State funding of political parties?

Michael Cullen, Jordan Carter and the NZ leftwing political world is now promoting state funding of political parties. This already happens for TV and radio advertising and is immoral. Libertarianz only takes the funding because it is not allowed to buy its own.

Now the motivation for promoting state funding is as follows:

1. Distract the media and public from the scandal around funding pledge cards.

2 It means parties can give up that tedious task of asking for funding from people who may otherwise choose to buy a beer, a pair of shoes or a movie ticket. That takes a lot of effort that people in parties would rather spend socialising moaning about the state of the government. It enables parties to be lazy, to be out of touch with grassroots supporters, and simply be corporate political bodies that exist because the public is forced to pay for them.

3. It means that parties that are supported by the most productive and successful (typically wanting less government), don't do better than those supported by the least productive, parasitical and statist. In other words, the left's supporters are poorer because they vote for governments to take from the more successful to give to the less.

4.. To remove allegations of corruption and pork-barrel politics with funders wanting "payback" from the party they help elect (Labour never did that for its supporters now did it?).

5. To save the trade union movement buckets of money it would rather spend on beer, shoes and movie tickets. Far better to get the government to collect it from members and non-members by force.

Jordan Carter's approach to state funding of political parties suggests it would see funding allocated according to the votes cast at the previous election. Given it would mean parties couldn't receive large donations, this means:

1. The incumbent has an advantage. Even if it is deeply unpopular, it will get the greatest amount of funding. So funding will be biased towards NOT changing government, or Parliament.

2. New parties are fucked. Even if they are dripfed some crumbs, the likes of the New Zealand Party, New Labour Party/Alliance/Greens, NZ First, United, ACT, Maori Party and Libertarianz will get little. Just what Labour (and I suspect National) would simply love. It is destroying MMP through the back door.

3. Personal freedom of citizens to donate to causes they support is destroyed. What if I wanted to give a party thousands of dollars? Why the fuck is it the business of any other party, the public or the government if I willingly support the campaign? The only answer is...

ENVY.

Sanctimonious pricks who support state funding of political parties are envious that other parties do better than theirs. They are envious that people with more money (they probably made it by oiling factories with the blood of working class children) HAVE more money and DON'T give it to them, they sometimes give it to National or ACT, or even NZ First or the Maori Party. They give to Labour too of course, but less often.

Just check out this quote:

"The right stands for the interests of those with money and power. The left stands for redistributing money and power more fairly."

That's right Jordan, the "right" were born with it. Full of hand wringing Montgomery Burns and Uncle Scrooges, money they must have not earnt "rightfully". Whereas the left are so honourable - they call theft, "redistribution" (Robert Mugabe calls it that too), and power redistribution means removing individual freedom and making it political control - fairer power means power to bureaucrats and politicians.

State funding of political parties is wrong because it is fundamentally immoral to force citizens to pay for organisations whose goals and objectives they do not believe in. Would it have been good to force people on the left to pay for Labour and National in 1990, when both parties were pushing economic liberalism? Is it right that the last election result should decide funding to campaign for the next one?

How about this one? Would you have been happy being forced to fund Graham Capill's campaign for election in 1996, 1999 and 2002, how about Destiny NZ in 2005, how about the National Front?

and shouldn't political parties who can't rustle together funds outside the state, simply be allowed to wither?

Those who support state funding of political parties need to be transparent - they are envy ridden Marxists. They oppose parties they disagree with receiving more voluntary donations, and oppose it because they don't believe the people who GAVE the money truly earnt it or deserved to choose what to do with it. Accusations of corruption from money donated by business are equally laid at those who get money from unions, or tribes.

Democracy is about individual votes counting -and about people who are like minded supporting political parties through either donations of money or time and effort. The state should remain separate from that - and parties survive, grow or die because of voluntary effort only.

Those who oppose that - oppose liberal democracy - they support statist democracy, where the state protects and supports the dominant incumbent political views.

Stroessner dies at last

It would be nice to collect a set - Castro would be good to follow, but at least for now, there is cause to celebrate - Alfredo Stroessner is dead. Who? you say?

