New Zealand Conservative

Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Protest in France - one million turnout The politics around same-sex marriage is really interesting. Unlike other real civil rights issues, this one is being entirely driven by the elites responding to a small, but vocal lobby group of activists. It is opposed strongly by large percentage of the population in most countries where it has been passing lately, yet this does not seem to slow down it's progress despite the electoral kiss of death it confers. As Brendan O'Neill explains : Throughout modern history, big, democratic, civil rights leaps forward have had two things in common. First, they were demanded by very large and often very angry sections of the public; and second, it took ages and ages for the political classes to concede to them. And when they did eventually cave in and legislate for the new liberty or opportunity being demanded by the hordes, they tended to do so begrudgingly, often while wearing a sneer... ... The gay marriage...

A 78-year-old man has killed himself inside the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in the French capital, police say, causing its evacuation. The man pulled out a shot-gun and shot himself through the mouth beside the main altar shortly after 16:00 (14:00 GMT). He has been named as Dominique Venner, an award-winning far-right historian. Mr Venner had recently been involved in the campaign against the government's decision to legalise gay marriage. On Saturday, President Francois Hollande signed the bill into law. Police said Mr Venner had made no statement before killing himself, although a note was found next to his body. They did not disclose its contents. Screengrab of Dominique Venner's blog (21 May 2013) Dominique Venner's latest blog entry condemned the government's decision to legalise gay marriage Earlier on Tuesday, he had written on his blog a damning critique of the same-sex marriage bill. "New spectacular and symbolic actions are needed ...

Both KiwiBlog and Whale Oil Beef Hooked have posts up today on the unpopularity of the newly elected socialist Government in France. Both only mention economic issues, but I need to point out that the French government is also implementing same-sex marriage in Spring 2013, and that they've manage to annoy both conservatives and homosexual persons in the process. How the French Socialists have annoyed conservatives with same-sex marriage is self-explanatory, just use my gay marriage tag at the bottom of this post for a whole slew of articles on that topic if you need help, but you've got to wonder how on earth the homosexual persons would be put out by having marriage redefined so that they can pretend to be married as well. One French lady explains: “As a lesbian couple, me and my partner can’t just wake up in the morning and say, we’re going to have a baby,” she said. “But without [Medically Assisted Procreation - MAP for short], procreation is near impossible. It ...

What an awesome protest! FRANCE, October 23, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The first nationwide public demonstration against the French socialist government’s plan to legalize homosexual “marriage” took place today simultaneously in 75 French towns . The events were organized by “Alliance Vita” and took the form of colorful flash mobs in well-frequented locations, attracting widespread public attention and media coverage. In every case groups of men dressed in black and women in white separated into two groups symbolizing the fact that every child needs a mother and a father. Holding up bright pink signs saying : “Daddy, Mommy, you shouldn’t tell lies to children”, the “daddies” and “mommies” alternately helped a blundering bird – symbolizing a new-born child – to leave its nest without falling. Meanwhile Joe Dassin’s sixties hit, “Tout bébé a besoin d’une maman” (“Every baby needs a Mommie to be loved”), and Abba’s Mamma mia were played over loudspeakers. On the busy main square...

One of the consequences of same-sex marriage is this sort of travesty - the removal of words such as "mother" and "father", which both have very specific meanings - and replacing them with the more general "parents" from all official documents. How soon will it be that calling oneself a mother if you're female, or father if you are male, will be considered offensive and discriminatory? Don't laugh, for now in New Zealand it is generally only considered acceptable to ask about a "partner", not a wife or a husband in conversation, as marital status is one of those no-go-zones. Once you know a person is married, then the leap to asking about the opposite sex term (wife or husband) is safe, but once same-sex marriage is brought into the equation, even this territory will become fraught with social danger! All of this is being brought in under the guise of "equality", which is yet another example of the way the language is be...

Was the intervention in Libya justified – and if so, does that mean the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was justified? The conditions laid down by the French for their participation in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libyan air space go some way to answering those questions. Before they would join in any military action in Libya, the French were asking for (a) a clear UN resolution for the intervention(b) it had to be a UN operation, not one led by NATO (c) there would have to be some Arab involvement in the force, however token and (d) there would have to be a direct request and support for that intervention from a significant part of the civilian population. What a pile of rubbish. The UN resolution puts it squarely against its own doctrines. The intervention was not about saving civilian lives, it was about offering direct support to one of the two sides in this dispute, something the UN Charter does not allow. And both sides are not interested in Western Democratic Principles, so the li...

[A post on evolution] In 2004 France banned the public display of large crucifixes, and got rid of the Sikh turbans and Jewish skull caps. That legislation also banned Muslim girls from wearing headscarves in state schools. Now they are looking to ban the burqa (actually, just the veil or niqab ). This could do wonders for the photography industry, as more and more Muslim women consider their holiday snaps.

Looks like the French Government has decided the internet is a vast new source of tax just waiting to be plundered. It's not the traditional company profits that the French want, it's a slice of Google's advertising revenue. Per click? Per French IP address? Per franc charged? It's early days yet, but I guess they need to get in quick before all countries take a slice. Up until now, 100% of revenue can only be taxed 100%, but maybe with technology, governments can finally break that barrier?

