Somalian refugee Zakariye Mohammed Hussein, 27, was shot by
Christchurch police after he went berserk stabbing a delivery driver and a city
council worker on March 15. He was sentenced to six and a half years
imprisonment last week.
Via his lawyer Hussein admitted all charges in court, his
only defence being “he felt he was possessed by the devil."
So given Hussein’s pleas to the court and to his psychiatrists
he was enticed, lured by deception into committing the vicious assault - why
didn’t the N.Z Police investigate his claims?
Chase-down and question this Devil character.
It’s not as if The Devil is unfamiliar to The Courts, here
or overseas.
He has been behind thousands if not millions of crimes
around the globe.
Mexican & Columbian drug-lords look up to him as being a
real bad-bastard.
Given the majority of the humans think The Devil is as real
as X-Factor, including our own deputy Prime Minister, the Police are surely
obligated to take Hussein’s defence seriously?
So why don’t Courts, Psychiatrists, Police etc. take seriously
claims that ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’?
Are they false, just a plea to solicit sympathy?
A good indication the party is a loony-tune?
Is it just read that anyone with half a brain-cell knows the
Devil and God are fictitious characters?
Now that’s an interesting philosophical question isn’t it?
Could it be?
God is by-right an Atheist himself?
Clearly his followers believe in a single entity.
Ipso facto if there is just one God then ‘he’ doesn’t have
any other entities sitting above or below, or hiding in the hall cupboard.
Surely he is bright ‘all-seeing’ enough to see that Gods don’t
exist?
This must make him by definition….an Atheist!
The only things God must ponder are:
‘How did I come into Existence?’
‘Why did I create the entire universe to
worship me and then get pissed-off when my servile beings don’t do so - when ironically
I don’t believe in other Gods either?!’
Evidently smoking, gambling and drug use are ‘so-90’s’ and grown unfashionable.
According to Christchurch-based Professor Doug Sellman the new battleground in human addictive products is the very thing that sustains us all.
Food lures 1 in 3 humans into a destructive path, leading to health problems and premature death.
Sellman even places the dangers of food alongside methamphetamines.
"Like people with methamphetamine, you don't get the shaking, but it's the craving, feeling deprived and really needing it. It's like they need those particular foods as if their lives depended on it. But they don't; they've got their wires crossed.”
“Like drug addictions, people addicted to food needed increasingly large ‘hits’ to get their daily fix.
"Even though they know it's bad for them they still just feel this drive to eat."
What a load of crap.
Firstly when he says these new-age addicts need ‘hits’: it is hits of Coke not water, pizza and not a salad.
They may-over eat but so do triathletes and our Olympic rowers etc.
Then we need to place our lateral thing-caps on and ask…..
- Are there now signs affixed to the local bakery warning any fatty after a nocturnal fix 'No Cream Buns Kept Here at Night'?
- Do we see obese people embezzling their relatives, work places to get more money to spend at ‘All you can Eat for $20’ Restaurants?
- Have you encountered large groups of dishevelled fat people hanging around KFC looking for scraps?
- Do fat people enter a life of prostitution so they can afford Belgium chocolates?
- Do people live on the streets after wasting their lives away on Fish N’ Chips?
- Is the professor’s genomic affliction rare amongst the peoples of Sub Saharan Africa?
In its base form: food is simply energy.
Humans need energy to live and function.
Some humans consume too much energy.
They become fat due to this excess energy.
Faced with this situation the over-weight then have two clear, accessible courses of action to normalise their weight (a.) consume less energy (b.) burn-off excess energy through exercise.
Obese people choose not to take these options of their own volition.
It is hard to get fit, re-focus oneself to show some self-control, change years of a life-style.
It’s far, far easier to continue to blob out in the couch stuffing your gob with crap food.
What Professor Sellman is doing is allowing millions of Kiwi’s to abdicate self-responsibility.
Make them think it’s all down to their genes that made them obese and not years of poor health choices.
Create an unwarranted victim mentality.
But it’s not that easy per Sellman, it’s actually not a physical craving.
“it's exactly the same as drug and alcohol addiction. You just have this urge, even though you know you are not supposed to eat . . . and once you start you can't stop, you just keep eating and eating. It's not just a physical problem, it's mental."
Where I see ‘mental’ I read: weak-willed. When I see the the white-line in the middle of the road I know not to cross it.
In the same article the spokeswoman for Overeaters Anonymous backed-up Sellmens claims, saying ‘food was irresistible’ as she ate her second sausage-roll for morning tea, washing it down with a 1.5 of Pepsi.
BTW I tried googling an Overeaters Anonymous group in Mogadishu but came-up short.
And what is Sellman panacea to assist these poor folk in our midst who can’t be bothered going for a walk at night or resisting a second helping of desert, due to their brains being wired the wrong way?
