As a non-alcohol drinker, I have become aware of the way many work and other official social occasions are defined by the presence of alcohol.
Some people I used to work with, were uncomfortable that I wasn’t drinking alcohol at work social events. I came to realise that more most people, alcohol can signal a shift from work mode to relaxation and socialising mode. And it’s indicated as such in the way the events are promoted – “After work drinks”.
But then that raises the question as to why alcohol has become such a marker? Conversely, socialising with illegal recreational drugs is seen by some as liberating, and others as a marker of anti-social behaviour. The health case for and against each form of drug is intertwined with their social meanings.
“The health case for and against each form of drug is intertwined with their social meanings.”
Exactly, in fact I’d say it’s almost totally dependant. Professor David Nutt got sacked as the British Home Secretary’s chief drug advisor for pointing to evidence that LSD, ecstasy and cannabis were safer than alcohol. “The government has interfered with the scientific processes of the [drug advisory] panel for several years and it has caused significant resentment,” he said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/02/david-nutt-alan-johnson-drugs
Anyone who looks at the evidence can see that cannibis should at least be decriminalized (legalization is a different argument), and that there are a number of very promising medicinal properties to be examined. People who are suffering could be helped.
No maintream political party wants to lose votes by going there, so the just trot out the same old “it’s about protecting our kids” arguments. Drug policy is a good example of how people are sheep who swallow what they are told to swallow by their ‘government’ who refelcts thier own fears, ignorance, and prejudices back at them. Me no like drugs, drugs = bad, decriminalize he says? he likes drugs, show uz yer bong then, no to drugs I say no.
Gordon Brown:
“”We have to take a broader view in the round that was more than just the scientific advice. It’s about the effects on young people that drugs are harmful and not acceptable.”
He said Nutt’s “consistent disagreement” of opinion undermined the government’s message on drugs.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/03/brown-johnson-nutt-drugs?intcmp=239
You are missing the point, deliberately or not. It is a sad (but ruefully humorous) day when pointing to rank hypocrisy gets cut down as “sanctimonious” and “narrow-minded”. Tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in NZ.
I’m all for a few beers and whines and Xmas, but I think it would be better if Dunne:
a. Didn’t confine his largesse to senior management
b. provided coke, weed and MDMA as alternatives. The former in particular could be useful for anyone having to deal with Dunne on a regular basis, given its known bullshitogenic properties
I applaud KappuMuTheta for exposing the hypocrisy under which Dunne operates.
The only person that is being a sanctimonious and narrow minded bore is Dunne himself. His vendetta against the legal high industry in this country should also be targeted towards the consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol is a drug with known adverse affects easily evidenced by the harm it bestows on individuals, families and communities. Alcohol can bash you in the streets, on the roads, and in your own home.
I do not support prohibition whatsoever. However, I also do not support the inequitable treatment being meted out to those that prefer another type of drug.
I had a similar exchange with Dunne on twitter & he blocked me from his account
Despite what some people think, he really is a hypocritical asshole when it comes to alcohol & weed & his treatment of both.
Alcohol is the most harmful drug in Britain, scoring 72 out of a possible 100, far more damaging than heroin (55) or crack cocaine (54). It is the most harmful to others by a wide margin, and is ranked fourth behind heroin, crack, and methamphetamine (crystal meth) for harm to the individual. The authors point out that the model’s weightings, though based on judgment, were analysed and found to be stable as large changes would be needed to change the overall rankings.
Which one? I just got back home from after-work drinks, and I sincerely hope you mean Dunne’s, because in term of how prevalent it is and how it’s used, alcohol is by far the most harmful drug in New Zealand. (and, as usual, Peter Dunne needs rectal head-removal surgery)
Just had a listen to a Guardian interview with Professor David Nutt who I mentioned above. If anyone is interested he discusses drugs from a rational scientific viewpoint, concluding with something I figured out for myself a while back:
“I feel quite passionately, I hope it comes across, the way we deal with drugs is one of the great mistakes of the last century. We whole concept of prohibition, the war on drugs, the irrational polemic about drugs, I think has done a huge disservice to society.”
He also speaks about how as chief drugs advisor his superiors were not interested in evidence that countered the status quo rhetoric of fear and hysteria around drugs, and how potentially revelatory scientific work has not happened because of irrational politics.
We are fearful little children being lead with a safety rope down the garden path by people desperate to keep their jobs. When someone tries to wriggle free to see what might be off the path, we throw them in jail.
The legal high shit was causing harm to people so some wanker could make millions of dollars in profit. Let’s not try and pretend it was some social good.
We don”t need more products disturbing the minds of vulnerable people and disturbing their minds it was.
That being said we should not be throwing people in jail for personal cannabis use even though it is harmful to some people any more than we should throweople in jail for smoking cigarettes.
