i beg you to read this, share a tear for the girls involved, their resignation to the fact that sexual harrasment and rape, and gang rape is boys being boys, and then maybe write a letter to ask the "lawmakers' of this fair land to make
sexual harrasment, rape, gang rape (fucking gang rape in a school)
A fucking HATE CRIME!
maybe someone who has better vocabulary then I, who can write about such things in nice and polite ways so as to not offed, can do a post about this. About how a whole generation of girls in a School in NZ admitted to being dehumanized , traumatised, physically assaulted and rendered to nothing more then a sexual object by their male peers.
The sexual harassment survey is a confronting read.
I don't think we can legislate our way to a solution.
Why are our boys and men behaving in such demeaning ways? While schools are going to be part of the answer, surely the family environment and wider society is where solutions need to be implemented.
Decent males around young men – dads, brothers,uncles, sports coaches, teachers, community/church leaders.
A boisterous energy common in males needs to be channeled in healthy directions.
Many moons ago, at a primary school cross country, a group of younger boys who had done their run were goofing around jumping/throwing themselves over a rope tied between two electric fence 'pigtail' standards. A mum told them to stop it. They did for about 90 seconds then started up again. They were told to stop it again told someone might get hurt. I volunteered to supervise said hi-jinks to appease the concerns.
Later at prize giving, there were categories for fastest boy and girl in the different year groupings. I asked the principal if this was to be repeated at the academic side of things at the end of the year. I was told it would be looked into. They didn't.
I feel boys can grow up not feeling valued, that what often drives them is wrong or naughty. That drive needs to be channeled to manifest in a healthy way. If you grow up not having regard or love for oneself, you can hardly be expected to have regard for others.
Celia Lashlie said all of this so much better than me and the message is far more palatable when a woman says it.
Worldwide, children, women and man are being subjected to unspeakable acts of violence. Rape and all related abuses are acts of violence. Perpetrated to humiliate the "other" and show superiority. It is an act of abuse of power over others, sadistic in its core a human failure in their upbringing and understanding of respect and honor. This is an issue as old as humanity and the only way, as I see it, is to change this is by changing the upbringing of children. Women are mothers and mothers are the major influence when raising children up to the time they join day care and school, military etc. depending on culture and location. What is changing at that juncture?
I have experienced children growing up with parents of all walks of life so to speak and found it is not poverty or even neglect due to working 2 jobs etc. but drink, drugs, the culture of "proving" a boy has to "become" a man. Suppression of wishes, feelings and mental illness do come into play. Solders have acute issues because of repression when they have witnessed atrocities. The list is long but essentially, we as a human race have to find a way to overcome this animalistic instinct and need of exercising power over others. I know, its wishful thinking and most likely never going to happen.
Why are our boys and men behaving in such demeaning ways? Why do we have a massive drug problem? Why do we have to have props like alcohol and drugs to get us through life? Why do there have to be drug checks outside concerts where young people are apparently going to have a good time with music?
Why do we have so many mental health problems? Why almost every day do we hear or see in the media of someone suffering from depression?
What changes are in there in us from 1821, 1921 till 2021? Is it that the better off and more 'advanced' we are, the less stable we have become?
Men and boys have behaved like this in New Zealand for a long time. For most of New Zealand's history it was legal to both beat and rape your wife.
It was only in the late 1800's early 1900's that a conflation between puritanical evangelists and feminists started to result in questioning male rights to wife-beating, conjugal rights and marital rape.
Adulterous wives were able to be divorced simply because they created the possibility of the husband's estate being passed on at death to someone else's son. The impact of that thinking for instance meant that all benefits were paid to the male until the mid-1980's. There are lots of stories about women trying to feed their families solely on family benefit payments.
Marital rape was possible because in getting married a woman gave herself up to her husband. It was seen that marital sex was part of the contract that she had entered into and that you could not deny your husband that part of the contract.
These attitudes persisted well into the 60's and 70's with the normalised thinking evident even when looking for alternative lifestyles such as James K Baxtter's commune at Jerusalem.
Those attitudes persist today. I've heard many horrific stories from my grandparents and parents generations about what they had to endure – many over 40-50 years of marriage. Closer to home I remember one of my uncles getting his son aged about four to go and tell "mummy to get on her back cause daddy wants a fuck" – I was seven or eight when this was going on and even then was horrified but not surprised. You grew up hearing similar stuff all around you.
Marital rape only became a crime in 1985.
As well as property rights the "boys will be boys" notion was a well established notion.
It is a matter entirely clear in the physiology which governs nature that adultery in the male is a crime to which the male really is very much more accessible than the female from the force of nature. That is a physiological law, and you cannot upset it. And the reason of the law is quite simple. It is because man is inherently selfish, and nature has put so violent a passion in him in order that he may increase and multiply the people on the earth. In so far, his culpability is lessened. In the eye of legislation of reasonable beings the same onus is not to be laid upon the male as upon the female for committing adultery. Nature cannot be shoved aside and slurred over and overridden … "
Morgan Stanislaus Grace 1896 during debate on divorce laws.
The notion that men had aggressive sexual urges and women were passive was seen as a simple truism.
Some urges were however problematic. Given the prevalent attitudes towards masturbation in NZ that were still in vogue when I went to high school in the 70's – I struggle to see how even that recently that New Zealand had normal healthy attitudes.
