A nation in favour of an easy dollar at the expense of basic liberties (The Benny Wenda Story)

By Alex Corlett

A little more than a week ago news broadcaster TV3 allocated less than two minutes of screen time to the Benny Wenda story. The story was an expose of a West Papuan Freedom Fighter who was barred from speaking in New Zealand’s Parliament by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

Most viewers did not blink an eye when seeing this story. Wenda gained political asylum in the United Kingdom in 2003. It prevented him from being trialed in Indonesia, avoiding a likely death sentence for preaching pro-freedom political messages in his native country. As a result of these events, Wenda has been deemed credible as a freedom activist all over the globe. Parliament in the United Kingdom is one of the many stages his messages has been welcomed. Why is he not welcome in New Zealand Parliament? New Zealand topped the most recent global freedom listings which featured categories such as “freedom of movement and legal discrimination”. One would assume speaking on freedom in our nations parliament would be a great way to model freedom to rest of the world. Wenda was after all imprisoned and tortured for publicly speaking out about the importance of freedom.

One has to ask: Are there more sinister motives for the honourable Murray McCullay denying Wenda the right to speak? Well there are; the National Government is caught in a situation where they are forced to play favourites.  With Indonesia being a billion-dollar trading partner for New Zealand and the agenda of the current Government being about “balancing the books,” Wenda isn't going to get an opportunity to speak, unless he buys his way in. The cliché quote “money talks” sums up the core value this Government wishes to bestow upon the future generation of this country.

Such a course of thought leaves me thinking. We hold an election every three years with the intention that those elected into power will uphold the best interests of our country. Very few people would deny the fact at this point in time that at this point in time the majority of the country trusts the financial decisions of the incumbent Government. We constantly hear phrases like our “Prime Minister is a millionaire, so he must know what he’s doing”.  For now our country can rest safe from politicians whose only financial strategy is the printing press. At a time where a recovering economy seems like a top priority, does the Benny Wenda saga have something to teach the people New Zealand?

Over the last year there have been disturbing events which should be of concern to New Zealand citizens who value freedom. The well publicised Dotcom fiasco is just one of these. The millionaire tycoon’s house was raided in joint operations between New Zealand Police and U.S. Federal Departments. Dotcom was unlawfully spied on, his assets were seized and he was detained, even though a year later, there is no conviction. New Zealand’s Minister of Spying (GCSB) Prime Minister John Key was unapologetic and was not held accountable for the invasion of a Residents privacy and allowing U.S. agents onto New Zealand soil and private property in an operation that was clearly illegal.   

Benny Wenda was turned away from New Zealand’s Parliament at the expense of financial gain. His visit to New Zealand highlights that the world leader in freedom may have some dirty laundry of its own. With a General election next year, will voters be after a wardrobe that emphasises value for money or one that values freedom of choice. 

$2.30 for a litre of petrol is National's way of building a brighter future

Petrol prices are moving back towards world record prices. What many people do not know is the sneaky efforts of transport minister Gerry Brownlee and one John Key (who should legally change his name to Mr. Slippery) have forced petrol prices up 9c, with additional taxes. The income which is generated by society's automobile obsession will be used to further mutilate our countryside with hideous road developments. If anybody wishes to see how ineffective more roads are, simply speak to anyone who commutes from the North shore to Auckland central; ask them how beneficial recent road developments have been. Little to benefit has been the response I've received with every person who's given an answer.

High petrol policies are not the main reason National is losing touch with its voters who once proudly wore blue with pride. National is out of touch in other areas because they endorse state asset sales. The National party endorses Talent2's disastrous Novopay, which will ruin the lives of many teachers for at least another 12 months. The National party wishes to extradite Kim Dotcom by making America's job to extradite him as easy as possible. The National party is in favor of stupid foreign wars. The National party supports as tax system which is unsustainable.

Do not be surprised by National's slide in popularity. Nobody wants more cars on the road, yet that is what we will get to build ourselves a brighter future. The sparkling city of sails gorgeous countrysides of New Zealand irreversible butchered and nothing to show for it except plumes of smog and a hideous smirk from National's elite.

John Key promised a brighter future in 2008's campaign. Can anyone list more good things he's done than bad things?

