Speaking with Sean Plunket on RadioLive, Devoy called for people to send in their complaints. “It’s caused an understandable fury out there.”
She said that although no official complaints had been lodged, she encouraged people to complain.
When Plunket asked her to clarify whether she was soliciting complaints, she said she hoped that people who had expressed their displeasure on social media would do the same through official channels.
Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy said the cartoons were offensive and appalling.
Her distaste for them has spurred her to question the high threshold required for a finding of racism within the commission’s inquiries and complaints process. The threshold under the law was “very high” and was about inciting racial disharmony.
“Perhaps it is not right that the threshold is that high,” but that was a matter for the Government she said.
Asked why anyone should make a complaint about the cartoons when the threshold for what was considered racism was so high, she replied: “I ask myself that all the time”.
Despite that, the Human Rights Commission could still address the issue, and she encouraged people to complain to the commission, the editors of the newspapers, and the Press Council.
…
It would not be any more acceptable if just white people were depicted.
Richard Goode I’m a libertarian. I believe in individual freedom and personal responsibility.
The big problem in New Zealand (much bigger than the problem with K2 being sold in dairies) is that people want individual freedom for themselves but they don’t want the personal responsibility that goes with it. [But] individual freedom and personal responsibility are two sides of the same coin.
I see far too many people blaming “K2” for their problems, when their own lack of judgement, lack of a moral compass, psychological problems, and lack of parental control are the root causes in the vast majority of cases. Like that teenager supposedly “addicted” to K2 whom I saw on TV the other night. He was fine once someone found him an honest job boring post holes up [in] the hills.
Remember that cannabis is a gift from God and that the Devil makes work for idle hands.
That was my post [with minor edits] on the Facebook group K2 and Other “LEGAL HIGHS” in New Zealand we all need to know the dangers. I was added to the group recently by a fellow drug law reform activist and didn’t at first appreciate the nature of the group. It’s a support group “to warn people about the dangers of these relatively new highs and the trouble it has caused so for many.” Perhaps if I’d known that I’d blundered into a support group, I wouldn’t have made such an insensitive post. Perhaps.
Here are the responses.
Tracey Metternich supposedly “addicted” Richard do you not believe it is addictive? lack of parental control? this I disagree with strongly. I am guessing he wasn’t as good as it looked on TV because this teenager found an honest job he was fine. I bet he struggles everyday and he still thinks about it everyday.Cannabis is a gift from god? shame people decided to speed up the natural process and grow in under lights instead of planting a seed and leaving it to grow. Yes it is the lesser evil but it can cause problems for some but not to the extent this chemical crap is doing and it would be a safer option.
Polli Marriner Hayden is not fine . That’s why he spoke up. You have no idea of the pain he goes through every day, or his mother! How DARE you minimise the harm to push your own barrow! You people are the evil! Kids do not need drugs! It was pot heads who brought this stuff into our country and made a demand for it by trying to escape from reality through chemicals. Live a real and godly life in THIS reality before you judge others!
Richard Goode “Live a real and godly life in THIS reality before you judge others!” It’s good advice.
Tim Wikiriwhi I suppose you Polli Marriner are going to blame Nz’s Suicide epidemic of ‘Pot heads’ too! You simpletons seen to forget that like Suicide, drug use is *an Effect* of deeper underlying issues in our society… not the cause of them. Young people try drugs (including alcohol Polli) for different reasons, often it is to sooth a painful heart or to fill a dark empty void… and as you know sometimes a drink (or a smoke) can help… other times it can make things worse… One thing is for sure… persecuting people certainly makes things much much worse, whereas when things like K2 are legal, at least no one is getting kicked over and criminalised by a cold hearted Nazi police, and they can get help for what is *the real problem*… the ussues which have nothing to do with drugs… yet simpletons like you cant e bothered thinking about the deeper/ more complex problems in our society which result in high suicide rates, high drug use, etc…. You prefer to think like a pig and say ‘Ban it’ ‘Ban it’…. Throw them in Jail…. Give the police greater powers!…. More raids!…. Zero Tollerance… “Everyone should be like me!!!”… vote for the Populist Politican who promises to be ‘Tuff on drugs’… etc etc…. year after year… decade after decade…. yet the Stats keep getting worse and worse…. yet you will continue to floog your favorite dead horse because you refuse to consider you have been wrong your whole life….