"Ailments believed to be associated with masturbation included epilepsy, blindness, headache, impotency, loss of memory, general loss of health and strength, 'nervous debility' and ultimately insanity and death."
A whole industry developed around how to stop these urges – often moving into the blackmail of those who then purchased the products.
I think it is weird how people promote this notion of things are getting worse and OMG how did things get so bad? It has been forever bad in New Zealand and we reap the legacy of that today. I think at times we confuse the willingness to be more open about these issues and to talk about them with it is getting worse. There is still a long way to go today but we should recognise that these issues are deeply rooted in our history and will take generations to resolve.
Why are our boys and men behaving in such demeaning ways? While schools are going to be part of the answer, surely the family environment and wider society is where solutions need to be implemented.
Decent males around young men – dads, brothers,uncles, sports coaches, teachers, community/church leaders.
a coach in the US abused (digitally abused) hundreds of young gymnasts. Simone Biles is one of them.
i was raped by my stepfather
many a joke have been made about familys creepy uncle, grand dad, just recently a 12 year old foster girl who was killed by her foster father 'had sex' with her 'foster brother'.
the roman catholic church, Josh Duggar (Reality TV) from a fundamentalists evangelic quiverfull cult was just arrested or having Child abuse porn on his digital devices, one which depicted teh rape of an 18 month old girl by a guy from OZ who sits there in prison now.
teachers? how many scandals involving teachers and children just are there in nz?
No, we can ONLY legislate us out of there.
The issue is only coming to the forefront because the girls wanted to demonstrate against hte boys school and were prevented by Police and their school.
The thing is these girls know the guys who assaulted them, they are their peers, mates of their brothers, trusted boyfriends, and so on. They are not strangers. They are their community.
These guys knew full well what they did, and they probably expected to get away with is, as it is just rape.
And i bet you a dollar, it is not a huge of group of boys, its just the predators of the next generation.
All rapists are bastards. But sadly they don't come with a warning.
as i have said here
And i bet you a dollar, it is not a huge of group of boys, its just the predators of the next generation.
They are predators. And we should see them for what they are. Women rape too, boys get raped. Old women, babies. By predators. So you can only legislate and then enforce it with meaningful sentencing.
In your opinion, what does “meaningful sentencing” mean? Lock them up and throw away the key? Give them a right bollocking and a long sentence and let them lose again? Or perhaps something more constructive and healing? What do you have in mind?
And how do you suggest we go about prevention of undetectable predators striking their victims? Train cops to mind-read like in Minority Report and execute preventative arrests with laws allowing preventative sentencing?
BTW, not all sex offenders are predators, IMO. That’s way too simplistic. Have you looked into this hugely complex topic at all? Many sex offences involve alcohol and drug use and are between acquaintances, i.e. they are or a more opportunistic than pre-meditated nature. Perhaps you can elaborate on your definition of “predator”.
Did you see the case that i linked in regards to Wekas comment re the Judiciary?
The Navy guy that got a two year sentence for sexually assaulting three team mates.
Do you think that is a reasonable sentence?
The Roastbusters?
The guy in the south island that raped teh 5 year old tourist who needed reconstructive surgery is doing very well outside jail now, i wonder how that girl does.
"Ok, all men are bastards. I've got the message loud and clear."
Pffft you haven't got the message at all.
Violence is deep seated in NZ culture and violence to women is a substantial part of that. Many men are violent. Many men are not.
Alcohol just lowers inhibitions – men who are happy when drinking alcohol become happier, men who are violent when drinking alcohol oft enact that violence.
In the past this stuff was barely talked about. I know my wife was raped when she was a teen – she has never, ever told her family and never will. It wasn't the done thing to tell people. You just put up with it.
Growing up if one of the men in the street got too heavy handed with his wife the other men in the street would get together and give him a hiding and tell him to ease off – not to stop mind you – just to have a bit more self-control. Violence begats violence begats violence.
That it is now talked about is a positive change. More men/boys will get the message that it isn't OK.
As Auden put it so eloquently
“I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.”
I was looking to unpack why some boys and men can be violent, why women can inordinately be the victims of that violence, why that violence, too often, manifests in a sexual context.
Males must be part of the solution.
That means gym coaches, teachers and church men that don't rape.
Legislation as a deterrent is only messing about at the bottom of the family harm cliff.
I couldn't agree more, violence begets violence. The bully is the first victim.
It is Societal and institutionally accepted behavior
Most of the laws that we still apply to these crimes were written often at a time where men made the rules, about just what was and was not an acceptable level of violence directed at women by men. The ownership principle comes to mind, to be given from the father to the husband. Chattel.
This is not to villify men, i firmly believe that the predators are a small minority and that men by and large are not violent. But they do not speak up when they should. And i think often they are too frightened by the violence coming from men.
Sometimes the bully is just someone who gets away with it. Not all sexual predators are victims. Some just like to hurt people. Some might be opportunists. Some might have been violated themselves.
But all get better treatment in prison then the victim gets outside. We will go to length to find out what turned men/women into this predator behavior to stop them from doing it again in the future, in the meantime the victim is told to suck it up by ACC when asking for help, maybe even appeal if a request for counseling or further counceling is denied.
It is accepted behavior on an institutional level. The first instinct of the police was to cancel the protest march of these girls – so even when they try to do something, they just get cancelled by those that should keep them safe.
