Hurrah, hurrah! At long last an instance of the right and proper use of America's contentious 2nd Amendment

Please bear with me, as, quite aside from the oddness (regular readers may find) of my defending such a fraught part of the American Constitution, how I even 'get there' may seem just as peculiar...as in completely unexpected...in a post - of two halves - upon the ins and outs of well-publicized car incidents of late...: the second (a much less 'heavy', but serious nonetheless) take upon the antics of a certain royal prone to mischief - if not mayhem - upon the United Kingdom's roads, its 'avenues and alleyways' as the great 'ole song used to say; the first a readymade-for-TV item viewed upon both main NZ television news broadcasts last night, and annoyingly, inaccessible for 'googling' c/o either 'car incident USA' or 'car chase USA', but c'est la vie, such is life as they say...

So all I can say, to outline said TV 'item' (for those unaware thereof), is that the American videotaped 'carnapping' basically depicted a dude atop someone's car being driven - presumably, at reasonable speed - down some American highway/freeway...hanging on for dear life (to the (front) bonnet)...but eventually becoming known to nearby vehicles passing hither and yon...and at some point being 'con-fronted' from an adjacent auto's upstanding cum gun-toting occupant...and then at some further moment in time the scene being subsumed by the arrival of the cops and due apprehension of those involved...before any subsequent charges may well have been laid...

Alright, already! But, accepting that I was unable to take in all the item comprehended (in the quick-fire presentation on both our major evening TV bulletins) and - as previously mentioned - have been unable to access anything more thereabouts...let me simply say that my reason for even 'going there' was a small comment voiced at the very end (on TV1) by the longtime and well-respected, 'even-steven' main co-host/presenter Simon Dallow...who apparently 'just had to' get a word in edgewise - giving us a view of his own personal take upon proceedings...

Regular readers (of this, and my other blogsite) also being well acquainted with my own view of newscasters 'worming their way into' what ought to be - and historically ever was - 'objective journalism', let's park that for the present...and focus in upon my - and perhaps many others' - view
of what Mr Dallow had to say...if they'd also had the opportunity to view proceedings...

After informing us that the two men (the car occupant effectively 'carnapping' and grossly endangering his rooftop 'passenger', and that 'carnapped' fellow himself) were - due to the complex, convoluted elements involved in the sad and sorry tale - duly apprehended and taken in for questioning by the police, but - apparently incomprehensibly as Dallow's tones declared in no uncertain terms - 'the man with the gun' was not. "Only in America" he sighed in conclusion.

Now I'll speak up for that 'defenceless' dude...in pointed response to Mr Dallow's snide remark. The entire story evidenced better than I've heretofore seen the very reason the man involved should've subsequently been hailed as a hero down the very lengths and breadths of Mainsville, U. S. A. If ever there were a case study of the right and proper use of a handgun - i.e. to confront and save the threatened life (and limb) of an endangered fellow citizen, this was it... indeed what better instance could be given???

So far from being likewise apprehended, arrested and charged/convicted/sentenced/ imprisoned (and all the rest) for his involvement in this fraught scenario...said dude rather oughta've been feted from coast to coast...'[given] a medal as well as something to pin it on' (not to be too facetious)...

Part Two (tomorrow): - 'Tut-tut for a rather naughty fellow'

Much as it's little short of *............ to castigate or criticize a person for an act of unexampled, exemplary heroism and bravery - or to **[compliment] them [lightly] thereabouts - the Good Book deplores the act of 'striking a prince for his integrity or righteousness'...which seems intrinsically a crime against all that is right and proper...

...much less appear to effectively accuse them of 'high crimes and misdemeanours'...

...let me also - ever so respectfully - suggest that to lavish praise upon someone who's only been 'wise after the fact', who's been caught with his trousers down, so to speak, and is now full of regrets and remorse because, like the proverbial bear with its mitts in the cookie jar, he's been caught red-handed, 'in the very act', is equally absurd, inexplicable and inappropriate...not to mention really bad form (and far worse things besides, if I could only think of what these are!)

And so Prince Philip has been duly chastised for having the 'courage' - after 'being dragged pulling and screaming' by one and all - to, finally, after strident criticism by the accusatory party over a number of days, actually apologize to said woman. For some inadvertent trifle or other alleged indiscretion or impropriety or misconstrued word or turn of phrase?

No, not at all, but for causing her (and associated car passengers) some 'grievous bodily harm' (as they term things here in God's Own)...where said royal seemed to have been clearly, even incontrovertibly, the very one most (or even solely) at fault...

And not only has he, much like President Bill Clinton in his own heyday of diversion and distraction, and - when all else had well and truly failed - duck-shoving, splitting straws and even outright denial, been 'remorseful'/shown suitable 'remorse' long after the fact, when he virtually had no alternative (and otherwise would've been rightly regarded as a fuddy-duddy totally out of touch with all reality, let alone a bit of a bad, unsavoury character)...

...the media - and indeed the (one outspoken) victim herself - seems to have instantly accepted such apology and simply rolled over as if all's right with the world again...

Not to detract from this lady's welcome willingness to bury the hatchet, 'kiss and make up', and let bygones be bygones etcetera - which in this day and age of bitter invective and nastiness and 'going viral' over this, that and the next...often/usually quite inconsequential trivia and stupidity even...is surely a good and praiseworthy thing...

Guess what? Prince Philip's been readily back to his old tricks, evidently, not only driving without a seatbelt, but driving erratically and negligently and semi-dangerously...thankfully 'caught upon camera' for so doing...-ah, the benefits of modern technology! - and we've also been shown graphic footage of something similar that occurred literally decades ago...

Time for a regular checkup, an eye-test, prosecution for incontrovertibly failing to wear a seatbelt time and time again - and in the process not only causing injury but potentially endangering life and limb of all and sundry -...and moreover for signally failing to learn his lesson and buck up his ideas and decisively change his errant ways?

Not on yer nelly! Rather (the response  has been): "Tut-tut, old chap...don't let us catch you again...or, next time, there'll be real consequences aplenty..."

Like a damned good scourging with ye proverbial thoroughly drenched and saturated bus ticket, one imagines...and then some!

*Sadly, the brain cells need recharging this early (NZ time) morn, but I'll do the best I can...

**Likewise, the famous 'ole saying is, as they say, right there 'on the [very] tip of my tongue'.

***Credit to Vanity Fair's website for all the ins and outs of this right royal saga of sorts...

Postscript - Betraying God's Own at the United Nations: Naivete to a Fault...Being Played as Suckers - Bigtime

With further - *conscious - reflection overnight (27th-28th January) let me simply say that the real problem with what recently went down at the United Nations **'Human Rights Council' c/o ***'our' New Zealand delegation (as detailed in my last blogpost) was that in so doing they ****played right into the anti-Judaeo-Christian/Western playbook...

...whose doctrinaire adherents effectively ****played us for suckers...and then some... 

*An odd adjectival conjunction, for sure...but as a big believer in the value of intuition, it's not illogical...

**A far more extreme adjectival conjunction/contradiction-in-terms, don't ya think? Unless, that is, you're among those folk who somehow consider New Zealand's human rights record is even remotely on the same page as that of Iran...which doubtless may indeed be true of a certain Iranian-born member of our Parliament, loathe as she'd ever be to admit as much (in polite company, anyhow)...

***They're certainly not my representatives, that's for sure...

****Admittedly some would - with reasonably good reasoning, to give 'em due credit -  suggest much darker forces at work here behind the scenes. And whether one is a subscriber to conspiracy theories in general, or holds to only one or two pet favourites, there does indeed appear to be ever mounting and increasingly convincing -yes, evidence (even)- that there are entities and individuals 'waiting in the wings' whilst hidden furtively in the shadows... *****people whose basic agenda and modus operandi are anything but kind, peace-loving and essentially decent...

...arguably even determined to ultimately wreak havoc with and upon our long-established and cherished liberties and values...

...but who are well prepared to engage secrecy and stealth when it better suits their nefarious plans and purposes...     

And all kudos to the gifted, Christ-honouring Bible teacher (I believe Egyptian-born) Dr Michael Youssef...who on his ******regular Leading the Way Television program yesterday morning cited a *******concerning/worrying development...

...to wit, that evidently now in the once great biblically-traversed nation of Greece it is a crime to use the prophet Mohammed's name with - supposed - disrespect (in any way, shape or form)...

'Goodness gracious', how would ye average, run-of-the-mill kiwi (or, for that matter, Western) agnostic/atheist/secularist cope these days...especially in light of the common, everyday - and no, not exactly flattering or honouring! - use of 'God', 'Christ', 'Jesus' (and the countless permutations thereof) in barely-veiled swearing and cursing and general exclamations (of pain and shock etc)?

But yes, I need to investigate further, as many would instantly suggest that Dr Youssef is undoubtedly exaggerating and greatly overstating the case - even were this generally true - and that, anyhow, it's all a matter of showing due respect for minority views and especially harassed religious groups.

Excuse me??? I can readily think of some religious groupings actively persecuted on an ongoing basis throughout the Middle East/Islamic ********'crescent' of the globe - just for example - and though they're certainly not all Bible-believers, Christians - and Jews - are among those most *********fiercely ill-used, abused, and otherwise treated like the utterly second-class citizens (indeed, arguably even non-citizens) they are categorized on the legal books of many such jurisdictions as being.

So please don't preach to me/us about respecting other folks' views, values and spiritualities...

*****Not being one of those who subscribes to the reptilian race earth-invaders' conspiracy theory!

******I'm presuming, though not a watcher on/in that particular day/time slot, and have only caught the odd mention thereof (during my own regular Sunday morning channel-hopping of various religious programming)...

*******Of all the seemingly endless catalogue of such concerns/'worries' now swamping the global airwaves and television sets seemingly each and every day...

********Thinking of the '10/40' global window of need/opportunity for hearing/receiving the good news, and using the Muslim symbol of a crescent (in contrast to the Christian cross).

