Archive
Ariel Sharon
This piece from ‘The Nation’ outlines Ariel Sharon’s bloody past,
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Well worth a read before people start lamenting his passing too much…
I have little time for those who commit or actively support, acts of genocide. Whether they be Nazis, Stalinists, Khmer Rouge, fascists, or nationalists of one description or another – mass-murderers stand to be tried and condemned, whether in a Court of Law, or the Court of History.
Sharon’s legacy will be written in the blood of innocent people.
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Other blogs
The Daily Blog: A brief word on the death of war criminal Ariel Sharon
The Daily Blog: The death of Ariel Sharon – Gaza’s prison warden
Robert Fisk: Ariel Sharon: Peacemaker, hero… and butcher
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Letter to the Editor: Was Paula Bennett ever drug tested?
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FROM: "f.macskasy" SUBJECT: Letter to the ed DATE: Sun, 12 Jan 2014 15:56:11 +1300 TO: NZ Herald <letters@herald.co.nz>.
The Editor NZ Herald . Only 22 people have drug tested positive out of the thousands sent to 8,001 job vacancies which required drug testing, reported David Fisher in his story, "Minister claims low drug result as victory" (11 January). Social Welfare minister, Paula Bennett, says that "It's great so few people failed tests in the first six months of this new policy, that's partly due to the strong signalling effect of this policy where many people reported quitting marijuana use before it was even implemented, but we're also giving people the opportunity get clean before they're tested." Or, as is most likely the case, those who are unemployed are ordinary fellow New Zealanders who've been made redundant since 2008 and the on-going recession, and are no more likely to be using drugs than their fellow workers who've not been made redundant. Redundancy does not automatically lead to drug taking. It seems that National's demand for drug testing welfare beneficiaries stands revealed for what it is - a waste of taxpayer's money that does not create jobs (except in the drug-testing industry, maybe). The policy achieves nothing except cater to the ill-informed - those who are prejudiced against the unemployed and other welfare recipients as a matter of course. It is a form of scape-goating those who cannot fight back against such character slurs. Tellingly, Bennett's office cannot answer simple questions such as how much the drug testing costs; how much it has saved the taxpayer; how many of all the unemployed sent to those 8,001 vacancies were drug tested; nor whether in fact the policy is indeed affecting drug usage at all. Her office simply has no information on these questions. But I have a question for the Minister; when she was on the DPB herself as a solo-mother, how can we - the taxpayer - be reassured that she was not a drug-user and smoked the odd joint or three? Can she reassure us that she did not take drugs? Was she drug tested at the time? If not, why not? . -Frank Macskasy (address & phone number supplied)
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References
NZ Herald: Minister claims low drug result as victory
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