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…
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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Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
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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.
https://imgur.com/u8Fo1wf
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.
https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1477360402338095113?s=20
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".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdMSRolWCyQ&t=4s
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)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAAp_luluo0
That was quite stupid.
Didn't think it funny or not like the subject?
When the Rabbi Yeshua shot a couple of Corinthians…
https://twitter.com/HillReporter/status/1473635317806632962
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.
https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1477154650939813891
Has the strain been identified as Omicron?…..the article dosnt say.
Once bitten, twice shy.
https://twitter.com/PasiRayala/status/1476834923831087108
https://twitter.com/PasiRayala/status/1476578294845915139
https://twitter.com/PasiRayala/status/1477291787509284869
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.