*********But don't take it from this deeply impassioned opinion piece that I am either unaware of or not equally, nay, even far more outraged by what went on/'down' in the name of my own faith through the dreary darkness and deep depravity of the well-named 'Dark Ages'...whether to (at times) Muslims - who, however, generally 'gave as good as they got', in terms of violence and war, that is - or moreover to both Jews (in some of the most despicable outrages ever to deface the human race, and ultimately, and arguably almost inevitably, leading up to the logical final outcome thereof, i.e. in Hitler's/the Nazis' 'final solution'...or, for that matter, in the hunting down and destruction of what is now conservatively estimated as up to 150 million Bible-believing men, women and children... especially throughout the nations of Europe (both the former Eastern Europe and Western Europe so-called)... 

Andrew Little Goes A-Grovelling to the United Nations "on Behalf of NZ" Inc - Yeah, Right!: Sure, Legitimate Points about the Maori Incarceration Rate and NZ Domestic Violence (per se), But Even So: What A Shameful Episode in New Zealand International Affairs

*To Be Continued - after sufficient shuteye: the wind's been devastating, folks - ASAP...

*Essentially from 'extensive' notes hurriedly scribbled down during extended (three-and-a-half hour) wakefulness during a very troubled, windswept and windblown, wretched (last) night in Dunedin, NZ

**Sorry again, folks, but some things (on this very blogsite, as a matter of fact) have had to take precedence over this...and are somewhat more important in the overall scheme of things...-see my blogpost (on January 22nd, on the famed 'Doomsday Clock', and significant, lengthy additions thereto) and see if you don't agree...but if you don't, you know what to do...yes, 'Post a Comment' thereabouts...and don't just 'flutter' one as it were (without posting it) as some folk seem to be doing of late...

Finally Back to my Knitting (as of Sunday January 27th): Part One - The Sanitized Version!

(NB. Footnoting here is not all left till the end of the blogpost, as better suits its coherence.)

So what's gotten my 'knickers in a knot' about our Justice Minister turning up at the UN the other day...and spouting forth? Precisely that, as a matter of fact...for badmouthing your own nation - especially one with as proud a history as God's Own - is not only not a good look, it is even tantamount to treason...which once upon a time (and not all that long ago, in fact) carried the death sentence here...

So am I suggesting Mr Little be put to death as a  result, in some latter-day reinstatement of what many - including Yours Truly - regard as a *barbaric punishment for crime?

*Though I'm certainly not dismissing the equally legitimate views of those who - I'm sure most people would at heart agree - believe that there are some folk who have actually, to all intents and purposes, justly forfeited their own right to enjoy life and liberty with all that that entails...

Which in a(n) - admittedly, as I'm quite wont, rather roundabout - way, actually gets to the heart of my umbrage. For - even giving Minister Little the benefit of the doubt - i.e. accepting he was not only well-intentioned but moreover that his two essential points have thorough legitimacy and credibility in and of themselves, which actually is **somewhat more problematic than might appear at face value - what is the big deal about prisoners voting anyway?

Even if that was not the burden of Little's address to the United Nations Human Rights Council - and let's just say, since it ain't always clear from TV coverage just who (in such a delegation) actually said precisely what - though more than likely the entire delegation essentially agrees in advance with the various points which are ultimately raised by the various members of any nation's official delegation; and TV showed another dude speaking re prisoners having some innate right to vote - I'd wager that ye average punter in the street (here in NZ) already are of the mind that vicious crims in particular already have plenty enough 'rights', thank you very much, and it's - as ever - the longsuffering victims who ever and always have their own effective lifetime death sentence handed down thereafter...and are the ones whose own (only too legitimate) 'rights' are rarely ever considered in such scenarios...

**For example, though such studies - for rather obvious reasons, I'd contend - are rarely cited or brought into the discussion, isn't it a little curious how, for example, some major research once conducted by the (local) University of Otago, no less, showed how more men - yes, folks, you heard me aright! - had been subject to domestic violence than vica-versa...so do with that 'tasty morsel' of info what you well will..  (And evidently it ain't the only such study revealing such a result - scary as many men apparently would find it to openly admit as much!)

To Be Continued (very shortly - *indeed!)

And this'll be my gut, visceral reaction...hurriedly scribbled down that other night...leaving 'no holds barred', and giving full vent to 'something' rarely considered these days - i.e. the equally legitimate emotions/feelings of that subset of the human species rarely given proportionate notice these days, commonly known as male...and reflecting what I believe is probably the (gut) reaction/view of the silent majority - male and female alike - of (what was once proudly known as) God's Own...

Part Two: What the Hell Is Going On/Is Minister Little Up To? (Continued within the very hour.)

It has oftentimes been noted - and I've certainly been in agreement, *significant philosophical perspectives notwithstanding - that Andrew Little is one of the more competent and effectual ministers in Jacinda Ardern's/**her Majesty's cabinet...and ever professional in both his demeanour and approach; perhaps not altogether unusual in light of his previous position (for a couple years) as Labour Party/Opposition leader (and thereby - under normal circumstances - Prime Ministerial Heir-Apparent, if his precipitous polling numbers hadn't precipitated his premature departure from that role and immediate replacement by the stellar, 'stardust'-saturated Ms Ardern).

That having necessarily been said, my view of Mr Little has now dropped inestimably - is veritably in freefall -  a somewhat similar situation to that undergone by Little's immediate (Labour Party leader) predecessor, David Cunliffe, whose own feminazi-ish-seeming  (collective) 'Apology on behalf of all males of the species' prior to Election 2014 pretty well spelled the beginning of the end of any and every one of his own larger-than-life leadership ambitions...

What the heck is the considered gentleman doing denigrating God's Own upon the world stage...when nations far and wide across the face of the globe are knowingly responsible for the systemic, systematic, state-sponsored and/or sanctioned raping and pillaging, torturing, incarceration and murdering of their own peoples...be they babies/toddlers/infants or the aged, ***women and men alike...as well as being unabashed serial condoners of such barbarities as ***genital mutilation and gang rape and mob-inspired violence and horrors upon girls, homosexuals, transexuals and other 'deviants', or anyone found supposedly misusing or 'blaspheming' the name of their 'god' ...

Don't you dare lecture kiwis as if we as a people engaged - in systemic, systematic fashion - in such outrageous denigration and degradation, decimation and destruction of the female of the species...or anything like it...

Where is your basic sense of perspective, much less essential honesty, let alone loyalty to and pride in your own nation - Aotearoa-New Zealand Inc...a country with such a long and well-earned, proud tradition in terms of its exemplary treatment of women, and then some... as to stand head and shoulders above the vast bulk of its fellow nations upon Earth?

Shame on Mr Little and his globe-trotting fellow-travellers...yes, how dare they even suggest that how women - let alone prisoners - are treated here even remotely compares to the terrifying treatment so many of the incarcerated undergo or that many women are routinely subjected to throughout, say, the (vast majority of) Muslim countries across the Middle East...

And would you believe, while 'our people'  were there at said United Nations Human Rights Council - or doubtless shortly thereafter - and no doubt taking liberty and extreme licence from the fact that New Zealand's own representatives were there well and truly bagging their own people and nation - 
Iran of all nations had the gall to criticize "New Zealand's lack of a national strategy to combat racism, xenophobia and 'religious hatred' "!!! 

Yep, you heard me right, folks...but oodles of shame oozing with disgrace upon New Zealand's mainstream media (of all stripes, apparently) for failing to inform kiwis about this disgusting diatribe ...and from one of the world's chief offenders to boot...although evidently alongside this such countries as Egypt, Indonesia and Russia chimed in as well...reckoning that NZ "had room for improvement in its treatment of Maoris".

Yes, each of those nations - or, to be duly charitable, the first and third of these - know one heckuva, helluva lot about the rights of indigenous minorities - whether people groups (in Russia's case) or religious minorities (in Egypt's). Incidentally, following well-documented trumped-up charges against a very popular Christian Governor of a major Indonesian island/state, at one time tipped to succeed in becoming president of Indonesia itself, and in view of the sporadic bombing etc of churches over recent decades in some parts of the populous nation, that nation ought to be a little cautious as well in pointing the finger at NZ in such a context...

As for lil ole Ireland 'echo[ing] A. Little's concerns around the rights of women' and saying that it 'was concerned at the levels of domestic violence in NZ against women', may I respectfully suggest that those who're even now only just emerging from glasshouses themselves...oughtn't themselves to be hurling stones, however relatively gently...especially when selfsame nation by its own admission has treated women seeking abortions in an extreme manner and moreover when there are countless bodies of young children still being exhumed under said (religious) glasshouses...

Perhaps if and when the United Nations and its various apologists-in-chief/lackeys and cronies decide to get really serious about putting their own house/s in order and attending to their own knitting for once, we might be inclined in ye oft-maligned West(ern nations) to take their claims in good faith...and they could indeed legitimately raise their voices against those nations they perceive not to be honouring the spirit of the UN Charter...

...but certainly not till then...though somehow I doubt that'll be happening anytime soon... except in academic pie-in-the-sky dreamland, or in the cloistered recesses of university ivory towers...

But if Andrew Little and his ilk truly believe this sort of flagrantly overblown and exaggerated, anti-Western dogma and drivel,  I respectfully suggest that the sooner his/their ministerial warrant/s are withdrawn/removed the better for all of us...and it won't come soon enough, no, not one single moment...-what a disgrace to the well-earned and deserved good global reputation of NZ Inc!

*Whether vis-a-vis the 'Three Strikes Law', imminent liberalization of abortion laws, or the Stalinist Electoral Integrity Law' (still being progressed through the House of Parliament)...(italics mine!)

**Referring to Queen Elizabeth the Second, that is, and not some oblique 'throw-off' at our P.M. .

Necessary Postscript/Caveat:

Having said all the foregoing, you'd doubtless imagine it'd be hard if not exceedingly difficult to trump the Honourable Andrew Little's performance the other day...and you'd be right. However, and sorry to have to burst your bubble, we have a contender...and right here in lil ole God's Own to boot.

As if Mr Little's 'performance' - as opposed to the valiant, heroic, ongoing efforts in *South Sudan of another much underrated former Labour Party leader here, the admirable David Shearer - wasn't bad enough (and didn't reflect poorly enough upon good ole NZ Inc) - guess who just had to stick her oar/own two cents worth in? Yes, none other than the Green Party's putative 'human rights spokesperson'...-but more on that another time, and believe you me, it'll make my remarks vis-a-vis Andrew Little look like I was merely engaging with kids' gloves, in pure child's play...and then some! 