I read the stuff story about the police turning back the girls protest. Must have missed it at the time. I found it didn't leave a good taste – feeling that it delivered a very authoritarian message to the female protest. along the lines "you are only allowed to protest in some way or form that suits the powers in charge" and "us authority figures have got the boys back's here".
The cop excuses didn't sit well either. Putting aside truancy there is a right to peaceful protest that should be respected and citing "potential traffic problems" rather than a caused harm just doesn't cut it. But yeah I guess the girls got the message of "your needs don't matter" about even having a say.
A judge who let a man making a covert recording in a changing room off the hook – saying women are “probably more sensitive” than men about being filmed without their knowledge – is not fit to preside over sexual assault trials, a leading victims’ advocate says.
In the case you mentioned police did their job and judiciary did not.
The judiciary needs to be cleaned up as well.
This applies to historical cases for both the police and judicary as well. Innocent children were not believed or they could not do anything due to not realising that a criminal offence had taken place.
"Busing home today," she says, "I was still cautious – men were still sitting next to me – like what they were saying to their friends, what they were doing, how they were acting – I made sure they didn't get off at the same bus stop as me because if they followed me I don't know what I would do."
She once called her dad and asked him to meet her at a bus stop.
Instead of taking the quickest bus home she now catches an alternate route and travels via the bus exchange that takes an hour longer.
"It takes an hour and a half to get from school to home."
It would normally take half an hour.
"It's for their own self-protection, because of the kind of intimidation on the bus was so uncomfortable," her mother says.
It is assumed throughout the article that the girls surveyed were telling the truth and I guess some would argue that just because 20 girls say they have been raped, nobody has been convicted and they would probably ask why those alledged crimes weren't reported earlier. This quote to be reinforces that there is a major issue regardless of the police not being involved and it brings home the overall vibe that young women are getting via their gut ….that it isn't safe to be a young woman on her own when there is nobody around to protect you.
Yep, the girl learned it well. She like so many women will never leave the house again without making sure that she is able to 'protect herself' from the boys and men in her community, because she has learned that the boys and men in her community are predators and she is pray!
I am no expert in this, but my hunch is on-line porn has a lot to do with this, especially the brutal stuff. Boys can access it, see women being objectified and treated with cruelty.
not that I think this is necessary relevant, but books such as 50 shades of grey and the film. I never read it, but read feminist critiques of it, that point out it was about a controlling man who engaged in B and D with a young woman. It was a very popular book and normalised men controlling women and engaging in that sort of sex. Personally I find it terrifying rather than erotic on any level.
so sex where women are brutalised has become normalised.
I phones haven’t helped with sexting etc not only happening frequently, but being expected
I feel tremendously sorry for young women today. No wonder there are so many kids with mental health problems
And I don’t think it’s a healthy world for boys either.
difference is, we've had twenty years of addressing rape culture. This should have been more successful than it is. Online porn is a massive issue in terms of what it is teaching young men and women about sex and not teaching about consent and boundaries. Porn isn't the only factor, but it's a core one. Sex positivity, overall a positive social movement, has dropped the ball too. As with the sexual revolution in the 60s which affirmed male sexuality but ignored women, sex positivity has been coopted by neoliberalism and again women's needs are ignored. This isn't an argument for returning to the 1950s, it's pointing out that we're making progressive liberal gains but losing class ones, and we're just not very honest about it.
Yes it was Millsy we just weren’t allowed to talk about it. Eg use of the term rape culture is relatively recent and it enabled feminists in particular to name problems and solutions to the extent the term and concept is used in msm and understood in public. This should have been more successful than it has been. Other forces in the culture work against that.
… take a group of young men add alcohol and this shit is inevitable.
Glad someone has mentioned it.
40 plus years ago the law said it was illegal for anyone under 20 years to buy alcohol. That meant in practice if you were 18 years you could get away with buying alcohol.
20 plus years ago (or thereabouts) the law said it was illegal for anyone under 18 years to buy alcohol. That means in practice if you are 16 years you can get away with buying alcohol.
And therein lies a large part of the problem and most of us saw it coming 20 plus years ago but – as always – we were ignored.
The boys, Romulus and Remus on the other side of river had no girls, got bored and decided to cross the river and get some girls from a tribe called the Sabines.
The called their mate, told em : Mate, its a good day for some lootn, pillaging, n'rapin, you game? And the mates went : Yeah, nah, Yeah!
And so they went and killed all the men and stole all the girls and made them theirs.
for the life of me i could never understand why anyone would name their daughter Sabine.
What i am trying to say is that sometimes teh booze comes after making the decision to raping. For courage, nshit.
Porn has been around since ever, in Pompei, paintings of erected Phallus was a good omen/fertility sign and affixed above doors.
Sex were women are brutalised is norm, always was norm, until the 80's in many countries in the western world a women could not say no to her husband.
Women 0
Rapeculture 1
We must stop to make excuses for these shits. If Rachel Steward can loose her guns for a 'word crime' cause 'hate crime' then the Men / boys (and also women but not in this particular case ) who rape, assault, harass, sexually batter others (yes, men boys too get raped) should be charged fully, and sentenced. And that is were we Fail, collectively as a society. We actually put the rapists wellbeing above that of his victim.
Roastbusters come to mind.
The cops did not even charge these Shits for 'supplying alcohol to a minor'. Nothing. They got away. “Charges are still being laid” (lol), yet after all these years they are still out there living their life.
Cause at the end, OUR society does not give a fuck.
