Friday, September 24, 2004
Come in, spinner!
The following from Michael Cullen has to be the worst piece of spin I have heard in months (and amazingly, no-one else has jumped on it, to my knowledge):
"While today's balance of payment figure shows a widening current account deficit, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said this reflected growth in the economy.
"The balance of payments figures released today show a deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP.
"'A close look at the figures shows profits for foreign owned companies here have increased on the back of a booming economy and I am pleased to note these profits have been reinvested here to help the economy keep growing,' Dr Cullen said."
So, according to the good doctor, the more you get in debt, the better it is for your financial health!
What Dr Cullen carefully does not point out that it is only foreign investment that is keeping New Zealand solvent. If that should be spooked, watch for the fallout.
The following from Michael Cullen has to be the worst piece of spin I have heard in months (and amazingly, no-one else has jumped on it, to my knowledge):
"While today's balance of payment figure shows a widening current account deficit, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said this reflected growth in the economy.
"The balance of payments figures released today show a deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP.
"'A close look at the figures shows profits for foreign owned companies here have increased on the back of a booming economy and I am pleased to note these profits have been reinvested here to help the economy keep growing,' Dr Cullen said."
So, according to the good doctor, the more you get in debt, the better it is for your financial health!
What Dr Cullen carefully does not point out that it is only foreign investment that is keeping New Zealand solvent. If that should be spooked, watch for the fallout.
Back up and running
Free comes at a price. Free services such as blogging hosts like this one are a boon, but one of the prices is that you are at the mercy of the supplier. My blog got hit by a nasty little glitch which swallowed my site template - which means that while all my postings were intact, you couldn't see them, and all the additions and modifications I have made to design vanished. So it's back to square one on those. If I had a link to you and it's not there now, please let me know so I can restore it. (I can't remember all those I had added, unfortunately. A consequence of my rapidly advancing years.)
Free comes at a price. Free services such as blogging hosts like this one are a boon, but one of the prices is that you are at the mercy of the supplier. My blog got hit by a nasty little glitch which swallowed my site template - which means that while all my postings were intact, you couldn't see them, and all the additions and modifications I have made to design vanished. So it's back to square one on those. If I had a link to you and it's not there now, please let me know so I can restore it. (I can't remember all those I had added, unfortunately. A consequence of my rapidly advancing years.)
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
A strange new kind of tolerance
Our political masters are constantly exhorting us to tolerance. It is the new imperative of the age. So how come the government doesn't see the deadly irony of its desire to introduce laws censoring "hate speech"?
The move follows a significant decision by the Court of Appeal, which overturned a decision by the Film and Literature Board of Review who banned a video discussing homosexuality produced by the Living Word organisation. The Court of Appeal pointed out that the censorship laws were supposed to be concerned with depictions of activity, such as sex and violence, rather than with expressions of opinion. The court held, in essence, that a publication cannot be considered objectionable under the censorship laws if all it’s doing is expressing an opinion.
Human Rights Commissioner Warren Lindberg says the Court of Appeal decision demonstrates that New Zealand law is very limited in its ability to protect individuals and society from hate speech that is injurious to the public good.
Any move to curb freedom of speech -- even speech that is downright stupid or wrong -- is an attack on one of our basic freedoms. For goodness sake, it's even protected in our Bill of Rights Act. But the government is saying that we should now only tolerate those who agree with us and the causes we champion.
Overseas, similar laws are now being used to prosecute Christians who criticise homosexuality, and to "re-educate" kids who go to college/university with politically incorrect views. Canada is now banning serious academic papers which examine socially contentious issues.
While Jim Peron and I would frequently not see eye-to-eye on matters concerning the law, he has written an excellent discussion on this issue here.
Submissions close with the Government Administration Committee on 1 October. We need to make sure that freedom is not lost through failing to speak up.
Our political masters are constantly exhorting us to tolerance. It is the new imperative of the age. So how come the government doesn't see the deadly irony of its desire to introduce laws censoring "hate speech"?
The move follows a significant decision by the Court of Appeal, which overturned a decision by the Film and Literature Board of Review who banned a video discussing homosexuality produced by the Living Word organisation. The Court of Appeal pointed out that the censorship laws were supposed to be concerned with depictions of activity, such as sex and violence, rather than with expressions of opinion. The court held, in essence, that a publication cannot be considered objectionable under the censorship laws if all it’s doing is expressing an opinion.