*I believe, as opposed to Sudan. I'm completely in agreement with the then Green Party co-leader Russel Norman who couldn't credit why Labour - effectively - dropped/dumped Shearer...especially when polls then had the Greens and Labour well and truly significantly trumping even John Key's popular as administration...

May God Protect Kenya(ns)...and the Brits...for Vain/Futile/Empty/Worthless is the Help of Humankind

If ever there were needed an evidence of just why - secure - boundaries and borders are necessary, even vital...

well, we saw it again just last week, as the peaceful and peace-loving, gentle little nation of Kenya (once again) had its quietude shattered by a medley of monstrous *madmen hell-bent on inflicting maximum carnage upon these quiet, unsuspecting people...

Yes, it's no mistake, folks, the terrorists involved were all Somali-born nationals/invaders...which illustrates yet again precisely why border incursions - for such this effectively was (one more example of) - in and of themselves evidence the - absolutely critical - need for secure borders and boundaries. Whatever the indifferent, uncaring **international 'human rights' outfits who invariably weigh in uninvited upon such matters predictably moralize... 

Yes, a Kenyan phone-in guest upon BBC's weekday O.S. programme, 'Ken' (January 16, NZ-time), no doubt well expressed the heartfelt sentiments of his countrymen and women, when he said how "folk there [i.e. in Kenya, in the building under direct attack the other day] [were] thinking 'this could never happen here', and asking themselves, "Should we go down...should we go up...should be run...should we hide?" And RNZ National's Morning Report later that morning put it succinctly: "Kenyans will [would have] be[en] shocked and stunned by this attack...but reminded of the [in]security of the[ir] [northern] border."

May Hocus Bedlam - or was it Les Kebabs? - meet the just desserts their ghastly evil merits...

As for the British, citizens of the United Kingdom - whose ongoing, seemingly never-ending Brexit plight has been heavily dominating the (especially BBC) airwaves since the start of 2019 - surely they have every right, even arguably the very obligation to secure their own borders/geographical boundaries as well...for who - of all those who routinely lecture one and all of us about the value and need for democracy in any and every nook and corner of the globe - and no, I'm not thinking here of the likes of 'George Dubya' - can really argue that they haven't already - long hence - made their own sovereign decision upon this longtime most contentious of matters abundantly clear as can be?

Yes, folks, it's called, it's all about genuinely respecting the expressed will of the British peoples...as an anti-Brexit Conservative Party M.P. from Bournemouth(e) - talking with veteran Brexit correspondent Rob Watson upon BBC's O.S. programme this selfsame morning - himself conceded...and prithee tell me what could possibly be more democratic than that?

Yes, even if it ultimately results in a 'no deal' crash-out of the European Union upon March 29th (I believe is the fateful date long cited). As far as many Britons would no doubt see it, it'd be a case of 'good riddance to bad rubbish'...and the start of a slow hard slog to a renewed truly 'Great' Britain...all the more deeply treasured and cherished for having been so very hard-won...

*So am I among those who so glibly and facilely dismiss such terrorists - as so many regularly do with those who facilitated and enacted and otherwise allowed if not personally condoned the gas chambers of the Holocaust - as merely 'mad', i.e. as somehow insane or possessing some sort of mental illness? Indeed I do not: however abused such a term may well at times be (including by former presidents of the U S A in particular) evil will always be evil. Inexplicable, yes indeed...just as an insightful ****author has well stated that no real reason can ever be given for the very existence of sin and evil in God's universe...for 'to explain its cause would be to effectively justify or rationalize its existence'...and that can never ever be done.

No, as Jesus Himself so well expressed matters, such 'are of [their] father, the devil, and the deeds of [their] father they do'...and like him (or 'it', as *****H Scott Peck would put it) they will one day very soon share his (its) selfsame fate...and folks, that won't be at all pretty...no, indeed!

**Yes, there are some of these well worthy of true and deep respect, but when they seek to devalue and belittle and otherwise dismiss peoples' legitimate concerns and 'demands' for safety and security in their own lands...whether they be the likes of ***Amnesty International (or not)...I'm sorry, they've then and there lost their claims to legitimacy as far as having the right to be taken seriously.

***Incidentally, whose pronouncements of recent times upon issues wholly outside their legitimate purview, such as abortion, make them ipso facto unworthy of receiving the respect they once did.

****Ellen Gould White, at one time the world's most prolific female author and the third most written person generally. In such (various) tomes as The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, Desire of Ages, and Patriarchs and Prophets. Among many others...

*****From his introductory comments in People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil.

Unwise, Rash Political Decisions and Military Moves Bring the Doomsday Clock Inexorably Closer to Midnight: May Israel Relent Before It's Forever too Late

As my Grandma might've said when presenting me - upon my 16th birthday - with my forever after beloved Concise Oxford Dictionary...so's I could henceforth 'get the last word in every argument'...

...they say that sometimes it pays to lose an argument and keep a friend, or - in this case - to lose a battle and ultimately win the war (by choosing one's battles wisely)...

Having had a little experience in the same, yet not remotely equating the present situation between Israel and Iran with such personal 'trivia', nevertheless...

with the ongoing Israeli airstrikes upon Iranian military targets in Syria (amidst its ongoing, multifaceted, multidimensional, multinational *'civil war')...

...let's just say - without being overly dramatic or sensational or wild-eyed or cynical or pessimistic - that an all-out - potentially nuclear - war in (at least) the Middle East is not just 'on the cards', it actually, really seems to be drawing inexorably closer and closer...

...as the famed Doomsday Clock moves ever nearer towards that fateful midnight hour...

May God save us from the shortsighted stupidity of men (**for men are almost invariably calling the shots)...for only the LORD Almighty can possibly do so...

*However inherently self-contradictory such a thing obviously is.

**Although the Israeli military (and  Government itself) doubtless has ***any number of hawkish women in its ranks as well; whereas vis-a-vis Israel's patron-state, the United States of America, noted investigative journalist John Pilger argued (in the run-up to the 2016 American presidential election) that the world had more to fear from a hawkish Hillary Clinton presidency...endlessly 'upping the ante' against the likes of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran...than from a Trump presidency, however distasteful the latter may well be to the refined and cultured sensibilities of the 'average man [and woman] in the street'...

***And no, though Israel's celebrated leader Golda Meir, like her generational contemporaries Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher, would hardly be classified or categorized as a dove, she was at heart a measured and sensible person who ****'had an understanding of the times, to know what ought to be done.'

****To paraphrase the great Older Testament prophet Daniel, in regards, admittedly, to 'the people of God' in truth...i.e. not those who may be considered such purely by dint of their happenstance birth, but because they truly, genuinely follow in the footsteps of their forefather of faith, 'father' Abraham.

****Said verse being 1 Chronicles 12:32 - any version, esp. The (Authorized) King James Bible.

(Quite unexpected) Epilog(ue) - a couple days on (Friday, January 25th NZ-time, in fact):

The truth is usually odder than fiction, as they say, and thus and so would'ya believe that I just heard (on RNZ National's regular weekdays' 'World Watch' programme) a reference to this selfsame doomsday clock...and - believe it or otherwise - in connection with none other than the now former Californian Governor Jerry Brown ('incidentally' subject of my previously posted blogpost no less!)

Apparently the */**Institute of Atomic Science has recently decided to keep said doomsday clock at the two minutes to midnight setting it has been on over the preceding year. Unsure at this stage if Mr Brown has since leaving office been appointed to this agency, but anyhow, in regards to this announcement and vis-a-vis the cognitive dissonance between humanity's natural desire to avoid said doomsday and present global policies, Brown himself suggested that 'regional conflicts' and 'climate change' in particular presented a 'rising incompatibility with the natural environment' and berated global leaders for effectively 'fiddling while Rome burns'.

Though, from regularly listening in to the Pacific edition of the New York City-based 'Democracy Now' weekdays radio show, I note that they and their various commentators frequently lambasted Governor Brown himself for his own ineffectualness over that selfsame 'global warming'/'climate change' dilemma...and that despite making all the usual 'proper' noises thereabouts over recent years...

*As reported by World Watch. **According to https://www.bbc.com (etc) Jerry Brown is currently ***serving as the executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a (monitoring) organization established in 1947. Incidentally the famed Doomsday Clock has only been at selfsame setting once before, i.e. in 1953 when the USA and the (then) USSR tested 'highly destructive hydrogen bombs'.

***And why (is the recently retired Governor of America's largest state now acting in such an interesting (and theoretically influential) quasi-scientific role? Why indeed? Can I respectively suggest that it may perhaps have somewhat to do with his distinguished pedigree as a longtime member of the rather exclusive and (historically infamous) Jesuit Order...

...whose extremely small -  12,000-some - global membership has an influence way ****disproportionate to their relative numbers...

...yet whose selfsame membership - or arguably a goodly proportion thereof - have ever managed to worm or wheedle their way into various and sundry positions of great political influence all around the world...

And though our supposedly 'enlightened' but seemingly wilfully historically ignorant, superficial as, mainstream media-led modern-day Western society intuits/apprehends no problem or worries whatsoever about the centuries-old 'Society of Jesus', let me readily assure one and all that statesmen and stateswomen down through history (from Queen Elizabeth the First through to America's (generally considered) all-time greatest president, Abraham Lincoln) did not so regard this insidious Roman Catholic order...

...but - whether explicitly or implicitly - as pretty well the greatest single threat to human autonomy and religious liberty the world had ever seen...

And though some (including readers of this, I daresay) may well perceive no obvious or other threat to our hard-won liberties from this rather obscure and clandestine, numerically minute outfit - at least in any but some rather old-fashioned religious conflict sense/s - let me assure you that it has been suggested - and through centuries of the infamous Dark Ages it was deeply believed by adherents of pretty well all the reformed churches, including the eminent Quaker, founder of the Religious Society of Friends, George Fox (*****I've little doubt) - that this mysterious order has been implicated in the background of many events, surreptitiously 'stirring the pot' and fomenting trouble wherever its presence has been unsuspected or least suspected...pretty well like its infamous leader - no, not the 'meek and mild Jesus', as one might assume, but His cruel and implacable foe, the devil or Satan.