Halberg's athlete of the year belongs to the best. And the best athlete we had was disabled

Nothing is more inspiring than seeing disabled sportsmen and women getting top honours for their amazing physical feats. Unlike a fair share of able bodied athletes who often resort to cheating to improve performance, these people function on hard work and determination. The time must come for someone like Sophie Pascoe to be awarded with top honours. Yes, Valerie Adams did a fine job, but her performance cannot compare to a woman who won three gold medals, along with three silvers in the pool. Were Ms Pascoe an able bodied athlete, Valerie Adams, Lisa Carrington and Lydia Ko's efforts would look like child play. Hopefully, in the near future, her time will come.

If anyone is in doubt of who politicians put first in, look no further than Shane Jones. In order to save his political career, Mr Jones is prepared to grant an accelerated citizenship to a Chinese Billionaire. Public servant? I think not.

Earlier on this week, a reader was quick to dismiss an article about enjoying university summers rather than working right through them. He claimed to have enjoyed an enjoyable ski trip overseas and had an enjoyable time in Australia. All of this was funded by working long hours through the summer. While his holiday certainly sounds fantastic (hopefully he recommends it to others), it misses the point of the post completely. How many summers will one be working through in the future. With several rises in pension age, one could work through approximately 50 summers. Unless someone is earning very large sums of money, taking a large two-four month holiday would never be achievable. Enjoy the long summers off. Do not surrender yourself to the almighty dollar. There will be plenty of time in the future to earn big and go on flash  holidays.

A response to Adam Hunter

Recently in my church's young adults page, I had a rather unpleasant encounter with one Adam Hunter. He displayed an incredibly poor reading comprehension and his manners were no better than what you'd find in a kindergarten.

Rather than joining Adam in a tirade of childish name calling, it seems more appropriate to post my comments alongside his, with my response to each comment below.

To begin with, Adam talks about cellular life forms existing in the Universe. I ask

^^^Are you able to send a link for a report, journal article, news article etc which discusses these cellular life forms please

To which Adam replies

No but I can provide you with ample documentation on the size and age of the universe and abiogenises and the number of planets that we have observed which could support life and extrapolations for a number of them for just our galaxy the rest is pure statistics my friend. As it is extremely likely that there are over billions of planets/moons that can support the existence of life and the age of the universe and that we know that life originated at least once (not necessarily on Earth) then it would be supremely ignorant to suggest that life is not present somewhere else in the universe at this moment, let alone any other point in time and very reasonable to think that life is not relatively uncommon throughout the universe.

Mr Hunter could have finished my input on the post there and then by linking me any article, discussion, or video which covers life outside earth (of which there are plenty). Instead, he throws in some scientific jargon and circumstantial statistics.   The mere existence of many planets in the universe does not prove life exists there. In many cases, the planets and moons are too close or too far away from each star. The age of the universe debate is irrelevant. Going on modern science, its safe to assert its around 13.5 billion years old. Mr Hunter proves his comprehension is a bit rusty when he says "it would be supremely ignorant to suggest life is not present somewhere else in the universe." Where he got the impression I was coming at that remains unclear but it was not suggested by me.

Adam then snidely says

I am almost certainly right but dw, I am used to that

If Mr. Hunter would like to prove how right he almost always is, perhaps he'd like to answer a few questions from here. Which foods are good to eat when running an Ultra-marathon? How effective is gastric band surgery vs a Hypnotic gastric band in losing weight? What are all the chemical base pairs which make up the entire DNA sequence? Is Europe a better tourist destination than South America? Yes, a nice comprehensive answer for every single one is wanted, without the help of the internet.

Not providing any links I ask again, even providing him a link to give him an indication of what I'm looking for with a link.

I'm well aware of how old the universe is and its vast size. I want to see some objective evidence, like such

Adam ignores the question again and writes

Well of course I can't give you objective proof you fool, I never said I could... If I could then it would be common knowledge and I wouldn't have to. What I did say was that it is almost 100% based on statistics nothing more. I mean what exactly do you want?

It is here, where Mr Hunter brings back some rather bad manners one would have thought a grown man would have disposed of in primary school. No matter though, he uses the word fool to try and dismiss my question as unworthy. If Adam could not put two and two together and provide me with a simple link, he ought to start reading some more to improve his reading comprehension. You can decide for yourself how clear my wording was.

A middleman intervenes and comments

He means scientific reasoning and evidence, not statistics.

Adam replies

I gave him scientific reasoning which involves statistics. If he wishes to disagree with my conclusion then he must first falsify any of the claims I put forward not ask for something that doesn't exist.

