Stupid and evil

15 April is Kim Il Sung's birthday. Yes I know he is dead, but then there are fools all over the world who worship this murdering tyrant.

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The British group has a poor quality website here, but you have to see them copying the doctored photos of Kim Il Sung (all nicely touched up in the shit quality North Korean style) and the official history of one of the 20th century's most totalitarian bullies. Few things piss me off more than bunches of hand wringing apologists for murderous, anti-life, brutal regimes of slavery living in the comfort and freedom of the West. They are traitorous and equivalent to apologists for Nazism, they excuse the inexcusable.

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Kim Il Sung was a very cunning blood thirsty tyrant, Stalin's puppet at age 32 to run the part of Korea that the USSR would not let have democratic elections (although the South wasn't that much better at least anarchy is better than Stalinism). However he did not save Korea from the Japanese, and did not spend the war fighting them (he fled to Russia where he was "discovered"). He enslaved the north, launched an aggressive bloody war against the south, and threatened it and Japan for decades. One man can make a difference, and he still is - and how tragic it was that the Korean War was not won.

Hong Kong

Having just returned from a week in Hong Kong, I am smiling. Is it the almost untrammelled free market capitalism? Is it the friendly kindliness that almost all of the locals displayed, albeit most trying to get me to part with $HK? Is it the fact that Easter was almost impossible to detect, as I was shopping at Causeway Bay at 9.30pm Monday evening and the place was more alive than Queen Street any night of the week? Is it the fact that I got 15$HKD for every £1? Is it the £280 I spent getting two high quality suits and five shirts at a tailor recommended to me by a good friend (who always dresses impeccably)? Is it the reliable fast and unsubsidised metro system? Is it the cheap and good Chinese food? Is it Air NZ upgrading me both ways to maintain my “never fly economy class longhaul policy”? Is it the complete lack of chavvy/bogan Brits (except a few in Kowloon around the markets looking to buy crap)? Is it the incredible range of goods you can buy at market prices?
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I don’t care – it’s a fantastic way to break up a trip between NZ and Europe. It beats Singapore for shopping hands down, and climate – a perfectly pleasant 18-23 degrees not the stinking humid 30 degrees, as well not being the stuffy fear driven smiling face of nanny state.
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Yes there were things to complain about, the smog, the annoying little South Asian men offering “copy watch” or “copy bag” every 15 seconds or so in Kowloon (glad I stayed on Hong Kong Island), the preponderance of utter crap in the night markets that would suit chivvy/bogan Brits to their white stilettos and baseball caps. However it has awoken me to some of the splendour of Chinese culture, the appreciation for education, hard work, respect for the elderly, and the fact that as I was taller than most people they simply got out of my way (and I’m only 5’10”). I wonder, do elderly people get mugged and murdered and raped there? Do children get neglected and ignored by whinging trashy parents demanding more money from the government while they sit on their arses?
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In addition, I noted that there is no competition law in Hong Kong - though there is much discussion about it, but also department stores and malls have a tendency to have competing shops or franchises for similar products (e.g. bedding, clothes). It may be unconnected, but somehow Hong Kong has found ways to avoid free market capitalism being this monopolistic behemoth that so scares the left.
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So given the variety of options to fly to Hong Kong from London, cheaply (particularly Air NZ, Virgin, BA and Oasis which all offer either premium economy or cheap enough business class to make the 12-13 hours tolerable), I can see HK being an annual trip.

Lite blogging

Well I've been far too busy at work and then been in Hong Kong to utter words about so many things, BUT I am back and things will be back to normal this weekend.

National quislings

So National wont repeal or even offer to amend the law if Sue Bradford's smack ban proceeds...

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I'd like the Nats to promise to amend the law, somewhat along the lines of the Chester Borrow's amendment, or to make it clear that it is legal to use force in a manner to restrain a child, defend someone or something from a child's actions and only to the extent necessary under the circumstances - and that under no circumstances should objects be used to hit children. I don't know what the solution is.... but it nust include legalising the use of force short of corporal punishment.

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Whether it be tax cuts, RMA or indeed anything Labour does - National just wont repeal anything. In which case what's the point of this spineless philosophically vapid opposition?

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John Key said "National would also have to consider whether or not it could deliver on such a promise, because of issues such as whether it was a conscience vote, and potential coalition partners".

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Why the fuck have any policies at all then, if you're going to not have ANY position to start off with to negotiate with potential coalition partners, or are you going to suck up to the Greens you political whore? What sort of nonsense is it to be a major party, but not have a policy until you know what minor party policies are?

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Well Libertarianz wants the Crimes Act amended to remove all victimless crimes - so if Libz got into Parliament there's a policy - it's even consistent with National Party principles - if you blow away the cobwebs.

Sometimes a reason to smile

In an age full of those who want to wrap kids in cotton wool, and would probably ban them from driving on private property, Laura Simpson from Longreach, Queensland shows what CAN be done - she essentially helped keep a Greyhound bus in Australia from careering to disaster, after the driver passed out - and all because she was quick thinking, competent, courageous and had been driving around her parents' farm since she was "around 10 or 11".

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So take that safety nazis - sometimes people are more competent than you think, and this girl saved the lives of dozens of little kids who were on the bus. If she had been brought up by the anally retentive fun police sitting at their desks in Wellington or Canberra, trying to protect her from life - it might have been a tragedy.