****And a couple other well-known Jesuits presently bestriding the world stage? Well, how about French President Emmanuel Macron for one, and Pope Francis for another...in case you're curious.

*****Incident to his well-established belief, yea conviction, like these other nonconformist (and sometimes later 'disestablished') Protestant Reforming churches, that the biblical antichrist was none other than that pointed out so cogently and specifically and clearly by the Revelator...and echoed so articulately and eloquently by all the leading reformers, from Martin Luther on down...

******For those still unconvinced, I could doubtless refer you to any number of historical sources, but if you're only interested in *******recently-written tomes, you couldn't do worse than traverse either Elizabeth the Last? [An Expose of the Hidden Power behind the Drive for Republicanism] (1997) by Bruce McMillan & Evan Sadler, or George and Eileen Anderson's (1988) Beyond Magic.

Even the noted tomes - In God's Name [An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul 1] (1984) (by David Yallop of Beyond Reasonable Doubt fame, as well as of a noted biography of Pope John Paul 11) and ********Malachi Martin's (1990) The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for World Dominion Between Pope John Paul 11, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West contain the briefest of, but nevertheless pointed allusions to/snippets of/glimpses into this order's sometimes more overt, but no less nefarious interactions with various 'players' on this temporal scene and activities in advancing their overall agenda...

However for all those interested in more classical works thereabouts, you couldn't go worse than peruse such books as Ellen G White's (1888) The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan - which contains some of the most explicit and damning unveiling of this order and its inner machinations as has ever been given; or Christopher Hill's (1971) Antichrist in Seventeenth-Century England, which, though only containing a few rather brief and shadowy references, leaves the reader in no doubt whatsoever as to the unsavoury character of this dark group.

******By which I refer to anything written within the last few decades or so...

********And although I've yet to come across, let alone read it, one of Martin's many other books sounds like it'd have much to say in every way. Perhaps it even explains the reason, as with Pope John Paul 1, for his rather 'expeditious' demise... Its title? Simply The Jesuits...nuff said! 

What A Legacy To Leave: Legalized Dope-Smoking by America's Longest-Serving - and Dopiest - Governor

Yes, just prior to leaving office, long-serving California Governor Jerry Brown - who has just completed a second long, eight-year, stint in that formidable role - got to see what was arguably his own pet project finally enacted into law. Though I notice the Wikipedia page thereabouts never once mentions him in its fairly un-extensive 'piece' thereabouts, it would hardly take a rocket scientist to surmise that Governor Brown would have been exceedingly pleased, even proud, to have finally left office with the legalization of recreational marijuana use, as it were, 'under his belt'...

Sure, Californian voters themselves voted in proposition 215 to approve the Legislature's 'Adult Use of Marijuana Act', and this was made law in early 2018 - quite apart from Brown himself - but anyone knowing his personal history thereabouts - from way back - would surely have to be a tad naive not to see his fingerprints writ large all over this particular referendum-approved legislation.

I mean, for crying out loud, the dude was busted attending a dope-smokin' party not all that long ago!

American Healthcare the World's Greatest Healthcare? You Must be Joking, People!

So *the 700 Club's Pat Robertson reckons 'single payer' Government-subsidized healthcare (as commonly practiced throughout Western nations) is 'way behind' America's "best healthcare system in the world"? And that "people in such countries" - i.e. the entire remainder of the civilized world, pretty well - are lining up in queues and effectively dying while awaiting life-saving operations?

On what particular planet is Mr Robertson living? It certainly cannot be Planet Earth. Such a claim, apparently advanced to belittle the present efforts of New York City's progressive Mayor, De Blasio - not to mention the 2016 Wannabe Democratic Presidential nominee, independent federal senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders - to progress just such a thing, is pure bunkum; sheer balderdash; and el typical blind, 'patriotic', American exclusivism at its most myopic and frankly delusional.

Nuff Said!

*As discussed on a recent (8/1?) episode upon Shine TV, in the nighttime news bulletin slot.

America's Greatest Ever President Knew What he was On About: Yes, 'Primitive [i.e. Grassroots] Capitalism' was a Fine Thing...Whereas 'Rubber Baron [i.e. Monopoly] Capitalism' is the Scourge of Modern-Day Western 'Civilization'

*Interestingly and curiously the feudal era 'rubber barons' share this 'distinction' of being opulent and cruel (in their trade practices) as their latter-day 'robber barons' captains of industry were in business!

*As per the relevant (time permitting, to be properly identified) Wikipedia page entries...

Oh So Zealously 'Making a Man An Offender For a Word'...While Blithely Ignoring the Elephants Stomping All Over the Room: A Personal Response to a Latter-Day Plague, even Pandemic, of Soul Shortsightedness

The Master put it oh so well, in my view...when He declared - as part of the new manifesto of His spiritual kingdom that - alongside Himself - had just then arrived (upon Planet Earth):

**"...with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you..." (Matthew 7:2.)

And so it should come as no surprise to anyone when I simply state the blimin' obvious: that we live in a day and age when the zealous ***thought-police are busily straining for gnats while simultaneously swallowing camels...-and that the very intensity and zealotry of their efforts is in inverse proportion to their related blindness in detecting the clear and present behemoth bestriding this temporal turf...

And so this blogpost is my response to two items 'in the news'/covered off by media over recent weeks - one upon the BBC World News, the other upon a New Zealand broadcaster - and tied together because they serve as lightning rod examples of the curious double-standards of modern-day mainstream media, at least in the secular West...

My notes being all over the place and otherwise not easily accessible at present, I will continue this tomorrow, but suffice to say - for now - the former (BBC-reported item) involved an American meteorologist dismissed for allegedly using some racist or other unsuitable epithet on public media - despite the evidence evidently lacking when push came to shove...the other/latter the way in which even the most basic, fundamental Christian sensibilities are routinely devalued and trivialized by trendy media pundits who would react with abject horror and outrage were the same sort of terms used in regards to the Muslim religion in particular...

...the connection between the two - fully accepting and acknowledging that my rather convoluted way of expressing myself may at times confuse folks - being they both revolve around contentious words. 

Yes, To Be Continued (Very Soon)...

January 22:
Heartfelt apologies for taking so long to get back to this...and unfortunately you will have to go on waiting a little longer still...for matters of the utmost importance need to be dealt with today asap...

January 25: Ditto (with knobs on)...cf my latest (thus far extremely truncated) one upon our Justice Minister's recent international foray into bad-mouthing our great nation of God's Own...

*Isaiah 29:21, The Holy Bible.

**Scripture taken from the New King James Version. (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

***To make even the likes of George Orwell's 1984 or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World look like primers for mere amateurs...

Trump and the Battle for the Border: A Bellicose Bulldog and Bully...or actually a Submissive Spaniel?

No, let me once again stress - 'methinks thou dost protest too much!' - I have no essential truck with Donald J Trump or his political philosophy (if he can legitimately be said to have one as such!) Nevertheless, on the matter of the *southern border wall and all the endless furore it's created, which as we all well know, far from abating over recent days, has only increased to the max, let me say this:

if Trump's pugnacious doggedness and bullheadedness only serves to reveal a thoroughly nasty dude at heart, then how come he's been simultaneously 'negotiating' with Democratic Party representatives (in particular) to grant the huge number of undocumented Mexican children known as 'dreamers' legal residential status within the United States?

Or could it well be that - indeed let me here and now postulate that - this entire saga is much more subtle and nuanced and multi-layered than the inveterate anti-Trump brigade (and their political representatives) are letting on or are prepared to admit...

*However with what's going down these days with fighters from Sissii International returning post-Syria to Canada, methinks he may well have to pay lots more attention to something similar - and infinitely more serious - with America's northern neighbour in times to come...

Isn't It About High Time the United Nations - that 'Great', Exemplary Pontificator concerning 'Universal' Rights and Suffrage - Declared Kurdistan the National, Undisputed Homeland of and for all Kurdish People? Unless Once Again It'd Prefer Standing Idly By Upon the Sidelines and let this Great People be Wiped Out...

These Judaeo-Christian friendly people...who've collectively - *whether in Iraq or Syria - taken up so much of the slack (against Sissii International and their fellow travellers) in the post 9/11 troubles afflicting our globe...

...are evidently descendants of the illustrious ancient civilization of the Medes, who were themselves an integral part/component of the Older Testament prophet Daniel's biblically-prophesied second great global empire of the Medes and the Persians...

...and so are surely as deserving of Western aid and support and succour as any peoples (just as the Jewish people in Israel and elsewhere have ever been, if often not granted that admittedly)...

*A sizeable population of Kurds also exists in Turkey, of course, where a Marxist guerrilla group of sorts has been waging an ongoing insurgency for years, even decades against the Turkish Government, wanting - as so many do these days - sovereignty (however limited) within that land. And apparently Iran has its own number of Kurdish folk too.

Oh Those Patriarchal, Misogynistic, Abusive, 'Christian Fundamentalists'! Yeah, Right!

Two - youngish women - each escaping horrid domestic abuse...at the hands of oppressive male instigators/perpetrators...thence fleeing for dear life to seek refuge in foreign lands...in the process formally renouncing their imbibed religion/religious heritage/superstructure...

Surely must be Western women escaping oppressive, patriarchal, 'Christian' wife abusers, right? That is, if the socially anarchic, culturally Marxist, secular media narrative constantly fed us all is to be - remotely - believed...

Completely wrong! Not on yer nelly! You couldn't have it/things more incorrect... .

No, just as the current furore over independent federal Queensland senator FraserAnning - possibly a 'racist' 'far-right' *extremist indeed, **/***if media reports and/or interpretations are to be given even a shred of credibility - might well be veiling the real issue at stake here (and being highlighted by said politician). I.e., although said mainstream media and their political counterparts would have us all believe that it's all about Senator Anning (especially as he now comes under ****renewed fire bigtime by all and sundry in Oz) being yet another supposedly xenophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic (and doubtless also homophobic and misogynistic) man...