Prohibition of drugs in the first case is what made the market for legal highs viable and all the bad press that legal drugs recieve only serves to make it even more lucrative to sell unknown, untested research chemicals. The problem is not the legal highs it is the illegal ones being still illegal and no government having the sack to challenge the legitimacy of the international war on ‘drugs’
Yes, commercialisation of drugs is also bad, but it’s not as bad as criminal commercialisation. (or “dealing”, if you prefer)
There’s a number of ways to make legal drugs even safer than when they were prohibited. For instance, we can trust the scientific evidence on how drugs should be used, which drugs are reasonably safe for consumption, and have a rational drug policy that focuses on safety for those who choose to use recreational drugs. I would rather know that a few more people are using drugs safely with knowledge of the side-effects and how to go about using them, than have less people use black-market drugs that have no safety checks, (and so could be cut with practically anything, making them more dangerous) with an intimidation barrier to seeking medical help for complications or addiction, and with highly inflated cost.
In comparison to the black market, the legal high industry is like having a pretty-pink bubble bath.
That’s not to say commercialisation is an ideal solution, (I’d much rather we had amateurs held to the same safety standard making drugs to use themselves or give out for free) but I think it is the only one that’s likely to result in the necessary pressure on Parliament to reform drug laws.
Commercialisation of drugs = Alcohol and tobacco sales for ages, even modern pharmaceuticals being designed with the focus being on treatment/dependence instead of cure/independence while marijuana based products could likely replace most of the rubbish that pharmac shores up. Legal drugs have propensity to be far more dangerous than the illegal ones, at least I can go to a library and find at least a handful of books with factually based information on LSD, Heroin, MDMA. These drugs are historically well documented in terms of their effects on human physiology in long term, the same cannot be said for 4MEC, MDPV, PMA, plus a myrad of mystery chemicals which have only been used in recreational drug in recent decades. Kids straight out of high school play russian roulette popping ‘ecstasy’ pills and the only information they’re given in school is outdated or disputable. Dealers are always going to make assurances but unless they’re big fish they don’t even know what it is they’re selling, but it sells. Prohibition has never worked, my uncle was a slygrogger in the 1930’s, it only serves to empower political types grandstanding with their bullshit, the likes of Peter Dunne, while endangering those among us who embrace their individual sovereignty and the right to do what one would like in respect to ones own body and mind.
That is why I said we should have a drug policy based around the science of how drugs are used and how that compares with safe usage. Of course that includes alcohol and tobacco, which overall are the biggest causers of harm in our current society.
That’s not caused by their legal status, it’s caused by the lack of effective regulation now that they are legal. Few advocates of legalisation of recreational drugs want them to be unmonitored and unregulated. (and most of those few are hardcore libertarians who think nothing should be regulated…)
I think you will find that all the top executives responsible for the money laundering, of HKSB USA got fired, from CEO, CFO down.
They will have very great difficulty in getting another job, as they are well known, being publically outed.
I think you will find that Ropata was talking about these people not going to jail for such serious crimes.
Of course they got fired, the companies has to cough up some scapegoats. Trouble getting another job? Poor old CEOs, I guess they will just have to be happy with the millions they’ve accumulated.
I’ve no doubt that 20-years ago Dunne would also have made cigarettes, filtered and unfiltered, available to his ‘guests’ in pleasing little displays amid the canapes and thought nothing of most of them puffing away in corners to add to the haze of blue smoke hanging under the ceiling – and had anyone complained of his not only making cancer-causing agents freely available but inflicting it on non-smokers would have accused them of drivel and sanctimoneous humbug.
Dunne doesn’t have an original thought in his head nor a shred of conviction about anything in his body. He’s the ultimate political prostitute, willing to be anything to anyone and totally inert with regard to anything that his master-of-the-moment hasn’t given him a script for.
Mind you, I’ve always considered Twitter is for twits, and avoid it like a plague.
In terms of the number of people it kills and injures, directly or indirectly, throughout the world each year, ethanol is arguably the biggest poison problem the human race has. There are those who say it comes second to nicotine, but of course nicotine is not the principal toxic or carcinogenic element in cigarettes, although it is the principal addictive element. KappaMuTheta has his/her science correct, whatever you may think of his/her delivery.
Taiwan has an inadvertent, rarely acknowledged role in global affairs: it’s a kind of sponge, soaking up much of China’s political, military and diplomatic efforts. Taiwan soaks up Chinese power of persuasion and coercion that ...
The Ukraine war has been called the bloodiest conflict since World War II. As of July 2024, 10,000 women were serving in frontline combat roles. Try telling them—from the safety of an Australian lounge room—they ...
Following Canadian authorities’ discovery of a Chinese information operation targeting their country’s election, Australians, too, should beware such risks. In fact, there are already signs that Beijing is interfering in campaigning for the Australian election ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). From "founder" of Tesla and the OG rocket man with SpaceX, and rebranding twitter as X, Musk has ...
Back in February 2024, a rat infestation attracted a fair few headlines in the South Dunedin Countdown supermarket. Today, the rats struck again. They took out the Otago-Southland region’s internet connection. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360656230/internet-outage-hits-otago-and-southland Strictly, it was just a coincidence – rats decided to gnaw through one fibre cable, while some hapless ...
I came in this morning after doing some chores and looked quickly at Twitter before unpacking the groceries. Someone was retweeting a Radio NZ story with the headline “Reserve Bank’s budget to be slashed by 25%”. Wow, I thought, the Minister of Finance has really delivered this time. And then ...
