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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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Friday, March 26, 2010
Image via WikipediaAustralia and NZ merger 'inevitable'? Perhaps, but such a discussion would not be an isolated one; it would be be part of a wider discussion on republicanism.
Part One: Polls and opinion
Some 40 per cent of Kiwis supported a debate about New Zealand becoming a state of Australia. Photo / Steven McNicholFormer Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon believes a merger with Australia is inevitable.
A recent poll has found 40 per cent of New Zealanders support a debate about becoming a state of Australia.
The UMR Research poll surveyed a thousand people on both sides of the Tasman.
Approximately a quarter of Kiwis favoured the country becoming part of the Australia with 71% opposed to the idea.
37% of Australian respondents supported the merger, compared 52% against it.
Sir Don - who is also a former Foreign Affairs Minister and chair of the Trans-Tasman Business Circle - told TVNZ's Q&A programme that it was just a matter of time before a formal agreement is reached with Australia.
"We've got nearly half a million New Zealanders living in Australia anyway," he said.
"By the time the next generation comes around, technology and the movement of people everywhere, New Zealanders won't want to be in the situation of paying taxes in both countries and all the time going through immigration and Customs.
They'll want to try to eliminate all those things."
Sir Don believes the shift will be people-driven, rather then politically motivated.
"It's a debate that's going to go on, but no political leader in New Zealand is going to win an election advocating this issue."
But Labour party leader Phil Goff said there was no reason for a union with Australia.
He said although Australia had nothing to lose from it, joining with a much larger country would mean giving up our national identity.
"New Zealanders are proud of their culture, they are proud of their history, they are proud of their sense of identity."
He said working towards a single economic market between the countries could be achieved without a merger.
"When we can get the benefits of a closer economic relationship and a single economic market, what are the additional benefits of simply being the seventh state?
"It's about making decisions in New Zealand for New Zealanders by New Zealanders that really matter. We can have a closer relationship, we can get the best of both worlds. Submerging ourselves into Australia is not required to achieve that."
Former Prime Minister Mike Moore said New Zealand simply had to "toughen up".
"We will not solve our economic problems by becoming a state or two states of Australia."
Part Two: The Kiwi Riverman's opinion:
The above report is an interesting one. But as I said from the commencement of this post, such a discussion would be part of a wider discussion on the merits of republicanism. Australia will drive this discussion, and New Zealand would have to consider whether it could continue on on its own. When, not if, New Zealand as a society decides its future, the discussion will move to one of a merger with Australia.
It wouldn't be a simple merger as another state of Australia, but how New Zealand would fit in with a future expanding Australia. There could well be two states, or even three when considering Auckland's role. Auckland is becoming a "city state" with a quarter of New Zealand's population. The South Island is slowly becoming a different entity to the North Island. And its true that over a half a million New Zealanders already reside in Australia.
We should consider the origination of the Commonwealth of Australia: It was originally conceived as a "Commonwealth of Australasia", but the then Premier of New Zealand, Richard Seddon, pulled NZ out of the colony amalgamation discussions and our country went on to become a dominion on its own. Australia became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, and New Zealand became a dominion a few years later. But of course neither country really becoame fully self-governing for a few years after that.
And the matter of a republic? There will be a bit more water flowing under the bridge yet; New Zealand is actually in the process of discussing the merits of a new flag, but this is actually premature when considering the possibility of an amalgamation of the two countries, and of course the republic matter itself.
New Zealand would have to consider the future of a number of pacific islands first: the Cooks Islands are technically part of New Zealand, Niue and Tokelau are territories and Samoa is getting closer to NZ every year as more and more Samoans become resident in the country. So there is more to consider than a straight amalgamation with Australia. There could well be a consideration for an Oceanic republic.
Acknowledgements: Newstalk ZB, NZ Herald, Peter Petterson.
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Image via WikipediaPhillipa Malpas, Auck Univ, says care home staff face ethical dilemma with Margaret Page's decision to starve herself to death
The actions of medical staff at Wellington's St John of God Hospital in allowing a woman to starve herself to death, are raising questions of medical ethicacy.
Margaret Page is disabled and terminally ill after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage 20 years ago. She has been living at the St John of God care home since 2006 and has not eaten for 11 days and has drunk only a small amount of water, because she no longer wants to live. Her separated husband has urged staff to force feed her, but the care home says it is her right to decide her fate. Three psychiatric assessments have found the 60-year-old is capable of making her own decisions.
Dr Malpas says it is a difficult situation.
"One of the principles that would come to mind would be the principle of do no harm and I guess you could ask the question, well, is it harmful in this situation to force her to eat? Is it harmful to allow her to do this?"
However, Dr Malpas says the law is very clear.
"Nobody who is competent can be forced to eat and drink or accept any medical treatment that they don't want even if that will end up hastening their death."
Dr Malpas says a competent person who forces another to eat or drink could be prosecuted for criminal assault, however an argument could be made that failing to force feed Mrs Page is assisting her suicide.
Ms Malpas says the ethical dilemma for staff in such situations is secondary to their obligations to the patient's will.
But aren't health professionals bound to take all care to ensure she is kept in the best of health? Do doctors till swear a hippocratical oath to do EVERYTHING in their power to ensure the woman's health?
Acknowledgements:
© 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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Image via WikipediaA 16-year-old UK girl who lost $21 while on an errand found out she lost her job when her manager posted a message on her Facebook page.
Chelsea Taylor was sacked from her Saturday job at a cafe via a heavily misspelt Facebook message, the Daily Mail reported.
Chelsea had been given $21 to go out and buy biscuits for the staff of Cookies, a cafe in Leigh in northern England.
When she lost the money she was notified of her dismissal with a Facebook message from manager Elaine Sutton.
