Storm Thorgerson, the man behind Dark Side of the Moon cover art, dies aged 69
Read about it Here:
From Face book… about Roger Waters The Wall.
“Storm was laid to rest earlier this week. music and art brought us together and was one of the unsaid bonds between our friendship and work together.
you had quite an adventurous and rich life storm and we are all the better for having had your art in ours. rest in peace my friend. i will miss you.”
Storm Thorgerson and Roger Waters
Read about other Great contributions Storm made for Music art Here:
Stone Free in the 1980’s… and 90s.
A Westy Bogan Life Here:
It has always been the fate of minority faiths to defend their right to religious liberty from oppresion from Popular Orthodoxy and encroaching Legalistic mobocracy.
American Seventh Day adventist Alonzo T Jones delivered a classic defence of religious liberty in opposition to the establishment of a National Sunday Law in 1889.
“In 1889, A.T. Jones spoke before a United States Congressional subcommittee; the topic of discussion was the “Breckinridge Bill” which proposed the compulsion of Sunday observance in the Washington, D.C. environs. Jones’s testimony helped to defeat this bill, and Jones became known for his abilities in defense of and knowledge regarding freedom of religion. In 1892, he was again called to speak before the U.S. Congress regarding the Sunday closure of the Chicago World’s Fair, known as “The Columbia Exposition”.
Wikipedia.
Read about him Here:
The plain and obvious meaning of the words Freedom and Liberty, in common speech, is The power, opportunity, or advantage, that any one has, to do as he pleases. Or in other words, his being free from hindrance or impediment in the way of doing, or conducting in any respect, as he wills. — And the contrary to Liberty, whatever name we call that by, is a person’s being hindered or unable to conduct as he will, or being necessitated to do otherwise.
If this which I have mentioned be the meaning of the word Liberty, in the ordinary use of language; as I trust that none that has ever learned to talk, and is unprejudiced, will deny; then it will follow, that in propriety of speech, neither Liberty, nor its contrary, can properly be ascribed to any being or thing, but that which has such a faculty, power or property, as is called will. For that which is possessed of no will, cannot have any power or opportunity of doing according to its will, nor be necessitated to act contrary to its will, nor be restrained from acting agreeably to it. And therefore to talk of Liberty, or the contrary, as belonging to the very Will itself, is not to speak good sense; if we judge of sense, and nonsense, by the original and proper signification of words.— For the Will itself is not an Agent that has a will: the power of choosing, itself, has not a power of choosing. That which has the power of volition is the man, or the soul, and not the power of volition itself. And he that has the Liberty of doing according to his will, is the Agent who is possessed of the Will; and not the Will which he is possessed of. We say with propriety, that a bird let loose has power and liberty to fly; but not that the bird’s power of flying has a power and Liberty of flying. To be free is the property of an Agent, who is possessed of powers and faculties, as much as to be cunning, valiant, bountiful, or zealous. But these qualities are the properties of persons; and not the properties of properties.
There are two things contrary to what is called Liberty in common speech. One is constraint; otherwise called force, compulsion, and coaction; which is a person’s being necessitated to do a thing contrary to his will. The other is restraint; which is, his being hindered, and not having power to do according to his will. But that which has no will, cannot be the subject of these things.— I need say the less on this bead, Mr. Locke having set the same thing forth, with so great clearness, in his Essay on the Human Understanding.
But one thing more I would observe concerning what is vulgarly called Liberty; namely, that power and opportunity for one to do and conduct as he will, or according to his choice, is all that is meant by it; without taking into the meaning of the word, any thing of the cause of that choice; or at all considering how the person came to have such a volition; whether it was caused by some external motive, or internal habitual bias; whether it was determined by some internal antecedent volition, or whether it happened without a cause; whether it was necessarily connected with something foregoing, or not connected. Let the person come by his choice any how, yet, if he is able, and there is nothing in the way to hinder his pursuing and executing his will, the man is perfectly free, according to, the primary and common notion of freedom.
