he considered to be the best thing to do out of all his choices. He looked at the National Party's views and compared them with his. And he took the job.

Besides, when this is all over, he's pretty much free to do whatever he likes again. It's merely for this election campaign that he has decided to work for the Nats. He has not done anything wrong, on any level. Yes, we may question why he did go and work there, but we should not:

a) feel morally superior; and

b) go on a Medieval witchhunt, just because he made a decision in his rational self-interest that we may disagree with.

Kevin Says "Sorry"

So, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did what John Howard couldn't today and, on behalf of the Australian Parliament, officially said "sorry to the "stolen generation" of Aborigines.

I'm not an advocate of collective "sorries" whether the person saying it committed the atrocity or not. But this one is an exception; Rudd is apologizing on behalf of the state, not the people as a whole.

And indeed, there was many instances of injustice and force used against Aborigines during the 20th Century. These acts, though, weren't committed by Australians at large, they were committed by the government, the leaders of whom should have been brought before the court. The only thing with an apology of any sort is that it won't actually do anything to change people's current situations. That can only be done by abolishing racist legislation and anything to do with race in a government, and by sheer personal effort.

Waitangi Days on "Not PC" Has Something to Celebrate

Now, for another posting of an article; but it's so good, I'll leave all the discuss to it. If you'll make your way over to Not PC, he has an excellent piece on New Zealand's national holiday tomorrow, Waitangi Day. It's a highly recommended read.

PS: Lindsay Perigo at SOLO also has released a good press release about the subject.

Poor Candidates For the US

With Rudy Guiliani slipping further in the polls and Hillary Clinton winning every primary in the US minus Iowa, the US election at the end of this year is shaping up to be one of the worst yet:

-The Republican nomination is a toss up between Mike Huckabee, an evangelist who promises to deliver America back to the time when Christianity was taught as the true religion and to give in to God, Mitt Romney, a mormon who thinks he did wonders for Massachusetts (the most socialist state in the Eastern US), and John McCain, who continually votes for bigger, more intrusive government and one of few senators to vote against the Bush tax cuts TWICE. McCain won the South Carolina seat, which almost always determines who gets the nomination.

-Hillary Clinton, self-described "government junkie" and all round totalitarian collectivist worshiper has won all primaries minus Iowa for the Democrat nomination, and shows no sign of abating. One of her principles, "there's no such thing as other people's children" is far removed from the true American principles of the founding fathers.

-Guiliani's policy of appealing to the states further down hasn't worked, and his consistent showing of 4th or 5th place in most state's polls won't help come Super Tuesday, when 20 states vote.

So, whoever gets the Republican vote may be just as bad as Hillary, or worse. Once again, a less-of-two-evils campaign. In which case, it may simply be best just to vote for the Libertarian Party after all.

Labour's Public Beheading

If there's any better argument against the Electoral Finance Bill, it'll be coming next year. As I've discussed below, the Electoral Finance Bill is the primary reason for Labour's recent slip in the polls -and the rise of National so that it can govern alone.

Democracy isn't perfect, but when it comes to legislation like the Electoral Finance Bill, voters can use their power to oust the government that enacted it, and, at the least, influence future governments to repeal it. In a free and fair democracy, regardless of how much advertising is put up to influence voters to change their minds, truly terribly acts like this will never keep any government in power for long.

The Electoral Finance Bill won't destroy Labour because it'll lose support from the centre, it'll destroy Labour because of loss of support from the left. Hone Harawira, a hard Maori Party leftist who detests anything white in NZ, has come out in direct opposition to the Bill. Tim Shadbolt, the mayor of Invercargill, has done the same thing, promising to break the law. The Maori party, who generally vote with Labour on most issues, stands in the opposition. Unfortunately, the Greens who generally have a good track record on issues of free speech, have followed Labour like the headless chickens they are. The Human Rights Commission, the Law Society and even Greenpeace (!) have voiced opposition to the Bill, although whether Labour will be hypocrites when it comes to leftist violations it yet to be seen (which it probably will be).

Add on the complete lack of support from the middle class, and you get a beheading spectacular in nature.

The EFB's Impact on Polls

The recent controversy surrounding the Electoral Finance Bill has had its impact on the most recent public opinion poll, and it's hurting Labour severely:

-Labour slips to just 35%, one of its lowest for a long time.

-John Key is on 35% for preferred PM, Helen Clark is at 30%. (the other 35% is made up of various third-party candidates)

-National is in the fifties, which means it can govern alone.

-NZ First and the Greens dip below five percent, which means that, providing the pools are accurate, they'd need to have an electorate to stay in parliament (which hopefully they won't have).

Lindsay Perigo discusses the implications of this poll on SOLO. With any due luck, the results will stay like this during the election -the one poll that truly matters.

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 Left: The new Social Authoritarians

The past seven-and-a-half years of the Clark dicta---- errr, government have been some of the worst for violations of civil liberties in New Zealand. This democratically* elected government is stomping over rights like there's no tomorrow (maybe thanks to global warming?). Here's a few of the attacks on liberties we've seen here recently in New Zealand:

-The sedition trial against Tim Selwyn;
-A crown owned companied fined for "contempt of parliament";
-A threat by the Communist Commission towards Air NZ for highlighting the large govt levies on ticket prices;
-Commissar for Financial Control Michael Cullen threatening the Herald with a large tax bill if it kept up criticism of the government;
-The former Electricity Commissioner sacked for saying "I stood up to the government like an independent regulator should";
-Threatening to remove the tax-exempt status of charities that criticise the government;
-Advocating a ban on anonymous donations to political parties;
-Advocating state funding of political parties during elections;

and the most terrible of them all:

-Changing a law when the party's actions were found to be illegal.

Labour, supposedly a pro-civil liberties party, is at every turn trying to curb your free speech and your right to support a political party of your choice, voluntarily. It is accepting less and less criticism of the Labour-lead government until you may be forced to say only good things about it.

These disgusting rights violations, along with the general Leftist policies of political correctness (another assault on free speech), affirmative action and other pro-minority-at-the-expense-of-the-majority policies have, once again, made an environment where the minority gets special privilage. Even if that minority's rights were abused in the past, these policies change nothing.

Although the left does get it right on some issues (and Idiot/Savant on no right turn proved that), if parties like Labour keep going the way they are, we may be a dictatorship in terms of civil liberties, as well as economic liberties.

*Just target some welfare at a disgruntled group, and they'll more than likely vote for you. No honesty required!