So, having teased it last week, Andrew Little has announced he will run for mayor of Wellington. On RNZ, he's saying its all about services - "fixing the pipes, making public transport cheaper, investing in parks, swimming pools and libraries, and developing more housing". Meanwhile, to the readers of the ...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1921ALL OVER THE WORLD, devout Christians will be reaching for their bibles, reading and re-reading Revelation 13:16-17. For the benefit of all you non-Christians out there, these are the verses describing ...
Give me what I want, what I really, really want: And what India really wants from New Zealand isn’t butter or cheese, but a radical relaxation of the rules controlling Indian immigration.WHAT DOES INDIA WANT from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Yesterday, 5,500 senior doctors across Aotearoa New Zealand voted overwhelmingly to strike for a day.This is the first time in New Zealand ASMS members have taken strike action for 24 hours.They are asking the government tofund them and account for resource shortfalls.Vacancies are critical - 45-50% in some regions.The ...
For years and years and years, David Seymour and his posse of deluded neoliberals have been preaching their “tough on crime” gospel to voters. Harsher sentences! More police! Lock ‘em up! Throw away the key. But when it comes to their own, namely former Act Party president Tim Jago, a ...
Judith Collins is a seasoned master at political hypocrisy. As New Zealand’s Defence Minister, she's recently been banging the war drum, announcing a jaw-dropping $12 billion boost to the defence budget over the next four years, all while the coalition of chaos cries poor over housing, health, and education.Apparently, there’s ...
I’m on the London Overground watching what the phones people are holding are doing to their faces: The man-bun guy who could not be less impressed by what he's seeing but cannot stop reading; the woman who's impatient for a response; the one who’s frowning; the one who’s puzzled; the ...
You don't have no prescriptionYou don't have to take no pillsYou don't have no prescriptionAnd baby don't have to take no pillsIf you come to see meDoctor Brown will cure your ills.Songwriters: Waymon Glasco.Dr Luxon. Image: David and Grok.First, they came for the Bottom FeedersAnd I did not speak outBecause ...
The Health Minister says the striking doctors already “well remunerated,” and are “walking away from” and “hurting” their patients. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Wednesday, April 16:Simeon Brown has attacked1 doctors striking for more than a 1.5% pay rise as already “well remunerated,” even ...
The time is ripe for Australia and South Korea to strengthen cooperation in space, through embarking on joint projects and initiatives that offer practical outcomes for both countries. This is the finding of a new ...
Hi,When Trump raised tariffs against China to 145%, he destined many small businesses to annihilation. The Daily podcast captured the mass chaos by zooming in and talking to one person, Beth Benike, a small-business owner who will likely lose her home very soon.She pointed out that no, she wasn’t surprised ...
National’s handling of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is an utter shambles and a gutless betrayal of every Kiwi scraping by. The Coalition of Chaos Ministers strut around preaching about how effective their policies are, but really all they're doing is perpetuating a cruel and sick joke of undelivered promises, ...
Most people wouldn't have heard of a little worm like Rhys Williams, a so-called businessman and former NZ First member, who has recently been unmasked as the venomous troll behind a relentless online campaign targeting Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle.According to reports, Williams has been slinging mud at Doyle under ...
Illustration credit: Jonathan McHugh (New Statesman)The other day, a subscriber said they were unsubscribing because they needed “some good news”.I empathised. Don’t we all.I skimmed a NZME article about the impacts of tariffs this morning with analysis from Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr. Kerr, their Chief Economist, suggested another recession is the ...
Let’s assume, as prudence demands we assume, that the United States will not at any predictable time go back to being its old, reliable self. This means its allies must be prepared indefinitely to lean ...
Over the last three rather tumultuous US trade policy weeks, I’ve read these four books. I started with Irwin (whose book had sat on my pile for years, consulted from time to time but not read) in a week of lots of flights and hanging around airports/hotels, and then one ...
Indonesia could do without an increase in military spending that the Ministry of Defence is proposing. The country has more pressing issues, including public welfare and human rights. Moreover, the transparency and accountability to justify ...
Former Hutt City councillor Chris Milne has slithered back into the spotlight, not as a principled dissenter, but as a vindictive puppeteer of digital venom. The revelations from a recent court case paint a damning portrait of a man whose departure from Hutt City Council in 2022 was merely the ...
That's the conclusion of a report into security risks against Green MP Benjamin Doyle, in the wake of Winston Peters' waging a homophobic hate-campaign against them: GRC’s report said a “hostility network” of politicians, commentators, conspiracy theorists, alternative media outlets and those opposed to the rainbow community had produced ...
That's the conclusion of a report into security risks against Green MP Benjamin Doyle, in the wake of Winston Peters' waging a homophobic hate-campaign against them: GRC’s report said a “hostility network” of politicians, commentators, conspiracy theorists, alternative media outlets and those opposed to the rainbow community had produced ...
National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
The economy is not doing what it was supposed to when PM Christopher Luxon said in January it was ‘going for growth.’ Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short from our political economy on Tuesday, April 15:New Zealand’s economic recovery is stalling, according to business surveys, retail spending and ...