Are you up for A Careful And Strict Inquiry Into The Modern Prevailing Notions Of That FREEDOM OF WILL Which Is Supposed To Be Essential To Moral Agency, Virtue And Vice, Reward And Punishment, Praise And Blame? Then feel free to come join us at the next meeting of the New Inklings. (Tuesday 30 April, 5:00 pm, Trax Bar and Cafe, Platform 1, Wellington Railway Station.)
The same thing ought to apply to all those who want to continue the war on drugs, have public health and education, ban guns, impose hate speech laws, , keep prostitution illegal, lock out Mexicans, etc, etc. The only True Americans are the Libertarians… The policies of Dems and Reps are all as bad and as un American as the Sharia Law.
They can make no claim to upholding the Constitution.
They are Hypocrites.
And of course many of the Islamic migrants living in Western democracies migrated to escape the tyranny of Sharia Law… from Afghanistan… from Egypt, etc.
They appreciate freedom, and are productive, tollerant and civilised members of our societies, peacefully practicing their own faith on equal terms with everyone else.
They do not wish to establish Sharia Law.
And it is bigotry to think that all Muslims are religious fanatics who desire to impose their faith on others by force, or to kill Christians…etc.
What is truely sickening are all the so-called Libertarians who wont vote Libertarian!
How sickning it is to watch them waste their votes by voting ‘Republican’… and then hear the excuse that the Libertarians have no hope of getting elected!
What is worse is that the actually elect * Right wing Socialist Republicans!*
(Facepalm)
I admit that Ron Paul was an exceptional Republican, yet what the Republican party did to stop him becomming their candidate for Presedent ought to be evidence enough that the Republican party is hell bent on maintaining the Status quo… it has no agenda of Libertarian reform.
In no way ought Libertarians to be suckered into supporting Rand Paul.
He should have quit the Party after what they did to his old man, yet he has chosen to stick around simply out of personal ambition rather than principle.
Let’s be clear (in case any of Colin’s supporters are reading this). I am NOT calling for the beheading of those who ridicule Colin Craig. This is satire.
Earlier this week, however, Colin Craig was threatening to sue those who ridicule Colin Craig. Suing is so much more civilised than beheading, but both belong on the same slippery slope. Threats to sue those who ridicule Colin Craig and threats to behead all those who insult the Prophet both have a chilling effect on free speech.
Freedom of speech is the bedrock of our democracy. Any attempt to stifle free speech, whether by threats of beheading or threats of legal action, must be nipped in the bud early. It is a relief to read that Colin Craig abandons defamation suit. But he should never have threatened The Civilian in the first place. That he did shows contempt for the most basic of our Western values.
Up to 25,000 British Pakistani men, women and children from across the UK gathered in Aston Park to call on the British government to introduce legislation that bars people from insulting Islam under the garb of the freedom of speech.
The participants, who also travelled from several parts of European cities, were led in a mile-long march by Hazrat Peer Alauddin Siddiqui. This is the fourth consecutive gathering for the biggest Melaad-un-Nabi of British Pakistanis in Britain but this year it was dedicated to “protect the honor and legacy of Hazrat Muhammad”.
“To say Islamic terrorists represent the Muslim religion,” says this meme, “is like saying the Ku Klux Klan represents the Christian religion.” But this misses the point. Islamic terrorists are NOT a minority of Muslims. There’s at least 25,000 living in the UK and openly seeking to subvert freedom of speech under the guise of a ban on insulting their evil politico-religious ideology!
Restrictions on Islamic immigration must be put in place now before it is too late. It’s a numbers game.
Are you suggesting this is justification to cry out “Death to Muslims”?
How do you differentiate yourself from the hater and the fanatic?
We must walk a higher path.
It is a fundamental principle that when seeking to over throw an evil, you must never assimilate the evil yourself.
That is to fall from the position of righteousness and to become a hypocrite.