"I had to tell the owner bout u losin that tenner coz obviously the till was down at the end of the day," the message read.
"she wasn't very pleased at all and despite me trying to persuade her otherwise she said I have to let u go."
Chelsea's mother Nicola said the Facebook dismissal was "appalling and heartless".
"I just can't believe they didn't even have the decency to tell her over the phone, let alone in person," she said.
"And to have the message all misspelt with capital letters and apostrophes missing is simply disrespectful and sets no example to other employees."
When Ms Taylor told Ms Sutton she lost the money she offered to replace it but the offer was declined.
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Friday, March 19, 2010
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Image via WikipediaMississippi's Homophobic Prom.
High schools around the United States are currently preparing for the event that many students look forward to their entire high school careers: prom. But this year, there will be no prom for the Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. Why?
School officials and school board members canceled the prom in order to prevent a lesbian student, 18-year-old Constance McMillen, from attending with her girlfriend.
After initially trying to ban just Constance and her date - an action that drew the threat of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – the school decided to cancel the event for everyone rather than let the lesbian couple attend. That's right. No gay couples. No straight couples. No prom.
In response, people across the country have mobilized in support of Constance, who throughout this ordeal has stood up unashamed for who she is - and become a national hero for LGBT rights in the process. She now has hundreds of thousands of Facebook fans, and businesses volunteering to hold alternative proms for all Itawamba students to celebrate her courage in the face of discrimination.
There are also thousands of people taking action on Change.org, demanding that the Itawamba Agricultural High School change course and become a place where all students can enjoy events like prom - not just the straight ones. You can take action here.
As shocking as this episode is, the homophobia experienced by Constance is nothing new inside America's schools. Nationwide, nearly 90 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender students report that they've been victims of verbal abuse in school, and more than 40 percent say they've been physically harassed.
That's why one of the few openly gay members of Congress, Rep. Jared Polis, is trying to move forward a piece of legislation known as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would move our schools one step closer to becoming safe spaces for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. You can help support his effort here.
Western society is under endless change, and sexual orientation seems to be another battle field which includes the nations high school children. Homophobia, despite one's own personal viewpoint, is becoming an evil within itself. Religion of whatever kind becomes tainted with sheer hypocricy.
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Monday, March 15, 2010
Image via Wikipedia.
A documentary program on New Zealand television shockingly revealed under age teenaged Muslim girls being forced into illegal marriages with older men in New Zealand. Such acts are common in other western countries, but until now were unknown by the general public here.
One girl has gone into hiding after being raped and forced by her despicable parents to "marry"the man.
Marriage is illegal under the age of 16 years in this country. Young people under 18 years need parental consent. The program dealt with cases of a 14 year old and a 15 year old forced to marry men by their parents. These people are Muslim refugees who are thumbing their noses at New Zealand law. New Zealand has generously given refuge to families from war-torn countries in southern Asia, the middle east and Africa. Is this is how they show their gratitude?
These people obviously consider NZ to be a soft touch. Mosque leaders deny any knowledge of these so-called marriages, but the various communities obviously know all about them. But they are undoubtably happening. Some girls are forced to go overseas to have a couple of children by their 'husbands'' to make them accept their situations.
The NZ Minister of Immigration denies there are the numbers to make any enquiries necessary about these so-called marriages. The British government which has concerns about forced marriages of children there, will make it a criminal offence to be a party to these marriages.
And that was how I wrote the above post on my community blogs earlier this week. New Zealand is a democratically elected secular society which does not have an "official' religion. Be that as it may, New Zealand is still basically a Christian society with many Christian religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and a variety of smaller religions and sects. As well as these NZ has many other religions such as Muslim, Hindu and many other asian originated religions. All members of these are permitted and encouraged to operate with freedom and respect for their congregations here in NZ. While we don't actually have an official religion, the Anglican Church (Church of England) is still the major religion here.
We have opened our doors to immigrants and refugees from many countries around the globe, and all we have asked is that they respect New Zealand society and culture as they would their own back in their home countries. Some practices and behaviour have been questioned and answered by Islamic leaders as not being allowed by the Koran, but culturally acceptable in some countries. But they are not permitted under NZ law or culturally accepted here. These despicable forced marriages will not be permitted, and those involved could be deported back to their own countries, or perhaps to some other Muslim countries, under certain cirumstances. New Zealand may have to follow the lead of the United Kingdom and make it an offence to be a party to illegal forced "marriages" of children here. Of course such marriages cannot be recognised here because marriage is illegal under the age of 16 years , and those under 18 years must have parental consent.
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Sunday, March 14, 2010
Image via WikipediaAliens from outer space are already among us on earth, say Bulgarian government scientists who claim they are already in contact with extraterrestrial life.
"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media.
Work on deciphering a complex set of symbols sent to them is underway, scientists from the country's Space Research Institute said.
They claim aliens are currently answering 30 questions posed to them.
Lachezar Filipov, deputy director of the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, confirmed the research.
He said the centre's researchers were analysing 150 crop circles from around the world, which they believe answer the questions.
"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media.
"They are not hostile towards us, rather, they want to help us but we have not grown enough in order to establish direct contact with them."
Mr Filipov said that even the seat of the Catholic church, the Vatican, had agreed that aliens existed.
He said humans were not going to be able to establish contact with the extraterrestrials through radio waves but through the power of thought.
"The human race was certainly going to have direct contact with the aliens in the next 10 to 15 years," he said.
"Extraterrestrials are critical of the people's amoral behavior referring to the humans' interference in nature's processes."
The publication of the BAS researchers report concerning communicating with aliens comes in the midst of a controversy over the role, feasibility, and reform of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Last week it lead to a heated debate between Bulgaria's Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, and President Georgi Parvanov.
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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Monday, March 08, 2010
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