Prejudice against folks who get high to improve their mental health remains in the media. Media don't reflect grass-roots reality!
A couple years after California legalised cannabis for adult use in 2016, Danielle Simone Brand decided to try it. A journalist in the US Pacific Northwest, Brand, now 42, found cannabis left her feeling “better and more embodied, happier in my body and mind”. Looking at legal cannabis as a wellness tool, she quickly liked how using the substance herself bettered her ability to parent her two children, now 8 and 11.
“Cannabis helps me in certain transitional moments,” she says. “I can more easily set aside my workday to-do list, along with whatever challenges and frustrations I've experienced that day, and get into the kind of headspace where I can patiently help with homework or make dinner with my daughter.”
Brand, the author of Weed Mom: The Canna-Curious Woman's Guide to Healthier Relaxation, Happier Parenting, and Chilling TF Out, says cannabis helped her slow down enough to linger with her kids at bedtime. Because she was so often in a hurry to get them to bed at a reasonable hour – and buy some rest for herself – Brand says she was missing out on time when her kids were keen to connect. That meant she failed to hear important details about what they were learning, how they felt about school and their relationships with friends.
The first time researcher Heather McIlvaine-Newsad became aware of cannamoms was around 2018, due to the emergence of Facebook groups devoted to the new social movement. An anthropology professor and co-founder of Western Illinois University’s interdisciplinary minor in cannabis and culture, McIlvaine-Newsad noted some of the Facebook discussion groups had been running for several years. Today, she says there are more than two dozen such groups on Facebook, boasting several thousands of members.
53-year-old Barinder Rasode also felt her stress ratchet up during the pandemic. With three children, aged 28, 25 and 17, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based mother struggled to parent amid Covid-19, especially while trying to explain to her youngest child what was going on. “You’re dealing with a teenager whose world has got turned upside down, and you’re confined in a small space, all together, for more hours than anybody should,” says Rasode, a former municipal politician turned CEO of medical-cannabis business-incubator GrowTech Labs.
Many cannamoms, including Rasode, Thomas and Brand, all ‘microdose’ cannabis – using the plant or its extracts in small doses.
That's the key point for therapeutic usage. The homeopathic analogy applies. Just use enough to shift your state of mind. No more is necessary.
Why? The psyche is a complex system. Gestalt shifts result from tiny triggers. Neuroscience has documented the various ways different parts of the brain contribute their function to consciousness, and also has moved on to document how feelings produced throughout the body likewise affect our outlook, behaviour, and decision-making. Such practical holism informs our grasp of health nowadays.
Different strokes for different folks. Its a sorry description of those that have control that they should mandate that we only have access to the two most lethal.
A family member has the unerring ability to 'friend' the non functioning potheads. Some are truly sorry specimens particularly when the overuse is coupled with an innate lack of intelligence and the cannabis use started in the early teens. Some of them are not able to hold down a steady job and never will. I find it very sad.
I've been to the wards (note the plural) of non functioning people with fetal alcohol syndrome, truly disturbing individuals who never had a chance, never even had the choice, some not able to survive without assistance. I found that incredibly sad. No choice comes without repercussions. But that the government should dictate that alcohol is the only choice for an activity that seems to be intrinsic to mankind is truly heinous.
Its not about good and bad or protecting a population, if it was we would see regulation of sugar, its simply bad law and a rotten government unwilling to do the right thing.
Those days we got it via contacts as “Buddha Sticks” from off the ships at Port Taranaki. It was wrapped around matchstick-thin sticks of bamboo & came from SE Asia.
I rolled a cigar-sized doobie out of four cigarette papers for my mates at a party in Waitara. Got stoned as frack & it freaked me out – although it made the contemporary music we were playing on the stereo about 3 times as interesting – I found I could hone in on drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals, BVs & hear them with pristine clarity like never before.
I was so stoned that when I stepped off my mate’s doorstep to leave for home (about a four inch height) it was like I was experiencing slow motion & the step seemed about a foot high. Not hallucinating as such, just felt very much in an altered state of consciousness. Thank goodness another, rather straight, mate who didn’t partake drove us home to New Plymouth.
When I got home at about 2 am I was freaking out that I might have damaged my brain. I was much too stoned to even talk to my older brother who saw my red eyes, guessed what was happening, & told me to go to bed before my parents saw me.
Woke up the next morning & I was fine. No after effects at all. Man, this is way better than booze, I concluded.
It didn’t become a regular feature of my life until my mid-20s. I never got it from gangs. I always seemed to be able to find non-gang sources (at work or when out socially) who just quietly grew their own & sometimes sold oz bags on the side. I also grew my own (in amongst carefully selected tall marigolds) for about 10 years.
It was never available at my school in my schooldays, though I believe it IS commonly available there nowdays.
I’m glad I never got onto it when at school. I had enuf trouble concentrating when bored as it was. If I’d being doing dope in my schooldays I’d have had no idea what we’d just been taught after every class.
You may have heard NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warning the public that everybody should expect to get infected by the Omicron variant.
That’s pretty gloomy, but is he wrong?
I asked Hunter, Plank and Martiniuk about this.
“Basically he is correct,” Hunter replied. “Nothing in medicine is 100 per cent, but the large majority of people will get Omicron.”
Martiniuk said she did not know. “But wouldn’t you rather delay getting it until a few years from now? Wouldn’t you rather get it when there are better treatments and better vaccines?”
Plank certainly doesn’t agree with Hazzard’s messaging. He sees it as defeatist, but he acknowledges the minister probably has a point. The sheer speed at which the virus spreads, and the fact it evades vaccination, means that once it starts spreading it’s going to infect a lot of people – although maybe not everyone.
“But that doesn't mean you don’t do anything to try and slow it down or stop it,” Plank says, “And there are still vulnerable groups, and we really need to keep those groups in mind.”
Nothing wrong with slowing it down, applying the precautionary principle. However the unity stance is never going to work – particularly if directed against Gaia.
Problem with academics is lack of Gaian consciousness. Ivory-tower syndrome rules their thinking. Plank always seems sensible & I haven't disagreed with any of his views, but he's bound by his indoctrination like all the others. To grasp the evolutionary context, one must think outside the academic square.
There could already be people in the community with it that don't realise they have it. Remember many people don't know they have it until the test result comes back.
I already commented on that article on another thread, so won't repeat myself.
Instead, and in light of the official narrative crumbling (and not a moment too soon), I'll post these wee lines from a piece of Guardian reporting today –
The government said a further 154 people had died in England within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 174,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Bit of a shift from the reporting of these past few years that would have read along the lines of – "another 154 Covid deaths" and "there have been a total of 174 000 Covid deaths"
While I welcome the change, I'd really quite like the bastards behind the ubiquitous "project fear" reporting of these past few years to be dragged into public view and dealt with appropriately.
We can take comfort in recent UK trends (30th Dec. 332 deaths, 31st Dec. 203 deaths, 1st Jan. 154 deaths – a year ago it was 592 deaths per day [7-day moving average] and rising), and in the roll-out of boosters and new treatments for COVID infections.
Should be a doddle for all but the seriously ill and/or dying from now on – 'cry freedums' trumps "project fear". However, we may not be out of the dense woods just yet – let's touch base in 3 – 4 weeks to re-examine the pandemic success story that is the UK. And keep an eye out for new variants of concern, why not.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chairman, has said it is “wholly erroneous to talk about the risk of the NHS becoming overwhelmed”, adding that the new year began with the NHS “already overwhelmed, in a parlous state, and with patient care suffering”.
He described staff as “exhausted”, and added: “A key priority for the government this year must be to properly invest in doctors’ wellbeing, recognising that the NHS cannot afford to lose any more of its workforce without dangerously jeopardising patient care.”
Well nothing will change until the people of the world somehow unite and create a World without money system. We are still in a primitive stage of evolution so a World without money system could be a long time in the waiting.
Has Biden succeeded in taxing the shit out of the wealthy, as he intended?
