Archive for June, 2008

Seven random facts meme

Posted by Phil on June 27th, 2008

Major Gustavus von Tempsky, known by his enemies as Manu-rau or “many birds” for his skill at leading swarming attacks during New Zealand’s counter-guerrilla campaigns of the 1860s, was killed while leading an attack against Titokowaru’s fortified village at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu in 1868. A memorial is visible at the site of his death in South […]

Miscellaneous, Personal | 2 Comments »

Libertarianism on Sunday

Posted by Luke H on June 23rd, 2008

The Herald on Sunday’s opinion/editorial section was packed with Anti-Labour, Anti-Nanny State and Anti-Government pieces.
For instance:

Matt McCarten: Parliament looks inwards while rest of the planet runs amok
Bill Ralston: Positive spin in negative mode
Deborah Coddington: Blame the scum at the end of a drink bottle
Editorial: Binge rules could drive you to drink
Editorial: Lightbulb prohibition a move […]

Politics, Culture, Libertarianz, Personal, Labour, New Zealand | No Comments »

Let’s Ban Bans

Posted by Luke H on June 18th, 2008

Jim “Banderton” has banned BZP and is making continous veiled threats to get rid of alcohol and cigarettes.
National has plans to crack down on P.
Labour has already cracked down on taggers and are targeting Manurewa liquor stores.
The Greens have more domestic ambitions, being extremely keen to get rid of incandescent lightbulbs and beer fridges.
“I understand […]

Catastrophes, Culture, Politics, Libertarianz, Labour, New Zealand | 3 Comments »

Liquor stores, violent crime and blaming the victim

Posted by Phil on June 17th, 2008

Following the alleged murder of a tagger in South Auckland in January, the government announced a crackdown on tagging. Now after the fatal shooting of a liqour store owner in South Auckland last week, the Prime Minister is planning a crackdown on liquor outlets - surely a knee-jerk, blame-the-victim response.
Helen Clark said yesterday police had […]

Police, Politics, Labour, New Zealand | 4 Comments »

Parasitic Monster

Posted by Luke H on June 16th, 2008

In this picture you can see a horrible blood-sucking parasitic monster …

… and also a beautiful specimen of a colossal squid.
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Catastrophes, Science, Wellington, Politics, Labour | 3 Comments »

Utter Destruction

Posted by Luke H on June 6th, 2008

Imagine a beautiful and peaceful land where hundreds of native species thrive amid vast tracts of native forest …

The peace was shattered when humans arrived.
Hundreds of colonists begin hunting and killing the birds and burning the forest. It takes them less than a century to kill off at least 18 different species of large […]

Development, Catastrophes, Culture, Free market environmentalism, Technology, Empire, New Zealand, Energy | 8 Comments »