Deliberate Ambiguity?

Stuff hedging their bets.

'Man arrested in terror raids given bail' Stuff > Story
An Auckland man arrested in last week's so-called terror raids has been granted bail.
This cleverly encompasses both views.



Harawira accuses police of terrorising Maori

Attribution Of Blame And Associated Guilt - The Modus Operandi Of The UN.

The rapid spread in Latin America of the virus that causes AIDs is made worse by the Roman Catholic Church's stand against using condoms, a UN official said.

The Catholic Church, which holds sway in Latin America despite the rise in evangelical churches, opposes all forms of contraception and instead promotes abstinence as a way to avoid spreading Aids.

"The fact young people start to be sexually active between 15 and 19 without sex education contributes to the spreading of the virus, as well as the fact that the evidence shows abstinence is not working," said Alberto Stella, the UNAids Coordinator for Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Sooo ... if the Catholic Church said 'use condoms,' all would be well?

But wait ... the Church is promoting abstinence and obviously only few are listening. How can one assume that the majority will listen to additional/different dictum or recommendation? Should they also be conducting sex education lessons for the 15-19 year olds? How much sway does the Catholic Church really hold in Latin America?

Alternatively, how effective is the UN Aids Coordinator? Time for a change?


The process of endeavouring to attribute cause for a problem to a defined group of people, associate this with the notion of 'wilful neglect' due to the 'harm done unto others' from this omission or stance (as a means of engendering guilt) and trying to gain momentum in a direction that has no definite evidence of effect ... is becoming synonymous with the UN. It is from this self-serving arrogance that their self proclaimed expertise derives.
It really is passed time that governments, the general public and the churches began replying with the succinct emphatic dismissal their 'well intentioned' arrogance deserves.

Cold Remedies Are Unproven For Children

FDA Panel Advises Against Use In Kids Younger Than Age 6 ... The panel, however, decided against making a similar recommendation for older children ... 6 to 11 years old, even though it had earlier agreed there was no evidence that the products do any good for that group, either.

No one knows how many children have had adverse reactions to the medications, but the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported earlier this year that at least 1,500 children younger than 2 suffered complications in 2004 and 2005. An FDA review prepared for the meeting described dozens of cases of convulsions, heart problems, trouble breathing, neurological complications and other reactions, including at least 123 deaths.

So not, or questionably, effective for two years and younger and potentially decidedly dangerous; not, or questionably, effective for the six year olds and under ... but Americans buy about 95 million bottles of them a year, and there are more than 800 formulations in stores ... and Some experts say studies show the medications are only marginally effective in relieving symptoms in adults as well, but there is no evidence that adults face as significant risks from the products.
So it would appear FDA approval is more dependent on potential harmful effects and for those more vulnerable populations than that the product does what its stated beneficial effect proclaims ... There seems something(s) a little wrong with this.

Now, The FDA convened the hearing to evaluate doubts about the products' effectiveness and the mounting evidence that the medications can cause serious complications.The hearing was prompted by a petition filed by a group of health officials led by Joshua M. Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, after the deaths of four children in that area ... and The hearing came a week after major manufacturers of the medications voluntarily withdrew 14 products designed for children younger than 2, including well-known brands such as Dimetapp Decongestant Plus Cough Infant Drops, Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops Plus Cold and Robitussin Infant Cough DM Drops ... such anticpatory compliance would seem to indicate acknowledgement of the forthcoming information and decision.

So, Cold Remedies Are Unproven For Everyone.

The committee's recommendations also apply to antihistamines used to treat allergies ... and this is but the 'tip of iceberg' ... what of the use of risperidone in the under tens? A common enough practice here as with other of the psychotropics and often without FDA sanction for use for those age ranges.

Tame Iti: colourful activist pays for plays.

Now I can recall, as a student, attending Nga Tamatoa meetings with a tattoo-less 'not at all tame' Tame Iti and his Australian wife and kids ... and this prior to that infamous South African rugby tour. Talk at the time was of the indiscriminate shooting of the palangi ... and the local civil liberties groups came and commisserated with their feelings and empathised with their intended excess ... and their palangi partners and quarterised or less palangi progeny looked on, quietly acquiescing, for to do otherwise could be to 'court the bash.' And after all, in those days a blonde sheila was acclaimed as taonga, a coveted item.