Polli Marriner Lol…. That’s so funny! If you only knew!
Richard Goode “You people are the evil!” Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Polli Marriner Therre have been a lot of pot smoking people in these anti K2 groups hurting people’s feelings and linking the fight with support cannabis efforts. NOT HELPFUL AT ALL! Gof iChat your own battles in your own page and leave these heroes alone!
Polli Marriner Again, leave people alone, and go fight yr own battles somewhere else!
There’s irony in a rabid Prohibitionist telling me to “leave people alone”! There’s irony in her judging that “you people are the evil” and in the same comment reprimanding me for judging others! (Just saying.)
Subsequently, my post was deleted by the group admin, presumably for its unsupportive tone. (But I blame Tim’s comment. :-D)
Two things are very clear.
First, there are some seriously upset people out there. It’s understandable that they’re upset. From what I’ve read of their stories, some of them have been to hell and back, and they blame it on K2. Indeed, it does seem that some synthetic cannabinoids can have some very serious ill effects on some people.
Second, these people should not be allowed to have any sway over the government’s drug policy. With all due respect, they’re too emotionally overwrought and they can’t think straight. We need to regulate, not ban.
This picture reminds me of one of my father’s favourite jokes.
(Mojo Mathers is New Zealand’s first deaf MP.)
The Green Party has far too many list MPs, so it’s good when they actually do something slightly useful. It looks like Mojo Mathers is following in Sue Kedgley’s footsteps, by keeping us all informed about our foods. Today she issued a press release.
Dole should peel off their stickers claiming their bananas are an ethical choice until the Commerce Commission investigates their claim, the Green Party said today.
Today Green Party food spokesperson Mojo Mathers wrote to the Commerce Commission requesting they investigate Dole’s claim that they sell ethical bananas. Ms Mathers’ request was sparked by an Oxfam report which suggested Dole’s claims may be false and misleading.
“Oxfam’s report into Dole bananas suggests that Dole’s ethical choice claims may be entirely misleading,” Ms Mathers said.
children 15 years old and under working eight to 12 hours a day, harassment of workers for joining a union, aerial pesticide spraying while workers are on the plantations, and environmental damage.
Banana importer Dole is to stop using Ethical Choice stickers on its fruit after criticism that the labels could mislead consumers.
This week humanitarian group Oxfam released a report claiming that child labourers exposed to toxic chemicals were used to harvest Dole bananas in the Philippines for supply to New Zealand.
Last year Dole was put on notice by the Commerce Commission that its Ethical Choice brand risked breaching the Fair Trading Act.
Among the concerns was whether consumers might think the stickers were certified by a third party and make Dole appear more ethical than its competitors.
Today the company announced that it would discontinue the use of the Ethical Choice label on all future fruit shipments.
What with dairies selling K2 to school kids and now this, it’s been a bad month for business ethics.
Go grab yourselves some Dole “ethical choice” bananas and some K2 “takes you higher” smoke while you still can!
K2. (I assume that is short for Kronic 2… the synthetic variant of THC in ‘kronic one’ having been banned.) Is this the packaging of this stuff available in New Zealand?
I don’t know! I have never actually seen a packet myself.
What is interesting about this photo is the clear R18 age restriction voluntarily printed on the packs by the distributors, which is a prudent and socially conscientious thing to do, showing that contrary to all the hypocritical claims of ‘drug panic’ merchants who are busy ripping their shirts over the availability of legal highs… the fact is that the distributors have no desire to peddle their wares to children, and that any shop keepers doing so are violating the express conditions of being vendors of this product, and could be/ should be sued by the K2 distributors.
All Legal highs should have such R18 age restrictions on sale and purchase… just like Alcohol.
