Graham Adams writes on the media’s mission to demonise NZ’s health system — Not long after I began treatment in 2015 for an aggressive leukaemia, I was phoned by a representative of the Cancer Society. A hospital oncology staffer had strongly recommended I give the organisation my name and contact details so I did. I […]
The Cancer Society is racist? Really?
The Cancer Society is racist? Really?
26 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The New Zealand government unites indigenous knowledge with “western science” by claiming that gods cause earthquakes
26 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of natural disasters, economics of religion, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, cranks, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left

A comment by reader Chris Slater called my attention to this article from GeoNet, an organization described as providing “geological hazard information for Aotearoa New Zealand.” It’s also . . . . sponsored by the New Zealand Government through its agencies: Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, GNS Science, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand […]
The New Zealand government unites indigenous knowledge with “western science” by claiming that gods cause earthquakes
Anti-Free Speech Laws Hit New Heights in Italy: Reporter Fined for “Body Shaming” Prime Minister Meloni
25 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics, property rights Tags: free speech, Italy, political correctness, regressive left

I have long been critical of the erosion of free speech in Italy and other Western European countries, including the use of criminal libel laws against critics of the police or government. This week a Milan court has ordered a journalist to pay Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni damages of 5,000 euros ($5,465) for making […]
Anti-Free Speech Laws Hit New Heights in Italy: Reporter Fined for “Body Shaming” Prime Minister Meloni
“Let’s Hope Today’s Events Inspire Others”: Rutgers Professor Under Fire for Posting on Trump Assassination Attempt
24 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, crime and punishment, free speech, law and order, political correctness, regressive left

We have been following the controversies surrounding professors commenting on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Some of those responses have ranged from celebrations to spreading bizarre conspiracy theories. The latest controversy concerns Rutgers University Writing Program Assistant Teaching Professor Tracy Budd, who posted a Facebook message saying ”Let’s hope today’s events inspire […]
“Let’s Hope Today’s Events Inspire Others”: Rutgers Professor Under Fire for Posting on Trump Assassination Attempt
Doctors Without Borders Accused of violating its own policy of political neutrality to impugn Israel, and my cessation of donations
24 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, health economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror

A while back I was a big fan of Doctors without Borders (or “MSF”, for “Médecins Sans Frontières”). It was put in my will to get a big bequest, and when I auctioned of a copy of Why Evolution is True, autographed by many famous scientists and nonbelievers, and illustrated and illuminated by Kelly Houle, […]
Doctors Without Borders Accused of violating its own policy of political neutrality to impugn Israel, and my cessation of donations
Dawkins talks to Kathleen Stock
24 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, health economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Here we have a 55-minute (remote) conversation between Richard Dawkins and Kathleen Stock conducted during the “Dissident Dialogues” conference in NYC last May. Here’s a précis of Stock’s background from Wikipedia: Kathleen Mary Linn Stock OBE is a British philosopher and writer. She was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex until 2021. She has published academic […]
Dawkins talks to Kathleen Stock
Māori Party political leader curses and rants on video, calling for overthrow of New Zealand’s government
24 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, free speech, Maori economic development, political correctness, regressive left
This video, professionally made and showing Kiri Tamihere-Waititi doing what can only be called ranting about her oppression and that of the Māori people, and then winding up by calling for the overthrow of the New Zealand, has caused a stir in that country. I am told that Tamihere-Waititi is a powerful member of Te […]
Māori Party political leader curses and rants on video, calling for overthrow of New Zealand’s government
Will France Opt for Bernie Sanders-Style Taxation?
23 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, income redistribution, Public Choice, public economics Tags: France, regressive left, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment

Some folks on the left have a deep-seated resentment of successful investors, entrepreneurs, business owners, and other high-income people. They want to hit them with confiscatory tax rates, even if the tax is so punitive that the government doesn’t wind up with more revenue. Heck, some of them are so consumed by hate and envy […]
Will France Opt for Bernie Sanders-Style Taxation?
Hollywood evidence on McCarthyism
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, movies, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
There is a new NBER working paper on this topic by Hui Ren Tan and Tianyi Wang, here is the abstract: We study a far-reaching episode of demagoguery in American history. From the late 1940s to 1950s, anti-communist hysteria led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and others gripped the nation. Hundreds of professionals in Hollywood were […]
Hollywood evidence on McCarthyism
Climate Warriors are Colonising Medicine
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, health economics Tags: climate activists, cranks, political correctness, regressive left
…aspiring to be a planet-saving superhero risks undermining the commitments that doctors make: make doctors doctors again. Physicians, heal thyselves!
Climate Warriors are Colonising Medicine
Roger Hallam Receives Five Year Sentence, other Just Stop Oil Co-Conspirators Receive Four Years
19 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics Tags: climate activists, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, free speech, law and order, regressive left
Five Just Stop Oil protesters, including one of its co-founders, have been jailed for conspiring to organise protests that blocked the M25 motorway.
Roger Hallam Receives Five Year Sentence, other Just Stop Oil Co-Conspirators Receive Four Years
Guest Post: Will John Minto condemn Hamas for refusing to free the hostages?
19 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left
A guest post by Lucy Rogers: I woke up this morning to initial elation at the news that Israel and Hamas are apparently close to a ceasefire deal. The proposal involves the return of 33 hostages and Hamas’ removal from power, in exchange for the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Israel’s […]
Guest Post: Will John Minto condemn Hamas for refusing to free the hostages?
France Bans Muslim Hijabs from the Olympics
18 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, France, free speech, Freedom of religion, political correctness, regressive left

France’s Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, has announced that French Muslim athletes will be barred from wearing hijabs at the Olympics. The decision is a gross violation of the religious freedom of Muslim athletes and should be condemned throughout the world.
France Bans Muslim Hijabs from the Olympics
Natasha Hausdorff on the legality of everything about the war
17 Jul 2024 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
One of the biggest lacunae on Wikipedia is its lack of an entry on Natasha Hausdorff, a London barrister and expert on international law who happens to work with the UK Lawyers for Israel. She has a sterling background: She holds law degrees from Oxford and Tel Aviv Universities and was a Fellow in the […]
Natasha Hausdorff on the legality of everything about the war
Health New Zealand “encourages” its employees to say Māori prayers daily
16 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of religion, liberalism, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Freedom of religion, political correctness, regressive left

This item, from the Breaking Views website in New Zealand, is one of the rare cases of a Kiwi speaking up against forcible adherence to Māori customs on the job—in this case, saying Māori prayers. First, “Health New Zealand,” the organization in question, is a government agency that, according to its own description: . . […]
Health New Zealand “encourages” its employees to say Māori prayers daily
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