This is a guest post by Lewis Creed, managing editor of the University of Auckland student publication Craccum, which is currently running a campaign for a safer Symonds Street in the wake of a horrific recent crash.The post has two parts: 1) Craccum’s original call for safety (6 ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff has published an opinion piece which makes the case for a different approach to economic development, as proposed in the CTU’s Aotearoa Reimagined programme. The number of people studying to become teachers has jumped after several years of low enrolment. The coalition has directed Health New ...
The growth of China’s AI industry gives it great influence over emerging technologies. That creates security risks for countries using those technologies. So, Australia must foster its own domestic AI industry to protect its interests. ...
Unfortunately we have another National Party government in power at the moment, and as a consequence, another economic dumpster fire taking hold. Inflation’s hurting Kiwis, and instead of providing relief, National is fiddling while wallets burn.Prime Minister Chris Luxon's response is a tired remix of tax cuts for the rich ...
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girlsWho do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boysAlways should be someone you really loveSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Graham Leslie Coxon / Alexander Rowntree David / Alexander James Steven.Last month, I wrote about the Birds and Bees being ...
Australia needs to reevaluate its security priorities and establish a more dynamic regulatory framework for cybersecurity. To advance in this area, it can learn from Britain’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which presents a compelling ...
Deputy PM Winston Peters likes nothing more than to portray himself as the only wise old head while everyone else is losing theirs. Yet this time, his “old master” routine isn’t working. What global trade is experiencing is more than the usual swings and roundabouts of market sentiment. President Donald ...
President Trump’s hopes of ending the war in Ukraine seemed more driven by ego than realistic analysis. Professor Vladimir Brovkin’s latest video above highlights the internal conflicts within the USA, Russia, Europe, and Ukraine, which are currently hindering peace talks and clarity. Brovkin pointed out major contradictions within ...
In the cesspool that is often New Zealand’s online political discourse, few figures wield their influence as destructively as Ani O’Brien. Masquerading as a champion of free speech and women’s rights, O’Brien’s campaigns are a masterclass in bad faith, built on a foundation of lies, selective outrage, and a knack ...
The international challenge confronting Australia today is unparalleled, at least since the 1940s. It requires what the late Brendan Sargeant, a defence analyst, called strategic imagination. We need more than shrewd economic manoeuvring and a ...
This year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a fully hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from April 27 to May 2. This year, I'll join the event on site in Vienna for the full week and I've already picked several sessions I plan ...
Here’s a book that looks not in at China but out from China. David Daokui Li’s China’s World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict is a refreshing offering in that Li is very much ...
The New Zealand National Party has long mastered the art of crafting messaging that resonates with a large number of desperate, often white middle-class, voters. From their 2023 campaign mantra of “getting our country back on track” to promises of economic revival, safer streets, and better education, their rhetoric paints ...
A global contest of ideas is underway, and democracy as an ideal is at stake. Democracies must respond by lifting support for public service media with an international footprint. With the recent decision by the ...
It is almost six weeks since the shock announcement early on the afternoon of Wednesday 5 March that the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr, was resigning effective 31 March, and that in fact he had already left and an acting Governor was already in place. Orr had been ...
The PSA surveyed more than 900 of its members, with 55 percent of respondents saying AI is used at their place of work, despite most workers not being in trained in how to use the technology safely. Figures to be released on Thursday are expected to show inflation has risen ...
Be on guard for AI-powered messaging and disinformation in the campaign for Australia’s 3 May election. And be aware that parties can use AI to sharpen their campaigning, zeroing in on issues that the technology ...
Strap yourselves in, folks, it’s time for another round of Arsehole of the Week, and this week’s golden derrière trophy goes to—drumroll, please—David Seymour, the ACT Party’s resident genius who thought, “You know what we need? A shiny new Treaty Principles Bill to "fix" all that pesky Māori-Crown partnership nonsense ...
Apple Store, Shanghai. Trump wants all iPhones to be made in the USM but experts say that is impossible. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortist from our political economy on Monday, April 14:Donald Trump’s exemption on tariffs on phones and computers is temporary, and he wants all iPhones made in the ...
Kia ora, readers. It’s time to pull back the curtain on some uncomfortable truths about New Zealand’s political landscape. The National Party, often cloaked in the guise of "sensible centrism," has, at times, veered into territory that smells suspiciously like fascism.Now, before you roll your eyes and mutter about hyperbole, ...
Australia’s east coast is facing a gas crisis, as the country exports most of the gas it produces. Although it’s a major producer, Australia faces a risk of domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply shortfalls ...
Overnight, Donald J. Trump, America’s 47th President, and only the second President since 1893 to win non-consecutive terms, rolled back more of his“no exemptions, no negotiations”&“no big deal” tariffs.Smartphones, computers, and other electronics1are now exempt from the 125% levies imposed on imports from China; they retain ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 6, 2025 thru Sat, April 12, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
Just one year of loveIs better than a lifetime aloneOne sentimental moment in your armsIs like a shooting star right through my heartIt's always a rainy day without youI'm a prisoner of love inside youI'm falling apart all around you, yeahSongwriter: John Deacon.Morena folks, it feels like it’s been quite ...