Human Rights Commissioner Warren Lindberg says the Court of Appeal decision demonstrates that New Zealand law is very limited in its ability to protect individuals and society from hate speech that is injurious to the public good.
Any move to curb freedom of speech -- even speech that is downright stupid or wrong -- is an attack on one of our basic freedoms. For goodness sake, it's even protected in our Bill of Rights Act. But the government is saying that we should now only tolerate those who agree with us and the causes we champion.
Overseas, similar laws are now being used to prosecute Christians who criticise homosexuality, and to "re-educate" kids who go to college/university with politically incorrect views. Canada is now banning serious academic papers which examine socially contentious issues.
While Jim Peron and I would frequently not see eye-to-eye on matters concerning the law, he has written an excellent discussion on this issue here.
Submissions close with the Government Administration Committee on 1 October. We need to make sure that freedom is not lost through failing to speak up.
The achievement of Daniel Carruthers -- mastering Mandarin despite having 80% hearing loss -- is a remarkable story of courage and overcoming adversity.
The 29-year-old, who has two degrees and is working on a third, is the winner of the inaugural Quest For Excellence Scholarship from the National Foundation for the Deaf.
Mr Carruthers was born with severe to profound hearing loss, but he did not let it stop him earning a bachelor of commerce degree in marketing in 1997. He then went to Israel for 18 months to do volunteer work at the Bahai World Centre. This was followed by a six-month stint on St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he was involved in community projects on conservation, teaching and promoting tourism.
A holiday in China inspired him to move there and learn Mandarin.
The task proved difficult at first, so he came back to New Zealand and enrolled in a beginners' Mandarin paper at Auckland University. He earned an "A" grade and returned to China, enrolling in a university in the north of the country and studying the language for 1 1/2 years. He taught English to pay for his course fees and living expenses.
Mr Carruthers wears hearing aids that improve his hearing but do not allow him to hear all sounds. He said learning Mandarin was particularly challenging because it uses rising and falling tones. "All of them have different meanings." He overcame the challenge of not being able to hear everything by practising saying words as much as he could. "I would just keep trying."
Graduates of Chinese-language courses at the university helped him.
Mr Carruthers also learned to read and write Mandarin.
The 29-year-old, who has two degrees and is working on a third, is the winner of the inaugural Quest For Excellence Scholarship from the National Foundation for the Deaf.
Mr Carruthers was born with severe to profound hearing loss, but he did not let it stop him earning a bachelor of commerce degree in marketing in 1997. He then went to Israel for 18 months to do volunteer work at the Bahai World Centre. This was followed by a six-month stint on St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he was involved in community projects on conservation, teaching and promoting tourism.
A holiday in China inspired him to move there and learn Mandarin.
The task proved difficult at first, so he came back to New Zealand and enrolled in a beginners' Mandarin paper at Auckland University. He earned an "A" grade and returned to China, enrolling in a university in the north of the country and studying the language for 1 1/2 years. He taught English to pay for his course fees and living expenses.
Mr Carruthers wears hearing aids that improve his hearing but do not allow him to hear all sounds. He said learning Mandarin was particularly challenging because it uses rising and falling tones. "All of them have different meanings." He overcame the challenge of not being able to hear everything by practising saying words as much as he could. "I would just keep trying."
Graduates of Chinese-language courses at the university helped him.
Mr Carruthers also learned to read and write Mandarin.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Child autonomy: abortion today, euthanasia tomorrow?In the wake of news that a Dutch hospital has written a
protocol to allow the involuntary euthanasia of children, one of the authors has defended his policy. Dr Eduard Verhagen, of
Groningen University Hospital, told the Spanish newspaper ABC that
about 20 children are euthanased each year already, even though this is officially against the law. Of these, only two or three are reported to a local coroner.
Under the new guidelines, which were developed in concert with the Ministry of Justice, doctors are to report all cases of child euthanasia and the government will process them as quickly as possible. This will give doctors reassurance that they
will not be accused of murder. Ultimately, says Dr Verhagen, his
goal is to see child euthanasia after consultation with an expert
committee legalised.