I have just recently been accepted into a face book group called ‘K2 and other ‘Legal Highs’ in New Zealand. We all need to know the dangers’ (thank’s to my invitation by Richard)
And as recreational drug use and prohibition is an important subject to Libertarian minded people like myself, I hope to present the group with alternative arguments to prohibition… in the interest of society, Justice, and harm minimization.
It will be interesting to see if my input will be recognized as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, or if I… because I am Anti-prohibition… anti- drug phobia… will be labeled ‘a Troll’
And banned.
I certainly hope not!
It is not my intension (today…in this group) to cause trouble, or to be a Gadfly. I enter this group in sincerity believing I have a valid position to put forward and can contribute value to this discussion.
I have blogged about Internet trolling before Here:, , and though I now need to do a follow up blog post confessing my realization of the reality of malicious predators whom do indeed stalk the Net seeking to cause Chaos and disorder, that in no way is this my intension in joining this group.
My intensions are honourable.
Below is my introduction to my Libertarian argument against Prohibition, in favour of an age restricted legal market. (I have embellished it slightly with photos and captions for the sake of this Blogpost)
*****************************************
This is a very ‘polarizing’ topic… a matter of great paranoia to many….to the extent that they shut their minds to hearing all sides of the debate and demand heavy
handed laws and prohibitions, refusing to appreciate that such an approach has proven to be an absolute failure time and time again, and that the draconian nature of Prohibition is actually far more harmful to our society… esp to the youth who become criminalized and thereby alienated from our society… not for any acts of dishonesty, or violence, but because they have been caught with a small bag of ‘happiness’ in their pocket.
These young people know that they have been unjustly treated, because they know that many of those whom have brought the Law down upon their heads, including the majority of the Police who break down their doors, and ransack their homes, and drag them off to the cells… all drink Booze… beer, wine, and spirits, until they cant even walk!
I would like to present a counter-argument to prohibition as a means of minimizing the harm of drugs upon our society, and discuss why I believe having a legal yet age restricted market for recreational drugs is a far better means of controlling drugs… just as we have with alcohol… and for the very same reasons.
Alcohol prohibition was tried,…and was dismal failure!
Drug raid.
Though we still have big social problems with Alcohol, people still need to appreciate that having legal supply of alcohol is still much better than the evils of Prohibition.
For starters it is much easier under a legalized system for people with problems to go and get help, from places like AA, without fear of being prosecuted, or losing their jobs, etc.
This topic is also a lot like xenophobia and the witch craze, in that wild stories grow up all out of proportion to reality, fueling a lynch mob type hysteria.
Anyone familiar with the history of prohibition knows this classic phenomena.
It is a manufactured frenzy, purposely propagated by the prohibitionist lobby and their Populist politicians who think nothing of feigning Piety and social concern, by promising to crush an unpopular minority for the sake of getting elected.
Corby Schapelle. Imagine for a moment this is your adult child behind bars… not for robbing or harming anyone, but simply because they were found with a drug which was not alcohol.
This is the real ugly face of the injustice of Prohibition… which utterly fails to stop recreational drug use. It merely serves as a disgusting means of inflicting a Nazi-like bigoted hatred upon an unpopular and demonised minority. The Nazis swore their persecution of the ‘Socially deviant Jews’ was completely justified. Vicious bigotry always hides beneath a Cloack of ‘Righteous indignation’.
Though I don’t dispute that drugs (like alcohol and cannabis) ought to be kept away from children, and that adults too need to take care how and when they use such substances, I have little doubt that the fears about the harmful effects synthetic cannabis will prove as groundless as the Nonsense which fueled and maintained Cannabis prohibition.
Cannabis is now being legalized across the globe because of it’s ‘Health benefits’ and medicinal qualities!
It is ironic to understand that for thousand’s of years Cannabis was known and appreciated for it’s manifold beneficial qualities, and that the folly of prohibition of cannabis is itself a *modern phobia*… thankfully this terrible era of prohibition is coming to a close.
It is interesting to consider the fact that if we had already decriminalized Cannabis that we would not be facing the wave of new synthetic substances like K2!