"The only effective way for an individual [to conquer their addiction] now is surgery”
Great let’s bankrupt the country.
Let’s close down our cancer wards and have them full (pun intended) of far more deserving stomach-stapling patients.
Poor things, I am in tears as I write this.
Being struck-down with debilitating disease like obesity that see’s victims sitting around watching hours of T.V and agonisingly forced to eat take-aways for breakfast, lunch and dinner must be share torture.
Remarkably according to Sellman getting obese is in effect share torture and I am simply misinformed, an unsympathetic sod (the later is true) You and I should adopt the Professors sycophantic world view on obesity and therefore by rights come to the same conclusion as his research: Example 1: Mahe Drysdale (Single Skull Olympic Gold Medalist in London) will be 20 stone by this time next year with all the food his body craves. Example 2: Fat Kids are doomed to die prematurely, suffer ill-health unless they get a gastric bypass.
Let’s therefore treat Professor Sellmans ascertains with the severity they pose and prioritise health care in New Zealand. Let Kiwi women give birth at home, on footpaths if necessary so that the mentally impinged obese can get the hospital treatment Sellman thinks they richly, as in the food they eat, deserve.
Sellman and Fatties Anonymous won’t rest until there’s street collectors on every corner chasing money for their worthwhile cause.
An annual Fat-Belly Day!
A ten dollar donation will pay for one staple.
What a f#cking joke!
And we pay professionals to come-up with this contemptible load of horse droppings?!
The complete abdication of individual responsibility is now hoisted on to society as a whole.
The vast majority of obese people are victims of their own actions, not their genes. Professor Sellman should pin the lyrics of this Tim Minchin song above his desk and recite them three times daily.
Borrowing from ancient
knowledge of alchemy, Holistic Hair is a beautiful stand alone hair care range.
Nourishing both the hair and scalp is our focus and the healing properties of
aromatherapy oils have been our inspiration [Holistic Hair Web Site]
I am as they say ‘folically challenged’
Would I like to have hair?
Sure yes, but I got over it and it doesn’t bother me being partly
bald.
One only needs to scan adverts to see 'going-bald' does bother others.
They are willing to spend a fortune on re-growing hair.
Bill Gates said recently ‘more money was being spent finding
a cure for baldness than developing drugs to combat malaria.'
So this intro leads me into the murky world of New Zealand
companies marketing products that claim to re-grow or save the hair of those
with male pattern baldness ‘naturally’.
There are of course medically proven products which do have
some success in treating hereditary hair loss.
Propecia and Rogaine are two of these.
But what about the prevalent, in-your-face ‘natural remedies’
- say those ‘that borrow from ancient knowledge of alchemy’ etc?
Yes that’s right alchemy, protoscience, a wishy-washy field
of that became unfashionable around the same time we stopped treating the sick
with leeches.
This gets me to Nigel Russell’s Auckland company ‘Holistic
Hair’ which I read about in an issue of ‘Sunday’ (insert to Sunday Star Times) last
weekend (16th Sept 2012)
In the article by Sarah Murray entitled ‘Hair Today, More
Tomorrow’ Russell is quoted as saying he believes [quote] hair loss is treatable.
What by Propecia?
Nope, don’t be silly.
Products like this are the spawn of some evil multi-national
pharmaceutical company made in some factory using – shock horror- proper medicine.
Damn their clinical trials that substantiate their claims for
advocacy and the fact I don’t have the necessary authorisation to administer a
medicine of this nature.
He’s what Russell said via ‘Sunday’….
“There are many aromatherapy oils that have shown to support
hair growth such as lavender, rosemary and nettle oil. When they are applied to
the scalp regularly, the hair appears to be healthier and fuller’
Really?
Aromatherapy oils can treat Male Pattern Baldness?
Let's be honest, angst ridden bald men must be the base clientele of any such
hair-studio.
Enter Google.
There was one small study in 2000 (Cooke, Edzard) that stated
aromatherapy may help those with scalp complaints and had some success with
baldness - more in women than men from what I can deduce. Hardly conclusive
stuff worth spending hard earned money on.
There was no other independent-study wise I could locate
on the net of any substance to say lavender, rosemary oils etc had any success with
male pattern baldness, halting excess DHT. DHT is the hormone that triggers hereditary
hair loss.
There is little doubt a product like Nettle Oil will cure itchiness,
a symptom of the shedding process, but it is drawing a long bow to say it will
stop the genetic condition altogether.
The less fashionable Castor Oil will do the same in terms of scalp itchiness if that’s what’s bothering you rather than baldness.
Alpha Keri is what I use.
A free and easy way to stimulate short-term growth is to rub
the scalp. This practice will also make hair appear fuller but any initial ‘baby’
growth won’t last though.