The only other way to control greed is by making it morally reprehensible to society, but even Christianity & Islam – which both try to do that – have spectacularly failed in that regard.
I dunno how practical a world without money is. Money has been around for so long because it’s just so practical.
But we could sure do with a major reform of the international currency markets that are still far too much controlled by the US & allow the US to strangle economies of countries they don’t like or whose leaders or policies are inconvenient to their government or the major corporations who fund their politicians.
If you really want to have a world without money you are going to have to come up with a simple way to trade your work for others..
If you, a maker of shoes, but who likes strawberries, wants to find a way of exchanging your shoes for someone else's strawberries how are you going to do it without having the intermediary of money? How do you find a seller of strawberries? What do you do if they don't want a new pair of shoes? What do you do if you really want some strawberries next month and not today? What if you only want a small amount of strawberries in comparison with a large pair of shoes?
etc, etc, etc. Money, in some form or other is perhaps the greatest invention of, and the most useful thing ever created by, the Human Race.
The experience of Hungary, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey – to name just the best-known recent cases – show that a transition from some kind of power-sharing democracy to despotism can happen rapidly, in not much longer than a decade.
That was certainly the case in the 20th Century & nothing has changed. In fact it can happen even more quickly these days, imo. Look how many people in the US bought into the “Trump’s the solution” madness from the “get-go”!
Democracy loses credibility when it fails to deliver. Find a National or Labour voter & target the bugger. See if you can wake him up. From your source:
Despotisms in practice strive to learn the arts of nimble governance. They do more than repeat the mantra of “popular sovereignty”: their leaders harness public opinion polling agencies, think tanks, election campaigns, happiness forums, policy feedback groups, online hearings and other early warning detectors.
The rulers of the new despotisms are deception and seduction perfectionists. They do all they can to camouflage the violence they wield against those who refuse to conform.
Using a combination of slick means, including calibrated coercion masked by balaclavas, they manage to win the loyalty of sections of the middle classes, skilled and unskilled workers, and the poor. Despotisms are hard governments in soft velvet form. They work tirelessly to lure their subjects into subjection. Voluntary servitude is their thing.
Voluntary servitude is the ethos of your typical Nat/Lab voter. They are literally unable to think of what else to do with their lives.
So my point is our mainstreamer political duopoly is already operating to simulate democracy just like the despots. They just use a bit more of that velvet…
It's worth keeping in mind that whenever we tear down the achievements of liberal democracy – that you're also serving an despot's purpose knowingly or not.
A decent start to the test, a bit disappointing losing Blundell at the end but its still 258 runs in the bank with 5 wickets in hand
Minimum target from here would be at least 350 and then we'll see what the bowlers can do on this pitch.
A good start to Youngs career as opener but its a shame we can't seem to produce another opening partner for Latham (at least it means we can put him in the team)
Blundell hasn't been going too well of late but he deserves more of an extended run in the role (maybe swop with Ravindra in the batting order?) however hes not just replacing an all time NZ great, hes replacing one of the best wicketkeeper/batters of all time
Having said that Cleaver, Fletcher and Seifert are all doing well in FC cricket so a decent score in the 2nd innings would do him a world of good.
So a team, in the near future, of:
Latham
Young
Williamson
Conway
Nicholls
Ravindra
Blundell
Jamieson
Southee
Wagner
Boult
Isn't too shabby, maybe would like to see more of Patel and Jamieson maybe a position too high but still pretty good.
Excellent choices for the Black Caps PR. I will miss Taylor.
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
Whats good about this team is that we also have Mitchell in the reserves and hes shown to be more than able to make the step up to top order international batting.
We've got good pace bowling reserves, plenty of wicket keeping/batters floating about. If we could just sort out the spinning options we'd be a threat in all conditions.
Excellent choices for the Black Caps PR. I will miss Taylor.
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary in the 2021 version, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
The "poster child" politicians for liberalism just can't help themselves. From Jacinda's "be kind" before openly guffawing at creating a divided NZ, to this corker from her "poster child" predecessor.
I think he was a black slave in a former life. He’s now a white 'waste of space' liberal who's conflicted. He now realises ''black faces don't matter.''
don't know who BLN are, but in this tweet, they are clearly misrepresenting what Trudeau is saying.
They claim that he said unvaccinated people are them unscientific, misogynists and racists, and that he was attacking unvaccinated people.
Whereas what he actually said is two things:
there are vaccine hesitant people, and they will keep trying to convince them
there are another group of people who are "ferociously against vaccination", and who tend to be anti-science, racist, misongynist. They are small group.
Here's a transcript,
Why BLN would want to conflate vax hesitant people with hard core anti-vaxxers connected to Qanon etc I don't know. Seems weird to me.
I don't believe Bull was being careless at all, quite the opposite in fact.
His "divided NZ" is just more billshit, some love to play the persecution up for whatever reasons."No papers" is another one used the other day . Ffs what's this country coming to when one has to travel 50 km , pass 6 supermarkets, 8 dairies, 3 bakeries just to find a bakery with a cafe attached to it in order to satisfy a need to feel persecuted!
Anyway. You want to talk to the 9 year olds who have been told they can't do any extracurricular activities next year unless they're injected and then come back and tell me how NZ isn't divided?
You want to talk about the kids whose heads are all fucked up because "unless injected" they don't get to hang out with their school pals? (Maybe you don't recall what a huge deal peer pressure and social acceptance was as a pre-teen kid)
Or maybe just tell me how the clip Rosemary put up doesn't mean that NZ's been deliberately divided?
20 odd km is the distance on public transport btw (not 50km) – to the bakery I've been buying my bread from these past two years or more because it's decent bread they bake.
You deliberately overlooking Trudeau's hypocrisy? (Blumenthal’s tweet’s arguably really quite pertinent and funny)
The guy who runs around in black face saying racists are not going to tolerated…
Anyway, hypocrisy aside, what do you think he means when he says those who resist the injections and who he considers to be anti-science and/or racist and/or misogynists may well not be tolerated?
You can the circularity of his argument, whereby anyone who refuses to submit to an injection in spite of government persuasion becomes almost by definition a person harbouring personal traits or beliefs that he reckons ought not to be tolerated, yes?
So what would the next step in this "othering" be? Open season on the deplorable un-injected?
Looks like the interview was from September, I'll hazard a guess that there is broader context, including what he said next.
BLN's website page on the piece is obviously manipulative and not journalism. There's no date or context for the video, and their headlines and brief content smack of sensationalism and trumpism (note they accuse Trudeau of being divisive while they are doing exactly that with their approach). This is the kind of shit I would expect to be passed around on FB without any attempt at fact checking.
BLN – "Shining a light on the science and data of Covid-19. Investigate and arrive at your own conclusions." BLN is also active on Telegram – the extremists' platform of choice.
The tweet was compiled by Max Blumenthal ffs. What earthly difference does it make what platform or outlet was carrying the original clip that he used in making his observation?
And….are you insinuating that "telegram" – 'the extremists' platform of choice' (in your words) is perhaps where misogynists, racists and anti-science types gather?
Perhaps you think, essentially in parallel with Trudeau, that Telegram, or anyone who uses Telegram is another indication (alongside people refusing injections?) of who ought not be tolerated?
Trudeau says, "But also, there are people who are ferociously against vaccination…" and it's those he lambasts, not the "vaccine hesitant” or the broader "unvaccinated".
The comment (above) "Prime Minister @Justin Trudeau launches into an unfounded and divisive tirade on unvaccinated people … " is a crock.
I call them 'malignant anti vaxxers' and they are a different breed from many who are hesitant or the broader unvaccinated. These are the ones who send out false letters to people about booster shots using MOH letterhead, damage vaccine centres, bully those turning up at centres so that the centres have to close.
They are the ones who featured in David Farrier's Loopy article
Looks like omicron is becoming likely to be viewed as similar to the flu.
A Belgian scientific research station in Antarctica is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, despite workers being fully vaccinated and based in one of the world's remotest regions. Since 14 December, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus. Officials say cases remain mild so far.