Once again, Adam fails to see that at no point in time I disagreed with him that life may exist outside of earth. He can try argue this until the cows come home. If he does though, he must not use the phrases "your questions implied" or "it seems like." Either I disagreed with him or I did not.

In a bid to simplify my questions to Adam's pathetic level of reading comprehension, I decided to phrase it in an even more specific manner.

I'll reword my question (which wasn't worded well I'll admit). Can you please provide a link to any scientific discussion, debate, story, video clip, etc which backs up your statistic claim that there is likely to be other forms of life out there? This "fool" is interested in seeing where your statistics come from, as they raise many questions in my mind.

Adam either finally understands the question or has just decided now is the right time to give a proper answer. 

Well you may not necessarily be a fool but you are certainly ignorant. The drake equation comes to mind which is more of a summary of my points (but specifically about intelligent life that we may be able to contact at some point) but Hawkin, Dawkins, Michio Kaku all come to the same conclusion. Which one of my points do you disagree with or argue with?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16515944 is the most important point which had some doubt around it until recently

Mr Hunter's pathetic reading comprehension appears again. Rather than engage properly in the discussion, he continues with his tirade of immature name calling in an attempt to try elevate his argument as the superior one (even though one was never initiated). In an effort to try drag me into the argument he says "which one of my points do you disagree with or argue with?" Well, he can go back and read very carefully to see that I did not, at any point disagree with him. All the time I was asking him to post a link or two with scientific discussion about the topic. If he cannot understand that was all I wanted, then he must explain what was so complicated about the question.

In a response to the post I wrote

 Well this "ignorant fool" is able to admit he is devoid of a reasonable understanding about the cosmos and life in the universe. If you actually read carefully, you'll see that I do not disagree with you at all. I just wanted to see the sources of your statistics.

Once again: Adam

nothing wrong with being ignorant as long as you aware that you are and attempt to fix it. You can use google as well as I can as I do not have sources on hand. In short any biologist or cosmologist will tell you that is is very very likely life exists somewhere else (probably in time too)

No apology is given by Adam for misreading my questions. Instead it is another round of ad hominem and abuse. 

The middle man joins the conversation again, having clearly read our discussion and being able to comprehend it maturely. 

Like Stuart said, he was never disagreeing with you, he simply wanted to know your reasoning. Labelling him 'ignorant' and 'foolish' was not only incorrect but also uncalled for. Discuss with respect, or your comments will be deleted.

Adam, unable to admit he was arguing against nobody, conveniently avoids the issue.

Erm... I rescinded my calling him a fool but calling somebody ignorant isn't an insult, I am ignorant about many things. So jog on


In a tower high above everyone else, Mr Hunter has been trying to shoot arrows into the night, hoping they'll hit a target. Calling someone "ignorant," I repeat "ignorant..." (one more time "ignorant") is not an insult. So according to him, I completely lack general knowledge or awareness because I asked him for a link about cellular life on other planets. In a rather clumsy effort to vindicate his comment he admits he is ignorant about many things. How sure can he be that calling someone ignorant is not an insult? Is he again convinced of his own rightness or is he not letting in on something? 

If Adam Hunter can respond in a civilised way-which he has struggled to do previously- then he can defend his position here as much as he likes. I'm not going to say too much more about the issue after replying to his response. 



***A note to my readers as well. At the end of next month, newswithmorenews will no longer be a blog. Most of my political articles will now appear on getfrank.co.nz.

Never again will we have so much free time

Attempting to vent out a proper criticism in the third person has proven to be a step too far for me in regards to full time summer jobs. So, alongside free speech and alcohol, it gets the special first person treatment.

The other day I met up with a friend for a general catch up and he informed me about a full time job he had been accepted for over the summer. 400 hours of medical research, one of a select few chosen to be taken on board for the experiment. Goodbye summer, goodbye life (again), goodbye the last years to enjoy a proper summer.

Before anyone begins launching attacks and making criticisms against me, rest assured I'm no lazy man. At the time of writing, the jobs which I hold down are as a teacher aide, a sports coach, as well as a writer for Helium. Since becoming a University student, good time management skills are synonymous with getting the most out of the University experience. So too is being able to have a pleasant summer vacation.

So many excuses are given during the University semester for being unable to do something. Balderdash. Lynley Smith, captain of the New Zealand women's water-polo team, was rewarded a scholarship to an American University. In her final year, she took six papers, had an internship role, alongside 20 hours of water polo training every week. Anyone who wishes to say they don't have time to work or gain work experience need only use this one example as a measuring stick. A friend has told me of a fellow student in his law class who is sitting six papers; and she is passing with A's.