Why is this necessary? Children suffer as much as adults, answers Dr Verhagen, and should enjoy the same benefits offered by Dutch law to adults. "Parents already have legal authority to decide everything for a child, bar one -- life and death. Here we are faced with a problem which has no solution: a child who is suffering terribly, even more than an adult; the doctors can do nothing to alleviate it and the child cannot express himself legally. What should we do?"
BMJ.com, Sept 11; ABC (Madrid),
Sept 2
What an Alice-in-Wonderland world we inhabit. Involuntary euthanasia is a benefit for children? In New Zealand, a school has to get a parent's permission to give a child an aspirin, but a school counsellor can whisk the same child off to have an abortion without the parent knowing. If today the child can decide autonomously to have an abortion, how soon before she can decide to get a euthanasia injection from the nice doctor, too.
protocol to allow the involuntary euthanasia of children, one of the authors has defended his policy. Dr Eduard Verhagen, of
Groningen University Hospital, told the Spanish newspaper ABC that
about 20 children are euthanased each year already, even though this is officially against the law. Of these, only two or three are reported to a local coroner.
Under the new guidelines, which were developed in concert with the Ministry of Justice, doctors are to report all cases of child euthanasia and the government will process them as quickly as possible. This will give doctors reassurance that they
will not be accused of murder. Ultimately, says Dr Verhagen, his
goal is to see child euthanasia after consultation with an expert
committee legalised.
Why is this necessary? Children suffer as much as adults, answers Dr Verhagen, and should enjoy the same benefits offered by Dutch law to adults. "Parents already have legal authority to decide everything for a child, bar one -- life and death. Here we are faced with a problem which has no solution: a child who is suffering terribly, even more than an adult; the doctors can do nothing to alleviate it and the child cannot express himself legally. What should we do?"
BMJ.com, Sept 11; ABC (Madrid),
Sept 2
What an Alice-in-Wonderland world we inhabit. Involuntary euthanasia is a benefit for children? In New Zealand, a school has to get a parent's permission to give a child an aspirin, but a school counsellor can whisk the same child off to have an abortion without the parent knowing. If today the child can decide autonomously to have an abortion, how soon before she can decide to get a euthanasia injection from the nice doctor, too.
Migration re-think needed
Too seldom is a well-reasoned discussion of migration found in New Zealand. So it was a pleasure to read Gareth Morgan's latest article on the topic. Migration policy, he says, has two major components - economic and compassionate, of which the economic rationale predominates. Trouble is, no-one really knows how successful the economic aspect is. We see some obvious results, such as the housing boom. But there is little information to tell us how long it takes for the economic benefits to kick in. Possibly several generations.
Too many immigrants are unable to find jobs, because employers are unwilling to risk taking on staff who don't fit culturally or linguistically, particularly with New Zealand's draconion employment laws.
"It is clear that in New Zealand the high migration targets are economic-based; set at more than 1% of the population each year they are way too high to be compassion-driven. Migration policy then has a responsibility not to meet its targets by importing people whose cultural gulf from the New Zealand way of life is so wide. Having minorities rendered miserable aliens in their new land does no good, despite the obvious hand-wringing, do-goody intentions of the infinitely tolerant," he says.
Too seldom is a well-reasoned discussion of migration found in New Zealand. So it was a pleasure to read Gareth Morgan's latest article on the topic. Migration policy, he says, has two major components - economic and compassionate, of which the economic rationale predominates. Trouble is, no-one really knows how successful the economic aspect is. We see some obvious results, such as the housing boom. But there is little information to tell us how long it takes for the economic benefits to kick in. Possibly several generations.
Too many immigrants are unable to find jobs, because employers are unwilling to risk taking on staff who don't fit culturally or linguistically, particularly with New Zealand's draconion employment laws.
"It is clear that in New Zealand the high migration targets are economic-based; set at more than 1% of the population each year they are way too high to be compassion-driven. Migration policy then has a responsibility not to meet its targets by importing people whose cultural gulf from the New Zealand way of life is so wide. Having minorities rendered miserable aliens in their new land does no good, despite the obvious hand-wringing, do-goody intentions of the infinitely tolerant," he says.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Recent items from Family Edge
A whole host of significant items in the latest newsletter from Family Edge. You can read the full newsletter at their website.