Joseph Cheek, a project manager for the International Polar Foundation, told the BBC: "All residents of the station were offered the opportunity to leave on a scheduled flight on 12 January. However, they all expressed their wish to stay and continue their work."
Govts have trained people to see a 64% pandemic infection rate as a calamity. Having this team of scientists treat it as no problem could cause a wave of cognitive dissonance to spread around the world with this news…
Leader of Finland’s biggest opposition party says ”NATO membership would improve Finland’s security and bring predictability to our region”. Green Parliament Group leader (in gov’t) says ”NATO membership of 🇫🇮& 🇸🇪 would clarify Europe’s security arrangements and build stability”.
So we've gone from it being official govt figures, to a youtuber not even bothering linking to a news article I can't read.
[RL: Bill provided a time reference: At about 10 minutes in, the NHS figures are presented. I tested all the links and encountered no problem or paywalls. Moderation has been working to encourage cites and your initial sneering response, lacking any argument or detail, was not needed. Personally I do not do Twitter and you seem to have a thing against YT, but both are frequently used and that isn’t going to change.]
"About 10 minutes in", NHS figures for admissions are presented, but then factored down with the "20%" figure from the telegraph (a link only visible as far as I can see at the bottom of the paper in the video, and had to be hand-transposed into the browser to find I wasn't allowed to read the article).
There appears to be a fundamental citation gap in that argument, let alone from anything based on official figures for the 20% claim.
[RL: Your carping about paywalls is easily addressed in a few seconds work with a search engine. I’m not going to do that for you. In the meantime you have failed to acknowledge my original moderation warning and are now heading into ‘wasting my time’ territory.]
Didn't realise it was a warning, and still can't find the telegraph source from the video in the links you reckoned worked fine. But now I know, so I'll leave it.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Lexi Smith and Bud Ward “CRA” It’s one of those acronyms even many-a-veteran environmental policy geek may not recognize. Amidst the scores and scores of acronyms in the field – CERCLA, IPCC, SARA, LUST, NPDES, NDCs, FIFRA, NEPA and scores more – ...
In a nice bit of news in a World Gone Mad, I can report that Of Tin and Tintagel, my 5,800-word story about tin (and political scheming), is now out as part of the Spring 2022 edition of New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). As noted previously, this one owes a ...
Dr Jennifer Summers, Professor Michael Baker, Professor Nick Wilson* Summers J, Baker M, Wilson N. Covid-19 Case-Fatality Risk & Infection-Fatality Risk: important measures to help guide the pandemic response. Public Health Expert Blog. 11 May 2022. In this blog we explore two useful mortality indicators: Case-Fatality Risk (CFR) and Infection-Fatality ...
In the depths of winter, most people from southern New Zealand head to warmer climes for a much-needed dose of Vitamin D. Yet during the height of the last Ice Age, one species of moa did just the opposite. I’m reminded of Bill Bailey’s En Route to Normal tour that visited ...
In the lead-up to the Budget, the Government has been on an offensive to promote the efficiency and quality of its $74 billion Covid Response and Recovery Fund -especially the Wage Subsidy Scheme component. This comes after criticisms and concerns from across the political spectrum over poor-quality spending, and suggestions ...
Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Lincoln University, New Zealand; Andrew D. Barnes, University of Waikato; Bruce Clarkson, University of Waikato, and John Innes, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchUrbanisation, and the destruction of habitat it entails, is a major threat to native bird populations. But as our new research shows, restored ...
Unfinished: Always, gnawing away at this government’s confidence and empathy, is the dictum that seriously challenging the economic and social status-quo is the surest route to electoral death. Labour’s colouring-in book, and National’s, have to look the same. All that matters is which party is better at staying inside the lines.DOES ...
Radical As: Māori healers recall a time when “words had power”. The words that give substance to ideas, no matter how radical, still do. If our representatives rediscover the courage to speak them out loud.THERE ARE RULES for radicalism. Or, at least, there are rules for the presentation of radical ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters A brutal, record-intensity heat wave that has engulfed much of India and Pakistan since March eased somewhat this week, but is poised to roar back in the coming week with inferno-like temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius (122°F). The ...
The good people at the Reading Tolkien podcast have put out a new piece, which spends some time comparing the underlying moral positions of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien: (The relevant discussion starts about twenty-seven minutes in. It’s a long podcast). In the interests of fairness, ...
Crime is becoming a key debate between Labour and National. This week they are both keen to show that they are tough on law and order. It’s an issue that National has a traditional advantage on, and is one that they’re currently getting good traction from. In response, Labour is ...
So far, the excited media response to the spike in “ram-raid” incidents is being countered by evidence that in reality, youth crime is steeply in decline, and has been so for much of the past decade. Who knew? Perhaps that’s the real issue here. Why on earth wasn’t the latest ...
In the past 10 years or so – and that’s how quickly it has happened – all our comfortable convictions about the unassailability of free speech have been turned on their heads. Suddenly we find ourselves fighting again for rights we assumed were settled. Click here to watch the video ...
Enforced Fertility: The imminent overturning of Roe versus Wade by the US Supreme Court is certain to raise echoes here that are no less evocative of the dystopia envisioned by Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid’s Tale. Gilead can happen here.WITH THE UNITED STATES seemingly on the brink of becoming “Gilead”, ...
Not Wanted On Grounds Of Political Rejuvenation: Winston Peters did nothing more than visit the protest encampment erected by anti-vaxxers on the parliamentary lawn. A great many New Zealanders applauded him for meeting with the protesters and wondered why the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition could not do ...
May The Force Be With Us: With New Zealanders under 40, nostalgia for a time when politics worked gains little purchase. Politics hasn’t swerved to any noticeable degree since the 1980s, becoming in the Twenty-First Century a battle between marketing strategies, not ideologies. Young New Zealanders critique political advertisements in ...
Dane Giraud reflects on his working class upbringing and how campaigning for free speech radicalised him Evidence to support censorship as a tool for social cohesion is paltry. I Read the NZ Human Rights Commission website, and 99% of their ‘evidence’ is anecdotal. When asked why we need hate speech ...
As you may have noticed, I have been slowly working my way through the works of Agatha Christie. At the time of writing, I have read some thirty-eight of her books – less than half her total output, but arguably enough to get a reasonable handle on it. It ...
Population growth has some effect on economic growth, but it is complicated especially where infrastructure is involved. We need to think more about it. In an opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald, John Gascoigne claimed that New Zealand was a ‘tragic tale of economic decline’. He gave no evidence ...
The Greens have been almost invisible since the 2020 election. Despite massive crises impacting on people’s lives, such as climate change, housing, inequality, and the cost of living, they’ve had very little to say. On this week’s highly contentious issue of politicians being banned from Parliament by Trevor Mallard, the ...
The government has announced it will be replacing all coal boilers in schools by 2025: All remaining coal boilers in New Zealand schools will be replaced with cleaner wood burners or electric heating by 2025, at a cost of $10 million, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. The coal ...
Israeli news media and politicians often complain about the activity of neo-Nazis in Ukraine. “Activists and supporters of Ukrainian nationalist parties hold torches as they take part in a rally to mark the 112th birth anniversary of Stepan Bandera, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 1, 2021. Credit: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters The recent ...
Another gnawing warming worry Accidental outcomes of our engineering prowess are warming Arctic regions at a rapid pace. Another species of accomplished engineers is rapidly occupying and exploiting new territory we've thereby made more easily available, namely beavers (Castor canadensis). Beaver populations in affected Arctic regions have increased from "none" to "quite a ...
Dr Simon Lambert’s dream is to see Indigenous nations across the world exercising their sovereign rights by adding their say to disaster risk reduction planning. Simon, of Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana, specialises in indigenous disaster risk reduction, indigenous health and indigenous development, social science, environmental management, planning ...