...could it be instead - as indeed a snippet of said highly skewed TV report last night (NZ's TV1 and TV3 6 p.m. News Bulletins) suggested...that Anning et al/& Co were actually championing the oppressed women of majority Muslim (chiefly Middle East) lands? And were simply following in the worthy tradition of the likes of renowned feminist and scholar ********Germaine Greer, no less?

Yes, I refer to the young *********Saudi woman currently 'holed up' in a Thai airport and the like (as she seeks to permanently leave Saudi Arabia, having renounced the Islamic 'faith' and claiming her life would be under threat should she return there) as well as the *********Iranian woman whose life story was covered in last evening's '700 Club' under New Zealand's Shine TV 6 p.m. News Show...whose life was similarly subject to extreme domestic abuse in her homeland, but whose move to Sweden, and subsequent induction into the pastorate, has seen her mightily used of God in playing an instrumental role in the conversion of up to 1,500 Muslims to Christianity since that time...

To Be Continued (in the not too distant)...9 days on

This'll be brief, but let me first apologize for such a sloppily written blogpost (vis-a-vis Senator Anning esp.)...and then sum up - best I know how...

Let me ask you all, in total sincerity, folks, which religion/religious grouping is invariably involved in the almost endless plethora of terrorist 'incidents' regularly reported from here, there and everywhere
in our modern-day world? Yep, ya don't have to be a rocket scientist to instantly realize the answer, eh? To preempt the offence of certain sensibilities I'm only too well aware that fringe fanatics do not the entire religion define...and yet, no - as my title implies - it ain't those much-maligned, endlessly pilloried 'Christian fundamentalists' the mainstream secular media might lead you to suspect...

*Admittedly a syntactical redundancy, as being 'far' anything is quite clearly of the extremist, fanatical fringe per se...

**However, if it's yet another instance of el typical media beat-up pandering to ye ******snowflake generation of precious sensibilities, then - hey, you go figure (but suffice to say it can be instantly dismissed/consigned to ye proverbial garbage-bin of worthless, meaningless, media drivel.)

***Admittedly when pretty well 'every (wo)man and his/her [pet canine]' has come out in uncategorical, unqualified condemnation of the senator - and moreover his erstwhile, one-time party leaders, including Pauline Hanson no less - it does give one pause for consideration, for sure...

Although I've been initially prepared to give the fellow the benefit of the doubt, having just read news.com.au's Charis Chang's report/opinion piece on Senator Anning's appearance at the United Patriots Front rally in Melbourne thereabouts...which simply led me to conclude that the media and politicians-at-large are obviously determined to indict Anning as guilty by association in what struck me as one (of ****several) well-coordinated hit/s upon his reputation...with no right of reply (or last response) thereto...I do so entirely in the understanding that Anning is rather ill-informed/out of touch with history, especially vis-a-vis his 'maiden speech' to the Australian Senate...where he invoked that awful, dreadful term 'the final solution' (in regards to Australia's immigration 'crisis')...and was subsequently given his marching orders by the ever-so-politically-incorrect Bob Katter. But how anyone with even a cursory understanding of 20th-Century history could conceivably be ignorant of the meaning and implications of such a term in regards to the Holocaust seems somewhat hard to fathom, that's for sure...

****As well as the global online edition of the Guardian -  www.theguardian.com/australia_news/2019/jan - which included a curious entry involving the Business Council of Australia, which roundly condemned Anning alongside his fellow travellers - i.e. 'a small group of extremists over the weekend (attending said rally). They went on to declare their unstinted praise of their fellow Aussies' "overwhelming support" of what they called Australia's "fair and non-discriminatory immigration program that has benefited this country for decades".

Come on, folks...elite business council (and all the rest): that's just a little bit rich, don't ya think? I.e. in view of ongoing, seemingly never-ending concerns (at the very highest level in God's Own) at the utterly outrageous, appalling treatment of kiwis either long-established in Oz and merely seeking basic, fundamental rights legally-enshrined for all other Aussies and/or those (one-time, however nominal, brief as) kiwis summarily subjected to deportation upon one convenient pretext or the next (despite the slightest of offences), let alone those surviving upon the likes of Christmas and/or Manus Island/s... 

****Though I've already referred to Pauline Hanson's speech - denouncing her own erstwhile One Nation M.P. for the type of transgressions many might be forgiven for previously having majorly associated with her own especial brand - I omitted mentioning that that speech of hers was given at Senator Anning's swearing-in - and swearing at! - speech before the federal Senate when he took his place as no longer part of Bob Katter's Party, let alone One Nation, but now as a truly independent Senator...way back in August 2018...

******As a lover of all things snow-related, however, I wouldn't personally use such a term to depict such a mentally-challenged and emotionally-crippled generation, except in the sense of being *******'pure as the driven snow'...

*******Cf a strikingly relevant passage in the Scriptures (Proverbs 30: 11-14), which talks - in somewhat/substantially different terms, of

a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother...
a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness...
a generation - oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up...
a generation whose teeth are like swords, And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.
(Scripture taken from the New King James Version [Holy Bible]. (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

********About whose strident, trenchant criticisms of ye modern Western 'feminist' and her/their totally misplaced priorities (graphically reported a number of years ago) I intend to one day write... -suffice to say, Greer's critique of contemporary western feminism is devastating (even if I, a 'pale, stale, male' do say so myself!)

*********Both of whose names seem impossible to obtain at this point in time - despite strenuous efforts - although **********'El Colquhoun' was used by the BBC this morning at the tail end of a long piece re the Saudi Arabian woman, and the female Swedish pastor's **********name I jotted down somewhere...the author, incidentally, of a book - Stranger No More, about her experiences in leaving the religion (and land) of her forbears...

**********Evidently Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun and Annahita Parsan.

As one wag has put it, better to remain silent and be considered a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...

...Or as history's 'wisest person who's ever lived' once expressed things: 'Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps his mouth shut...if he closes his lips, he is considered perceptive.' (Proverbs 17:28.)

Yes, 'silence is [indeed] golden', as the ole song goes...

P.S. So why didn't I just leave matters 'well enough alone', and keep this blogpost altogether as I had over recent days...i.e. wordless and blank (as I'd originally, if completely inadvertently, had it)?

Sadly, I simply 'couldn't help myself', and felt rather insecure and odd having such an inexplicable blogpost...as if I'd been trying to be somewhat cute (or at least was being perceived or coming over that way)...when that was not remotely my intention...

...whereas having inadvertently posted the piece in such a way, I was intrigued as to how many would view it, and how they would or might regard it...and sad to say, it's received as many pageviews as any number of infinitely more worthwhile posts of mine ever have...

...which surely says something - and not altogether flattering (I'm sure you'll agree) about my present readership/viewership...

Hey, methinks I'd better now 'quit while I'm ahead', before I really put my foot in my mouth...and cause endless offence to one and all...though noting the complete lack of response/s awhile ago - after specially and specifically requesting such of one and all - I'm probably needlessly losing precious shuteye thereabouts!

Nuff Said!

Credit Due to Longsuffering Arab Nations...in the Painstaking and 'Pother'-some Task of Clawing Back Gains made by Sissii Inc. and Fellow Travellers

Though you'll seldom if ever hear the Western media mention, much less give due credit to, assorted and sundry Arab (mainly north African) nations in the ongoing, seemingly never-ending fightback against Sissii Internationale and its *many and various global counterparts, let me herein do so. Whether it's the quiet and unassuming Tunisia, the neighbouring historically glorious 'civilizations' of Morocco, and, a little further afield, Egypt, or little 'ole Palestinian-situated Jordan - doubtless among other worthy examples - "thank God", whatever America periodically deigns to do (or not to do) vis-a-vis this global scourge...these aforementioned countries have carried on regardless, steadily and without great fuss or ado, doing whatever needs to be done...

Periodically one will hear about deep concerns - such as those occasionally voiced by a local M.P. (Yours Truly ran against back in 2008, incidentally) - of the 'authoritarian' tendencies and actions of, for example, the Egyptians, especially since President Morsi was **ousted and a military dictatorship and ***curfew were reinstated there...but what you don't, what you never in fact hear from such is how under the previous 'democracy' churches (and Christians) throughout Egypt were blown up/bombed and otherwise terrorized...apparently with little or no repercussions.

Yes, enforcing civility can demand rigorous means, but prithee tell me what alternatives are open to the same and how often you, just out of interest, have raised your own voice in defence of the defenceless ****10-15% of Egyptians known as Coptics...? Just askin', you understand...

And hey, while we're at it, how about a word - or several - in praise of Jordan's longtime quiet and unassuming military leader, King Abdullah 11, who prefers to not antagonize his Israeli neighbours and likewise keeps a lid upon tensions and passions within his own populace who naturally are less than 'bosom buddies' of the Jewish people on an historic basis, anyhow...

While over in Tunisia things've evidently been reasonably well-contained over recent turbulent times - and guess what, the nation even boasts some of the Arab world's and especially north Africa's most progressive policies towards women...not that you'd ever hear a whisper nor a murmur about such in ye standard playbook media... .

And just along the coast westwards - immediately past and besides (the far larger) Algeria - is lil' 'ole Morocco... a nation with a proud and famous history...which, yes, is involved in an *****ongoing dispute with Western Sahara...yet whose efforts in the global 'War against Terror' have been *******exemplary... 

*Such as the African continent's Les Kebabs and Hocus Bedlam...though Afghanistan's Taliban and Lebanon's Hezbollah (and even Gaza's Hamas) also spring to mind.

**Replaced - i.e. deposed - by General Abdel Fatah el-Sisi - bearing absolutely no relation/connection to Sissii International(e), you understand... 

***To be precise, various curfews are periodically placed (usually under the auspices of a declared state of emergency - whether localized or more general(ized)) and later removed throughout the land.

****A percentage I believe pretty well maintained down through the centuries, even millennia. And who can forget, just a couple of years ago now, the 'visuals' of those 21 Egyptian men dressed in red and lined up on the shoreside who were 'displayed' to an onlooking horrified world just prior to being summarily 'dispatched', as in beheaded, by their cowardly and criminal murderers...