Furthermore is your own faith defined by the Religious Zealots whom claim to represent Christianity?
Is your faith even defined by what the so-called majority of Christians claim to believe?
Mine is certainly not!
Thus why would you assume these Muslim fanatics truly represent the Muslim faith?
Is that not Duplicity on your part?
The Higher road may seem to most much too difficult…. an absurdity to even attempt, yet does the fact that it is difficult make it the wrong way to go?
Because the Low road of reciprocal Hatred appears much ‘easier’… much more satisfying, and direct… does this make it acceptible for the Christian to travel?
Are you allowing these haters to sow hate directly into your own heart?
Don’t you have control of your own feelings?
“Vengence is mine saith the Lord, I will repay thee”
I don’t find any place in Pauls’ writings where we are called to Hate the lost.
(I must confess to my own shortcoming in this area too)
Let us not render evil for evil but overcome evil with Good.
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you. Live peacefully with all Men.”
St Paul.
Boston Marathon. The Horror of Religious Violence and War.
I add that even if it is not possible to live peacefully with some people because they are hell bent on your enslavement and destruction, yet still, though we must defend ourselves, we must not become like them, and take the first opportunity for peace.
To allow the Terrorists to sow Religious hatred and intolerance in our hearts, or to make us so fearful as to accept a more tyrannical Police State in the name of ‘Security’… is to retreat in the battle of Good over Evil.
It is to loose faith.
Satan Laughing Spreads His Wings.
I bow my head in sorrow for the Lives lost and pray for the injured and Maimed in Boston.
I also pray for God to raise up Brave Preachers to preach grace to the lost, and to put his protecting hands upon those enlightened Muslims whom seek an end to Religious fanaticism and who work for peace.
I have just posted a reply to a private facebook Status, which I cannot share here.
The Status was by a Maori who had just descovered that the word ‘Maori’ was ‘invented’ by the Pakeha, and this descovery has made them want to divest themselves of that ‘fully colonised’ title and instead to redefine themselves as “TANGATA WHENUA”. (People of the Land)
It seems to have escaped them that the Pre-colonial Maori people did not call themselves “TANGATA WHENUA” either.
That term was used to describe the people who were already here when Maori arrived in their Waka. Back in the Day Maori took great pride in the fact that they were decendants of great navigators whom had migrated here, yet today that part of Maori traditional pride has been conveniently forgotten because the political scheem to claim ‘indigenous rights’.
The Status finnishes with an expression of love to Maori ‘Peeps’ and an appeal to them to ‘De-colonise yourselves’.
This Status is a sad yet powerful testimony to toxic anti-colonization indoctrination which is systematically generating an apartheid hatred and Race relations disaster in New Zealand and setting up Maori Children to perpetuate the poverty and terrible statistics which are the lot of many today.
The ‘closing the Gaps’ socialist policies, and political favoritism has not led to Maori betterment, but to entrenched dependence and a hateful racist and victim mindset … not self reliant empowerment … not High personal ethics.
My reply is below.
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I know this a very sensitive subject.
May I say a few words from my own perspective.
It is true that Missionaries from England introduced, not only many new helpful skills , but also many new words. They ‘invented’ the written Maori language and thereby saved much Maori culture from being lost by the passage of time.
The tribes of Pre Treaty times were very keen to have a missionary living in their communities. They were quick to appreciate the great store of wisdom they brought, and to assimilate many of their ways… like wearing English clothing, Their Buildings (The design of the Meeting house we all love is a post-European design, they did not exist prior to the Missionaries).
What this proves is that our ancestors were very smart and progressive, and wisely learned and assimilated things of value from the Europeans… not just cows, apples, nails… but Ideas, values, etc…and this was good for Maori.
We must understand that a Good Culture is always progressing, not stagnating, not trapped by backward superstition, not adverse to new enlightened ideas or better ways of doing things.
Thus it is a credit to our ansestors that they were quick to abandon many of their primitive traditional ways and embrace the advantages That British civilisation offered.