Rukingi Haupapa (Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa) credits his stroke in 2005 for changing his life: leading him to change his name, get his mataora (facial moko) and set up a trust to help fellow stroke survivors. Oranga (health and wellbeing) is Rukingi’s passion. He holds a Master’s degree in Indigenous ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Mr Speaker, It has taken four-and-a-half years to even start to turn the legacy of inaction and neglect from the last time they were in Government together. And we have a long journey in front of us! ...
Today Greens Te Mātāwaka Chair and Health Spokesperson, Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, said “The Greens have long campaigned for an independent Māori Health Authority and pathways for Takatāpui and Rainbow healthcare. “We welcome the substantial funding going into the new health system, Pae Ora, particularly for the Māori Health Authority, Iwi-Partnership ...
Budget 2022 shows progress on conservation commitments in the Green Party’s cooperation agreement Green Party achievements in the last Government continue to drive investment in nature protection Urgent action needed on nature-based solutions to climate change Future budget decisions must reflect the role nature plays in helping reduce emissions ...
Landmark week for climate action concludes with climate budget Largest ever investment in climate action one of many Green Party wins throughout Budget 2022 Budget 2022 delivers progress on every part of the cooperation agreement with Labour Budget 2022 is a climate budget that caps a landmark week ...
Green Party welcomes extension to half price fares Permanent half price fares for Community Services Card holders includes many students, which helps implement a Green Party policy Work to reduce public transport fares for Community Services Card holders started by Greens in the last Government Budget 2022 should be ...
New cost of living payment closely aligned to Green Party policy to expand the Winter Energy Payment Extension and improvement of Warmer Kiwi Homes builds on Green Party progress in Government Community energy fund welcomed The Green Party welcomes the investment in Budget 2022 to expand Warmer Kiwi ...
Budget 2022 support to reduce homelessness delivers on the Green Party’s cooperation agreement Bespoke support for rangatahi with higher, more complex needs The Green Party welcomes the additional investment in Budget 2022 for kaupapa Māori support services, homelessness outreach services, the expansion of transitional housing, and a new ...
Green Party reaffirms call for liveable incomes and wealth tax Calls on Government to cancel debt owed to MSD for hardship assistance such as benefit advances, and for over-payments The Green Party welcomes the support for people on low incomes Budget 2022 but says more must be done ...
Our Government has just released this year’s Budget, which sets out the next steps in our plan to build a high wage, low carbon economy that gives economic security in good times and in bad. It’s full of initiatives that speed up our economic recovery and ease cost pressures for ...
A stronger democracy is on the horizon, as Golriz Ghahraman’s Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill was pulled from the biscuit tin today. ...
Tomorrow, the Government will release this year’s Budget, setting out the next steps in our plan to build a high wage, low carbon economy that gives economic security in good times and in bad. While the full details will be kept under wraps until Thursday afternoon, we’ve announced a few ...
As a Government, we made it clear to New Zealanders that we’d take meaningful action on climate change, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. Earlier today, we released our next steps with our Emissions Reduction Plan – which will meet the Climate Commission’s independent science-based emissions reduction targets, and new ...
Emissions Reduction Plan prepares New Zealand for the future, ensuring country is on track to meet first emissions budget, securing jobs, and unlocking new investment ...
The Greens are calling for the Government to reconsider the immigration reset so that it better reflects our relationship with our Pacific neighbours. ...
Hamilton City Council and Whanganui District Council have both joined a growing list of Local Authorities to pass a motion in support of Green Party Drug Reform Spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick’s Members’ bill to minimise alcohol harm. ...
Today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a major package of reforms to address the immediate skill shortages in New Zealand and speed up our economic growth. These include an early reopening to the world, a major milestone for international education, and a simplification of immigration settings to ensure New Zealand ...
Proposed immigration changes by the Government fail to guarantee pathways to residency to workers in the types of jobs deemed essential throughout the pandemic, by prioritising high income earners - instead of focusing on the wellbeing of workers and enabling migrants to put down roots. ...
Ehara taku toa i te toa takatahi, engari taku toa he toa takimano – my strength is not mine alone but the strength of many (working together to ensure safe, caring respectful responses). We are striving for change. We want all people in Aotearoa New Zealand thriving; their wellbeing enhanced ...
The Green Party is throwing its support behind the 10,000 allied health workers taking work-to-rule industrial action today because of unfair pay and working conditions. ...
Since the day we came into Government, we’ve worked hard to lift wages and reduce cost pressures facing New Zealanders. But we know the rising cost of living, driven by worldwide inflation and the war in Ukraine, is making things particularly tough right now. That’s why we’ve stepped up our ...
An independent review of New Zealand’s detention regime for asylum seekers has found arbitrary and abusive practices in Aotearoa’s immigration law, policy, and practice. ...
The Government is contributing $100,000 to a Mayoral Relief Fund to help the Levin community following this morning’s tornado, Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan says. “My thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by severe weather events in Levin and across the country. “I know the tornado has ...
The Quintet of Attorneys General have issued the following statement of support for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and investigations and prosecutions for crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The Attorneys General of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand join in ...
Morena tatou katoa. Kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Thank you all for being here today. Yesterday my colleague, the Minister of Finance Grant Robertson, delivered the Wellbeing Budget 2022 – for a secure future for New Zealand. I’m the Minister of Health, and this was ...
Urgent Budget night legislation to stop major supermarkets blocking competitors from accessing land for new stores has been introduced today, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark said. The Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill amends the Commerce Act 1986, banning restrictive covenants on land, and exclusive covenants ...
It is a pleasure to speak to this Budget. The 5th we have had the privilege of delivering, and in no less extraordinary circumstances. Mr Speaker, the business and cycle of Government is, in some ways, no different to life itself. Navigating difficult times, while also making necessary progress. Dealing ...
Budget 2022 provides funding to implement the new resource management system, building on progress made since the reform was announced just over a year ago. The inadequate funding for the implementation of the Resource Management Act in 1992 almost guaranteed its failure. There was a lack of national direction about ...
The Government is substantially increasing the amount of funding for public media to ensure New Zealanders can continue to access quality local content and trusted news. “Our decision to create a new independent and future-focused public media entity is about achieving this objective, and we will support it with a ...
$662.5 million to maintain existing defence capabilities NZDF lower-paid staff will receive a salary increase to help meet cost-of living pressures. Budget 2022 sees significant resources made available for the Defence Force to maintain existing defence capabilities as it looks to the future delivery of these new investments. “Since ...
More than $185 million to help build a resilient cultural sector as it continues to adapt to the challenges coming out of COVID-19. Support cultural sector agencies to continue to offer their important services to New Zealanders. Strengthen support for Māori arts, culture and heritage. The Government is investing in a ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
Four new permanent Coroners to be appointed Seven Coronial Registrar roles and four Clinical Advisor roles are planned to ease workload pressures Budget 2022 delivers a package of investment to improve the coronial system and reduce delays for grieving families and whānau. “Operating funding of $28.5 million over four ...
Establishment of Ministry for Disabled People Progressing the rollout of the Enabling Good Lives approach to Disability Support Services to provide self-determination for disabled people Extra funding for disability support services “Budget 2022 demonstrates the Government’s commitment to deliver change for the disability community with the establishment of a ...
Fairer Equity Funding system to replace school deciles The largest step yet towards Pay Parity in early learning Local support for schools to improve teaching and learning A unified funding system to underpin the Reform of Vocational Education Boost for schools and early learning centres to help with cost ...
$118.4 million for advisory services to support farmers, foresters, growers and whenua Māori owners to accelerate sustainable land use changes and lift productivity $40 million to help transformation in the forestry, wood processing, food and beverage and fisheries sectors $31.6 million to help maintain and lift animal welfare practices across Aotearoa New Zealand A total food and ...
House price caps for First Home Grants increased in many parts of the country House price caps for First Home Loans removed entirely Kāinga Whenua Loan cap will also be increased from $200,000 to $500,000 The Affordable Housing Fund to initially provide support for not-for-profit rental providers Significant additional ...