Well, I called it during the smacking debate, assuming that making a somewhat ridiculous analogy would clearly illustrate how the government should not interfere to an insane degree in the private lives of families. Expecting perfection in human relationships, they continue to make more and more things illegal, on the basis you can legislate morality and virtue. This is what I said during the smacking debate: Imagine if all arguing between couples was made illegal? Well, that's what the French Government are doing :

A psychologist has suggested sin is a virtue. It's OK to be dishonest with your wife, she suggests. Furthermore, it is a right to be unfaithful. For a man, infidelity is good, for a women, well they have the kids and the kitchen, and of course utter sexual devotion to their husband. The man, well, those things are not enough you understand, so he must attain more by being dishonest with her. "If you want your marriage to last a long time, then cheat on your wife discretely. Lie to your wife with intelligence" I think we can see what drives the psychologist with her examples. Also this: "I would have liked him to stray a little. But no, he was too lazy. so who got lumbered with him every evening? Who had to put up with the same, big panting body every night?" Luckily, French Psychologist Maryse Vaillant is divorced so doesn't have to worry about such a situation. Unless she can seduce that unfaithful man. Her thesis gets more alarming*, as she su...

A new Catholic blog that comments on politics as well has popped out of the woodwork. And All These Things... But I am disappointed that Hone Harawira is being loosely compared to French King Louis XVI . Hone Harawira it is ironic that in over spending you choose to go to France, the home of some great over spenders such as Louis XVI. He lost his head for his exuberance so consider yourself lucky that you will only lose your job ! Especially since Louis did not lose his head for overspending - regicide is generally far more complicated than that. Louis XVI was a Catholic monarch, killed during a period when not only were most of the French nobility killed, but open season was unleashed on Catholic priests and nuns. Louis XVI might even be recognised as a Saint (martyred for the Faith) in some future time. But apart from that minor faux pax which someone from NZ could be excused for, welcome to the blogosphere, newbies!

There is in the article a moral exhibitionism, which is generosity of spirit at other people’s expense. This, I think, is one of the sicknesses of our age, the desire to appear more-compassionate-than-thou. I suspect that, in his heart of hearts, the author does not believe a word of what he says: a common thing among intellectuals. -- Theodore Dalrymple An interesting statement all on its own. However, it's the closing paragraph of a broader article, one which attacks what is becoming an increasingly popular concept amongst the liberal avant-garde - the abolition of prisons. He writes about France, but we have our own such people that are looking so hard at one aspect, I think they manage to ignore all others. I'll quote Theodore once more in reply to this idea: There is no recognition whatsoever in the article that the purpose of the criminal law is to protect the population from criminals, not to make criminals better people. Of course, it would be nice if they became be...

Who wrote the DomPost editorial? I'm guessing a visiting junior journalist from the Truth. It's just missing a picture of a 19 year old Carla Bruni in a skimpy swimsuit. The Editorial is titled "Starved for presidential ideas". Seems the DomPost is starved for any ideas. The editorial was all about French President Nicolas Sarkozy trying to keep up with his ex-super model wife, Carla Bruni who is 14 years younger. The editorial abounds with stereotypical sexist commentary, with an underlying theme that the author would very much like to take Carla out on a date in his HQ Holden, which he seems to think represents "the delights of dating New Zealand style". Talk about vacuous. Whilst I usually ignore such items, today it seemed worth pointing out that it's the editorial, and I thought editorial's were supposed to be intelligent commentary. With all that happened this week in New Zealand, it's even more of a surprise. The other point is inadv...

The Communist is a Socialist in a violent hurry. --G.W. Gough Don't mistake our slow moving politicians for anything but patient communists :-) The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property. --Karl Marx Notice how, in defining all parents that might smack their child as criminals, the call goes out that children "aren't the property of parents". Don't they really mean that the state will have more control over our lives when we accept their definition of a family as a mere property transaction? Don't argue on their level. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak. In communism, inequality springs from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence. --Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (anarchist, socialist, Frenchman) Whilst some might argue that turnabout is fair play, the result is that the strong are not just exploited, they are destroyed by the weak. Consider the glue of society - trust - is brought ...

France's army chief, General Bruno Cuche surrendered his job Tuesday following a weekend military show in which 16 people were shot and wounded when real bullets were used instead of blanks. Most of those injured were civilians, and three were children. Officials at a hospital in Toulouse, where five of the victims are being treated, said Tuesday their condition was "stable." A day earlier, hospital officials had said that none of the injuries appeared life-threatening. Live bullets? That's a monumental stuff up of epic proportions. It was proper that the General resigned, although we need to understand if this is an issue of procedure or simply the profound stupidity of one person. No doubt there will be more information once the speculation dies down. Apparently, a three year old took a bullet in the heart, but has had successful surgery. Sounds pretty life threatening to me! I pray that those wounded make a full recovery. Related Link: French General Surrende...

It's a small world we live in. We've tried to separate sport from foreign affairs, foreign affairs from morals and yesterday Winston Peters tried to even separate foreign affairs from trade . So where has that got us? China spent a fair amount of effort to host the Olympics, figuring they can market the country just as well as Nike can flog products made on the back of cheap labour. They got their wish, and have, in efforts to prove how much they are improving on issues of human rights, demolished many homes and summarily turfed out citizens to make space* for the Olympic venues. They have banned factories and cars from operating in days preceding pollution measurements in efforts to assure athletes to leave the air bottles behind. When it comes to making the games go ahead, they exemplify the Nike motto; "Just Do It". But their biggest problem with the Olympic PR exercise, is that it all seems to be unraveling over the perpetual thorn in their side - Tibet....