It is so sad that Many Maori are being taught today to have a dreamy idea that to be a ‘real Maori today we must picture ourselves as being like our stone age ancestors, and seek to ‘De-colonise’ ourselves.
Sad because the truth is We modern Maori have gained so much from colonization, yet we are taught by the political activists to think colonization was all bad… all an evil plot. This is how the Maori people are being deceived into supporting the Separatist movement, and are being steered away from the most vital and important realities they need to understand to prosper via their own efforts rather than seeking Political interventions, hand outs, and favoritism.
Modern Maori Boys need to see themselves as Doctors, Engineers, scientists, Electricians… not warriors.
We Maori ought to first think of ourselves as Honest hard working individuals… not as members of a race.
That is secondary.
The first is something we have control and self responsibility for.
The second is merely a fortunate birthright.
And it is essential that we ought to treat everyone else with equal respect… irrespective of their race, and teach our children this respect as well because without this important humanitarian value they are in danger of becoming hateful racists.
It was belief in the Equality of all human beings which brought the Missionaries to New Zealand to share the Gospel of Christ with the Maori people whom were lost in darkness and superstition.
Thus I am saying it is a good thing to teach our children to take pride in their Maori heritage, yet not good to teach them that this is of the highest importance.
There is a whole layer of personal/ universal values which they must take even greater personal pride in because they will shape and define who they are *as individuals* and how they will treat others.
They need to learn skills like engineering, science, etc which will help them to provide for themselves and their families … and take pride in being Modern independent self reliant and humanitarian Maori, whom compete and hold their own in society on equal terms with other Kiwi… not blaming others for their own lack of achievement… happy to struggle and save, and slowly become more prosperous through good values, thrift, and honest hard work… and always being loving towards others in our society.
This is my vision of how a want my children to grow up.
I want them to be enlightened, honest and caring… not racist… not trapped in a mythical past. I hope they take what is good from Maori tradition, yet forsake all the negative and twisted Political propaganda which attempts to say Colonization was only evil and generates serious race hatred.
In my view to be a Real Maori it does not require any special rights, or Laws.
I know what I have written here will be very difficult for some Maori to swallow.
It is so contrary to the view of history they have been taught , and to the twisted politically motivated idea that We are supposed to put our Sanitized/ idealized ‘primitive Maori heritage’ first… to be on the Maori electoral roll… to support treaty separatism… if we want to claim to be ‘Real Maori’.
Thus I offer a complete alternative in which I dream of A New Zealand with one law for all, and that Maori can enjoy and revel in their heritage without demanding political favoritism or special rights… or Millions of dollars stolen from Everyone via taxation.
My vision is one of racial harmony.
I know that I am virtually alone at present in my vision.
I know some reading this will hate me for my views.
That make me very sad, because I seek to enlighten the Maori people so that they can save themselves from the political evils of racial separatism and race based laws… save themselves from welfare dependence, poor health, terrible crime statistics, etc…. which cannot be fixed via Political interventions but must be done by Maori themselves taking personal responsibility for their own predicaments and determining to make the ethical changes, and put in the hard yards, and teach their children self reliance… not hatred.
This is the way ahead for Maori.
I sincerely believe this, and spend my life preaching this gospel of self responsibility, of equality before the Law, of the ethics of Humanity first.
Shock Horror! I have found a reason to support a treehugger!
In a not at all favourible post to the NZ Center for Political Research Mike Butler writes…
“Maori in regions where jobs are limited who are growing and selling cannabis to keep their whanau fed shouldn’t be punished for their entrepreneurship, Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei told Maori TV on Monday night.
“It has become an income supplement for whanau particularly in rural areas where they have very little income and few job prospects, particularly in the back blocks, and we have to very careful how we manage that,” Turei said on the Native Affairs show.