*****/******Apparently just under 50 years (as of writing), a complex conflict where sovereignty over Western Sahara is contested between Morocco and the Algerian-supported Polisario Front... resulting in its unresolved legal status, and thereby dubbed a "Non-Self-Governing Territory' by the U.N. (and hence a disputed country/nation as such).

******See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara_conflict.

*******Which of course isn't to say perfect or without a flaw...though doubtless it's near to impossible to ensure 100% safety and security to either its own citizens or visitors, as per the recent gruesome and ghastly murder/beheading of two innocent young (Norwegian and Danish) tourists in its hills.

Both Brexit and 'the Border': However Hysterical (Arguably even Hypocritical) the Histrionics, It's a Matter, More Than Anything, of Bravely Re-asserting Boundaries (and Sovereignty)...Just as Every Other Nation on Earth Does All the Time

Yes, one may well legitimately enough find due fault with the particular method employed...and moreover the actual immediate consequence thereof...but surely it can be reasonably enough argued and asserted: if the actual goal itself is well and proper, then critics ought to concede as much, and openly admit that the only real beef they have (in either instance cited) is with the process adopted. 

True, the ends desired does not - and never will - justify the means used to get there. But let's at least have an honest discussion, folks, and not only admit, but freely concede (in the form of this rhetorical question): Doesn't a - any - nation have the sovereign right, even the responsibility, to assert its sovereignty over its own affairs, territory and border/s? No, really...

And I write that as someone not even remotely sympathetic with the concept of a border wall, much less with the rather heavy-handed tactics latterly employed to defend/guard/secure it...and certainly not with the deaths of innocent wee children who've effectively served as collateral damage in President Trump's determination to - understandably enough - fulfil a major and well-understood campaign plank, however 'controversial' (to state the blimmin' obvious)...

But again, effectively conflating the two (entirely different) scenarios/situations - even as the world witnesses the awfully tragic and completely avoidable deaths of little kiddies (and conceivably - down the line - senior citizens and/or frail and/or semi-incapacitated folk - be they women or men, for that matter) crossing over into America - does not by itself, ipso facto suddenly obviate or negate the sovereign right of the United States to have, and its concurrent need to enforce, normal, perfectly  legitimate national border security protection/s...for its own citizens...for whatever reason...

So please let's not single out and inconsistently make an oh-so-convenient scapegoat of America here.

As far as Great Britain/the United Kingdom is concerned, it's quite incredible the distinct parallels in this particular regard, and no, not in a very nice way by a very long shot. For just as the ghastly, cold-blooded murder in broad daylight of British Labour M.P. Jo Cox - a staunch and highly vocal, very active Remain campaigner - just prior to Referendum 2016 *could hardly be said/argued to thereby deny the absolute validity - in any way, shape or form - of the **express wish of the British populace wanting out of the European Union, neither can such tragedies make a nonsense of (the concept of border security) or nullify the need for a border between the U S and its southern neighbour.

Incidentally, though one seldom if ever hears about it these days, the feeling in the U K was trending hugely/majorly (55%:45%) for a Brexit just prior to M.P. Cox's brutal killing. But hey, why mention an inconvenient fact that just so happens not to suit the argument, not to fit the well-worn narrative that's being pushed by all and sundry?

**And any attempt to contest the Brexit decision of U K voters on the grounds of an insufficient mandate for a change of such constitutional significance holds as little water. For one thing, that's not been the law (for referenda there for ever and a day), secondly, if it were now superimposed in a retrospective gaze - as it were - it'd ***surely have to apply in selfsame way to previous referenda where Britons voted to join the Common Market and European Union; but thirdly, and seemingly incontrovertibly (to me, anyhow): how dare any of us (foreign-dwellers) deign to lecture or tutor the Brits in how they ought to run their democracy...for we all saw how that ended up in Iraq (among others), and no, folks, she ain't pretty...as even arch-Europhile Tony Blair himself - a chief proponent of just such a revisionist (and/or 2nd referendum) measure - would surely have to concede by now...

***You simply can't have it both ways, folks - what's good enough for the gander is surely sufficient for the goose.

A Bouquet Alongside a Brickbat: Or, Another Trumptastic Year Comes to a Close...Trumping an Eventful (American) 2018

You know the 'ole saying/query: Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Indeed. Being one of those who ever prefers to get the bad news over first, who prefers delayed gratification (as the eminent, brilliant and prolific, long since deceased author *H Scott Peck discusses in intricate detail in his inimitable The Road Less Travelled), we're gonna begin with the bad news...get it over with ipso pronto...so we can focus/concentrate on the more interesting stuff (and reason I'm bothering to post this at all).

So, the 'bad news' first. Yes, despite my innate (political/ideological) 'sympathies' ever being with both libertarian and non-interventionist Republicans (such as Kentucky Senator Rand Paul) and/or (economically) progressive Democrats of the Bernie Sanders variety, in the matter of **prematurely withdrawing United States ground troops from Syria - while Sissii International continues to run riot, to cause mayhem and terror ('alongside' Al-Assad et al) throughout the length and breadth thereof, surely doing so is a real ****no-brainer...in this case evidencing a real dearth of the grey matter.

*****As now-retiring/quitting Defence Secretary James (Jim) Mattis (effectively and succinctly) declared: It's not what the U.S. oughta be doin'! Or, as me 'ole mate Smeagol-Gollum might've - even more eloquently - expressed it: "Silly [Commander-in-Chief]: theeze ain't decent [times and] places!"

But as for the good news...I'm afraid you'll just have to wait awhile...till I've fed my face (and all the rest). But ******hopefully the remaining (more substantial raison d'etre) of this blogpost ain't far away...

*Who, bearing upon the theme of this and my most recent blogpost, himself planned a run for the White House (doubtless as an independent) back in 1984. But of course - even if he had attempted such, had scant chance thereabouts...though other independents - most notably Ross Perot in 1992, the one-time Republican Theodore Roosevelt (going for a then would-have-been historic third term) back in 1912, and (the effectively, in all but name independent) D J Trump himself (though indeed selected by the Republicans - the party base, that is, if hardly the party establishment)...have given it a fair slice of the whack, or whatever said saying is...

**Or, according to Trump's own (then perceptive) reasoning, whether and even if troops on the ground are sent/deployed and/or withdrawn/recalled, why the heck let anyone (on the enemy side) even know?!?!? That's surely one large-scale own goal, don't ya think? 'Coz if no formal, official announcement as such was/is ever made to begin with...then conditions on the ground thereafter can (after a certain period) be reevaluated and re-ascertained and if necessary rectified without any major ado let alone loss of credibility to the ***Yanks...much less effective boon for the combined forces of Sissii Internationale...

***Used by myself as a backhand term of endearment (i.e. only a gentle dig in the sense of I happen to like the word and see precious few other opportunities to use it) - after all, I've shared American citizenship from birth.

****Using said term, not as commonly employed, but in its strict(est) technical meaning.

*****And now yet another very senior official, the head of America's Anti-Sissii coordination outfit, has joined him.

******And indeed has long since been scribbled out (in draft form)...I just need to decipher and then translate the same into legible (and understandable) English.

Part Two: A Necessary Bridge from the Bad News to the Good News - admittedly somewhat (i.e. three days, to be precise) later rather than sooner...

So what's to celebrate? Very little ...at all...if you pedantically, scrupulously, and I'd suggest wearisomely (not to mention cringe-worthily and in a highly partisan fashion) follow the standard media script...which is essentially: if Trump's 'a-fore it' , then hey, ipso facto, I'm agin it.

But seriously, folks, that's the stuff of childish, *'all-black - all-white' thinking, whereby everything ultimately comes/boils down to the glib, simplistic 'my tribe's (ever and always) right, your tribe's (ever and always) wrong' kinda perspective upon all matters under consideration...which gets everybody precisely nowhere in no time at all...

*Thanks or at least credit here to the God-gifted co-authors Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Though in this instance I might not be directly quoting any specific statement they've made on the matter in any of their wonderful books over the years, such as Boundaries, Safe People, The Mom Factor (in particular), this concept comes out clearly especially in the latter two tomes.

Wherein significant life stages, such as early childhood, with its bonding, later infancy with its separation, the teenage/adolescent years with their individuating/independence and adulthood with its maturity, each tends to have its own corresponding developmental needs, challenges and goals (to be successfully mastered), and which if not successfully 'dealt with' at that time, can cause almost endless later life difficulties, headaches, heartaches and complications.

To Be Continued: Part Three: Finally - The Good News!

Yes, folks, there is indeed - amidst all the current political turmoil in Washington D.C., and all the social and ideological ferment throughout American society (upon all manner of fronts and issues) - some/a *'smidgen' of good news...upon the U S frontier... . No, not vis-a-vis the ongoing immigration 'standoff' (or however you'd describe it) on America's southern/Mexican border, but in the capital itself...

For - perhaps entirely unbeknownst to the vast majority of international onlookers closely following all the ins and outs of the present Trump Administration and all the various attempts to bring about its premature demise, and no doubt no thanks to the mainstream media with its never-ending and **quite frankly wholly unprecedented, highly partisan attempts to ever and only portray Trump & Co in the very worst light possible (till it's become incredibly wearisome to those who still value the long-established principle of true journalism, i.e. dispassionate impartiality, balance and fair play)...

Guess what, folks? Under all our noses - no, there has been some, however minimal, coverage here in God's Own (and c/o the internationally-respected and renowned BBC) - ******the First Step Act, a major prison reform bill, has now been passed through both/***all three of America's legislative and executive arms of government.

***********Following an overwhelming majority of the House of Representatives passing the original draft of the legislation back in May, the Senate just recently gave it the thumbs up with an exceedingly uncommon massive bipartisan majority (of 87 to 12), and pretty well immediately thereafter it readily gained the enthusiastic, expected sign-off by the President himself.

For the time being let's just say the new law, coming only a couple years after a similar (I believe more limited) ********Obama-initiated bill was indefinitely held up on the order paper by Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell in the run-up to Presidential Election 2016, thereby effectively putting (thankfully, only temporary) paid to it, is a good, great ******first step towards overhauling America's federal justice system. Innovative legislation which the BBC characterized as a sweeping criminal justice reform bill seeking to address concerns the U.S. locks up too many of its citizens.