The girls got a life sentence and considering the state of mental health and access to treatment, they are on their fucking own with their issues resulting from rape.
I find it sad that these battles tend to be fought with arguments about economic costs and negative impacts on health before people’s personal self-worth (in the broadest sense) comes into it. It can be soul-destroying to be overlooked, ignored, denied, marginalised, or even mocked and ridiculed. A one-off is not nice but when it is reoccurring and becomes a pattern, at least a perceived one in one’s mind, it changes expectations and behaviour into a somewhat self-fulfilling paranoia. This not only costs the victim dollars and may shorten their life expectancy; it also definitely leads to loss of quality of life. It sucks!
Respect between parents and children with little talks about why it is important, and some sorrys from the two ages, is a good start. Then extend that to having self-respect so that it is hard to find a weak spot for a bully – when someone calls you 'Fatty' or some other descriptive term, if you just acknowledge that and go on, it takes the punch out of it. Some handy rejoinders that mock the bullyer will save a lot of angst too.
Instead of weak unhappy people trying to pull someone down to their level, if bullyers have to go through a workshop of setting future goals and identifying their own strengths, really thinking about their approach to life and what life has got to offer them, stopping putting others down can be part of building their personal make-up.
…….recent Stats NZ figures show that in 2020 emissions fell by 4.8 per cent from the previous year, mainly due to Covid-19 restrictions causing a fall in transport emissions.
The country's annual official record of emissions has found that in 2019 our tally rose in "one of the larger annual increases this century"
…..Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, an atmospheric-ocean scientist at NIWA, said figures from Statistics New Zealand also indicate emissions are likely to have fallen in 2020. This was a "glimmer of hope" and underscored our ability to reduce emissions from transport in particular.
"This remains an enduring lesson about how much we can accomplish by reducing emissions from traffic. The Global Carbon Project estimated that during Level 4 lockdown, Aotearoa New Zealand’s carbon dioxide emissions dropped by more than any other country in the world except Luxembourg, a small European nation," she said.
"This is in part due to the stringent lockdown measures we took, but it is also in part due to the fact that 82 percent of our electricity generation is already from renewable sources. Low emissions transportation systems have the potential to take us a long way towards our Carbon Zero goals, without the devastating humanitarian and economic impacts of Covid."
Videos like this prove that we could have saved the biosphere, if we chose to.
For wilfully ignoring the unique insight and opportunity to change our ways, afforded to us by the pandemic, our generation will be loathed and despised for the rest of recorded history.
Finally relived that the Nth’ern NT is no longer in locking, but in the same token I managed to knock out a couple of more model ships.
Anyway I see the UKLP won the recent By-election, but it’s not out of the woods yet and to be quite honest I don’t think they will never get a chance to serous threaten BoJo atm unless there is some serious changes within the UKLP
Found this on the Tribune Website. An interesting read, I must say.
Finally I must say watching the Nat’s slowly eat it’s self is very refreshing given the various NeoCon Lib BS of last 30ys from the National, but I must also confess this is bad for NZ Democracy as we must have an effective opposition to make the Government accountable. But since the National Party is now run by the Moriarty’s with all those negative waves they are producing atm, then it’s going to be a long time before they are back in Government or do anything meaningful in opposition.
As a site Moderator, I can and do highly appreciate this opinion piece by Jenny Nicholls.
And ideally, nobody should feel gagged. But every forum has rules of engagement. A letter to the editor is a submission, not a right to cause pain.
Some argue these missiles are ‘opinion,’ and don’t need checking.
Indeed, this is a misconception that seems to have taken root with a few lazy thinkers who don’t want to do the mahi and check let alone support their own opinion unless it is from a doubtful source, usually on social media.
“The stronger the opinion, the better the letter [to the Editor] – but all that strength is undercut when opinion is based on error and falsehood.”
This is pretty unpleasant, but hard to argue against (Sex-trafficing/ abuse of minors content warning). The age restrictions in the prostitution laws really do have to be enforced!
I know people who have been through that and they are really not keen on having anything to do with the police, and who can blame them? But without prosecutions there is no incentive to change. Just so long as the victims are protected during the process.
Janet Wilson trying to make up for rubbishing The Nat’s the other day and realising she had closed off her last possible employer for a P R job so accuses Labour of lying over vac rollout in today’s Stuff. It is bullshit that UK has vaccinated 60% of their population, less than that have had a single dose with about 33% coverage for the nastiest variant. My daughter got her Phizer stab in London the same day as me here in NZ, I get my second in a week, she has to wait another 10 weeks for her second. That’s not vaccination that’s politically ball juggling and explains why the UK is about to move into a seriously big spike in cases. And as for Australia, Scotty -from Marketing’s ScoMoJo has deserted him, they are in deep shit over there with their first Phizer s months away because he backed the wrong horse.
just scroll down to see the vaccination rates accross English Regions.
Again, the vaccines do not prevent the catching of covid, but so far they prevent a whole lot of death and hospitalization.
The delta variant for now will most like become the most prominent / strongest variant, however that will change in due time and it will be replaced by another variant. As posted below, maybe it is now Indonesia’s time to breed one.
It is lovely that you had your vaccinations, ditto for your daughter, however there are many in this country that have yet to receive even just the invite that they have been waiting for a longtime now.
It actually does not matter atm really, could the Government be more forthcoming with the truth, rather then couch it in platitudes that are utterly meaningless – ditto we are ahead of what?
