That Pierre Trudeau was a pretty little thing, back in the day. He looked really good as Prime Minister of Canada. Sounds ridiculous when one says it about a man, doesn't it? Even though it was true....
@ BenM: "This is the first time I’ve seen Cunliffe’s speech characterised this way by any media." Indeed. Things have come to a pretty pass when we must depend on overseas media to pick up on the context. But of course the Washington Post would get it. And...
@ sabine: "The disease lays with the people that voted for them, the people that enable them, and the people that cover up for them." Don't look at me: I didn't vote for the bastards....
@ idlegus: Oh god, that last pic puts me in mind of a shot from late in the war of Hitler leering at a Hitler Youthist and ruffling his hair. This is so reminiscent! Sorry to introduce a form of Godwinism into the thread: it wasn't intentional, but there ...
@ Reddelusion: "Yawn yet another over reaction from the left that middle nz just won’t care, have your day of rage and move on, nothing to see here" Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?
Reading this unfortunate young woman's account catapulted me instantly back almost 60 years, to when, as a child, I attempted to dodge the unwelcome attentions of an elderly uncle. My deepest sympathies to her; she shouldn't have to put up with this sort ...
@ Tracey: "And while we are at it, let’s reward nurses properly, as though they work in dirty, dangerous jobs that save lives too." Indeed. A more worthwhile use of taxpayer money, some might say...
@ Anne: "May I express my affection for you in a horizontal scenario as represented by a flat surface such as a bed?" Ha: DEElicious! Like being romanced by a memo-in-triplicate...
@ Tracey: "well, he only says sorry for serious things…" Umm...... remind me: has he apologised for anything at all since 2008? I'm damned if I can recall any instances. Obviously nothing serious has happened here.
@ Tracey: "They became harder, nastier, lacking compassion and very judgmental." Yes, I've heard other people say the same thing. I suppose it's not surprising, given both that they're exposed daily to the seedy side of human nature, and that they ...
@ Tracey: "And our Prime Minister? Can someone link me to his speech?" Well of course he wouldn't have been there, still less making a passionate speech in defence of wronged girls. It's a very long time since any of us would have expected anything of the ...
@ Murray Rawshark: "We’ve got a long way to go. Probably such a long way that we wouldn’t lose much by dismantling the police one district at a time and starting again. Start with West Auckland." A radical notion, but in fact this may be the only way to ...
@ Tracey: "It appears at least one woman officer was on the specialist team too, messing up in the early stages." Yes, it's a bit scary, isn't it! But maybe we should possibly cut her some slack: it can be exceedingly difficult standing up against ...
@ Tracey: "And yet… here we are… again, and in a not insubstantial way." Indeed. The Louise Nicholas case exposed the fact that misogyny is a deeply-embedded aspect of police culture. And organisational cultures can be surprisingly resistant to change: ...
@RedBaronCV: "It’s difficult to tell exactly but it looks like mainly women in the house. So exactly where are the male MP’s? Why are they not there? Not their problem huh. " Maybe for at least some of them, it's cringing embarrassment, such that they ...
@ Tracey: "It is interesting that the police could be described as having behaved with respect and compassion toward alleged victims....." This looks to me like an attempt on the part of the IPCA to temper the blast to the shorn lamb, so to speak. Though ...
I'd expected that this would happen. No other reason it'd take so long to reach the courts. Here's the message I take from this sad, unsavoury situation: the justice system doesn't take seriously the issue of sexual violence against women. Or against ...
@ infused: " virtually abortion on request." So you didn't read the post, then.
@Lucia Maria: "Even though it has been proven through numerous studies that abortion itself can cause physical and mental harm." Citations needed here. "no woman is denied an abortion" Just baldly asserting this doesn't make it so, and you're in no ...
@unpcnzcougar ".... she has well and truly made up her mind and doesn’t wish to subject herself to the weeks that it takes to have an abortion through the public system." I completely agree with you; I quite understand why women who can afford it would ...
@ Weka: "Interesting. There are medical issues with miscarrying at home depending on how many weeks along one is. You’d have to figure out how to create safe use for over the counter pills." Couldn't agree more. I'm not suggesting that over the counter ...
@ Colonial Viper: "Maybe you had a spot on track record of judgement and reflection through your teens and twenties, but most people do not, and at critical junctures some outside facilitation and input is usually helpful." You're missing the point here: ...
@ Weka: "No-one is suggesting that women walk off the st and get an abortion on demand." I don't really see what the problem would be with this, if abortion is legalised. On the other hand, I'm a bit dubious about the notion of counselling being part of ...
@ SPC: "There is a purpose to expert counsel and to subsequent reflection on the informed choice to be made." And this stuff also applies to other forms of contraception now, does it? It certainly didn't when I was young and needing to use contraception. ...
Well said, Craig.
@ Karol: agreed.
@ Weka: "Lol, sorry but I am not going to take the Catholic Church as an authority on contraception and abortion." Apologies, Weka, my original comment about implausibility was aimed at Fisiani, not you! And you'll get no disagreement from me about the ...
@ Gareth and Murray Olsen: Well said! You are of course entitled to hold an opinion - as am I. But you're quite right: you don't have to shout it from the rooftops - and neither do I. What I think about abortion is irrelevant, because it isn't any of my ...
@ Weka: "There are two main biological distinction that I can see between abortion and contraception. One is the division of contraceptives between barriers to contraception, and those that allow fertilisation but prevent it from going to term. The other ...
@ fisiani: "Abortion, the deliberate killing of an unborn child has always been a crime in New Zealand. It is still a crime. It is not however illegal if it is certified to protect the physical or mental health of the woman." This is an inconsistent stance...
"Who hasn’t had someone drip on their shoulder with regrets for hasty decisions made decades ago?" I haven't. On the other hand, I've seen the distress caused by women being forced to give up a baby for adoption, which was the norm when I was young. ...
Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...
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