Championed by President Trump, spearheaded by his nephew-in-law, White House Advisor Jared Kushner, and passed by sweeping legislative majorities, the law will actually only deal with those incarcerated in America's federal penitentiaries, 10% (i.e. around about 220,000) of the nation's 2.2 million jailed citizens.

But surely that's a worthy and worthwhile start, especially when one considers, however cursorily, the endemic problems in the United States justice system as revealed to one and all through the systemic issues brought into the open by the Black Lives Matter movement. And when one also realizes that the U S of A has long 'led the world' (proportionately-speaking as well as numerically) in the sheer number of its jailed citizens.

*Understated for emphasis, you'll realize.

**Need I repeat yet again how personally I am neither an especial supporter of Trump himself or his Administration? Surely not, but as a budding journalist from my early teenage years I still do happen to value the (these days, admittedly rare) existence of a truly independent media... -and incidentally, the former (Trump et al) are most definitely not the only purveyors of fake news in our day and age!

***Technically speaking, America has three basic arms of government, the executive (i.e. the President), the legislative/legislature (i.e. both the Senate and the House of Representatives) and the judiciary (the Supreme Court)...a fact which is the basis for the well-known 'separation of powers' and 'checks and balances' so fundamental to the American system of government.

But strictly-speaking, in all legislation passed into law it takes (all of) the Senate and House and ****President to come to agreement...hence I said 'all three of America's legislative and executive arms', which didn't thereby omit or exclude the Supreme Court, it's just that they are not involved in the drafting and enacting of legislation, only in the later reviewing and possible overturning/rescinding of any and every law passed onto the statute books... . *****Whew!

****Who also holds a **********veto power over any and all legislation previously enacted by the House and Senate.

*****Nevertheless probably necessary in our times of increasingly superficial political understanding.

******Yes, my vocab is verily highly original these days, folks, but sometimes one simply can't express things any better than has been already done. Though, interestingly enough, and to my immense surprise, the law's title is not just some sort of cute catch-all name, but a brilliant acronym: *******'The Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act'!!!

*******Again I'm indebted (here as elsewhere in this blogpost) to Wikipedia's online entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Step_Act. As I am also (throughout) to the BBC, and here to its online version: Https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46613564. (And occasionally to that reputable left-wing British newspaper, the Guardian: c/o Https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/18/first-step-act-criminal.)

********The (2015) Sentencing Reform and Corrections *********Act.

**********Which (i.e. both Senate and House of Representatives) can themselves override said veto of the President! Yes, those aforementioned 'pesky little' checks and balances.

*********Of course Obama's legislation was only drafted and not ultimately enacted, so really just (what we'd call in New Zealand) a 'bill'.

***********Actually Wikipedia online contradicts some of the other (online) timeline versions, and according to its useful sidebar thereabouts the following is how it's come about (legislatively-speaking):

(1) Unanimously passed by U S Senate (August 3, 2017).

(2) Voice-approved by U S House of Representatives (July 25) with amendment.

(3) Senate agrees (December 18th) to H of R amendment with further amendment.

(4) H of R agrees (Dec 20th) to Senate amendment by 358 to 36.

(5) President Trump signs it into law on December 21st.

Part Four: Considering All That This Landmark Legislation Signifies
(Hopefully posted by the end of the year!)

True to my word, here goes...on New Years Eve, 2018, no less

As succinctly as time allows, and the indulgence of viewers may tolerate, according to various (afore-cited) media sources - i.e. the BBC News, the Guardian, and Wikipedia - the bill 'would overhaul the U.S. justice system by giving more discretion  to judges during sentencing and by strengthening prisoner rehabilitation efforts.' 'Three Strikes' provisions - such as we have here in New Zealand these days (since 2009 I believe), and recently entrenched by deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters against Labour Party and Green Party opposition - will be reduced to 25 *(!) years for 'drug felons'...though **evidently these are not hardcore violent individuals (as I've latterly discovered).

Mandatory minimum sentences for serious drug crimes will be simultaneously reduced. And $375 million has been authorized in federal spending on jobs training and educational programmes for prisoners. While halfway house and home confinement provisions mean families will have easier access to incarcerated relatives, and there will be gentler treatment of pregnant (and other) female prisoners (in various ways).

Though it would seem Donald Trump, ***however late in the piece, appears to be taking some of the glory - hey, what's new, folks? - for the legislation going through, it was his special advisor, Jared Kushner, apparently, who played a major role in facilitating the bill's ultimate passage through all tiers of the American legislature, so really - in the final analysis - who cares who gets the credit? And certainly Trump's tweet, moments after its successful passage, that "my job is to fight for all Americans, even those who have made mistakes" effectively signposts in simplicity its real utility.

He went on to declare: "This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance - to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved."

However the two - one a Democrat, the other a Republican - chief 'movers and shakers' in the whole process has apparently been, according to Jessica Jackson Sloan, national director of 'twt.50'(?) - a criminal justice reform advocacy group - Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Dick Durban...who she - and no less than ******Pat Robertson of the 700 Club, upon their weekday telecast - 'singled out for praise for "leading their respective parties to consensus on one of the most important challenges our country faces [given] the catastrophic [situation] of the incarceration industry."

Cory Booker, a rising New Jersey Senator in the Democratic Party *******with eyes on the 2020 Presidential Election, himself 'said that the nation's prisons were full of Americans struggling with mental illness and addiction and who are overwhelmingly poor'...and suggested that America's 'criminal justice system feeds on certain communities and not on others...add[ing] that the bill represented a step toward healing for these communities'. 

In conclusion, though we might be somewhat disinclined to, let's herein give the penultimate words/summation on the legislation to Mr Trump, who trumpeted that "This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance - to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved."

But surely the final word - 'verdict' - goes to Senator Booker, who declared: "Let's make no mistake, this legislation, which is one small step, will affect thousands and thousands of lives." Although he could well have said - without a shade of exaggeration - 'significantly affect tens and hundreds and even thousands - of thousands - i.e. millions - of American lives.'

*In view of NZ's own 'softly, softly' approach to all but our most serious offenders, and even then the ability to gain parole (within two decades or so) has made many throughout our nation perplexed and frankly flabbergasted - not to mention appalled and disgusted! - in recent times.

**'Except for those who prove serious violent felons' (as one reference put it).

***Which isn't to imply that he hasn't philosophically supported the basic idea of the legislation from the get-go, only that the matter was already well on the political boiler, from President ****Obama's uncompleted tasks, upon Trump's assuming office in 2016. Which latterly staunch, unwavering support is yet another reason why - though you'll rarely if ever hear about it from ye politically partisan (to a fault) mainstream media (throughout the West) - Trump's *****approval ratings among black Americans have been in the region of 37%...surely somewhat impressive for a Republican per se, let alone one constantly vilified from pillar to post as someone intolerant of minorities either in America or abroad! 

Which might just also explain why noted neurosurgeon and also wannabe 2016 Republican presidential nominee, Ben Carson, was so willing to serve in President Trump's cabinet post-the election. As Urban (Affairs) and Housing Secretary, if I remember rightly.

****Who, through no real fault of his own - as I explain earlier - was simply unable to (successfully) progress his own initial legislation, through an extremely gridlocked, partisan legislature. So what else is new!

*****That is, they entertain a positive opinion of him (I recall it being expressed).

******Though I certainly don't share much of Robertson's political/ideological perspective on matters American, he suggested that ye 'ole 'lock 'im up and throw away the key' mentality appears bankrupt.

*******Or at least there is much speculation abroad about this progressive black American.

Yes, One Ought Not - they say - Speak Ill of the Dead...But I say: War Criminals are Still Just That...However Much Decorated and Commended by Memory-Lapsed and Frankly Delusionary Rose-Tinted Glasswearers: The Unduly Generous Eulogizing of the (Extremely Fraught) Legacy of America's 41st President

Yes, I know I'm posting this incredibly late, way after the fact (and all the rest)...and no, I'm not claiming that a very busy fortnight house-sitting (moreover, pretty well out of the blue) plus accompanying dreadful sleeps especially both pre-and post- this are a perfect, unassailable excuse or the like. And no, I'm not herein referring to (President) 'George Dubya', the ever-misunderestimated and *unduly-criticized son of the 41st President, and so, yes, I am referring here to President HW Bush Senior...

...whose death at the ripe old age of 94 made world headlines (for quite awhile) recently - coincidentally on the very heels of - more precisely, a few hours after - my having made mention of him - or moreover whether himself or President Jimmy Carter would be next to 'kick the bucket' (though I can assure readers it was not described in those terms)...but, I believe - to my brother - simply in terms of the apparent longevity of other recent former United States presidents (though Richard Milhous Nixon of Watergate infamy survived to just 81, Gerald Ford departed this life at the good 'ole age of 93, as did Ronald Reagan only two years earlier). Whew! Enough said already!

Since folk generally, including and especially 'the [mainstream] media', seem to have no qualms whatsoever whenever referring to the likes of say, a **Saddam Hussein, a Shah of Iran or an Ayatollah Khomeini in less than flattering or endearing terms however deceased they may well now happen to be, I'd simply suggest including such as President Bush Senior among these ill-famed 'Unworthies' is not altogether either unduly unfair nor all that implausible.

And my essential reasons, my raison d'etre for including, for thus classifying and categorizing the 41st President in such a way...of daring to contradict the received wisdom of our age which makes out that Bush Senior was some sort of latter-day mini-Messiah for (somewhat) presiding over the admittedly highly historic, even epochal breakup of the Communist Bloc and dissolution of the Soviet Empire...as the chief of his alleged accomplishments (among other things)...

...is - in brief - as follows:

Vis-a-vis President George Herbert Walker Bush's involvement in the First U.S.-Iraq ('Gulf') War... : Known as Operation Desert Storm and presided over by General ('Stormin') Norman Schwarzkopf, the (***airborne, as opposed to ground-based section of the) battle to retake Kuwait from Iraq gained Bush Senior major respect or at least due deference abroad and extensive kudos at home, even elevating his popular support (previously on the major decline through a sluggish American economy and recession) to near historic levels, if I remember rightly into the low nineties...