Russell continues to dig himself a ditch under the
unquestioning eye of Murray.
“There is also herbal remedy known as saw palmetto. When it
is combined with a zinc and B stress supplement, this may be a more natural way
to deal with hair loss”
Rubbish.
There is not one shred of scientific, independent evidence
to show saw palmetto can halt male pattern baldness.
Sure SP can reduce the production of DHT, could be useful in
prostrate treatments, but this doesn’t translate necessarily into stopping hair
dropping out.
Zinc and B-Vitamins – give me a f#cking break!
With or without Saw Palmetto a diet consisting solely of greens,
bananas and beef won’t stop pattern baldness.
This is why most men appear at the doorstep of places like
Holistic Hair – to stop male pattern baldness – get more hair.
They are not after diet advice.
There’s the partners Woman’s Weekly on the lounge table for that.
In short: don’t believe what you read about ‘natural’ herbal
baldness cures for men who have the wrong set of genes.
They don’t work in the same way as claiming you can
magically manufacture gold from common metals.
By in large there are three main types of Schools in
Christchurch, N.Z as a whole.
PRIVATE: Which is approx. 95% funded by parents, benefactors.
RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS: Which are 80% funded by the taxpayer, the
rest by parents.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Which are 95% funded by the taxpayer and the
rest by parents.
The National Government announced savage cuts to public schooling
in post-earthquake Christchurch last
week.
Widespread closures and amalgamations were the order of the
day.
All but exempt from the city-wide ‘bloodshed’ were Religious
Schools – the very same schools that ask for tax-payer funding, want to be part
of ‘the system’ when it suits them.
Faith schools have the beggars bowl out the Government for funding,
seek to use the state colloquium but then in the next breath want to be seen as somehow ‘separate’.
I guess that is the key to all religious schools.
Separate children by their parents faith.
There is however one small problem here: it’s taxpayers
money they are using to ring fence their way into their version of eternity and
the administrator of the tax-system is The New Zealand Government.
All funding comes with strings.
No let me re-phrase that.
All funding should come with strings.
But as we have just seen here in Christchurch when it comes
to Religious Education in New Zealand – all schools are not created equal.
Secular Schools are the ‘poor country cousins’
Gerry Brownlee (Earthquake Recovery Minister) the very
person who announced these cuts to secular schooling was at one stage a teacher
at St Bedes – a Catholic Boys High School – one of the faith based schools
exempt ‘the chop’.
National deputy and one time leader Bill English, a fellow Papist,
is a staunch advocate for separating all N.Z children based on religious identity.
Yes, Catholic/Faith schools have closed and been amalgamated
here in Canterbury.
But this is only as a result of the fact they posed ‘Health
and Safety’ issues and not because their rolls had dropped as pupils moved
away.
The evolution of charter schools will create more of these
isolationist serfdom's, jobs for the dog-collars and more inequities in how New
Zealand schools are administered.
New Zealand can never call itself a secular country whilst
the state not just financially supports but also grants privilege, as we see
here in Christchurch, to the schools who discriminate against those in their
communities based on religious beliefs.
For the enlightenment overseas readers and North Islanders
alike, Bluff sits at the bottom of the South Island, close to Invercargill.
A fishing village, oyster country, in-fact it’s the oldest
European settled town in New Zealand.
The Foveaux Hotel sits on the main road overlooking the
port.
It and other similarly aged Art Deco style drinking establishments
abode Bluff.
The comically named ‘New Eagle Hotel’ springs to mind –
eagles having gone extinct in New Zealand around 500 years ago.
The Foveaux Hotel is currently up for sale, auctioned next week.
Inclusive of a resident ghost.
The apparition is one of a female who is said to take a
fancy to tall men.
Too many oysters in your mortal life will do that.
I was in this establishment in October of last year.
No one has ever called me tall so I only spirits I saw were
on the top shelf behind the bar, going down the gullets of gruff faced residents
with a penchant for Swanndri and gumboots.
As an
unassuming Kiwi Atheist Blogger, sometimes stories like this come along that
are literally mana from heaven.
Make my
unpaid mission all seem worthwhile.
I can’t
type fast enough on this one.
In short: it’s
‘who’s up who and who’s not paying?’ amongst the hierarchy of Wellingtons Anglican
Church.
Last month
Bishop Tom Brown, a sprightly 69, gave up his right to officiate and at the
same time announced he was breaking-up from his wife.
Around the
same time the Reverend Canon Kate Carey-Smith (now that’s a mouthful) informed her
employees at Samuel Marsden College she was resigning because of ‘personal
reasons’.
Kate’s hubby was/is none other than Reverend Chris Carey Smith, the chaplin at St Marks Church School.
It appears
most people in the Anglican congregation in Wellington knew exactly what those ‘personal
reasons’ were.