What matters is that hopefully the Government will abandon its 'one fits all' approach, and has the health department approve the other options, Astra Zeneca being one.
Fwiw, we have friends from NZ in the UK and not only have the bought a house there recently they also got their jabs.
And fwiw, not knowing anything about this Journalists, i am happy to note that she can write stuff about both N and L and call them out on their 'issues'
Is New Zealand a leader in climate change or a follower?
David Hall, Newshub, 06/10/2020
….John Key, often described [New Zealand] as being "a fast follower, not a leader".
He had lifted this language from the New Zealand Institute's 2007 report, which argued against "lofty rhetoric about saving the planet or being a world leader". Instead, it counselled New Zealand to respond without "investing unnecessarily in leading the way".
Wow! Canada will not just a ban the importation of internal combustion vehicles, but will even ban the sale of ice vehicles.
New Zealand can't even agree on a ban on importing them.
So much for fast follower.
Not even.
Canada to ban sale of new fuel-powered cars and light trucks from 2035
Steve Scherer, Reuters, June 30, 2021
OTTAWA, June 29 (Reuters) – Canada will ban the sale of fuel-burning new cars and light-duty trucks from 2035 in an effort to reach net-zero emissions across the country by 2050, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government said on Tuesday.
Only zero-emissions cars and trucks can be sold from 2035, according to a statement, adding that a mixture of investments and regulations will help industry transition toward that goal. The government also said it will set interim targets for 2025 and 2030.
……Britain said last year it would ban fuel-powered vehicles from 2030,…
In a distant, but not so unrealistic, future where mankind has abandoned earth because it has become covered with trash from products sold by the powerful multi-national Buy N Large corporation, WALL-E, a garbage collecting robot has been left to clean up the mess.
Even without going into the depth that our eminently qualified Dr Helen Petousis-Harris goes into, it was obvious from a simple google search on the study authors that this was a deeply flawed study.
It didn’t take much time, but a fair bit of effort, for the system to self-correct and go though the due process. However, anything on the Web can spread far & wide within minutes, i.e. go viral [sorry for the pun]. The seed has been planted in many because the seed & soil approach works wonders online.
The damage to vaccine confidence and trust that can occur through the distribution of pseudoscience in good quality academic journals cannot be underestimated.
I was in a waiting room of a specialist in skin care recently when some woman started rabbiting on about the Covid 19 vaccine causing sterility in young women. It transpired her daughter worked for a medical outfit and they had all been vaccinated. It happened without her knowledge and she was furious because she is convinced her daughter can no longer have kids.
I managed to contain my fury until after the woman had left……
Yup, retracted, but at considerable cost already…..
Not a new problem…
Not by a long shot.
'A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on'
Metaphorical maxims about the speedy dissemination of lies and the much slower propagation of corrective truths have a very long history. The major literary figure Jonathan Swift wrote on this topic in “The Examiner” in 1710 although he did not mention shoes or boots. Boldface has been added to excerpts: 1
Besides, as the vilest Writer has his Readers, so the greatest Liar has his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lie be believ’d only for an Hour, it has done its Work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect…
The phrasing and figurative language used in these sayings have been evolving for more than three hundred years……
…….In 1808 an adage matching Swift’s was printed without ascription in a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper column titled “Thoughts”: 4
“Falsehood,” says one, “flies, and truth comes limping after it.” If a lie be believed sometimes only for an hour, it has accomplished its purpose, and there is no further occasion for it.
Later, more modern variations on Johnathon Swift’s observation on the dissemination of lies and falsehoods, have been attributed to Mark Twain and Winston Churchill, (among others).
The surge in new cases and deaths has prompted President Joko Widodo to declare emergency restrictions on movement starting on Saturday in the island of Java and Bali. The lockdown is effective until July 20.
Indonesia caught between surge and slow vaccine rollout
Last year, Indonesia’s highest Islamic clerical body issued a decree that mass graves – which are normally forbidden in Islam – would be permitted during the crisis.
…
He [Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia] said the government needs to make “good and strong decisions based on science …. or I fear we will find ourselves in a similar situation to what happened in India.”
I hear you, but if we're going to knock the uptake of evs for personal transportation, we may as well take the hit to immediately reduce the deforestation, high water use and increased pesticide use that comes with growing cocoa, and that's before we even mention the emissions involved in world wide distribution from tropical growing areas to everywhere else on the planet.
ah, but you can get good beans from samoa, java, heck, even Australia. and i know of a few people here in NZ that are wondering if you could grow the plant.
The thing is that everything we do involves the issues that you just listed. Was your computer or phone made here? Every car is imported. Every single car. I dont' have one, and can't see myself getting one. See, i am offsetting my chocolate already.
my option is as always, provide free and or very cheap public transport to first get all the cars of the road that are unsafe, unrego'd and mainly there because it is the only meas of transport. The tax incentives for E-bikes and hanger (Germany does this quite successfully). The rich are rich enough to buy themselves a 50.000 + new vehicle – electric or gasoline, its the poor that don't have a choice its a crappy cheap old 500+ car or nothing.
at the moment i am doing what is preached – i have no single serve private vehicle i use public transport, my product is collectively imported by all the chocolatiers in nz – literally, and all other products used are produced and made local. I keep my own carbon footprint as small as i can, ditto in my private living. As for chocolate, eat it now, because we might run out within the next few years and it will become an object of luxury and rarety.