Child Support rules to be reformed lifting an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 children out of poverty Support for immediate and essential dental care lifted from $300 to $1,000 per year Increased income levels for hardship assistance to extend eligibility Budget 2022 takes further action to reduce child poverty and ...
More support for RNA research through to pilot manufacturing RNA technology platform to be created to facilitate engagement between research and industry partners Researchers and businesses working in the rapidly developing field of RNA technology will benefit from a new research and development platform, funded in Budget 2022. “RNA ...
A new Business Growth Fund to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow Fully funding the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund to unleash regional economic development opportunities Tourism Innovation Programme to promote sustainable recovery Eight Industry Transformation Plans progressed to work with industries, workers and iwi to transition ...
Budget 2022 further strengthens the economic foundations and wellbeing outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa, as the recovery from COVID-19 continues. “The priorities we set for Budget 2022 will support the continued delivery of our commitments for Pacific peoples through the Pacific Wellbeing Strategy, a 2020 manifesto commitment for Pacific ...
Boost for Māori economic and employment initiatives. More funding for Māori health and wellbeing initiatives Further support towards growing language, culture and identity initiatives to deliver on our commitment to Te Reo Māori in Education Funding for natural environment and climate change initiatives to help farmers, growers and whenua ...
New hospital funding for Whangārei, Nelson and Hillmorton 280 more classrooms over 40 schools, and money for new kura $349 million for more rolling stock and rail network investment The completion of feasibility studies for a Northland dry dock and a new port in the Manukau Harbour Increased infrastructure ...
$168 million to the Māori Health Authority for direct commissioning of services $20.1 million to support Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards $30 million to support Māori primary and community care providers $39 million for Māori health workforce development Budget 2022 invests in resetting our health system and gives economic security in ...
Biggest-ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget Provision for 61 new emergency vehicles including 48 ambulances, along with 248 more paramedics and other frontline staff New emergency helicopter and crew, and replacement of some older choppers $100 million investment in specialist mental health and addiction services 195,000 primary and intermediate aged ...
Landmark reform: new multi-year budgets for better planning and more consistent health services Record ongoing annual funding boost for Health NZ to meet cost pressures and start with a clean slate as it replaces fragmented DHB system ($1.8 billion year one, as well as additional $1.3 billion in year ...
Fuel Excise Duty and Road User Charges cut to be extended for two months Half price public transport extended for a further two months New temporary cost of living payment for people earning up to $70,000 who are not eligible to receive the Winter Energy Payment Estimated 2.1 million New ...
A return to surplus in 2024/2025 Unemployment rate projected to remain at record lows Net debt forecast to peak at 19.9 percent of GDP in 2024, lower than Australia, US, UK and Canada Economic growth to hit 4.2 percent in 2023 and average 2.1 percent over the forecast period A ...
Cost of living payment to cushion impact of inflation for 2.1 million Kiwis Record health investment including biggest ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget First allocations from Climate Emergency Response Fund contribute to achieving the goals in the first Emissions Reduction Plan Government actions deliver one of the strongest ...
Budget 2022 will help build a high wage, low emissions economy that provides greater economic security, while providing support to households affected by cost of living pressures. Our economy has come through the COVID-19 shock better than almost anywhere else in the world, but other challenges, both long-term and more ...
Health Minister Andrew Little will represent New Zealand at the first in-person World Health Assembly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday 22 – Wednesday 25 May (New Zealand time). “COVID-19 has affected people all around the world, and health continues to ...
New Zealand is committing to trade only in legally harvested timber with the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today. Under the Bill, timber harvested in New Zealand and overseas, and used in products made here or imported, will have to be verified as being legally harvested. ...
The Government has welcomed the release today of StatsNZ data showing the rate at which New Zealanders died from all causes during the COVID-19 pandemic has been lower than expected. The new StatsNZ figures provide a measure of the overall rate of deaths in New Zealand during the pandemic compared ...
Legislation that will help prevent serious criminal offending at sea, including trafficking of humans, drugs, wildlife and arms, has passed its third reading in Parliament today, Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta announced. “Today is a milestone in allowing us to respond to the increasingly dynamic and complex maritime security environment facing ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor is set to travel to Thailand this week to represent New Zealand at the annual APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting in Bangkok. “I’m very much looking forward to meeting my trade counterparts at APEC 2022 and building on the achievements we ...
Settlement of the first pay-equity agreement in the health sector is hugely significant, delivering pay rises of thousands of dollars for many hospital administration and clerical workers, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “There is no place in 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand for 1950s attitudes to work predominantly carried out ...
Health Minister Andrew Little opened a new intensive care space for up to 12 ICU-capable beds at Christchurch Hospital today, funded from the Government’s Rapid Hospital Improvement Programme. “I’m pleased to help mark this milestone. This new space will provide additional critical care support for the people of Canterbury and ...
Budget 2022 will continue to deliver on Labour’s commitment to better services and support for mental wellbeing. The upcoming Budget will include a $100-million investment over four years for a specialist mental health and addiction package, including: $27m for community-based crisis services that will deliver a variety of intensive supports ...
Budget 2022 will continue to deliver on Labour’s commitment to better mental wellbeing services and support, with 195,000 primary and intermediate aged children set to benefit from the continuation and expansion of Mana Ake services. “In Budget 2022 Labour will deliver on its manifesto commitment to expand Mana Ake, with ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has today announced sanctions on Belarusian leaders and defence entities supporting Russia’s actions in Ukraine, as part of the Government’s ongoing response to the war. “The Belarusian government military is enabling the illegal and unacceptable assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “Under the leadership of ...
Just after World War 2, there were incentives to clear forest and bring land into agricultural production. In places, the land had been stripped bare as forests were felled for sheep grazing. Today, you only have to look at the hills around Taihape and see the stumps of a once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Lukas Coch The federal election is on Saturday. Polls close at 6pm local time; that means 6pm AEST in the eastern states, 6:30pm in SA and the ...
Analysis - It was the government's biggest week of the year with the Budget and the Emissions Reduction Plan coming out, and neither was given much of a welcome, Peter Wilson writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ataus Samad, Lecturer, Western Sydney University Mick Tsikas/AAP With the election almost upon us, thoughts are more than ever turned to political survival. While getting pre-selected and winning elections are the initial, difficult challenges of a political career, a major ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart by Keith Rankin. We know that New Zealand has one of the world’s lowest mortality outcomes, so far, in the Covid19 pandemic. (So has North Korea.) It’s still far too early to access the costs incurred – loss of utility enjoyed by actual and ‘would-have-been’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Lillie Eiger/ Sony You’ve probably heard the name Harry Styles. He is the current “real big thing” in popular music. But how did a former boy band star become ...
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris is advocating for a stamp duty on foreign buyers of residential property. Following yesterday’s Budget 2022 announcement, Harris believes that a stamp duty would help increase the ...
And how did the people react to the boost in spending announced in this year’s Budget to promote our wellbeing? In some cases by pleading for more; in other cases, by grouching they got nothing. But Budget spending is never enough. Two lots of bleating came from the Human Rights ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Emma La Rouche, from the University of Canberra’s Media and Communications team, look at the last week of the campaign as Australians head to the polls. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock It will be impossible to tackle climate change unless we transform the way we build and plan cities, which are responsible for a staggering 70% of global emissions. ...
Military spending allocated in the 2022 Wellbeing Budget is $6,077,484,000 - an average of more than $116.8 million every week, and a 10.4% increase on actual spending in 2021. [1] This year’s increase illustrates yet again that the government remains ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Tingay, John Curtin Distinguished Professor (Radio Astronomy), Curtin University JIM LO SCALZO/EPA The United States Congress recently held a hearing into US government information pertaining to “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs). The last investigation of this kind happened ...
Bank shareholders, speculators, investors, and ticket clippers will be partying for days over the enormous profits they’ll be expecting following Labour’s budget reveal yesterday. After a 48 percent increase in profits in 2021, banks in particular ...