“It's a history of colonial ruin, not a history of colonial progress,”says Michele Leggott, of the Harris family.We’re talking about Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris, in which she and Catherine Field-Dodgson recall a near-forgotten and fascinating life, thefemale speck in the history of texts.Emily’s ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the sun responsible for global warming? Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, not solar variability, is responsible for the global warming observed ...
Hitherto, 2025 has not been great in terms of luck on the short story front (or on the personal front. Several acquaintances have sadly passed away in the last few days). But I can report one story acceptance today. In fact, it’s quite the impressive acceptance, being my second ‘professional ...
Six long stories short from our political economy in the week to Saturday, April 12:Donald Trump exploded a neutron bomb under 80 years of globalisation, but Nicola Willis said the Government would cut operational and capital spending even more to achieve a Budget surplus by 2027/28. That even tighter fiscal ...
On 22 May, the coalition government will release its budget for 2025, which it says will focus on "boosting economic growth, improving social outcomes, controlling government spending, and investing in long-term infrastructure.” But who, really, is this budget designed to serve? What values and visions for Aotearoa New Zealand lie ...
Lovin' you has go to be (Take me to the other side)Like the devil and the deep blue sea (Take me to the other side)Forget about your foolish pride (Take me to the other side)Oh, take me to the other side (Take me to the other side)Songwriters: Steven Tyler, Jim ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Hi,Back in 2022 I spent a year reporting on New Zealand’s then-biggest megachurch, Arise, revealing the widespread abuse of hundreds of interns.That series led to a harrowing review (leaked by Webworm) and the resignation of its founders and leaders John and Gillian Cameron, who fled to Australia where they now ...
All nation states have a right to defend themselves. But do regimes enjoy an equal right to self-defence? Is the security of a particular party-in-power a fundamental right of nations? The Chinese government is asking ...
A modest attempt to analyse Donald Trump’s tariff policies.Alfred Marshall, whose text book was still in use 40 years after he died wrote ‘every short statement about economics is misleading with the possible exception of my present one.’ (The text book is 719 pages.) It’s a timely reminder that any ...
If nothing else, we have learned that the economic and geopolitical turmoil caused by the Trump tariff see-saw raises a fundamental issue of the human condition that extends beyond trade wars and “the markets.” That issue is uncertainty and its centrality to individual and collective life. It extends further into ...
To improve its national security, South Korea must improve its ICT infrastructure. Knowing this, the government has begun to move towards cloud computing. The public and private sectors are now taking a holistic national-security approach ...
28 April 2025 Mournfor theDead FightFor theLiving Every week in New Zealand 18 workers are killed as a consequence of work. Every 15 minutes, a worker suffers ...
The world is trying to make sense of the Trump tariffs. Is there a grand design and strategy, or is it all instinct and improvisation? But much more important is the question of what will ...
OPINION:Yesterday was a triumphant moment in Parliament House.The “divisive”, “disingenous”, “unfair”, “discriminatory” and “dishonest” Treaty Principles Bill, advanced by the right wing ACT Party, failed.Spectacularly.11 MP votes for (ACT).112 MP votes against (All Other Parties).As the wonderful Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke said: We are not divided, but united.Green ...
The Pacific Response Group (PRG), a new disaster coordination organisation, has operated through its first high-risk weather season. But as representatives from each Pacific military leave Brisbane to return to their home countries for the ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been defeated in Parliament with 112 votes in opposition and 11 in favour, but the debate about Te Tiriti and Māori rights looks set to stay high on the political agenda. Supermarket giant Woolworths has confirmed a new operating model that Workers First say will ...
1. What did Seymour say after his obnoxious bill was buried 112 to 11?a. Watch this spaceb. Mea culpac. I am not a crookd. Youse are all such dumbasses2. Which lasted longest?a. Liz Trussb. Trump’s Tariffsc. The Lettuced. Too soon to say but the smart money’s on the vegetable 3. ...
And this is what I'm gonna doI'm gonna put a call to you'Cause I feel good tonightAnd everything's gonna beRight-right-rightI'm gonna have a good time tonightRock and roll music gonna play all nightCome on, baby, it won't take longOnly take a minute just to sing my songSongwriters: Kirk Pengilly / ...
The Indonesian military has a new role in cybersecurity but, worryingly, no clear doctrine on what to do with it nor safeguards against human rights abuses. Assignment of cyber responsibility to the military is part ...
The StrategistBy Gatra Priyandita and Christian Guntur Lebang
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australians strongly disagree with key policies of US President Donald Trump, and have overwhelmingly lost trust in the United States to act responsibly in the world, according to the Lowy Institute’s 2025 poll. Despite ...
Asia Pacific Report A Palestinian advocacy group has called on NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters to take a firm stand for international law and human rights by following the Maldives with a ban on visiting Israelis. Maher Nazzal, chair of the Palestine Forum of New ...