TV turns teens on: Teenagers who view large amounts of television containing sexual content are twice as likely to have sexual intercourse as their peers who have little exposure to such programmes, according to a new study published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics. The study also found that young people who watched even average amounts of programmes like That 70's Show, Sex and the City, and Friends were more likely to initiate sexual activities other than intercourse, behaving like teens 9 to 17 months older. Sexual talk in programmes had just as much impact as images.
Japan questions youth culture, family, as kids turn to killing: The killing of a 12-year-old girl, Satomi, at school by an 11-year-old girl classmate in June this year is part of a surge in youth violence which has rocked Japan. Some people are blaming the trend on a violent and sexually charged youth culture, now exported worldwide through animation, comic strips and video games. Satomi's killer was an avid fan of Battle Royale, a popular teen movie turned internet game in which students kill one another through blood sport. The girl, who had slit the throat of her victim with a box-cutter, is believed to have been enraged by Satomi's calling her "prissy" and "overweight" on a website. There were no warning signs in her behaviour and the killing is seen as an example of "kireru" - sudden acts of rage. Experts blame the trend on low self-confidence among children arising from pressures on family life during Japan's 13-year economic slump. Traditional restraint on expressing affection is also being questioned, and the government has launched a campaign urging parents to hug their children. "We are confronting a serious problem of how to reach out to our children and teach them the difference between right and wrong," said Kohichi Tsurusaki, an education official.
Rules rule in the classroom, OK?: Rowdiness, disrespect, bullying, talking out, lateness and loutishness are poisoning the learning atmosphere in many American public schools, causing frustration to teachers and worry to parents, according to a survey by the think tank Public Agenda. Some 4 in 10 teachers said that in their schools, teachers spend more time trying to keep order in the classroom than actually teaching. Both parents and teachers in the survey said strictly enforcing the little rules in classrooms and hallways can create the right tone and stave off bigger problems. In similar vein, two-thirds of the 90 teachers who answered a website poll by the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers Association wanted panic buttons in classrooms because of their concern about increasing verbal and physical attacks.
No time to dream, or go to granny's funeral: Another grass-roots rebellion is brewing in the US - a revolt against the "over-scheduling" of children through after-school lessons and hobbies. Nationally there is already a "Take Back Your Time Day" on October 24, and there are many community initiatives with names like Putting Family First and Ready Set Relax! Anecdotes indicate the problem: the girl who missed her grandmother's funeral because it clashed with a tournament; the family who didn't visit grandparents on Thanksgiving Day because of football practice; and 4-year-olds who practice hockey at 5a.m. Some critics say the pressure is coming from elite universities like Harvard and Yale, or at least parental perceptions of what it takes to get into the top schools.
Italian pensioner willing to pay to be a granddad: "Elderly retired school teacher seeks family willing to adopt grandfather. Will pay." Lonely Girogio Angelozzi, 79 published his appeal in the classified pages of the daily Corriere della Sera at the end of August, tugging at heart strings across Italy. The former classics teacher has lived alone outside Rome with seven cats since his wife died in 1992, and his one daughter, a doctor, he believes is a volunteer in Afghanistan. But dozens of replies to his ad signals an end to his loneliness. "So many families want to adopt me as their grandfather," he told Corriere. So many families answered my appeal and want me to teach their children about Horace and Catullus." Mr Angelozzi offered €500 a month to the family who accepted him. Among those who responded was popular Roman singer Antonello Venditti, one of Mr Angelozzi's former students. "I was not expecting so much warmth, so much interest in my story," said the now internationally famous pensioner. "But remember that my problem is one that affects so many elderly people in Italy."
Younger women's marriages more likely to break down: Women who marry in their 20s are leading the divorce statistics in Britain, their marriages breaking up at twice the national average rate by the time they are 30. The overall rate of divorce in England and Wales has reached a seven-year high, marriages that end in divorce lasting on average 11 years. The growing rate undermines the theory that, because fewer people are marrying, those who do are more committed to making the marriage last. De facto relationships have an even higher breakdown rate. A counsellor from Relate marriage guidance suggested people were not prepared for "coming together in one relationship" and the adjustments that demanded.