Unfortunately (to be euphemistic), or more pertinently tragically - for those involved 'on the ground' in Iraq (and in the desert between there and Kuwait) - around 200,000 surrendering Iraqi soldiers were apparently massacred by United States marines (unbeknownst to the general, TV-viewing global public), and the longsuffering Kurds in the northern quadrant of Iraq were pretty well left as sheep for the slaughter by President Bush himself...who handily and adroitly employed a cunning and 'brilliant' piece of ****technicalese to wheedle his way out of prior solemn commitments to those selfsame people that yes, the U S of A, would readily come to their defence...and save them from the subsequent nerve/chemical gas 'onslaught' waged upon their innocent civilian population by President Saddam Hussein.

How, having been given pretty well carte blanche by the United Nations...in an unprecedented near-unanimous support for the otherwise unilateral American action in rescuing Kuwait from Iraqi clutches...Bush & Co later on managed to attempt to justify effectively leaving these various Iraqis (surrendering soldiers and innocent civilians) in the lurch...however fancy a ****technical, hifalutin' an argument (as was then published in Time magazine, I believe)...is quite frankly the kinda stuff that would've made *****Machiavelli proud.

Come back, Dubya...all is forgiven. But, more seriously, if my Bible has any sort of meaning at all - and I certainly believe it does - then any wistful assumption that President George W Bush might well have (as he indeed enunciated at his Dad's funeral) of President George (HW) Bush's 'looking down from heaven (thereupon)', quite apart from being essentially thoroughly unbiblical...is moreover, I'd respectfully suggest, Scripturally unwarranted...as unrepentant evildoers, liars and murderers - according to every version I've ever managed to get ahold of, anyhow - all ultimately meet their just (and yes, exceedingly sad) fate...not upon those blissful shores...but in the Lake of Fire...

*No, I'm far from a supporter of the Iraq War - indeed Bush Junior's 'actions' there opened a veritable Pandora's Box - a hornet's nest of trouble - which has subsequently miserably afflicted our planet. I just have some sympathy for/with a son seeking to dutifully fulfil what he misguidedly perceived as his father's unfulfilled mission...and certainly in terms of the three major critiques I cite herein the epitaph 'Mission Accomplished' could hardly have been attached to President Bush Senior's Iraqi involvement. No, not by a long shot. 

**Whom I include as opposed to such notorious folk as Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao-Tse Tung or Adolf Hitler...simply to be rather circumspect (as far as possible) in my contrasts and comparisons.

***Having watched - glued to my/our seats - this first ever '24/7' TV-style war on our tellies (while over in Oz, following a terrific thunder crash in Brisbane) in late 1990/early 1991.

****Admittedly my memory is at times somewhat challenged (as one sibling would readily agree!), though to the best of my recollection Bush Senior wrote an elaborate raison d'etre post-Desert Storm as to why the targeted assassination of various (however bad) world leaders was illegitimate or unlawful...and yet somehow-or-other the selfsame person can simultaneously justify (at least in his own mind) the apparent massacring of those aforementioned (200,000 - though the exact number matters not) Iraqi soldiers. Perhaps the term 'cognitive dissonance', sheer inconsistency or moral hypocrisy covers the natural dilemma one looking objectively at such a scenario might have thereabouts... . And though I've perhaps conflated Bush's solemn undertaking to the Kurds with his elaborate defence of not taking out Saddam Hussein...to ye average Iraqi I'd imagine the feeling was the same: yet another powerful politician who promises the world and delivers a damp squib...

...a forgivable matter in many another circumstance perhaps, but when the lives of (in both major above instances, innumerable) innocents (whether Kurdish civilians or effectively post-combatant Iraqi troops) is concerned, well...you form your own conclusions...

*****My ever trusty Chambers Concise Dictionary (Cambridge, 1988), is, as ever, very much on the mark, both with 'Machiavellian':'adj. destitute of political morality, ruled by expediency only: crafty, perfidious in conduct, activity'...and, more especially, 'perfidious':'adj. faithless: unfaithful: basely violating faith(******bold lettering all mine)'.

******For the Iraqi Kurdish population had every reason to expect the then American President to honour his pledged word...which he didn't...and thus his son felt it his own duty to pick up the pieces where his dad left off...and we all well know where that eventually ended up, don't we...

*******Due acknowledgment to John Pilger for his courageous investigative journalism giving the expose on the fate of surrendering Iraqi soldiers...the full dossier, so to speak...in Distant Voices.

A Pending Cause Celebre with Cause for Concern

For only the second time in as many weeks, 'hats off' to New Zealand's Justice Minister, Andrew Little: this time for taking it to an international social media conglomerate of the likes of Google...for, effectively, transgressing the law (of our land, anyhow) - or at least coming awfully close thereto; by releasing the name of the accused/apprehended (in the now *globally well-reported homicide investigation into the gruesome murder of the erstwhile British backpacker and O.E.-er Grace Millane)...and thus apparently overriding the name suppression that, upon appeal, the apprehended suspect, legally **'enjoys'...

As Mr Little puts the matter (quite genuinely, I happen to believe), this is all about ensuring a fair trial...so that Ms Millane's killer is - properly - convicted...and not - somehow-or-other - released upon some specious legal technicality. Surely she and her family deserve no less.

Yes, those outfits like Google with such overarching transnational powers do indeed have corresponding (corporate) responsibilities...that they are duty bound to comply with...at all times.

Though admittedly such a law - or, more aptly, the allowance of/for such a get-out clause by the defendant - corresponding (timewise) as it just so happens to with a certain very high-profile RCC figure over in Oz currently receiving conviction for child sexual abuse, does indeed seem both silly and ridiculous...to any and every half-sane onlooker with even an ounce of common decency or basic humanity in his or her bones. And surely once such a conviction has been made and guilt established beyond reasonable doubt (as in Oz) such name suppression should no longer be provided, but should be - automatically - lifted, no longer serving any real useful purpose?

Though you'd be hard pressed to find anyone, even among NZ's hard-bitten criminal fraternity, I dare say, with any truck whatsoever for such a cold-blooded murderer, let alone having any time for the mere existence even of such a law...nevertheless 'the law is the law', and is part of our age-old Westminster tradition of due process for one and all, and so once you start to tamper with any part of such a basic legal framework, you'd better be awfully careful in tampering with part of the well-established foundation thereof lest the entire edifice ultimately come crashing down around our feet.

Though it's surely cool comfort for Grace Millane's deeply loyal, loving and close-knit family, compromise the law a little here and there in order to get at the (alleged) perpetrator, and before you know what's happened you'll often end up effectively, however inadvertently, 'harming' the real victim instead...and thus letting the nasty so-and-so ultimately off scot-free (as his lawyers claim miscarriage of justice has occurred)...

But even were that to occur, there's One Who knows the real truth and Grace's killer will one day be held to account at His heavenly bar...where there will be no mistakes...and sentence will be final...and will involve 'judgement without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy'...and moreover, no remorse...

*At least in the (pertinent jurisdiction of the) United Kingdom, anyhow.

**Though I cringe at using such a word to in any way, shape or form characterize someone who - from all accounts - has such a sadistic and perverted understanding of what a human being is.             

Leadership on Display...and Simultaneously Abjectly Lacking: Proving Oneself a True States(wo)man - or Not: Theresa May Vis-a-vis Jeremy Corbyn

Or, Why One Cannot Help But Admire Theresa May...

*For having willingly embraced a publicly-endorsed 'scheme' she'd previously (at least publicly) opposed.

*For having done so without reservation.

*She's doggedly stuck to the task (and 'to her guns') through thick and thin.

*She's steadfastly refused to glibly vilify her opponents...whether without/outside or inside/within her own party.

*For having gone the extra mile (and then some)...and pursued the understood goal to the nth degree.

*For having compromised her own personal preferences wherever and whenever possible.

*For giving and infusing new meaning (in)to the age-old mascot image of the British Bulldog.

Unfortunately the selfsame cannot - remotely - be said of her - soon to be *erstwhile? - Labour opponent, Jeremy Corbyn...

Though long - and from early on (and long prior, no doubt, if I'd heard of/known about him) a fan/supporter of Corbyn's brand of politics...for all sorts of reasons (and even having early on scribbled out a long-winded defence/support of him and his leadership style - sadly long since mislaid!)...on this all-important matter of the Brexit he's done himself absolutely no favours whatsoever...

Why forsooth? For playing petty partisan party politics with a matter deserving of much more gravitas...and moreover statesmanship. In seeking to score mere parliamentary debating points he's revealed himself a mere partisan politico...like so many others...to my own intense disappointment. At least viewing things from this considerable (Antipodean) distance...

Yes, I'd argue that Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has thereby missed his own 'opportunity of a lifetime'...to rise above sordid political partisanship and likewise willingly embrace the expressed will of the British people...the citizens of the United Kingdom...which, paradoxically enough, he **had actually (long since) fundamentally agreed with...

No, Mr Corbyn doesn't emerge with flying colours (from the Brexit debacle)...and certainly hasn't bedecked himself or his own political brand with reams of glory...

...which arguably, say, a Hilary Benn - the effective 'heir apparent' to that grand old 'Granddaddy' of left-wing British politics, his own father Tony Benn - would have... 

And the salient, underlying lesson of 'the whole sorry saga'? Try to please everybody...thereby succeed in pleasing nobody! 

*Referring of course to Ms May('s possible imminent departure), quite obviously, rather than Mr Corbyn('s); but - being the pedant that I ever am - that doesn't rule out the applicability of that word 'erstwhile'...relating as it clearly does to the 'relationship' between the two.

**I.e. Corbyn's apparently long been suspicious of the European Union and no 'Europhile'.

And Why Shouldn't one Peter Whittle Stand Trial for Corporate Manslaughter...of course, remaining innocent till - incontrovertibly - proven guilty (beyond reasonable doubt)

A Warrant of Fitness by any other name Wouldn't Protect one any better: May the Truth be Told & Known - and dodgy operators innumerable be put paid to