Barriers to gender equality exist in many forms and in New Zealand, these barriers are worse for Māori, Pasifika, Asian, migrant, refugee, disabled, LGBTQIA+ and rural women, and Government action is required. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Shutterstock We now have the competing bids for our votes by the alternative governments on income tax policy. From Labor, future cuts to the lowest marginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjodh B. Singh, Senior Economics and Finance Lecturer, Curtin University Marc Bruxelle/Shutterstock Australia’s renters have to battle rising rents and a lack of available properties. They also face ongoing instability. Our new research suggests half of all landlords sell their investment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne As well as the election for the full House of Representatives, there will be an election on May 3 for 40 of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fan Yang, Research fellow at Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society., The University of Melbourne Shutterstock/The Conversation Since 2024, the RECapture research team has been monitoring political disinformation and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Global markets have remained on edge after Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs caused panic worldwide. Now, more than ever, markets and economists are looking for trying to read the implications. Joining us from ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 16, 2025. Trump’s racist, corrupt agenda – like a bank robbery in broad daylightEDITORIAL: By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal US President Donald Trump and his team is pursuing a white man’s racist ...
The bank’s inflation mandate is a key tool for economic management. It fights inflation so the economy can flourish without the damaging impacts of runaway inflation. ...
Breaking news for those who just want a really good, classic hot cross bun. “This is the best hot cross bun I’ve ever had.”“I don’t usually like hot cross buns but fuck that was good.”Just two of the many overhead comments in The Spinoff office this morning after ...
EDITORIAL:By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal US President Donald Trump and his team is pursuing a white man’s racist agenda that is corrupt at its core. Trump’s advisor Elon Musk, who often seems to be the actual president, is handing his companies multiple contracts as his ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Ward, Senior Lecturer in Music, School of Business and Creative Industries, University of the Sunshine Coast Hip-hop is a cultural powerhouse that has infiltrated every facet of popular culture, across a global market. That said, one place you usually don’t see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Parsell, Professor, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland Igor Corovic/Shutterstock Measures to tackle homelessness in Australia have been conspicuously absent from the election campaign. The major parties have rightly identified deep voter anxiety over high house prices. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Diane Colombelli-Négrel, Senior Lecturer, Animal Behaviour, Flinders University Two superb fairy-wrens (_Malurus cyaneus_).ARKphoto/Shutterstock When we think of bird songs, we often imagine a cheerful soundtrack during our morning walks. However, for birds, songs are much more than background music – they ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martín Boer-Cueva, Ecologist and Environmental Consultant, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Colossal Biosciences Over the past week, the media have been inundated with news of the “de-extinction” of the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) – a species that went extinct about 13,000 years ...
For the last four years, one artist has been rebuilding the lost icons of the city in miniature form. It’s a Friday morning and Mike Beer, aka Ghostcat, is flitting about Pūmanawa Gallery in Ōtautahi making last-minute adjustments. “These are actually from the Canterbury sale yards,” he says, gesturing to ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Hannah Tunnicliffe, author of new mystery book for children Detective Stanley and the Mystery at the Museum (illustrated by Erica Harrison). The book I wish I’d writtenAnything ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate E. Williams, Professor of Education, University of the Sunshine Coast MalikNalik/ Shutterstock Many teachers and parents know neuroscience, the study of how the brain functions and develops, is important for children’s education. Brain development is recommended as part of ...
Does Three’s new true crime series about the trial that gripped the nation bring us any closer to knowing what happened to Pauline Hanna?We all have our vices, and for eight weeks in the winter of 2024 mine was ghoulishly mainlining coverage of the Philip Polkinghorne murder trial. Day ...
The internet seems to be permanent. But all those dead links are a reminder that useful information sometimes only stays accessible when someone is paying for it. Sometime in the early 2010s, it occurred to my high school teachers that they ought to be teaching us something about how to ...
New Zealand is becoming increasingly involved in operations designed to benefit the US Navy in its space race against China, even as the defence force denies its tentative steps into space have anything to do with military operations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Worrying signs are emerging about aspects of Australia’s health system, which will require the attention of whoever wins the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Mills, Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney More than two weeks in, we know one thing for sure. This time, the election campaign does matter. In decades past, when voters were more loyally rusted ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anam Bilgrami, Senior Research Fellow, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University On his campaign trail, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged A$200 million to upgrade St John of God Midland Public Hospital in Perth. He promised more beds and operating ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kat Bolstad, Associate professor, Auckland University of Technology The colossal squid was first described in 1925 based on specimens from the stomach of a commercially hunted sperm whale. A century later, an international voyage captured the first confirmed video of this species ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate E. Williams, Professor of Education, University of the Sunshine Coast MalikNalik/ Shutterstock Many teachers and parents know neuroscience, the study of how the brain functions and develops, is important for children’s education. Brain development is recommended as part of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Jasmine Waheed/Unsplash Hot cross buns aren’t just a sweet snack that appears around Easter. They carry centuries of storytelling in their dough. From ancient gods to modern supermarkets, these sticky spiced buns have ...
In a TikTok video, Paul described this as an event “to talk about the police and what alternatives we could have to the police and what radical kind of police abolition could look like in real terms.” ...
We’ve known colossal squid exist for 100 years, yet this is the first time one has been seen alive in the deep. Best of all, it’s a beautiful baby. Te Papa’s most popular exhibit is not known for her beauty. The colossal squid is laid out in a sealed bed ...