Budget 2022 has a relatively small amount of new cash allocated to science, research and innovation. This budget comes ahead of what could become a major overhaul of the research, science, and innovation sector in the coming years, with MBIE now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Curtin, Professor of Politics and Policy, University of Auckland Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to parliament via video link from COVID isolation during budget day.Getty Images All budgets are about economics and politics, and 2022’s was no different. The Labour ...
Early this Sunday evening there will be a phone alert you can’t ignore – but don’t worry, it’s just a test. This year’s nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system will take place on Sunday 22 May between 6-7pm It is expected ...
It was announced today that the inaugural Chinese Medicine Council of New Zealand (CMCNZ) has been appointed by the Minister of Health, Hon. Andrew Little. This brings the Chinese medicine profession in under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peggy Kern, Associate professor, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock It’s been a big week and you feel exhausted, and suddenly you find yourself crying at a nice nappy commercial. Or maybe you are struck with a cold or the coronavirus ...
No, we haven’t fully analysed Budget 2022, but we did listen to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s speech. He took great pride in announcing his fifth Budget invests $5.9 billion a year in net new operating spending, while introducing multi-year funding packages that also draw from Budget 2023 and Budget 2024 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Victor Grabarczyk/unsplash Dogs have an exceptional sense of smell. We take advantage of this ability in many ways, including by training them to find illicit drugs, dangerous goods and even people. In ...
The Government is using dirty tactics as it pushes through enabling legislation to increase PAYE revenue by 10% under the cover of yesterday’s Budget, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in response to the Income Insurance Scheme (Enabling ...
RNZ Pacific A total of NZ$196 million has been set aside for Pacific services in Aotearoa New Zealand in this year’s Budget. A big chunk of that — $76 million will go on Pacific health services. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the cash injection would be used to support Pacific ...
By George Heagney of Stuff A group of students from West Papua, the Melanesian Pacific region in Indonesia, are fearful about their futures in New Zealand after their scholarships were cut off. A group of about 40 students have been studying at different tertiary institutions in New Zealand, but in ...
By Craig McCulloch, RNZ News deputy political editor More than two million New Zealanders will get a one-off $350 sweetener as part of the Budget’s centrepiece $1 billion cost-of-living relief package. The temporary short-term support is counterbalanced by a record $11.1 billion for the health system as the government scraps ...
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk A movement dedicated to peaceful self-determination among indigenous groups in the Pacific is the latest group in Aotearoa to add support for struggling Papuan students caught in Aotearoa New Zealand after an abrupt cancellation of their scholarships. About 70 Papuan students are currently in New Zealand ...
RNZ Pacific The pro-independence coalition parties of Kanaky New Caledonia have selected their candidates for the French Legislative elections next month. Wali Wahetra from the Palika Party is standing in one electoral district, and Gerard Reignier from Union Caledonienne is standing in the other. Speaking with La Premiere, Wahetra explained ...
COMMENTARY:By Nina Santos in AucklandOn May 9, the Philippines went to the polls in what has been called “by far the most divisive and consequential electoral contest” in the Philippines.The electoral race had boiled down to two frontrunners: one was the current Vice-President Leni Robredo, running on ...
PNG Post-Courier Governor-General Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae has described Papua New Guinea’s late Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil as a vibrant and visionary leader who was passionate about his people and the electorate. He said Basil loved and dedicated his life to the people of Bulolo until his unexpected ...
Are you receiving NZ Superannuation? If you are, then no, you are not one of the 2.1 million Kiwi’s getting the $350 cost of living supplement announced in the 2022 Budget. If you hold a Gold card the extension of the half priced public ...
On May 19th, the Government released its 2022 Budget which included a number of initiatives to help vulnerable whānau in our communities. Many of these initiatives focus on a proactive strategy to recover from the effects of COVID. Within the community ...
Budget 2022 has been a disappointment for New Zealand’s leading advocate for older people. Although the Grey Power Federation is pleased to note that the Government is investing $3.103 million over four years to continue implementing the Better Later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Ukraine’s sea port of Mariupol, blockaded and now fallen to Russian forces.Getty Images Trying to gauge the worst aspect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is difficult. For some, it will be the ...
The Government has committed $37.485m to continue the work of achieving a thriving, fair and sustainable construction sector. The funding will support the Construction Sector Accord to deliver its Construction Sector Transformation Plan 2022-2025. “This ...
The Commission commends the Government’s Budget 2022 investment in specialist mental health and addiction, particularly the investment in community-based crisis services, specialist child and adolescent mental health and addiction services, and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University You first have to lose an election on principle if you want to win one on principle. This was how Labor rationalised the miscalculations that led to its “Don’s Party” disappointment in 1969, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camilla Hoyos, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Shutterstock There is increasing recognition of the important role sleep plays in our brain health. Growing evidence suggests disturbed sleep may increase the risk of developing dementia. I and University of Sydney ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Wilson, Associate Professor of Leadership, Swinburne University of Technology Shutterstock Whatever the result of the 2022 election, one thing is clear: many Australians are losing faith that their social institutions serve their interests. Our annual survey of 4,000 Australians ...
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has labelled the Budget a "backwards Budget" and with "bandaid" solutions. Watch his post-Budget speech here ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The text arrived on Thursday morning, from a woman who helps me with my horses. “And now I have to do that voting thing. Recommendations please? Who is best?” Well Margaret, after an unedifying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Hellard, Deputy Director (Programs), Burnet Institute Australia’s COVID death toll is rising, yet public health measures to reduce transmission such as mask mandates are largely a thing of the past. It’s time for governments and the community to consider what ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society and NATSEM, University of Canberra Shutterstock Early in the election campaign, on April 14, we learned that Australia’s unemployment rate had slipped below 4% in March, to 3.95% – ...
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Prejudice against folks who get high to improve their mental health remains in the media. Media don't reflect grass-roots reality!
That's the key point for therapeutic usage. The homeopathic analogy applies. Just use enough to shift your state of mind. No more is necessary.
Why? The psyche is a complex system. Gestalt shifts result from tiny triggers. Neuroscience has documented the various ways different parts of the brain contribute their function to consciousness, and also has moved on to document how feelings produced throughout the body likewise affect our outlook, behaviour, and decision-making. Such practical holism informs our grasp of health nowadays.
Wondering if these cannamoms ,start off….'cannakids'….I hope not,although it is hard to imagine…they won't.
I hope so. They'd be likely to become the ones that rescue humanity from mainstreamer-driven cultural toxic sludge.
I've seen it affect people in different ways…functioning potheads,psychotics and schizophrenia….
Me too, in 1972. It became obvious that some users just don't do moderation. The concept of self-discipline is too alien..
Different strokes for different folks. Its a sorry description of those that have control that they should mandate that we only have access to the two most lethal.
A family member has the unerring ability to 'friend' the non functioning potheads. Some are truly sorry specimens particularly when the overuse is coupled with an innate lack of intelligence and the cannabis use started in the early teens. Some of them are not able to hold down a steady job and never will. I find it very sad.
I've been to the wards (note the plural) of non functioning people with fetal alcohol syndrome, truly disturbing individuals who never had a chance, never even had the choice, some not able to survive without assistance. I found that incredibly sad. No choice comes without repercussions. But that the government should dictate that alcohol is the only choice for an activity that seems to be intrinsic to mankind is truly heinous.
Its not about good and bad or protecting a population, if it was we would see regulation of sugar, its simply bad law and a rotten government unwilling to do the right thing.
I was 16 when I first tried it in 1973.
Those days we got it via contacts as “Buddha Sticks” from off the ships at Port Taranaki. It was wrapped around matchstick-thin sticks of bamboo & came from SE Asia.
I rolled a cigar-sized doobie out of four cigarette papers for my mates at a party in Waitara. Got stoned as frack & it freaked me out – although it made the contemporary music we were playing on the stereo about 3 times as interesting – I found I could hone in on drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals, BVs & hear them with pristine clarity like never before.