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Most of you wouldn’t have heard of Alfredo Stroessner. He was the military dictator that told Paraguayuan what to do for decades, from 1954 to 1989. He was living in exile in Brazil since he was deposed, and finally at 93 the evil bastard is dead. He was the second longest lasting dictator in Latin America, after Castro – and fortunately Paraguay has been spared his brutal rule for 17 years now. (Where is Paraguay you might ask? Look it up!)
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He was no Marxist, he was an old-fashioned militaristic fascist dictator – the type the left loathes, quite rightly. He hated communism, and Paraguay maintained diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan because of it, with no relations with the USSR or any other Marxist state. The US was friendly towards Stroessner’s regime until the 1970s. Although he was fiscally prudent, his attitude to individual rights was increasingly abhorrent, with both the Carter and Reagan administrations having little time for him. His sheltering of former Nazis, like Josef Mengele contributed to this (he was of German descent which explains this mostly German language anti-Stroessner site). Despite what this website says, he was no US puppet - the closest he got was being warm to Lyndon Johnson.
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He deposed the centre-right democratically elected government of Federico Chavez, because Chavez wanted to arm the Police! From then on, Paraguay lived under military dictatorship. There were “elections” which were either fraudulent or with only one candidate. His Colorado Party would dominate politics for decades to come.
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Stroessner killed and tortured his political opponents, practiced corruption and suppressed freedom of speech. Several thousand are estimated to have been murdered, and many more detained without trial and tortured. He forcibly assimilated the
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The only good thing that can be said is that he wasn’t economically insane, like Julius Nyerere or Castro. He commissioned the Itaipu dam, currently the world’s largest operational hydro electric dam by generating capacity. This has enabled Paraguay to export electricity, a rare commodity for international trading. However, the ends do not justify the means - he believed he knew what was best for Paraguayuans and anyone who got in his way got hurt!

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The Aché people of Paraguay, an indigenous tribe, were subject to raids, kidnappings and enslavement by the army and a supportive weird Christian fundamentalist group - the New Tribes Mission, which sought to convert the Aché to Christianity. They were hunted down, enslaved and used for domestic chores and sexual purposes for years. It was somewhat genocidal, in that the regime and the New Tribes Mission essentially saw the Aché as inferior and able to be used for sport or slavery. The New Tribes Mission still exists, although the genocidal behaviour has ceased with the fall of the regime, and extensive publicity - the evil bastards continue to propagate their filthy philosophy to people who need something other than religion.

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Stroessner WAS the last South American dictator, but Hugo Chavez has that mantle now. However, the left love him, ignoring his treatment of political opponents, control of the media and confiscation of private property. HE is anti-American and that is the religion of much of the intelligentsia of the western world.

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Dictator of the month website

Justice without trial

The Guardian reports that the Police in the UK are seeking various powers to deal with "yobs". These include:

- Immediate bans of yobs from "town centres" at night for an "appropriate period", when issued with an informal warning or fixed penalty fine (define a yob);

- Local constables having the right to impose a three-month ban on association by gang members in public or frequenting a particular location. This ban could include "cleaning up local damage". Breaching this would result in a fine, ASBO or a parenting order (woooooooo!);

- Those repeatedly stopped with a car without driver licence, MOT or insurance seeing car immediately seized and crushed (!);

- Ability to stop and search those under reasonable suspicion because of past convictions.

I can understand the concern, but having the Police impose sentences is simply wrong and the ability of the Police to abuse these powers by simply banning people, and ordering them to undertake a punishment is quite real.

There is a disturbing glorification of drunken yobbish behaviour, particularly in some parts of Britain, but there are solutions - these don't need to get rid of the right to a fair trial:

1. Abolish "human rights legislation" that means people can claim discrimination if any property owner seeks to ban someone from his premises. Remind all bar, club, mall and shopowners that they have a fundamental right to prohibit anyone from their premises, for as long as they wish and use reasonable force to remove anyone who breaks this, or prosecute for trespassing.

2. Introduce a points system for offenders which sees people who reach 100 points from past convictions to extended periods in prison (minimum 20 years). Homicide would get you 100 points, vandalism might get you 10 points, aggravated assault or rape would get you 70 points, burglary 20 points (or whatever). You serve your sentence and gain points, at 100 you're OUT (like 3 strikes and you're out, but weighted to the crime - it shouldn't be 3 murders, but also not 3 window smashings).

3. After two convictions, treat all young offenders as adults. You get two chances to fix your life (and this is where rehabilitation needs to jump in, boots and all - and not by throwing teens together in institutions where they feed off each other) if you commit a non-violent offence before you are 18. Violent offences see you given ONE chance. You get points both times though.

4. Forget "wiping the slate clean". An offence sticks with you for life, unless the victim is prepared to agree. Presumably the victim needs to be compensated, or feel like the offender has changed his or her life.

5. Give up on victimless crimes. Shift the policing effort to violent and property offences.

6. Deport non-citizens following the serving of a sentence (or to serve it if you can trust the other country). Migrants who have not got citizenship are guests, and outlive their welcome when they offend against anyone else.

7. Allow retail premises owners to have property rights over common public spaces, like pedestrian spaces, so they can apply bans, employ security and implement any rules on drinking or whatever in that space. They would have obligations to pay for maintenance, which would be deducted from council rates/taxes, but it would give them a vested interest in public space that affects their business and customers.