And this fact in itself also reveals why Prohibitions are absurd. Ie because there is a demand for recreational drugs… some innovative people will always figure out an new way to get high, and undoubtedly some these ways will be far more dangerous than cannabis!
Thus Prohibition tends to endanger our youth because it has outlawed safer alternatives.
Below is a blog post I wrote the other day on this subject and I will produce more as this debate unfolds.
I ask members to seriously consider the counter arguments to prohibition if you claim to really have the interests of society at heart, and not be simply driven by a personal bigotry against drug users.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
Hamilton West.
Update: 29-5-13
It appears that after One day, One post, and one reply (in support of Mr G) I have been ‘Fed to the sharks’ by the SOCIALISTS running the facebook page ‘K2 and other ‘Legal Highs’ in New Zealand. We all need to know the dangers’…. which completely vindicates my acustaions that the ‘Anti-everything lobby’ are so fanatically in favour of tyranny, that they will not even consider any alternative arguments to prohibition… in the interest of society, Justice, and harm minimization.
It was interesting to see that indeed my input was not recognized as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, but instead….because I am Anti-prohibition… anti- drug phobia… they chose the low road… the easier path which was to deem me to be ‘a Troll’… and thus….rather than openly debate me….. to simply ban me instead!, and forbid Group members from being able to message me!
*I told ya so!*
Being forced to choose the lesser of two evils is never a pleasant experience for an Idealist.
Though done for the right reasons, there is still a sense of compromise with evil.
Yet when I consider certain Moral dilemmas, which at times God allows us mere mortals to face, I am forced to admit that sometimes I would tell a lie rather than tell the truth, esp to protect others from tyranny or other dire evils… Trusting in God’s understanding and Grace.
Up until today I had no literal scriptural vindication for this position, only a trust in God’s Goodness, and Grace.
Yet it is with gratitude to the face book page called ‘if libertarians are crazy, who wants to be sane?… that I can now say a very important scripture in Exodus (Ex1vs15-21) actually vindicates making such a choice, by describing a Historic event whereby some Midwives were forced to choose between obeying a Murderous decree from a tyrant…which they knew was a morally evil command/’Law’, or instead doing what they believed was right… and disobeying it, and covering their tracks with a lie.
15” And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.”
(Exodus 1vs15-21)
This portion of scripture is pregnant with Libertarian Ideals!
It is exactly the sort of vindication for my conviction that If I was a Christian Libertarian living in the Netherlands during the 1940’s Nazi occupation, that I would have been fulfilling my Christian duty by Disobeying the Official/ Legal obligation to turn in all the Jews, and instead to help hide them from the Demon Swastka… like many brave Christian Netherlanders actually did during the war… for example those who helped hide … Anne Frank and her Family.
I believe those Good souls were Christians because after the War her Father Otto,who survived the death camps, and though being a Jew, set up a charity to help poor European Christian’s with the money he received from his murdered Daughters dairy… the best selling ‘Diary of Anne Frank’.
Anne Frank.
There can be no doubt that the Exodus story of the Egyptian Midwives, and the story of those whom hid Anne Frank, are perfectly matched, and that God blesses those brave enough to resist evil tyrannies for the sake of doing what is right, and He is prepared to forgive such things as telling lies under these curcumstances.
This does not make these lies ‘Good’. It only makes them ‘better’/ lesser evils than betraying innocent people to murderers, and because the world does throw such moral dilemma’s at us, and we sometimes have little or no time to think of perfect solutions, that God pours out his grace and mercy upon us… exactly as I hoped and trusted he would do… before I became aware of the Libertarian principles in this scripture.
The Apostle Peter before the Sanhedrin.
I have always believed as Peter said when he disobeyed the Authorities command to cease preaching the Name of Jesus… that there is a limit to the obedience the Christian owes to any Human power, Law, or command.
Act’s 4…
13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.
17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.”
And again in Act’s 5 vs 29
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
There are plenty of verses throughout the Bible which demonstrate this principle, yet Peter did not tell any lie to the Authorities, and was prepared to suffer for his forthright profession.
And this is clearly a different moral circumstance to the one in Exodus or the one facing the Christians in the Netherlands… as these circumstances involved the safety others…
*Oppressed Jews* under Satanic Attack.