I was so stoned that when I stepped off my mate’s doorstep to leave for home (about a four inch height) it was like I was experiencing slow motion & the step seemed about a foot high. Not hallucinating as such, just felt very much in an altered state of consciousness. Thank goodness another, rather straight, mate who didn’t partake drove us home to New Plymouth.
When I got home at about 2 am I was freaking out that I might have damaged my brain. I was much too stoned to even talk to my older brother who saw my red eyes, guessed what was happening, & told me to go to bed before my parents saw me.
Woke up the next morning & I was fine. No after effects at all. Man, this is way better than booze, I concluded.
It didn’t become a regular feature of my life until my mid-20s. I never got it from gangs. I always seemed to be able to find non-gang sources (at work or when out socially) who just quietly grew their own & sometimes sold oz bags on the side. I also grew my own (in amongst carefully selected tall marigolds) for about 10 years.
It was never available at my school in my schooldays, though I believe it IS commonly available there nowdays.
I’m glad I never got onto it when at school. I had enuf trouble concentrating when bored as it was. If I’d being doing dope in my schooldays I’d have had no idea what we’d just been taught after every class.
Should Team Kiwi keep trying to slow it down, or just let 'er rip? I'd prefer to err on the side of caution, but ‘we’ may not have much choice.
Unite against
COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz
Nothing wrong with slowing it down, applying the precautionary principle. However the unity stance is never going to work – particularly if directed against Gaia.
Problem with academics is lack of Gaian consciousness. Ivory-tower syndrome rules their thinking. Plank always seems sensible & I haven't disagreed with any of his views, but he's bound by his indoctrination like all the others. To grasp the evolutionary context, one must think outside the academic square.
Your humble giants must be quite lumbered by Frank farsightedness
There could already be people in the community with it that don't realise they have it. Remember many people don't know they have it until the test result comes back.
Good point, Jester, there certainly could be – guess we'll find out soon enough.
I already commented on that article on another thread, so won't repeat myself.
Instead, and in light of the official narrative crumbling (and not a moment too soon), I'll post these wee lines from a piece of Guardian reporting today –
The government said a further 154 people had died in England within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 174,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Bit of a shift from the reporting of these past few years that would have read along the lines of – "another 154 Covid deaths" and "there have been a total of 174 000 Covid deaths"
While I welcome the change, I'd really quite like the bastards behind the ubiquitous "project fear" reporting of these past few years to be dragged into public view and dealt with appropriately.
We can take comfort in recent UK trends (30th Dec. 332 deaths, 31st Dec. 203 deaths, 1st Jan. 154 deaths – a year ago it was 592 deaths per day [7-day moving average] and rising), and in the roll-out of boosters and new treatments for COVID infections.
Should be a doddle for all but the seriously ill and/or dying from now on – 'cry freedums' trumps "project fear". However, we may not be out of the dense woods just yet – let's touch base in 3 – 4 weeks to re-examine the pandemic success story that is the UK. And keep an eye out for new variants of concern, why not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic#Misinformation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
Just something else to fret about.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/despotic-regimes-a-new-global-competitor-to-be-reckoned-with?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=9668ee764f-Summer+Newsroom+02.01.2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-9668ee764f-47886425
ISTM inequality is the driving force. Even in Aotearoa.
Well nothing will change until the people of the world somehow unite and create a World without money system. We are still in a primitive stage of evolution so a World without money system could be a long time in the waiting.
The BIG question is how do you control greed?
Regulation. And taxation.
Has Biden succeeded in taxing the shit out of the wealthy, as he intended?
The only other way to control greed is by making it morally reprehensible to society, but even Christianity & Islam – which both try to do that – have spectacularly failed in that regard.
Speaking of…morals…arise Sir Tony Blair…what rogues gallery would be complete without his admission.
A man who ignored 1million people protesting in London,and went ahead with a war of death and destruction in Iraq,based on a litany of…lies.
Wonderful world…beautiful ..people.
Well said Blazer
I dunno how practical a world without money is. Money has been around for so long because it’s just so practical.
But we could sure do with a major reform of the international currency markets that are still far too much controlled by the US & allow the US to strangle economies of countries they don’t like or whose leaders or policies are inconvenient to their government or the major corporations who fund their politicians.
Well I have an opinion piece on that,too big for here but can be read as a free download at: http://byd0nz.com
If you really want to have a world without money you are going to have to come up with a simple way to trade your work for others..
If you, a maker of shoes, but who likes strawberries, wants to find a way of exchanging your shoes for someone else's strawberries how are you going to do it without having the intermediary of money? How do you find a seller of strawberries? What do you do if they don't want a new pair of shoes? What do you do if you really want some strawberries next month and not today? What if you only want a small amount of strawberries in comparison with a large pair of shoes?
etc, etc, etc. Money, in some form or other is perhaps the greatest invention of, and the most useful thing ever created by, the Human Race.
The experience of Hungary, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey – to name just the best-known recent cases – show that a transition from some kind of power-sharing democracy to despotism can happen rapidly, in not much longer than a decade.
That was certainly the case in the 20th Century & nothing has changed. In fact it can happen even more quickly these days, imo. Look how many people in the US bought into the “Trump’s the solution” madness from the “get-go”!
Thanks for that. A good read & well-made points.
Democracy loses credibility when it fails to deliver. Find a National or Labour voter & target the bugger. See if you can wake him up. From your source:
Voluntary servitude is the ethos of your typical Nat/Lab voter. They are literally unable to think of what else to do with their lives.
So my point is our mainstreamer political duopoly is already operating to simulate democracy just like the despots. They just use a bit more of that velvet…
Excellent article.
It's worth keeping in mind that whenever we tear down the achievements of liberal democracy – that you're also serving an despot's purpose knowingly or not.
Isn't he saying that liberal democracy=despotism?
Cricket, cricket, cricket!
A decent start to the test, a bit disappointing losing Blundell at the end but its still 258 runs in the bank with 5 wickets in hand
Minimum target from here would be at least 350 and then we'll see what the bowlers can do on this pitch.
A good start to Youngs career as opener but its a shame we can't seem to produce another opening partner for Latham (at least it means we can put him in the team)
Blundell hasn't been going too well of late but he deserves more of an extended run in the role (maybe swop with Ravindra in the batting order?) however hes not just replacing an all time NZ great, hes replacing one of the best wicketkeeper/batters of all time
Having said that Cleaver, Fletcher and Seifert are all doing well in FC cricket so a decent score in the 2nd innings would do him a world of good.
So a team, in the near future, of:
Latham
Young
Williamson
Conway
Nicholls
Ravindra
Blundell
Jamieson
Southee
Wagner
Boult
Isn't too shabby, maybe would like to see more of Patel and Jamieson maybe a position too high but still pretty good.
Heartening to see this: https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/black-caps/300489169/devon-conway-plays-leading-hand-for-black-caps-on-return-from-injury-with-ton
Some good comments in there
Time ticks on. Southee 33 years old, Wagner 35, Boult 32.
Incredible effort by Bangladesh today to lose only 2 wickets. Hats off to this young side.
Indeed, they're doing very well. The Black Caps maybe a little complacent..?
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
Whats good about this team is that we also have Mitchell in the reserves and hes shown to be more than able to make the step up to top order international batting.
We've got good pace bowling reserves, plenty of wicket keeping/batters floating about. If we could just sort out the spinning options we'd be a threat in all conditions.
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary in the 2021 version, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
Santners no good at test level (very good white ball player though)
Disappointed with Patel not playing and I think we're a batter or all rounder short
The "poster child" politicians for liberalism just can't help themselves. From Jacinda's "be kind" before openly guffawing at creating a divided NZ, to this corker from her "poster child" predecessor.
I think he was a black slave in a former life. He’s now a white 'waste of space' liberal who's conflicted. He now realises ''black faces don't matter.''
lol yes he makes your skin crawl doesnt he haha
don't know who BLN are, but in this tweet, they are clearly misrepresenting what Trudeau is saying.