Today’s media
have merely confirmed the obvious.
Tom and
Kate have been getting it on.
They have
dumped their spouses, gone to ground and are now shacked-up.
There’s
something heart-warming, almost harmless about the modern-day Church of England.
A New Zealand naturopath who treated a woman for 18 months
while an invasive cancer ate through her skull has been heavily criticised for
not deferring to doctors.
Why not charge her criminally or suspended her practice as
would happen to a proper medical practitioner?
Te Horo iridologist Ruth Nelson may face Human Rights
Tribunal action over her treatment of Yvonne Maine, who sought treatment for
what she believed was a cyst on her head in 2008.
Surely The Human Rights Tribunal is not the place we should
be reviewing, what most Kiwi's would consider to be, a case of gross negligence resulting in death?
Mrs Nelson carried out a variety of natural health
treatments over the next 18 months, as the invasive carcinoma grew to 10cm by
11cm in size.
So clearly Nelson could see vividly her treatments were ineffective.
By the time Mrs Maine went to see a doctor in late 2009, the
cancer had eaten into her skull and exposed her brain.
Un-fucking-believable both the patient and Nelson let it get to this
stage.
She received major surgery - having a part of her skull
replaced with bone taken from her ribs - but died a year later.
Shortly before her death, she wrote to the Health and
Disability Commissioner complaining about Mrs Nelson's treatment and
communication.
She accused Mrs Nelson of repeatedly discouraging her away
from seeking conventional medical treatment.
When a chemist became concerned about the amount of
painkillers she was taking in August 2008 and recommended she see a doctor, she
said Mrs Nelson advised against it and told her she would "probably get a
bug or swine flu" if she went to hospital.
Boy oh boy more fuel to the fire. Repeat:if this is true then Nelson should be facing far harsher
sanctions and consequences for her actions or lack of them.
Deputy commissioner Tania Thomas this morning released a
finding into the case,
showing Mrs Nelson had failed in her duty to do no harm.
No mention of the fact Iridology is incapable of treating
anyone with any illness at all, let alone one of this severity.
The report doesn't name the pair, instead referring to Ruth
Nelson as Mrs C and and Yvonne Main, Mrs A.
However both had spoken publicly about Mrs Main's condition,
most recently to 60 Minutes in 2010.
Ms Thomas said Mrs Nelson knew Mrs Maine's lesion was likely
to be cancerous but did not inform her about the severity of her condition.
"The provider knew that she had exceeded the limits of
her expertise and that the woman required advice from another practitioner, but
she did not appropriately communicate this or discontinue her treatment of the
woman, and she gave the woman information which accentuated the woman's fear of
conventional treatment."
Ms Thomas said Mrs Nelson had also crossed professional
boundaries by becoming close with Ms Maine - even going on holiday with her at
one point during the treatment.
What the fuck? They both sound neurotic.
Mrs Nelson told the commissioner she knew curing the illness
was beyond her expertise.
However, she blamed Mrs Maine for placing pressure on her to
treat the lesion without the assistance of doctors.
She told 60 Minutes she regretted taking the case on.
So do the relatives of Ms Maine.
"I do feel a sense of responsibility in the sense that
I should have I wiped my hands from it, but you have to be involved to know the
emotional politics of the whole thing to realise that if you care about a
person ... then you try to do your best for them even if it turns out to be the
wrong thing."
You silly bint you are treating a person with a cancerous
growth not someone suffering a bout of depression.
Ms Thomas said Mrs Nelson had breached her patient's right
to be fully informed, to give informed consent for her treatment and to receive
appropriate care.
Understatement of the century.
She referred to the case to the director of proceedings for
look at further action in the Human Rights Tribunal.
The director has decided to launch follow up action over the
case.
Hopefully at the same-time also checking-out the current bedding arrangements at Arohata.
As a
background to my story: New Zealand’s Parliament has just voted 2 to 1 to start
formalising the ability for Gays to formally get married. Currently they can
enter a pseudo marriage called a Civil Union.
Anyway the
subject of Gay Marriage came up in topic around my bar leaner at my local pub on Friday night.
Most people
in my group are conservative, default Catholics and National voters (think: Conservative
Party in U.K or Republicans in USA)
It was
surprising to hear how many thought being homosexual was something that was ‘learnt’
or ‘as a result of their up-bringing’
I listened
tongue in check for a couple of minutes, musing their false logic before
proclaiming…
“Oh I get
it. The monastical life and teachings of the Catholic Church would explain why so many
priests bugger little boys”
The
discussion came to a prompt end.
Score one
for critical thinking with a heavy dash of cynicism.
Atheists do look for answers to existence itself. They just don't make them up. What am I like? Well, imagine Reginald Perrin, only more neurotic & dependent on beer to function normally in public.