I however understand that what i do has very little effect on the outcome of the future, as per above images, never mind i shall carry on.
I made an obviously failed attempt at gallows humor at some dire imagery posted and for this I humbly off my apologies.
….. The rich are rich enough to buy themselves a 50.000 + new vehicle – electric or gasoline, its the poor that don't have a choice its a crappy cheap old 500+ car or nothing.
A 1999 Toyota Corolla in good condition with a warrant and registration, can be bought for the same price as an entry level E-bike.
Apart from their cost, currently one of the big disincentives for owning an E-bike in a low decile area at the moment is that they are a hot ticket item for thieves. I suppose it's a form of primitive redistribution to the lowest of the low. But unfortunately the thieves don't ride them. They break them down and sell them for parts. Especially the battery.
Subsidising EVs for the middle class consumer is fine. but it is not going to do anything for the people of Manurewa or Otara who need to commute to their factory in Penrose or East Tamaki. Or our cleaning job in the hospitals and CBD.
How about this?
If the government can't bring themselves to subsidise E-bikes so the blue collar masses can own one, at least think of subsidising the insurance of the things.
The government could subsidize public transport so as to make it free or near free. That would be one of the easiest things to do. While the public transport net is still not optimal, it is there but expensive. I used to bus / walk to work in Auckland, and a monthly bus ticket is not cheap. I ended up walking Arch Hill / Grey Lynn to New market. I also lived closer to town where i worked simply so as to not need a car for commuting. I may have paid more in rent (yes, times have changed since then) but that was offset by not having a car.
And yes, it should subsidize other forms of transport if only to appear fair. But we are now helping well to do people by cars that are more expensive than what some people (nurses) earn in a whole year. Priorities.
Indeed. But of course, nothing much will change until the dams burst and suddenly the tucker we love is off the menu, supplanted by an entirely plant based diet and assorted ground up beastie proteins.
Anyhoo, while there's still chocolate to eat, I thoroughly enjoyed this in the early hours.
Natalie Haynes and Moy McGowan savour some chocolate podcasts. They discover how music can alter the taste of chocolate… and why the humble midge plays a vital part in the growing the bean that becomes your favourite bar! And they hear from Dame Cacao herself, the podcaster Max Gandy who is dedicated to crafting a sustainable and delicious world by changing the way we eat & understand chocolate.
"The UK has been wedded for decades to a household debt-led growth model, whereby ever-rising house prices driven by evermore bank credit support consumption via wealth effects and home equity withdrawal. Real estate is also the key form of collateral for the banking system, meaning house prices also impact directly on the ability of businesses to access credit."
"For a while, this form of “residential capitalism” can support consumption even when incomes stagnate. But it is economically inefficient and drives inequality and financial instability. Those who already own property gain the most while non-owners see their wealth decline and have to take on ever larger and longer mortgages to get on the housing ladder, suppressing their consumption. Since lower-income groups spend more of every additional pound of income, this can have deleterious economy-wide impacts.
High levels of household debt coupled with house price crashes are associated with deep and long recessions. This model also drives highly damaging boom-bust cycles and mediates against long-term business investment and productivity growth. Why invest in new products or services when you can get a higher return on property?"
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
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i beg you to read this, share a tear for the girls involved, their resignation to the fact that sexual harrasment and rape, and gang rape is boys being boys, and then maybe write a letter to ask the "lawmakers' of this fair land to make
sexual harrasment, rape, gang rape (fucking gang rape in a school)
A fucking HATE CRIME!
maybe someone who has better vocabulary then I, who can write about such things in nice and polite ways so as to not offed, can do a post about this. About how a whole generation of girls in a School in NZ admitted to being dehumanized , traumatised, physically assaulted and rendered to nothing more then a sexual object by their male peers.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-girls-high-school-sexual-harassment-survey-rape-claims-parents-react/PVKAA5VZSUHRJGAKNCJYVVTLIM/
The sexual harassment survey is a confronting read.
I don't think we can legislate our way to a solution.
Why are our boys and men behaving in such demeaning ways? While schools are going to be part of the answer, surely the family environment and wider society is where solutions need to be implemented.
Decent males around young men – dads, brothers,uncles, sports coaches, teachers, community/church leaders.
A boisterous energy common in males needs to be channeled in healthy directions.
Many moons ago, at a primary school cross country, a group of younger boys who had done their run were goofing around jumping/throwing themselves over a rope tied between two electric fence 'pigtail' standards. A mum told them to stop it. They did for about 90 seconds then started up again. They were told to stop it again told someone might get hurt. I volunteered to supervise said hi-jinks to appease the concerns.
Later at prize giving, there were categories for fastest boy and girl in the different year groupings. I asked the principal if this was to be repeated at the academic side of things at the end of the year. I was told it would be looked into. They didn't.
I feel boys can grow up not feeling valued, that what often drives them is wrong or naughty. That drive needs to be channeled to manifest in a healthy way. If you grow up not having regard or love for oneself, you can hardly be expected to have regard for others.
Celia Lashlie said all of this so much better than me and the message is far more palatable when a woman says it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2522572
A worthwhile 18 minutes.