As the US ramps up tariffs, the PM and his deputy are clashing – not just over strategy, but over who gets to define New Zealand’s foreign policy tone, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The fracture ...
As a non-alcohol drinker, I have become aware of the way many work and other official social occasions are defined by the presence of alcohol.
Some people I used to work with, were uncomfortable that I wasn’t drinking alcohol at work social events. I came to realise that more most people, alcohol can signal a shift from work mode to relaxation and socialising mode. And it’s indicated as such in the way the events are promoted – “After work drinks”.
But then that raises the question as to why alcohol has become such a marker? Conversely, socialising with illegal recreational drugs is seen by some as liberating, and others as a marker of anti-social behaviour. The health case for and against each form of drug is intertwined with their social meanings.
“The health case for and against each form of drug is intertwined with their social meanings.”
Exactly, in fact I’d say it’s almost totally dependant. Professor David Nutt got sacked as the British Home Secretary’s chief drug advisor for pointing to evidence that LSD, ecstasy and cannabis were safer than alcohol. “The government has interfered with the scientific processes of the [drug advisory] panel for several years and it has caused significant resentment,” he said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/02/david-nutt-alan-johnson-drugs
Anyone who looks at the evidence can see that cannibis should at least be decriminalized (legalization is a different argument), and that there are a number of very promising medicinal properties to be examined. People who are suffering could be helped.
No maintream political party wants to lose votes by going there, so the just trot out the same old “it’s about protecting our kids” arguments. Drug policy is a good example of how people are sheep who swallow what they are told to swallow by their ‘government’ who refelcts thier own fears, ignorance, and prejudices back at them. Me no like drugs, drugs = bad, decriminalize he says? he likes drugs, show uz yer bong then, no to drugs I say no.
Gordon Brown:
“”We have to take a broader view in the round that was more than just the scientific advice. It’s about the effects on young people that drugs are harmful and not acceptable.”
He said Nutt’s “consistent disagreement” of opinion undermined the government’s message on drugs.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/03/brown-johnson-nutt-drugs?intcmp=239
Jesus, what a complete wanker that KappuMuTheta is.
Despise people like him, narrow minded bore.
Indeed the phrase ‘sanctimonious cock’ comes to mind….. and surprisingly not in relation to Peter Dunn.
You are missing the point, deliberately or not. It is a sad (but ruefully humorous) day when pointing to rank hypocrisy gets cut down as “sanctimonious” and “narrow-minded”. Tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in NZ.
How is Dunne being a hypocrite with this tweet.
Ps I think politicians or anyone tweeting is a fucking dick.
I’m all for a few beers and whines and Xmas, but I think it would be better if Dunne:
a. Didn’t confine his largesse to senior management
b. provided coke, weed and MDMA as alternatives. The former in particular could be useful for anyone having to deal with Dunne on a regular basis, given its known bullshitogenic properties
BM
I applaud KappuMuTheta for exposing the hypocrisy under which Dunne operates.
The only person that is being a sanctimonious and narrow minded bore is Dunne himself. His vendetta against the legal high industry in this country should also be targeted towards the consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol is a drug with known adverse affects easily evidenced by the harm it bestows on individuals, families and communities. Alcohol can bash you in the streets, on the roads, and in your own home.
I do not support prohibition whatsoever. However, I also do not support the inequitable treatment being meted out to those that prefer another type of drug.
+1 with Dunnyman it’s often all about the grandstanding to keep in the limelight.
What do you expect from the man who’s helping Shonkey and the Hollowmen sell off NZ.
Twitter: where ADHD/Stalking/Narcissism are passed off as ‘social networking’
I had a similar exchange with Dunne on twitter & he blocked me from his account
Despite what some people think, he really is a hypocritical asshole when it comes to alcohol & weed & his treatment of both.
Scoring drugs
Drinking now if that helps.
Tweet is retarded.
Which one? I just got back home from after-work drinks, and I sincerely hope you mean Dunne’s, because in term of how prevalent it is and how it’s used, alcohol is by far the most harmful drug in New Zealand. (and, as usual, Peter Dunne needs rectal head-removal surgery)
Just had a listen to a Guardian interview with Professor David Nutt who I mentioned above. If anyone is interested he discusses drugs from a rational scientific viewpoint, concluding with something I figured out for myself a while back:
“I feel quite passionately, I hope it comes across, the way we deal with drugs is one of the great mistakes of the last century. We whole concept of prohibition, the war on drugs, the irrational polemic about drugs, I think has done a huge disservice to society.”
He also speaks about how as chief drugs advisor his superiors were not interested in evidence that countered the status quo rhetoric of fear and hysteria around drugs, and how potentially revelatory scientific work has not happened because of irrational politics.
We are fearful little children being lead with a safety rope down the garden path by people desperate to keep their jobs. When someone tries to wriggle free to see what might be off the path, we throw them in jail.
The legal high shit was causing harm to people so some wanker could make millions of dollars in profit. Let’s not try and pretend it was some social good.
We don”t need more products disturbing the minds of vulnerable people and disturbing their minds it was.
That being said we should not be throwing people in jail for personal cannabis use even though it is harmful to some people any more than we should throweople in jail for smoking cigarettes.
