Michael Huemer’s Progressive Myths is the best book on wokeness. One of its many strengths is its focus on basic facts. As the author explains:I have selected beliefs that can be debunked fairly quickly and forcefully. Many other progressive beliefs require long argumentation and subjective judgment calls to assess. About these more difficult issues, I…
Mark Mitchell released data on crime. The summary was: So a huge reduction in ram raids and modest reductions in violent crimes. Change takes time, and hopefully next year will see larger drops.
Nicole McKee announced: The Government is listening to New Zealanders and Cabinet has agreed to recommend modifications to the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says. I’m glad they took on board that the bill as introduced was so watered down from the old law, that it would not be…
The Herald reports: Te Pāti Māori claims a police operation targeting Mongrel Mob members and associates alleged to be involved in a drug distribution network was “terrorism” and motivated by a “racist agenda”. It is amazing that a political party defends drug dealing gangs, and hates the Police so much they call them terrorists. TPM say they are…
The Herald reports: A pharmacist and transgender refugee who was convicted last month for pouring tomato juice over the head of anti-transgender rights activist Posie Parker – prompting the controversial British speaker to promptly leave New Zealand over safety fears – returned to a courtroom today as her lawyer asked to have the conviction rescinded. … He acknowledged there was a degree of […]
The Ardern years continue to blight the nation. It’s not just the destructive policies and debilitating debt but the lasting dysfunctional governance both public and private that routinely lies to us and infantilises us. The legacy media are gone. They are now pimps for government and corporate propaganda. Endless repetition makes lies truth, with dissent…
The Sensible Sentencing Trust has announced: Before Labour repealed it in 2022, the Three Strikes law operated for 12 years from 2010. In that time, there were: Every one of the 25 Third Strikers was a recidivist serious violent or sexual offender, by definition, having committed at least three “strike” offences. However, the Government’s proposed […]
The Herald reports: A recidivist offender who shot a small-time Auckland drug dealer while robbing him of his stash and recent gaming machine jackpot had been on electronically monitored post-prison release conditions at the time of the murder – but had cut off his tracking device. That factor of Benjamin “Dekoy” Mcintosh’s murder in June 2022 was highlighted for the […]
Gary Becker’s famous model of rational crime suggests that criminals weigh up the costs and benefits of crime (and engage in a criminal act if the benefits outweigh the costs). Time preferences matter in this model, because the benefits of a criminal act are usually realised immediately, whereas the greatest costs (including the penalties of…
Back in January, I posted about an article that was getting some attention in my world. Megan T. Stevenson is an active researcher in the criminal-justice-and-economics literature. She argues that when you look at the published studies that use randomized control trial methods to evaluate ways of reducing crime, most of the studies don’t show a…
1st strikers 2nd strikers This data comes from someone who has OIAd this data. The Government’s proposed new law will see 55% of violent or sexual offenders not get a first strike and 31% of what would have been second strikers not get a second strike. Arguably it could even see 75% of first strikers and 53% […]
Ranapera Taumata is a Third Striker. He murdered his girlfriend in 2019 by beating her to death with his bare hands. The Judge summarised: Over the next 17 minutes or so, inside the sleepout you inflicted a prolongedand violent assault on Ms Hira, rendering her unconscious and injured. At about1.15 am you dragged her outside; she […]
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does not spell out what the […]
Nicole McKee announced: The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. The return is welcome in principle, but what is being proposed is actually pretty weak and even ineffective. Cover the same 40 serious violent and sexual offences as the former legislation, […]
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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