God actually promised Abraham that He would “Bless them which bless thee and curse them which curse thee” … the Jew having a special relationship with God.
And the situation of Anne Frank and her family relied on their helpers not being found out or arrested, so that they could continue to aid them, thus Subterfuge is essential.
In such circumstances I am glad to know that God is not an uncompromising Moral Tyrant, but will have mercy upon the Brave soul who makes such a difficult moral decision.
He is indeed Full of Grace, understanding, and mercy.
I would also think this sort of grace is applicable for the Stratagems of the Righteous Commander in the deception required in warfare to overcome the Armies of Evil…eg Operation Mince Meat.
Today has been a great day!
I love it when I learn New Libertarian insights are buried in the Scriptures!
We now have another arrow in our Bow to shoot at those followers of Satan who preach that the Christian cant be a Libertarian, and must slavishly obey all Government decrees no matter how wicked, or that in warfare he must disregard common sence and march straight into cannon fire without devising cunning ways to fool the enemies into error.
Tim Wikiriwhi
King James Bible Believer, Dispensationalist, Libertarian, Christian.
Fucking is an Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf, in the Innviertel region of western Upper Austria. The village is 33 kilometres north of Salzburg, 4 kilometres east of the German border.
Despite having a population of only 104, the village has become famous for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.
Nestled between Chemi-Clean and Tommys Fonsterputs and obscured by a tree, Burning Car is a small business operating on a quiet suburban street in Hägersten, Sweden. Burning Car provides support activities to performing arts.
Do you have time for Jesus Christ?
He warned you about the approaching firestorm!
Remember that.
This one is Old…. but still 😀
Extra note 1.
What I think is awesome about this Vid ^^^^ is the candid Reporting of Elizabeth Gentle, and the balls of her Station for running such a *Real* report.
I think this factor is missing in so much of what passes for news…. because of the social engineer’s desire to ‘control’ what information we, the public gets.
New Zealand Reporting is Lame-o… and downright gagged for the sake of shaping the news for socialist political ends….keeping the masses stupid, scared, and submissive.
See this vid here about the flak Elizabeth took for being too candid and allowing the *real story* on the Air..
Good on Elizabeth for defending Free speech against Political correctness.
Extra note 2.
My posting of the ‘Nobody got time for that’ vid is not meant to mock the horrors of Fire.
I have one dear friend that lost their entire home and possessions in a fire, and I lost a cousin to a fire in a car crash… so please don’t think that I have no sense of gravity on this sort of thing, or of Rape, which is the subject of the other video.
I post these sorts of things because they have grabbed my attention for one reason or another… even as art… and though they may not be the sort of Art the ‘Fakers’ seek to run on *their blogs*…well this is not their Blog! *It’s Mine* And I am a Christian Libertarian Bogan Westy… that’s who I really am and I refuse to pretend to be some ‘holier than thou card board cut out of what an orthodox stereotypical Christian is supposed to be! I Hate that Bogus Facade! I am not that person. I am who I am, and by God’s grace I prefer to ‘keep it real’ rather than become a hypocrite. I believe this is the vocation God has given me. To explode the myth of the Fake self righteous ‘Puritan’.
I believe that Fake notion…*that act* of what so many lost souls assume you have to become when you receive Christ… puts them off choosing Christ! They find such Pretentious self righteousness repugnant!… and rightly so! I find it repugnant too!
My testimony is that by God’s grace we can receive Christ and free salvation without pretending to be ‘holy’… when we are not! When we have so much to unlearn…so much to reform… and we are so much a product of our times…. Churches are filled with actors and hypocrites… who don’t like me!
I am not saying all Christians ought to be like me either.
I am saying all Christians ought to be honest, and not ‘pretenders’.
By God’s grace I am who I am.
As a Libertarian I respect your right to be who you honestly are too.
And if we are Daily meditation upon Gods word and truth and seeking to become better people then daily we shall be transformed into being more Christ-like… yet this can never be an act.
We must always ‘Keep it Real’!!!!