One of the oldest cultures on this planet hasn't come far:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/30/health/india-unwanted-girls-intl/index.html
They are not alone:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/a-wave-of-women-fighting-rape-across-europe/
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/4f16c375j
https://voxatl.org/rape-culture-americas-biggest-plague/
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men
Worldwide, children, women and man are being subjected to unspeakable acts of violence. Rape and all related abuses are acts of violence. Perpetrated to humiliate the "other" and show superiority. It is an act of abuse of power over others, sadistic in its core a human failure in their upbringing and understanding of respect and honor. This is an issue as old as humanity and the only way, as I see it, is to change this is by changing the upbringing of children. Women are mothers and mothers are the major influence when raising children up to the time they join day care and school, military etc. depending on culture and location. What is changing at that juncture?
I have experienced children growing up with parents of all walks of life so to speak and found it is not poverty or even neglect due to working 2 jobs etc. but drink, drugs, the culture of "proving" a boy has to "become" a man. Suppression of wishes, feelings and mental illness do come into play. Solders have acute issues because of repression when they have witnessed atrocities. The list is long but essentially, we as a human race have to find a way to overcome this animalistic instinct and need of exercising power over others. I know, its wishful thinking and most likely never going to happen.
Why are our boys and men behaving in such demeaning ways? Why do we have a massive drug problem? Why do we have to have props like alcohol and drugs to get us through life? Why do there have to be drug checks outside concerts where young people are apparently going to have a good time with music?
Why do we have so many mental health problems? Why almost every day do we hear or see in the media of someone suffering from depression?
What changes are in there in us from 1821, 1921 till 2021? Is it that the better off and more 'advanced' we are, the less stable we have become?
Men and boys have behaved like this in New Zealand for a long time. For most of New Zealand's history it was legal to both beat and rape your wife.
It was only in the late 1800's early 1900's that a conflation between puritanical evangelists and feminists started to result in questioning male rights to wife-beating, conjugal rights and marital rape.
Adulterous wives were able to be divorced simply because they created the possibility of the husband's estate being passed on at death to someone else's son. The impact of that thinking for instance meant that all benefits were paid to the male until the mid-1980's. There are lots of stories about women trying to feed their families solely on family benefit payments.
Marital rape was possible because in getting married a woman gave herself up to her husband. It was seen that marital sex was part of the contract that she had entered into and that you could not deny your husband that part of the contract.
These attitudes persisted well into the 60's and 70's with the normalised thinking evident even when looking for alternative lifestyles such as James K Baxtter's commune at Jerusalem.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111980198/ros-lewis-was-sexually-assaulted-by-james-k-baxter-at-jerusalem-she-wasnt-the-only-one
Those attitudes persist today. I've heard many horrific stories from my grandparents and parents generations about what they had to endure – many over 40-50 years of marriage. Closer to home I remember one of my uncles getting his son aged about four to go and tell "mummy to get on her back cause daddy wants a fuck" – I was seven or eight when this was going on and even then was horrified but not surprised. You grew up hearing similar stuff all around you.
Marital rape only became a crime in 1985.
As well as property rights the "boys will be boys" notion was a well established notion.
It is a matter entirely clear in the physiology which governs nature that adultery in the male is a crime to which the male really is very much more accessible than the female from the force of nature. That is a physiological law, and you cannot upset it. And the reason of the law is quite simple. It is because man is inherently selfish, and nature has put so violent a passion in him in order that he may increase and multiply the people on the earth. In so far, his culpability is lessened. In the eye of legislation of reasonable beings the same onus is not to be laid upon the male as upon the female for committing adultery. Nature cannot be shoved aside and slurred over and overridden … "
Morgan Stanislaus Grace 1896 during debate on divorce laws.
The notion that men had aggressive sexual urges and women were passive was seen as a simple truism.
Some urges were however problematic. Given the prevalent attitudes towards masturbation in NZ that were still in vogue when I went to high school in the 70's – I struggle to see how even that recently that New Zealand had normal healthy attitudes.
"Ailments believed to be associated with masturbation included epilepsy, blindness, headache, impotency, loss of memory, general loss of health and strength, 'nervous debility' and ultimately insanity and death."
A whole industry developed around how to stop these urges – often moving into the blackmail of those who then purchased the products.
I think it is weird how people promote this notion of things are getting worse and OMG how did things get so bad? It has been forever bad in New Zealand and we reap the legacy of that today. I think at times we confuse the willingness to be more open about these issues and to talk about them with it is getting worse. There is still a long way to go today but we should recognise that these issues are deeply rooted in our history and will take generations to resolve.
No, we can ONLY legislate us out of there.
The issue is only coming to the forefront because the girls wanted to demonstrate against hte boys school and were prevented by Police and their school.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/124657314/students-protesting-sexual-harassment-turned-back-from-boys-school-by-police
February three girls laid complaints
https://theworldnews.net/nz-news/christchurch-girls-39-high-school-students-report-allegations-of-sexual-offences-to-police
this post from the Dr. that ran that review
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/06/29/exclusive-dr-liz-gordon-sexual-harassment-silence-and-power/
The thing is these girls know the guys who assaulted them, they are their peers, mates of their brothers, trusted boyfriends, and so on. They are not strangers. They are their community.
These guys knew full well what they did, and they probably expected to get away with is, as it is just rape.
And i bet you a dollar, it is not a huge of group of boys, its just the predators of the next generation.
Ok, all men are bastards. I've got the message loud and clear.
Just draft the legislation, problem solved.
No, not all man are bastards.