I write this in the hope that many university students think very carefully before handing over their entire summer in the name of work experience or to make some money. Yes, it is nice having lots of disposable income, alongside being busy right through until the next university year. But never again will there be so much time to relax for so long. These long holidays are pearls among the clams, sprouting forth only once in a person's life and reappearing again in the 'golden years.' As medical care continues to improve, the pension age shall become further out of reach. My guess is that it will reach 73 by the time people my age begin to finish working. Cumulatively, most people in generation Y can expect to spend 50 years of their lives working.

The choice is yours. Are you in for an enjoyable few years of long holidays or out in the working place, slaving away on 40+ hours a week?

It's too late for Rugby to hide behind cycling's drug infested culture

So word is out. After a 12 month investigation into the various sporting codes in Australia, results are shocking. Widespread use of banned substances exists, from banned supplement to connection with organised crime. Players, coaches, doctors; everyone was in the know.

You are probably now aware Lance Amrstrong and the US Postal Service cycling team used performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong said his team used all sorts of drugs, from testosterone to actovegin. To some athletes credits, they come clean; but to those who continue to try fool us, sooner or later the book closes.

 If a full scale investigation was launched into rugby, do not be surprised if rugby players are found to be taking banned substances (knowingly or unknowingly . The sheer brute physicality which each player subjects them self to week in, week out is mind boggling. Consider also the incredibly fast turn around times with recovery. A certain player suffers from a shoulder and pectoral muscle, only to return to training a few weeks; fitter, stronger and faster than ever. One rugby union player, who has suffered a severe injury in the same area twice, managed to come back into the sport, allegedly on nothing but a solid rehabilitation program. Another rugby player broke his arm and returned to the super rugby scene in three months. In no way does this mean any of them have taken banned drugs to aid in their recovery. Having such a good consistency in recovering from career ending injuries just raises a lot of doubt. There does however need to be more probing into to the two rugby codes.

AADA's tragic findings show that no one particular sport can be isolated. Isolating cycling as the only dirty sport is gratuitous. A great deal more skepticism is needed to unmask any cheats and liars. A lot of professional rugby is clouded in secrecy. If the veil is lifted off it (as it was in cycling), some truths may begin to surface.

A Paul Henry basher

I've always had an extreme dislike for Richard Boock. He's a stupid person's idea of an intelligent person. An ardent supporter of the slaughter of unborn children (better known as abortion), an advocate of political correctness, a proud supporter of prostitution and yes, a Paul Henry basher. You can search through his articles on (the very left wing news website) stuff.co.nz. There's enough evidence there to support my claims.

You can say what you like about Paul Henry, so long as it's backed up by reason. People loved watching Breakfast because he always found new ways to entertain, often by just speaking his mind. His stories of the Amtrak train suction toilets, asking Tamati to spit in the Web Ellis cup and laughing at Matt Mclean for standing on a box in Wellington made for some entertaining laughs. My best guess for Mr Boocks dislike of Paul Henry is that he is part of a small group of people. This group of people are the politically correct faction. Anything Henry said, any joke he made was offensive. After a while, they got their way; Henry resigned.

Although there are so many different reasons to dislike Mr Boock, none irritate me more than his views on Henry, which can be found here.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/blogs/an-auckland-minute/8261247/Alis-views-must-be-more-consistent

Here are some snippets of the babble he produced, with my response in Italics.

"He was constantly unreasonable and wrong-headed"

How? Why? In what way? It is just an empty statement, devoid of any reason. On many occasions, Paul provided good comic relief. Even his laugh was enough to put most people into fits of laughter.

"True, no-one should ever be held responsible for what comes out of Henry's foul gob. But it still wouldn't hurt for Mau to recognise her reluctance to challenge more strongly such obnoxious and belittling points of view"

In the same way, most people should not buy into yet another empty statement by Mr Boock. Most things Paul Henry ever managed to say on air was going to offend people like him (who lack any sense of humor), who walk around with glass hearts, ready to be offended at the slightest drop of a hat. Of course he is entitled to think that if he so pleases. Trying to put it in such a "matter of fact" way seems to suggest there is no changing his mind. 

Contrary to Mr Boocks thoughts on same sex marriage being such a large issue, consider this. In New Zealand 1/10 of 1% are in a same sex civil partnership. The other homosexuals are either waiting in anticipation for same sex marriage bill to be finalised or they have no intention of ever entering a legal relationship. Given that 1% of New Zealand's population is made up of homosexuals, you can decide for yourself how many of them are actually interested in marrying. 

It's time to say goodbye to Novopay

If politicians were underpaid, you could be guaranteed the problem would be sorted out in a week. Calls would be made, people would be spoken to, the solution would stick out. Whatever pay systems their salaries are under will likely vanish underneath a cloud of criticism. Most New Zealanders could not care less if something like this happened. back benchers to party leaders are already overcompensated for being bland, self serving careerists.

To make teachers go through more Novopay nightmares epitomises exactly everything which is wrong with the National party. Every time something works against them, a policy fails or scrutiny increases, they resort to blaming others.

In the instance of Novopay, Mr. Slippery chooses to blame the professionals for advising National. Rather than accept responsibility, everyone runs for cover.

What National will not tell you is how Novopay replaced a system which was already tried and trusted. There were no glitches, additional costs, nothing. Every person on the payroll system got paid promptly. Everyone probably got suspicious that this happened to work so well. According to Radio New Zealand, Novopay would have been in operation in late 2010, were it not for bugs and other problems. Cancelling the outsourced contract seemed like a viable option. Much like the ridiculous asset sales, National stayed determined to prove something and someone wrong. What exactly either one is remains unclear.

I myself was underpaid to the tune of $150, over several pay periods. Crying foul over it seems laughable though as over $30,000,000 in underpayments, over payments or no payments has crippled many people within the education sector financially. Picture an unmarried teacher, who has just gotten a job at a secondary school. Six months in and they're already behind on rent payments, cannot buy a basket of groceries, in addition to barely rattling into school in their almost empty car. To hear Steven Joyce try cut corners and say eventually these problems will be sorted out is foolhardy. So what? The damage has been done, teachers who have been underpaid or unpaid cannot undo the hardship which has hit them recently. With a further assurance Term one shall see similar problems, teachers should start saving whatever they can because dark days still lie ahead.

Don't believe for a moment Mr Key's claim no other alternative to Novopay currently exists. If our government has the ability to sell off state assets in a finger snap, they most certainly can bring back the tried and trusted system. Leave it now.

Neither is justified to say they are right

In an ongoing epidemic, Israel yet again finds itself at odds with an Islamic nation. After supposedly conducting an airstrike inside the Syrian border, it once again paints a bleak picture for anyone trying to wipe them off the map.

Neither side can claim to be victims. Both countries have had to defend themselves but both countries are launching attacks at each other. Anyone who wants a proper insight into the current crisis gripping the nation needs to read Bernard Lewis and Mosab Hassen Yousef. One is an historian with a vast knowledge about the subject, while the other is the son of a Hamas leader.

Each man is able to provide an accurate depiction of how neither side is doing the right thing and how peace will not be achieved until Israel and its opponents stop hounding each other in such a bloodthirsty way.

It was quite upsetting that Paul Holmes passed away at just 63. For a man who revolutionised current affairs in broadcasting, he deserved at least five more years on screen or in radio. After looking back at his most famous interviews, his ability to go into uncomfortable areas was evident. The people he spoke with often fidgeted around a lot and some even stormed out. Regardless, Holmes was engaging and somebody New Zealanders could relate to. Unlike John Campbell, who stumbles over the stage curtain or Mark Sainsbury, who is far too PC, Holmes was not afraid to speak his mind. 

Professional athlete's autobiographies are often very interesting reads. Many events which happen behind the scenes are interpreted very differently by each sportsman/woman. The best ones are able to walk you through their journey, without boring you to bits in details. Corne Krige and Tyler Hamilton are the most promising examples. 

Which is why I am desperately hoping for the second half of McCaws book "The Open Side" to move up a gear (like the man himself has done so many times). The book is full of frantic jumping, moving from High School, to the notorious 2007 World Cup match in Cardiff, and then back even further to his early childhood. Not only is the chronology completely out of sync, there is a fair amount of expletives. 

While I can concede that everyone is going to let the odd bit of bad language slip out in tense, heat of the moment situations (Krige and Hamilton do this too), I had hoped McCaw and McGee would have been shrewd enough to leave "fuck" and "shit" out of the non heat of the moment situations.