tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76186922011-04-21T21:49:40.439+01:00Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-66954739601212306232008-04-11T14:27:00.000+01:002008-04-14T22:27:44.810+01:00

I've just finished reading Mark Steyn's "America Alone; The End of the World as we know it" most of which sticks to the usual far-right paranoia outlined in similar books by Ann Coulter and Jonah Goldberg. But I was struck by how his argument for the inevitable decline of Europe was based on a claim that Europe would become Islamic in a few generations, using the 'logic' of extrapolating the

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-55595144163490127422008-04-05T16:15:00.000+01:002008-04-14T22:26:43.996+01:00

The entry was composed as a response to a short story I am writing that relates to the recent discovery of large numbers of exoplanets circling stars 'close' to our solar system that makes future human colonisation of other planets more plausable if not presently likely. In the process of writing the story I had quite a few thoughts on what human colonisation of other planets and the possible

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-86536710260845933092008-01-11T15:01:00.000Z2008-01-11T15:03:58.933Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/asia/11hillary.html?em&ex=1200200400&en=a875e24051bcebc6&ei=5087%0A http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=1886512&ch=1918766&cl=5903624&src=newzealandThis is the brief comment I left in the NY Times comments section linked from the article:"A great and humble man who has been an inspiration to New Zealanders everywhere being a living embodiment

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-71180039798423675052007-02-19T01:22:00.001Z2008-04-14T22:54:16.263+01:00

Interesting...This started off as a piece on the blasphemy challenge but developed into a longer piece on something that I think the blasphemy challenge just may end up being the tip of the iceberg. Now some people will no doubt to choose to respond to the blasphemy challenge and ignore the rest of my essay, which is just fine, but I want to make it clear that I don't think that the main thrust

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1151407602397369562006-06-27T12:26:00.000+01:002006-06-27T12:26:42.886+01:00

Egged on by the tabloid that championed it, new Home Secretary John Reid is considering bringing Megan's Law to the UK, which in the UK is being campaigned under the sobriquent of "Sarah's Law" after a murder in the UK that has similarities to the murder of Megan Kanka. This is despite plenty of evidence that suggests that Megan's Law has been ineffecitive and counter-productive since being

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1140483441301284482006-02-21T00:48:00.000Z2006-02-21T01:06:11.063Z

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2049360,00.htmlI think this is a dreadful judgement for what it means for freedom of speech no matter how offensive.I personally believe that the line over freedom of speech should be drawn at speech which threatens accidental or deliberate harm on others, therefore speech and opinion that while deeply offensive does not threaten harm on others should

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1139053155134778962006-02-04T11:34:00.000Z2006-02-04T11:48:48.403Z

Interesting, the Dominion Post, New Zealands second largest daily newspaper has decided to post the cartoon in full. I will be interested to see at this stage what the backlash will be.http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3561502a12,00.htmlThis was the accompanying editorial that went with the republication of the cartoon:http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3562143a1861,00.htmlQuote:The precious

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1139052621436614312006-02-04T11:24:00.000Z2006-02-04T13:25:43.916Z

I had some spare time after a meeting this afternoon to sneak away to the Danish Embassy to witness the protests against the Danish Embassy for the cartoons illustrating the prophet Mohammad.When I arrived about 2.30pm it all looked singularly unimpressive with a small number of protesters waving banners in Arabic on the opposite side of the street away from the embassy with both media who were

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1121264644608571082005-07-13T14:55:00.000+01:002005-07-13T15:29:45.763+01:00

Last night the Police moved in on houses in Leeds as CCTV evidence and leads from the public has helped Police ascertain the identity of the London bombers, all four of whom are now confirmed as Britains first suicide bombers. The most shocking thing about this positive turn of events is that all four of the bombers were "clean skins" in that they were all British born Muslims living in West

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1120923475428247252005-07-09T16:34:00.000+01:002005-07-09T16:37:55.633+01:00

Ken Livingstone, London Major, made a great speech yesterday despite his dodgy Arab connections in the past. It summed up a lot of Londoners feelings in the aftermath of the attacks. Here is the second half of his speech…Quote:“…I want to say one thing specifically to the world today. This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at Presidents or Prime

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1120919785620723012005-07-09T15:19:00.000+01:002005-07-13T15:30:23.466+01:00

I normally work in Highbury Islington that is one tube stop removed from Kings Cross station on the Victoria Line, which means I go through Kings Cross at least twice a day. Because my job has flexi-time I usually start work at 10am, which means I normally avoid the worst of the morning rush hour. If this had been a normal working day for me I would have passed through Kings Cross at 9.40am this

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1116952190048790582005-05-24T17:29:00.000+01:002005-07-09T16:20:06.526+01:00

This is written in response to the ravings and ramblings of autocratic theologians starting from the new Pope down, who increasingly rage against a supposed cabal of militant athiests, secularists and humanists and materialists who are the strawman ultimately responsible for leading the defenceless and the weak peoples of the world to their moral and spiritual ruin.http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1113841553351464922005-02-07T17:17:00.000Z2005-04-18T18:10:18.786+01:00

Recently I was part of an audience for a channel 4 programme on the bigger issues surrounding the Tsunami disaster, obviously a lot of the talking head discussion that pulled in commentators from Oxfam, The African Congress, The UK Labour Party An economic development professor from LSE, the US State Department, a senior advisor to the Bush Administration and, for some variety, a musician

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1092834586625065722004-08-18T13:31:00.001+01:002004-08-21T13:32:17.246+01:00

Identity is transformation… shedding the old for the new, like clothes that don’t fit us anymore so we discard them to cut our own cloth to fit our new selves… So, From New Zealand, son of a Dutch father (Tasman) and English mother (Cook), dutiful offshore farm that gave up its sons in exchange for an easy life trading off the sheep’s back with Britain. To Aotearoa, Maori brother, Polynesian

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1090455028339287512004-07-22T01:03:00.000+01:002004-07-22T01:10:28.340+01:00

  I found this slice of poetry by English poet John Masefield the other day that sums up my more hopeful, optimistic contemplations on politics. "I have seen flowers come in stony places   and kind things done by men with ugly faces   and the Gold Cup won by the worse horse at the races   So I trust, too"

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1090427559443031912004-07-21T17:32:00.000+01:002004-08-23T12:53:31.686+01:00

Michael Moore's film has been a major box office success in the United States and abroad, taking in over 100 million dollars in the United States alone, an unprecedented achievement for a documentary. Critics have been sharply divided, with the film receiving significant praise and criticism in near-equal measures, a reaction probably reflected in wider US audiences, reflecting the polarisation

Anthony Burnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211239022428772000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618692.post-1096153754870490772004-07-19T01:37:00.000+01:002004-09-26T15:47:46.776+01:00

Prostitution reform is an issue that is up for serious consideration in the UK with a proposed bill soon to be presented before the House of Commons. Last year, New Zealand effectively legalised Prostitution under certain conditions after the passing of a Private Members Bill which I supported and actively campaigned for after being approached by the Bill's sponser to actively lobby MP's on

rdbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01361680356847815708noreply@blogger.com