A whole host of significant items in the latest newsletter from Family Edge. You can read the full newsletter at their website.
TV turns teens on: Teenagers who view large amounts of television containing sexual content are twice as likely to have sexual intercourse as their peers who have little exposure to such programmes, according to a new study published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics. The study also found that young people who watched even average amounts of programmes like That 70's Show, Sex and the City, and Friends were more likely to initiate sexual activities other than intercourse, behaving like teens 9 to 17 months older. Sexual talk in programmes had just as much impact as images.
Japan questions youth culture, family, as kids turn to killing: The killing of a 12-year-old girl, Satomi, at school by an 11-year-old girl classmate in June this year is part of a surge in youth violence which has rocked Japan. Some people are blaming the trend on a violent and sexually charged youth culture, now exported worldwide through animation, comic strips and video games. Satomi's killer was an avid fan of Battle Royale, a popular teen movie turned internet game in which students kill one another through blood sport. The girl, who had slit the throat of her victim with a box-cutter, is believed to have been enraged by Satomi's calling her "prissy" and "overweight" on a website. There were no warning signs in her behaviour and the killing is seen as an example of "kireru" - sudden acts of rage. Experts blame the trend on low self-confidence among children arising from pressures on family life during Japan's 13-year economic slump. Traditional restraint on expressing affection is also being questioned, and the government has launched a campaign urging parents to hug their children. "We are confronting a serious problem of how to reach out to our children and teach them the difference between right and wrong," said Kohichi Tsurusaki, an education official.
Rules rule in the classroom, OK?: Rowdiness, disrespect, bullying, talking out, lateness and loutishness are poisoning the learning atmosphere in many American public schools, causing frustration to teachers and worry to parents, according to a survey by the think tank Public Agenda. Some 4 in 10 teachers said that in their schools, teachers spend more time trying to keep order in the classroom than actually teaching. Both parents and teachers in the survey said strictly enforcing the little rules in classrooms and hallways can create the right tone and stave off bigger problems. In similar vein, two-thirds of the 90 teachers who answered a website poll by the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers Association wanted panic buttons in classrooms because of their concern about increasing verbal and physical attacks.
No time to dream, or go to granny's funeral: Another grass-roots rebellion is brewing in the US - a revolt against the "over-scheduling" of children through after-school lessons and hobbies. Nationally there is already a "Take Back Your Time Day" on October 24, and there are many community initiatives with names like Putting Family First and Ready Set Relax! Anecdotes indicate the problem: the girl who missed her grandmother's funeral because it clashed with a tournament; the family who didn't visit grandparents on Thanksgiving Day because of football practice; and 4-year-olds who practice hockey at 5a.m. Some critics say the pressure is coming from elite universities like Harvard and Yale, or at least parental perceptions of what it takes to get into the top schools.
Italian pensioner willing to pay to be a granddad: "Elderly retired school teacher seeks family willing to adopt grandfather. Will pay." Lonely Girogio Angelozzi, 79 published his appeal in the classified pages of the daily Corriere della Sera at the end of August, tugging at heart strings across Italy. The former classics teacher has lived alone outside Rome with seven cats since his wife died in 1992, and his one daughter, a doctor, he believes is a volunteer in Afghanistan. But dozens of replies to his ad signals an end to his loneliness. "So many families want to adopt me as their grandfather," he told Corriere. So many families answered my appeal and want me to teach their children about Horace and Catullus." Mr Angelozzi offered €500 a month to the family who accepted him. Among those who responded was popular Roman singer Antonello Venditti, one of Mr Angelozzi's former students. "I was not expecting so much warmth, so much interest in my story," said the now internationally famous pensioner. "But remember that my problem is one that affects so many elderly people in Italy."
Younger women's marriages more likely to break down: Women who marry in their 20s are leading the divorce statistics in Britain, their marriages breaking up at twice the national average rate by the time they are 30. The overall rate of divorce in England and Wales has reached a seven-year high, marriages that end in divorce lasting on average 11 years. The growing rate undermines the theory that, because fewer people are marrying, those who do are more committed to making the marriage last. De facto relationships have an even higher breakdown rate. A counsellor from Relate marriage guidance suggested people were not prepared for "coming together in one relationship" and the adjustments that demanded.
