Friday, August 12, 2005
I missed this speech at the time, but I highlight it because of its importance. In an address entitled "Four million people in search of an idea", journalist and commentator Colin James explored the forces that he currently sees shaping the complexion and reflexes of New Zealand. James has summarised this era as two revolutions - the bi-cultural revolution (or as he calls it the 'reindigenisation of Aotearoa') and the revolution carried through by the Vietnam generation which he describes as 'the indigenisation of the Anglo-Celts'. The first saw Maori bring the Treaty of Waitangi back to centre-stage and with it, their relationship with the political institutions of the land; the second, saw a confident crop of Anglo-Celts "[tear] up the rulebook of public policy and private behaviour".
A response by Simon Upton can be read here.
Pope Benedict has cut the core of the danger facing Western civilisation. Consigning the Almighty to the sidelines of public life, Benedict said at Subiaco, fuels a rage that threatens all of Europe — not just among Christians angry at Europe's radical secularism, but also among the world's Muslims. "Muslims do not feel threatened by our Christian moral foundations," he declared, "but by the cynicism of a secularized culture that denies its own foundations." The same is true for Jews, he said. "It is not the mention of God that offends those who belong to other religions, but rather the attempt to build the human community absolutely without God." Thus the violence of terrorism is fed less by the clash of civilizations or belief than by its lack, and the insult to God (and the founding mystery of the universe) that European disbelief represents. If the only moral standards are supposed to be those calculated by governments and individuals, the Pope went on to say, then society is cut off from its Christian roots and loses its way.
Unfortunately, some clergy are also cutting themselves off from their Christian roots. The Church of England's crisis over homosexuality deepened yesterday after gay clergy said that they would defy their bishops over civil partnerships. Some told The Daily Telegraph that they had no intention of assuring their bishops that they will be sexually abstinent when they "marry" their partners.
Mankind is on "a slippery slope to eugenics", a doctor warned last night, as the UK's fertility watchdog suggested screening embryos for late-onset genetic problems. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has launched a consultation on the possibility of screening for genes linked to breast, ovarian and some colon cancers. But the Scottish Council on Bioethics (SCB) said screening for a disease that will not necessarily develop and, if it does, strike later in life, is wrong.
What is France's fastest-growing language? Why, it's English! In a recent survey of 26 of France's largest companies, 16 gave English as their official working language - including Renault, Danone, and Aventis. Of these, nine have dropped French altogether. Seven put English and French on equal footing. To some here, the trend is a slap in the face. After all, this is a country known for its linguistic pride, and one whose government outlaws advertising in English, and mandates a 40 percent quota of French songs on the radio.
A significant rise in temperatures across European cities suggests that a crucial two-degree rise in global temperature could come earlier than feared. A WWF survey of the temperatures in 16 European Union cities relative to temperatures in the early 1970s shows some of the continent's capitals warming by more than 2 degrees C.
Meanwhile, ski-loving Austria is taking desperate measures to protect its 925 melting glaciers by covering parts of them with blankets of white plastic or foil that keep the cold in and the heat out. The Swiss, who have lost nearly 20 percent of their glaciers in the past 10 years, are using similar methods every summer to try and slow the rate the melting. Melting of some of the largest glaciers in the world, ranging from Greenland to the Antarctic, is speeding up.
On the internet front, two revelations this week about new threats related to spyware illustrate how the growing problem of invasive adware and spyware has taken a sinister turn for the worse.
Tail-out: What's the most expensive drink in the world? How about water - at $40,000 a gallon? That's what it costs NASA to cart water up to the astronauts.
A response by Simon Upton can be read here.
Pope Benedict has cut the core of the danger facing Western civilisation. Consigning the Almighty to the sidelines of public life, Benedict said at Subiaco, fuels a rage that threatens all of Europe — not just among Christians angry at Europe's radical secularism, but also among the world's Muslims. "Muslims do not feel threatened by our Christian moral foundations," he declared, "but by the cynicism of a secularized culture that denies its own foundations." The same is true for Jews, he said. "It is not the mention of God that offends those who belong to other religions, but rather the attempt to build the human community absolutely without God." Thus the violence of terrorism is fed less by the clash of civilizations or belief than by its lack, and the insult to God (and the founding mystery of the universe) that European disbelief represents. If the only moral standards are supposed to be those calculated by governments and individuals, the Pope went on to say, then society is cut off from its Christian roots and loses its way.
Unfortunately, some clergy are also cutting themselves off from their Christian roots. The Church of England's crisis over homosexuality deepened yesterday after gay clergy said that they would defy their bishops over civil partnerships. Some told The Daily Telegraph that they had no intention of assuring their bishops that they will be sexually abstinent when they "marry" their partners.
Mankind is on "a slippery slope to eugenics", a doctor warned last night, as the UK's fertility watchdog suggested screening embryos for late-onset genetic problems. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has launched a consultation on the possibility of screening for genes linked to breast, ovarian and some colon cancers. But the Scottish Council on Bioethics (SCB) said screening for a disease that will not necessarily develop and, if it does, strike later in life, is wrong.
What is France's fastest-growing language? Why, it's English! In a recent survey of 26 of France's largest companies, 16 gave English as their official working language - including Renault, Danone, and Aventis. Of these, nine have dropped French altogether. Seven put English and French on equal footing. To some here, the trend is a slap in the face. After all, this is a country known for its linguistic pride, and one whose government outlaws advertising in English, and mandates a 40 percent quota of French songs on the radio.
A significant rise in temperatures across European cities suggests that a crucial two-degree rise in global temperature could come earlier than feared. A WWF survey of the temperatures in 16 European Union cities relative to temperatures in the early 1970s shows some of the continent's capitals warming by more than 2 degrees C.
Meanwhile, ski-loving Austria is taking desperate measures to protect its 925 melting glaciers by covering parts of them with blankets of white plastic or foil that keep the cold in and the heat out. The Swiss, who have lost nearly 20 percent of their glaciers in the past 10 years, are using similar methods every summer to try and slow the rate the melting. Melting of some of the largest glaciers in the world, ranging from Greenland to the Antarctic, is speeding up.
On the internet front, two revelations this week about new threats related to spyware illustrate how the growing problem of invasive adware and spyware has taken a sinister turn for the worse.
Tail-out: What's the most expensive drink in the world? How about water - at $40,000 a gallon? That's what it costs NASA to cart water up to the astronauts.
