Not my words.

Relativism is powerful in Western life, evidenced in many areas -- from the decline in the study of history and English literature, through to the triumph of subjective values and conscience over moral truth and the downgrading of heterosexual marriage.

One reason for optimism is that no one believes, deep down, in relativism. People may express their scepticism about truth and morality in lecture rooms or in print, but afterwards they will go on to sip a cappuccino, pay the mortgage, drive home on the left side of the road, and presumably avoid acts of murder and cannibalism throughout their evening. People, unless insane, do not live as relativists. They care about truth and follow clear cut rules.

Nothing matters more than truth to our country. Differences about important issues such as war, slavery, abortion, euthanasia are different claims to moral truth, not merely competing preferences. Some who have never been deprived of truth can give it up too easily, perhaps using talk of relativism or secularism to camouflage their actual commitment to money, success, possessions, power. But these are ambiguous goods: they can be misused and are rarely distributed fairly.

It is getting to the truth about things and having the integrity to live by that truth that is the ideal we should pass to the next generation. By comparison, relativism is bankrupt: it offers no future because it is not liveable; and where it is a camouflage, what it camouflages is generally rotten and often shaped by greed.

--Cardinal George Pell

I've been struck in recent years at how poor the quality of debate has become in my country and around the world.  I feel that this contemptible philosophy of relativism is mostly to blame.  To lay claim to any sort of moral truth is seen as backwards, an anachronism.  The current vogue is to merely "present one's opinion" and if someone should take issue with that then run to the safety of the lamest of rebuttals.  How can any serious thinker allow for the existence of relativism in matters of morality or even politics?  How can anyone who claims to be open-minded steadfastly refuse to change their mind on the subject of Absolute Truth?

Well, not one month after the Howard government of Australia lost out to the Labor party of Kevin Rudd, we have this charming bit of heroism.  Apparently, the whales are in trouble!  Japan is going to hunt 1000 whales this year, including the humpback.  This just won't do, so:

...the Australian government will be casting a different eye over the activities of the Japanese whalers in Antarctica - it plans to send a former P&O cruise ship, now converted into an armed vessel, to the region to monitor the hunting.

Oh, joy.  Get used to it folks.  The more hysteria we see about global warming, the more militant the greenies will get.  Drastic measures have to be taken, they will say.  So now we will bring guns to the table!

Never mind that if a conflict does occur, it will be because a foreign vessel interfered with the national sovereignty of Japan and its harvesting.  Can't get around that just yet.

But whales are so beautiful, you might say.  That they are, but they are not as beautiful as a human life, no matter how Japanese.  Or greenie.

The crew is trained for polar conditions and they will use 'super-telephoto' lenses to record the whale slaughter.

In addition, the ship will have two .50-calibre machine guns manned by a customs boarding party should a clash of any kind with the Japanese vessels occur.

Australia's new Labour Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has accused the former John Howard government of doing nothing to save the endangered whales, adding that nobody took seriously Japan's claim that it was conducting scientific research.

The Hell you say, Kevin Rudd. 

So my only question is this:  New Zealand has decided that potential drains on their healthcare system far outweigh the amount they will receive from these people in taxation, purchasing revenue, and talent?  Stupid Kiwis.

New Zealand bars British man's 'fat' wife

By Paul Chapman in Wellington and Graeme Baker

Last Updated: 8:45am GMT 20/11/2007

A British man who moved to New Zealand has been told by officials that his wife is too fat to join him.

Richie Trezise, 35, a rugby-playing Welshman, lost weight to gain entry to New Zealand after initially being rejected for being overweight and a potential burden on the health care system.   Richie and Rowan Trezise have been battling to shed pounds His wife, Rowan, 33, a photographer, has been battling for months to shed the pounds so they can be reunited and live Down Under but has so far been unable to overcome New Zealand’s weight regulations. Mr Trezise, who moved to Auckland in September after shedding two inches from his waist on a crash diet, said that if his wife was not allowed to come out by Christmas they would abandon the idea of emigrating. His employer-backed skills visa was initially rejected by immigration officials when they discovered that his body mass index, or BMI, was 42, making him morbidly obese under New Zealand regulations. BMI measures a person’s weight in relation to their height. Anything over 25 is regarded as overweight, and 30 or above is obese. Mr Trezise, a submarine cable specialist and a former soldier, said: "My doctor laughed at me. He said he’d never seen anything more ridiculous in his whole life. He said not every overweight person is unhealthy or unfit. "The idea was that we were going to change our lifestyle totally and get outdoors and on mountain bikes and all sorts of activities." The couple, who both lived in Barry, Wales, were all set for a new life after Mr Trezise was headhunted by New Zealand’s Telecom. On her website, Mrs Trezise said earlier in the year: "We are fed up with life in the UK and moving to New Zealand. Auckland here we come!", but her entries end without mention of her difficulties in the face of immigration law. Robyn Toomath, a spokesman for Fight the Obesity Epidemic and an endocrinologist, said the BMI limit was valid in the vast majority of people. She said she was opposed to obese people being stigmatised. "However, the immigration department’s focus is different," she said. "It cannot afford to import people into the country who are going to be a significant drain on our health resources. "You can see the logic in assessing if there is a significant health cost associated with this individual and that would be a reason for them not coming in." New Zealand is critically short of skilled workers, and many large firms are intensively recruiting in Britain. Mr Trezise was recruited to supervise the Southern Cross Cable, which links New Zealand with Australia and the west coast of the United States. He is one of only four highly qualified specialist technicians working on the improvement of the cable. The New Zealand Immigration Service said it did not know how many people were denied entry to the country because of high BMI readings. However, comments posted on the Emigrate New Zealand website reveal that many people have been turned down after medical tests revealed that they were obese. Mr Trezise has private health care in New Zealand and his employer, Telecom, has a gym membership scheme.

Man killed in water-rage attack in Australia

Thu Nov 1, 2007 12:42am EDT

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A man has been charged with murder in Australia after an elderly man who was watering his garden was bashed to death in an apparent case of suburban water-rage.

Australia is in its sixth year of severe drought and most towns and cities have imposed strict limits on household water use, prompting a rise in suburban arguments and neighbors informing authorities about those who waste water.

In the latest incident, police said 66-year-old Ken Proctor was using a hose to water the front lawn of his suburban Sydney home when a man walking past made a remark about water waste.

Proctor then turned the hose on the passer by, prompting a fight. He was knocked the ground and was punched and kicked. He was treated by ambulance officers, but died later in hospital.

Authorities said Proctor was not in breach of water restrictions, as he was using a hand-held hose and was watering his lawn on his allocated day. A 36-year-old man charged with Proctor's murder appeared briefly in a Sydney court on Thursday. He was denied bail and will remain in jail until his next court appearance on November 15.

Most of Australia, apart from parts of the island state of Tasmania and towns in the tropical north, have banned garden sprinklers, made it illegal to hose down cars and pavements, and allow gardens only to be watered on set days.

No I haven't read Al Gore's book. 

I expect to see more cases like this.  I'm sure that the remark about water waste was a bit more than a remark and a bit less than a total condemnation of the man's right to water his own lawn.  What a stupid waste of life this was.  Could this be related to the incessant media coverage of our "plight" as it pertains to the planet?  Stoke the fires of panic and what all.