“There are some real skills there, some real entrepreneurial skills and some real horticultural skills. These are the skills that people have and they are trying to do the best for their families to make a sufficient income and they are under threat all the time but there are few choices that they have,” she said.
What are the “real horticultural skills” Turei is talking about? I guess this involves taking a cannabis seed, germinating it in potting mix in a yoghurt pottle, transplanting, feeding, watering, and harvesting. Anyone who has a vegetable garden could grow cannabis.
What are the “real entrepreneurial skills”? After the harvest and packaging the crop in tinfoil, these entrepreneurs simply go into town on the party circuit, offer around some dope, pass out a few tinnies on tick to return on payday to collect cash and sell more, while delivering wholesale orders to tinnie houses dotted around State-house areas. …”
Read more here: http://www.nzcpr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=43950#p43950
Without doubt this is one of the most sensible opinions I have ever herd from a rabid Greenie.
I must congratulate Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei for her brave and absolutely righteous statements against the persecution of Pot growers and dealers.
She is 100% right.
That her comments are creating a stink among the ignorant and bigoted supporter of Cannabis prohibition is a testimony to just how small minded and nasty many people are.
The truth is Pot is much less dangerous than Alcohol and it is the very height of bigorty for the wowzers to condemn Pot yet reach over and put a bottle of wine or a box of beer into their trolley.
These Hypocrites who have no conscience about using Police brutality to impose their Nasty bigotry upon others disgusts me to the very core!
They pretend that Legalisation will bring the sky down upon our heads!
It matters not that their oppression destroys much more families than drug abuse ever could.
It matters not that the Police could concentrate on catching thieves and violent offenders.
What matters to these Nazis is that the state makes Pot users suffer for thier defiance.
I must confess to virtually *hating these Anti-freedom and oppressive scum!* May God forgive me.
They are the lowest of the low. They are in fact *Criminals* because they support the violation of other peoples rights and liberties.
They support Bad Law and tyranny.
Up yours Prohibitionist scum!
Hate to break it to yall but everyone is smoking up a storm!
New Zealand Top’s the world in Cannabis use… in spite of your Nasty War on Drugs!
Prohibition has not stopped anything!
You simply waste Police time and Taxes.
You destroy the lives of peaceful people and push them into criminal associations.
You must be some of the stupidest, Pig headed, and most malevolent people on earth!
Objectivist Libertarianism is a cold, childish, irrational reflex to Socialism, rather than a Humanitarian Ideology.
It really should be called Objectivist ‘Libertine-ism’.
Ayn Rand was a Sophist in every horrible and deluded way.
She would redefine Good words and then pretend her new definition proved these things were Bad! She also re-defined Bad words so that they then became ‘Good’
Eg Faith, Altruism, and selfishness.
It takes a while for some people to realise what she is up to.
Many Happily go along with her charade because they are so enthralled with her fantastic claims of being able to discover an atheistic basis for Objective morality…which also creates a sophisticated argument that Bible based ethics… and belief in God are Evil!
It’s like an Opiate to them.
How it is that a philosophy which condemns the parable of the Good Samaritan as being evil, and be believed as being the work of Genius defies Credulity!
The Bible has the Explanation.
“And this is the Condemnation: that light is come into the world yet men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are Evil”
“Professing themselves to be wise, there became fools”
True Libertarianism… the Spirit which motivated the Abolitionists was a caring/ loving spirit which worked to alleviate the suffering and injustice of humanity, not a philosophy of selfishness and Egoism!
How absurd Ayn Rand is!
How sheepish and superstitious are her adherents!
They must Bastardise History.
Rand did not discover an atheistic foundation for Objective morality.
Objectivists are not even Idealists. They are pragmatists.
She is a blind leader of the blind and both shall fall into the ditch.
Read more about The Failure of Objectivist Libertarianism Here:
Read Why Objectivists Hated Ron Paul and undermined his Libertarian Campaign for President.
Grasp why they allowed their AntiChrist hatred to overide their love of liberty and juscice Here:
