Now that the alleged Boston Marathon bombers have been “apprehended” (if that is the right word for a massive dragnet operation ending in a shootout with one suspect and one policeman dead), it seems that David Sirota of Salon has got his wish, because the bombers are apparently Chechen Muslims. He can now continue to pontificate [...]

There is a point where legislation slips from being a useful, if sometimes cumbersome, tool for achieving an orderly, well-functioning society into a meddlesome mess of nanny statism and absurd zealotry. Most of us can sense it easily when it effects us and impedes our lives. It is a little harder to appreciate when the [...]

The title of a great Led Zep song and a piece of advice that the Invercargill man – who is issuing death threats to Coca Cola workers for “poisoning his wife” – should take to heart. The man claims his wife was poisoned by Coca Cola and this is possibly true – but only because [...]

And after spending several days blaming Sarah Palin for Jared Loughner’s shooting spree based on the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence, we appear to be now castigating the woman for inappropriate metaphors. Except that the use of the word “blood libel” is entirely appropriate in these circumstances For those who don’t know what the phrase means, [...]

I wanted to title this post “much ado about nothing” but it’s just too hackneyed. But that is exactly what I think of the Russell Norman Protest Saga. I’ve seen a lot of outrage over Norman’s treatment with, hilariously, a great deal of nationalistic fervour from the left. Even some of my right wing compatriots [...]

Is anyone really surprised that there has been a serious collision between a Japanese Whaler and the Sea Shepherd boat Ady Gil (formerly Earthrace)? Given that the raison d’être of the Sea Shepherd crews is to engage in dangerous and provocative acts in one of the most hostile environments known to man. That requires a [...]

At first glance the proposal by the World Health organization to ban all junk food advertising to children seems a reasonable thing to do. After all, we know that the ban on advertising tobacco has been shown to decrease the prevalence of smoking significantly. It would seem logical that banning junk food ads aimed at [...]

Some strange people have asked if they could follow this blog on (shudder) Twitter. I can’t help feeling that’s a little like asking Shakespeare if he has a graphic novel version of Macbeth… (OTOH there probably IS a graphic version of Macbeth. Poor Will. Spin. Spin . Spin.) Seeing as I have just compared myself [...]

It turns out that the wreckage and oil slick spotted in the sea is not from the downed Air France Airbus 330. What this means is that, at this moment, no-one has any idea where flight 447 went down. It also means that the reassurances given by the authorities –  that this was not the [...]

I read with utter horror that psychologists and medical doctors were involved in the interrogation of captured terrorism suspect Abu Zubaida. Regardless of whether you consider the questioning of Zubaida to be torture or simply interrogation technique, there is no way it can be seen as anything but coercive. And medical people have no place in [...]