8. Shoot on sight any male with a shaved head, wearing nothing but a tracksuit, who is not demonstrably going to or from a gym or jogging for exercise. Given that 99% of males in the UK who dress like this are not engaging in fitness activities, this should be easy. By the way this isn't so much about crime prevention, but aesthetics.

9. Deduct welfare payments from parents whose children who live with them commit more than one offence. Either they are your responsibility, and you control them, or kick them out. Every offence loses you the same proportion of your benefit as the points accumulated. So vandalism costs you 5%, rape costs you 70%. Oh and you lose the lot by interfering with the Police's enquiries.

I've been robbed!

Some prick cloned my ATM card and has been withdrawing money willy nilly from my account - so that has been stopped. No the ATMs I use weren't "funny" and I always hide my PIN (and it is far from an obvious number).

So the hunt is on - the prick used it up in my part of town too.

When he is caught (it's bound to be a man!) he will be a useful shield for Hizbullah rockets or Islamic militia in Baghdad.

Three strikes and you're out - that means in prison for life. I don't give a shit whether or not mummy didn't love you - you're worthless scum (same goes for the short Maori kid who nicked my car 17 years ago as I watched from four floors up, I only hope he ran off the road).

So what's coming next??!!

Terrorist threat thwarted

In the past few hours, the following has happened:

- All UK domestic and European flights to and from London Heathrow have been cancelled for today and tomorrow, for all airlines. Some flights also cancelled to and from London Gatwick.

- All flights leaving the UK are subject to a hand luggage ban until further notice. The only items passengers are permitted to carry on board are travel documents, prescribed medication, keys (without electronic fobs!), wallets/purses, glasses/contact lens holders, babyfood, female sanitary items and tissues (so your long flight to NZ wont include a change of underwear or a book!);

- Duty free or any shopping departing from UK airports largely useless unless for pick up on return (can't take it with you);

- Milk for babies must be tested by an "accompanying passenger" (good luck if you have one, presumably your baby!);

- Shoes are all being x-rayed;

- 21 people have been arrested in the UK for plotting a terrorist attack, which apparently included letting off explosives in hand luggage on ten flights on three US airlines (American, United and Continental) flying between the UK and the USA;

- The UK terror threat rating is now at the highest "critical";

- Flights from the US to the UK facing similar measures (presumably includes Air NZ's daily flight from LA to London Heathrow).

So people flying wont have toothpaste, makeup, books, ipods, magazines, laptop, work papers, umbrellas and changes of clothes on flights. Bad luck if you're in the back of the plane flying to NZ today or tomorrow, especially in the latter parts sitting next to bored, smelly people! Great news if you are fed up with people flying with babies of course.

No doubt the mystical or atheist socialist avowedly egalitarian anti-sexist, anti-racist, peace loving, pro "human rights" apologists for sexist, stone-age, execution advocating, sexist, racist and jihad promoting Islamist terrorists will say it is "our" fault. That the dispossessed middle class of Islamist England, living in relative comfort and peace, want to commit suicide and murder men, women and children from different countries, faiths (or no faiths), backgrounds, ages, races, all because of the oppose the policies of the democratically elected governments of the UK, US, Israel and others, and because they believe their ghost says it is ok.

I await the "it's horrible, so glad the plot was thwarted BUT..." phrases, with the but saying "if only the "coalition of the willing" hadn't invaded Iraq, if only Israel had let Nasser destroy it, if only Israel tolerated the lobbing of rockets from Hamas and Hizbullah and given up land to them, if only Al Gore had won the 2000 election, if only people caught the train instead of driving (because it's all about oil and the Bush-Cheney-Blair Jewish conspiracy to take over the world and nuke the bejesus out of all the heretics).

My main comment is to be grateful that the police and Scotland Yard are working, glad that there have been no attacks since 9/11, but angry that there continues to be people in the UK organising to commit mass murder. Nothing justifies this, nothing, no "but you have to understand", or "but if only we hadn't"... you wouldn't excuse a man murdering his wife because she annoyed him, or ran up a large credit card bill, or changed churches or didn't like that her brother was fighting in Iraq... don't start to excuse this initiation of force.

Reports on this are extensive:

Daily Telegraph quotes UK Home Secretary John Reid "We are involved in a long, wide and deep struggle against very evil people." Reid was a member of the Communist Party once, but has been quoted saying ""I used to be a Communist. I used to believe in Santa Claus". He's moved a bit!

Daily Telegraph report on delays at UK airports.

The Times on how Pakistani intelligence helped foil the plot! (Imagine if Islamists took over Pakistan - nuclear weapons in their kit!)

The Independent reports on the terrorists' moral if not financial backers, the Taliban shooting a 13yo boy and his grandmother in Afghanistan for being alleged government spies. Yes, some people think this is the same as bombing terrorists.