Now, perhaps thirty years afar and asunder, I remain a student and my old mate Tame has been arrested as a 'potential terrorist (?)' presumably for coming out with the same stuff as he did years ago ... somewhat fatter, covered in tats, relying on the media for any continuing sense of self ... bit of a sad comic character really, well and truly knocked off his aluminium ladder by the continuing need to inflate his ego ... and quite possibly by the need of a few in positions of power to create a compelling distraction and appearance of strength.



For quite some time now Tame has been the 'illustrated, comic book, maori eunuch' ... Tuhoe, once were warriors, child of the mist? No, just a sad old isolated 'drama queen,' ripe for the pickings ... not even an olde refurbished AK47 at hand could possibly engender stature in or fear of such a decrepid figure.


Tame, With his heavily tattooed face and a tendency toward the melodramatic ...
His cv really reads a little like a 'not so long ago' deregistered barrister who constantly sought acclaim, although I think Tame lasted a little longer and tried a little Harder ... and I think Doug Graham's silence concerning 'his mate' is both resoundingly noticeable and somewhat self-preservatively weak - dis-assocaition at times like this is pretty gutless stuff.

Henry stands by his World Cup strategies, or The All Blacks do a Jerry Collins.

"I don't think it's for me to tell people how they should judge me," Henry said ... "I feel comfortable that I've done everything I can to try to ensure that we have done the best we can as an All Blacks side, so that's for other people to judge really."

The All Blacks have been regularly beaten in important matches simply by close marking of their backs and covering little pushes from the side of the scrum, ruck or maul - the french have done it before, they have just done it again ... does this signify the intellectual depth, the lack of skills of these well-paid, full-time professional players, or the coaches? ... obviously Henry blames the players, but then personal survival would demand this.

That this deficit has not been addressed, and it has become a traditional occurrence, a 'once were warriors' thingamy ... the Jerry Collins phenomenon of wetting himself publicly on the field ... and anyone who has ever worked in a psychogeriatric setting will be aware how infectious this is ... puts the responsibility squarely on the coaching staff ($50 million dollars I believe they had to correct this phenomenon).

The inability to move the ball immediately it became available, the consequent time permitted for the opposition to set their defence, the inability to breach the advantage line with close marking - where were the chip kicks, the grubber kicks to push them back, to create that ambivalence, that hesitation, that close support on the half break? - no what we`saw was a game plan that showed quite emphatically that 'planned moves' (and how many Graham Henry? 60+ ?) simply do not compensate for spontaneous play with what is in front of you at a given point in time.

Now, Henry, I believe, largely got what he wanted in his quest to 'bring home the bacon' ... reduced playing time (that 'reconditioning period' & less returns due to less interest in the super 12/14 as a consequence plus a $50 million investment) ... would you place your life savings with this man and his investment team??

The NZ World Cup ... The spitoon.

Buuuttt ... it's only a game.

Silly Stuff.

We've found one: meet the only gay in Tehran ... but it takes two to tango.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in New York last week that there were no gays in the Islamic Republic.
"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," he said in response to a question at Columbia University on September 24. "In Iran we don't have this phenomenon."

And this would be an accurate statement ... in all probability the occurrence of homosexuality is considerably less in Iran than in the US, where (in the US) the predominant sanctions are a little residual stigma and a greater risk of HIV and hence potentially aids than 'mainstream operators' (i.e. heterosexuals).

And in interview with this 'one discovered homosexual' ...

Q: Do you have a boyfriend now?
A: No ... I'm just enjoying life.
Q: Have you ever thought about leaving Iran?
A: I can go out of Iran anytime I like.

... so he can enjoy life without homosexuality in Iran and can pursue his sexal life-style choice elsewhere without impediment if he so choses ... how terribly undraconian.

Doing an Oswald.

TV3 News this p.m.
Chris Kahui gets bail .... because: he is a first time offender, and he has to remain in his cell for 23 hours and only comes out for exercise, and is at risk of getting a 'damn good hiding,' and believe it or not, because the judge (in his infinite wisdom) deems this to be "disproportionately severe."
.... now do I not recall accurately, two babies being ported to graves in extremely small coffins??? ... disproportionately severe?
Presumably there is a pretty substantive basis for this person being charged with murder?