Prohibition of drugs in the first case is what made the market for legal highs viable and all the bad press that legal drugs recieve only serves to make it even more lucrative to sell unknown, untested research chemicals. The problem is not the legal highs it is the illegal ones being still illegal and no government having the sack to challenge the legitimacy of the international war on ‘drugs’
Yes, commercialisation of drugs is also bad, but it’s not as bad as criminal commercialisation. (or “dealing”, if you prefer)
There’s a number of ways to make legal drugs even safer than when they were prohibited. For instance, we can trust the scientific evidence on how drugs should be used, which drugs are reasonably safe for consumption, and have a rational drug policy that focuses on safety for those who choose to use recreational drugs. I would rather know that a few more people are using drugs safely with knowledge of the side-effects and how to go about using them, than have less people use black-market drugs that have no safety checks, (and so could be cut with practically anything, making them more dangerous) with an intimidation barrier to seeking medical help for complications or addiction, and with highly inflated cost.
In comparison to the black market, the legal high industry is like having a pretty-pink bubble bath.
That’s not to say commercialisation is an ideal solution, (I’d much rather we had amateurs held to the same safety standard making drugs to use themselves or give out for free) but I think it is the only one that’s likely to result in the necessary pressure on Parliament to reform drug laws.
Commercialisation of drugs = Alcohol and tobacco sales for ages, even modern pharmaceuticals being designed with the focus being on treatment/dependence instead of cure/independence while marijuana based products could likely replace most of the rubbish that pharmac shores up. Legal drugs have propensity to be far more dangerous than the illegal ones, at least I can go to a library and find at least a handful of books with factually based information on LSD, Heroin, MDMA. These drugs are historically well documented in terms of their effects on human physiology in long term, the same cannot be said for 4MEC, MDPV, PMA, plus a myrad of mystery chemicals which have only been used in recreational drug in recent decades. Kids straight out of high school play russian roulette popping ‘ecstasy’ pills and the only information they’re given in school is outdated or disputable. Dealers are always going to make assurances but unless they’re big fish they don’t even know what it is they’re selling, but it sells. Prohibition has never worked, my uncle was a slygrogger in the 1930’s, it only serves to empower political types grandstanding with their bullshit, the likes of Peter Dunne, while endangering those among us who embrace their individual sovereignty and the right to do what one would like in respect to ones own body and mind.
That is why I said we should have a drug policy based around the science of how drugs are used and how that compares with safe usage. Of course that includes alcohol and tobacco, which overall are the biggest causers of harm in our current society.
That’s not caused by their legal status, it’s caused by the lack of effective regulation now that they are legal. Few advocates of legalisation of recreational drugs want them to be unmonitored and unregulated. (and most of those few are hardcore libertarians who think nothing should be regulated…)
Ps hope Dunne paid for those drinks out of his own pocket. I thought public servants were not allowed to spend money on alcohol.
@ Sssmith; indeed.
Especially when the Minister of Health is denying life-saving medication for those who need it… https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/terminal-disease-sufferer-appeals-to-john-key-update-more-questions/
These booze-ups don’t come cheap, in case anyone thinks it’s only a few thousand taxdollars involved; http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/7550010/Govt-spent-500-000-on-boozy-functions?
At a time when Dear Leader sez we are “fiscally constrained”, wasting money on piss ups seems an odd way to shown “prudent fiscal responsibility”.
HSBC gets slapped with a wet bus ticket for laundering drug money. No bankers go to jail.
Ordinary citizens routinely jailed and lives detroyed for possessing drugs.
Apparently the law doesn’t apply to the rich and powerful
ropata
I think you will find that all the top executives responsible for the money laundering, of HKSB USA got fired, from CEO, CFO down.
They will have very great difficulty in getting another job, as they are well known, being publically outed.
I think you will find that Ropata was talking about these people not going to jail for such serious crimes.
Of course they got fired, the companies has to cough up some scapegoats. Trouble getting another job? Poor old CEOs, I guess they will just have to be happy with the millions they’ve accumulated.
I’ve no doubt that 20-years ago Dunne would also have made cigarettes, filtered and unfiltered, available to his ‘guests’ in pleasing little displays amid the canapes and thought nothing of most of them puffing away in corners to add to the haze of blue smoke hanging under the ceiling – and had anyone complained of his not only making cancer-causing agents freely available but inflicting it on non-smokers would have accused them of drivel and sanctimoneous humbug.
Dunne doesn’t have an original thought in his head nor a shred of conviction about anything in his body. He’s the ultimate political prostitute, willing to be anything to anyone and totally inert with regard to anything that his master-of-the-moment hasn’t given him a script for.
Mind you, I’ve always considered Twitter is for twits, and avoid it like a plague.
nailed him. hypocritical, meddling sad excuse for a hair piece
In terms of the number of people it kills and injures, directly or indirectly, throughout the world each year, ethanol is arguably the biggest poison problem the human race has. There are those who say it comes second to nicotine, but of course nicotine is not the principal toxic or carcinogenic element in cigarettes, although it is the principal addictive element. KappaMuTheta has his/her science correct, whatever you may think of his/her delivery.