"Winston Peters indicates that he intends to reinstitute serfdom for NZ's youth" says Libertarianz Veterans Affairs spokesman Michael Murphy. He says the N.Z. First 'policy' of compulsory military training reflects an out-dated notion that the lives of young men is the property of the state - a notion that should have disappeared with medieval serfdom.

"New Zealand needs professional, well-trained and well-equipped defence forces not the semi-trained canon fodder that the Peters scheme would turn out," says Murphy. "But of course such a scheme is not about training soldiers for combat, but instead training young people for mindless obedience, something Winston appreciates in his supporters".

Fortunately it is obvious that Peters is no more serious about this than any other of his election bribes - this particular one merely a sop to the R.S.A . wing of his party, But we must be on guard against it.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>