They claim that he said unvaccinated people are them unscientific, misogynists and racists, and that he was attacking unvaccinated people.
Whereas what he actually said is two things:
Here's a transcript,
Why BLN would want to conflate vax hesitant people with hard core anti-vaxxers connected to Qanon etc I don't know. Seems weird to me.
just seen Robert has made the same point below.
Was Bill careless in posting this, or did he intend to smear Trudeau?
It's a poor attempt, either way. It only required reading and a little thought to expose the bullsh*t.
taking a crack at liberals, while smearing Trudeau and Ardern, in one short comment. And yep, the tweet had obvious red flags.
…smearing…Ardern…
She needs no help with that.
I'm not sure what she covered herself with here…but it won't go down in history as "glory".
You’re in premod. Please respond here https://thestandard.org.nz/new-zealand-2-covid-0-so-far/#comment-1847239
I don't believe Bull was being careless at all, quite the opposite in fact.
His "divided NZ" is just more billshit, some love to play the persecution up for whatever reasons."No papers" is another one used the other day . Ffs what's this country coming to when one has to travel 50 km , pass 6 supermarkets, 8 dairies, 3 bakeries just to find a bakery with a cafe attached to it in order to satisfy a need to feel persecuted!
You're correct. I wasn't being careless.
Anyway. You want to talk to the 9 year olds who have been told they can't do any extracurricular activities next year unless they're injected and then come back and tell me how NZ isn't divided?
You want to talk about the kids whose heads are all fucked up because "unless injected" they don't get to hang out with their school pals? (Maybe you don't recall what a huge deal peer pressure and social acceptance was as a pre-teen kid)
Or maybe just tell me how the clip Rosemary put up doesn't mean that NZ's been deliberately divided?
20 odd km is the distance on public transport btw (not 50km) – to the bakery I've been buying my bread from these past two years or more because it's decent bread they bake.
You deliberately overlooking Trudeau's hypocrisy? (Blumenthal’s tweet’s arguably really quite pertinent and funny)
The guy who runs around in black face saying racists are not going to tolerated…
Anyway, hypocrisy aside, what do you think he means when he says those who resist the injections and who he considers to be anti-science and/or racist and/or misogynists may well not be tolerated?
You can the circularity of his argument, whereby anyone who refuses to submit to an injection in spite of government persuasion becomes almost by definition a person harbouring personal traits or beliefs that he reckons ought not to be tolerated, yes?
So what would the next step in this "othering" be? Open season on the deplorable un-injected?
Scratch a liberal…. 😉
That's as may be, but the comment+tweet you put up is a crock.
Looks like the interview was from September, I'll hazard a guess that there is broader context, including what he said next.
BLN's website page on the piece is obviously manipulative and not journalism. There's no date or context for the video, and their headlines and brief content smack of sensationalism and trumpism (note they accuse Trudeau of being divisive while they are doing exactly that with their approach). This is the kind of shit I would expect to be passed around on FB without any attempt at fact checking.
https://brightlightnews.com/trudeau-launches-divisive-hate-rhetoric-against-unvaccinated/
BLN – "Shining a light on the science and data of Covid-19. Investigate and arrive at your own conclusions." BLN is also active on Telegram – the extremists' platform of choice.
The tweet was compiled by Max Blumenthal ffs. What earthly difference does it make what platform or outlet was carrying the original clip that he used in making his observation?
And….are you insinuating that "telegram" – 'the extremists' platform of choice' (in your words) is perhaps where misogynists, racists and anti-science types gather?
Perhaps you think, essentially in parallel with Trudeau, that Telegram, or anyone who uses Telegram is another indication (alongside people refusing injections?) of who ought not be tolerated?
Scratch a liberal…
Trudeau says, "But also, there are people who are ferociously against vaccination…" and it's those he lambasts, not the "vaccine hesitant” or the broader "unvaccinated".
The comment (above) "Prime Minister @Justin Trudeau launches into an unfounded and divisive tirade on unvaccinated people … " is a crock.
I call them 'malignant anti vaxxers' and they are a different breed from many who are hesitant or the broader unvaccinated. These are the ones who send out false letters to people about booster shots using MOH letterhead, damage vaccine centres, bully those turning up at centres so that the centres have to close.
They are the ones who featured in David Farrier's Loopy article
https://www.webworm.co/p/loopy
and form part of the dirty dozen anti vaxxers
https://www.counterhate.com/disinformationdozen
I am hoping that some of the genuine unvaccinated who have concerns about mRNA will take the opportunity to access the AstraZeneca vaccine
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300452571/covid19-nz-government-says-anyone-will-be-able-to-get-astrazeneca-vaccine
Just for something different (we all know who won)
That was quite stupid.
Didn't think it funny or not like the subject?
When the Rabbi Yeshua shot a couple of Corinthians…
Looks like omicron is becoming likely to be viewed as similar to the flu.
Joseph Cheek, a project manager for the International Polar Foundation, told the BBC: "All residents of the station were offered the opportunity to leave on a scheduled flight on 12 January. However, they all expressed their wish to stay and continue their work."
Govts have trained people to see a 64% pandemic infection rate as a calamity. Having this team of scientists treat it as no problem could cause a wave of cognitive dissonance to spread around the world with this news…
Maybe.
Has the strain been identified as Omicron?…..the article dosnt say.
Once bitten, twice shy.
test
edit: weird. Got a wordfence 403 error in another post.
comment doesn't work sans links, either. Supposed to be in the "Good News" post, but no messages banning me from it as far as I've seen.
I'll try posting it here, to see if the 403repeats
attempt 1 -fail
removing bullets – fail
half length with links in -pass
If someone wants to provide evidence via youtube, they have a couple of options:
they can either link to the source document directly and "tip their hat" to the youtube video; or
they can link directly to the timestamp of the relevant source being mentioned; or
they can do either of the above and
If someone wants to waste other people's time instead of actually providing evidence, they can provide a 20minute video.
As it was, the source for his 80% figure seems to be an article from the Telegraph – not included below his video with all the other links. Funny how the basis for his assumption isn't listed with the rest of his source data. The Telegraph article also seems to be paywalled. I'm sure it's just unfortunate.
So we've gone from it being official govt figures, to a youtuber not even bothering linking to a news article I can't read.
[RL: Bill provided a time reference: At about 10 minutes in, the NHS figures are presented. I tested all the links and encountered no problem or paywalls. Moderation has been working to encourage cites and your initial sneering response, lacking any argument or detail, was not needed. Personally I do not do Twitter and you seem to have a thing against YT, but both are frequently used and that isn’t going to change.]
other half test – fail
other half bullets removed -fail
no colons – pass
Now, I can offer a way that the two positions are conflicting with the same data-
20% might be the primary diagnosis with no secondary diagnoses. Covid, nothing else. Nothing, not even a sixth finger or scabies.
47% have a primary diagnosis of covid, with other secondary diagnoses of varying complexity
33% have covid as a secondary diagnoses, with their primary ailment as primary dx, or they caught it in hospital.
But then that would rely on lazy, unfamiliar, or outright misleading analyses on the part of the newspaper's source.
Mod note for you.
You tested all the links. Was the telegraph link in the section below the video?
because I'm still getting
"About 10 minutes in", NHS figures for admissions are presented, but then factored down with the "20%" figure from the telegraph (a link only visible as far as I can see at the bottom of the paper in the video, and had to be hand-transposed into the browser to find I wasn't allowed to read the article).
There appears to be a fundamental citation gap in that argument, let alone from anything based on official figures for the 20% claim.
[RL: Your carping about paywalls is easily addressed in a few seconds work with a search engine. I’m not going to do that for you. In the meantime you have failed to acknowledge my original moderation warning and are now heading into ‘wasting my time’ territory.]
Mod note
Didn't realise it was a warning, and still can't find the telegraph source from the video in the links you reckoned worked fine. But now I know, so I'll leave it.