All rapists are bastards. But sadly they don't come with a warning.
as i have said here
They are predators. And we should see them for what they are. Women rape too, boys get raped. Old women, babies. By predators. So you can only legislate and then enforce it with meaningful sentencing.
In your opinion, what does “meaningful sentencing” mean? Lock them up and throw away the key? Give them a right bollocking and a long sentence and let them lose again? Or perhaps something more constructive and healing? What do you have in mind?
And how do you suggest we go about prevention of undetectable predators striking their victims? Train cops to mind-read like in Minority Report and execute preventative arrests with laws allowing preventative sentencing?
BTW, not all sex offenders are predators, IMO. That’s way too simplistic. Have you looked into this hugely complex topic at all? Many sex offences involve alcohol and drug use and are between acquaintances, i.e. they are or a more opportunistic than pre-meditated nature. Perhaps you can elaborate on your definition of “predator”.
Did you see the case that i linked in regards to Wekas comment re the Judiciary?
The Navy guy that got a two year sentence for sexually assaulting three team mates.
Do you think that is a reasonable sentence?
The Roastbusters?
The guy in the south island that raped teh 5 year old tourist who needed reconstructive surgery is doing very well outside jail now, i wonder how that girl does.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/120234535/trangi-child-rapist-doing-very-well-in-life-outside-of-jail
How much time do you think should someone get for organizing a "train" on his girlfriend?
At least i want them to serve their full sentence. At the very least. Because the harm they do is for life.
Thank you for your answer.
"Ok, all men are bastards. I've got the message loud and clear."
Pffft you haven't got the message at all.
Violence is deep seated in NZ culture and violence to women is a substantial part of that. Many men are violent. Many men are not.
Alcohol just lowers inhibitions – men who are happy when drinking alcohol become happier, men who are violent when drinking alcohol oft enact that violence.
In the past this stuff was barely talked about. I know my wife was raped when she was a teen – she has never, ever told her family and never will. It wasn't the done thing to tell people. You just put up with it.
Growing up if one of the men in the street got too heavy handed with his wife the other men in the street would get together and give him a hiding and tell him to ease off – not to stop mind you – just to have a bit more self-control. Violence begats violence begats violence.
That it is now talked about is a positive change. More men/boys will get the message that it isn't OK.
As Auden put it so eloquently
“I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.”
I was looking to unpack why some boys and men can be violent, why women can inordinately be the victims of that violence, why that violence, too often, manifests in a sexual context.
Males must be part of the solution.
That means gym coaches, teachers and church men that don't rape.
Legislation as a deterrent is only messing about at the bottom of the family harm cliff.
I couldn't agree more, violence begets violence. The bully is the first victim.
"I was looking to unpack why some boys and men can be violent"
Learned behaviour.
It is Societal and institutionally accepted behavior
Most of the laws that we still apply to these crimes were written often at a time where men made the rules, about just what was and was not an acceptable level of violence directed at women by men. The ownership principle comes to mind, to be given from the father to the husband. Chattel.
This is not to villify men, i firmly believe that the predators are a small minority and that men by and large are not violent. But they do not speak up when they should. And i think often they are too frightened by the violence coming from men.
Sometimes the bully is just someone who gets away with it. Not all sexual predators are victims. Some just like to hurt people. Some might be opportunists. Some might have been violated themselves.
But all get better treatment in prison then the victim gets outside. We will go to length to find out what turned men/women into this predator behavior to stop them from doing it again in the future, in the meantime the victim is told to suck it up by ACC when asking for help, maybe even appeal if a request for counseling or further counceling is denied.
It is accepted behavior on an institutional level. The first instinct of the police was to cancel the protest march of these girls – so even when they try to do something, they just get cancelled by those that should keep them safe.
I read the stuff story about the police turning back the girls protest. Must have missed it at the time. I found it didn't leave a good taste – feeling that it delivered a very authoritarian message to the female protest. along the lines "you are only allowed to protest in some way or form that suits the powers in charge" and "us authority figures have got the boys back's here".
The cop excuses didn't sit well either. Putting aside truancy there is a right to peaceful protest that should be respected and citing "potential traffic problems" rather than a caused harm just doesn't cut it. But yeah I guess the girls got the message of "your needs don't matter" about even having a say.
The sign of one of the girls
"my assaulter got a second chance". She did not. And the police is worried about truancy. Priorities.
There needs to be specialised police units like the AOS to clean up and investigate sexual harassment and sexual assault.
The current system is not working.
Judiciary too apparently.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125633069/not-convicting-man-who-recording-woman-in-change-room-neglects-true-harm-caused
to be fair, the full sentence from the judge was,
Nevertheless, he misses women's perspectives multiple times. This is classic institutional sexism.
In the case you mentioned police did their job and judiciary did not.
The judiciary needs to be cleaned up as well.
This applies to historical cases for both the police and judicary as well. Innocent children were not believed or they could not do anything due to not realising that a criminal offence had taken place.
why would anyone really worry about consequences, when these are the consequences?
Just read whole article and then try to figure out how they came up with two years for three different sexual assaults on team mates.
Boys will be boys vs Team mates 1 – 0
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300348799/navy-sailor-sentenced-to-two-years-of-military-detention-for-sexual-assaults
In essence, we MUST legislate us out of this.
I found this quote very telling
It is assumed throughout the article that the girls surveyed were telling the truth and I guess some would argue that just because 20 girls say they have been raped, nobody has been convicted and they would probably ask why those alledged crimes weren't reported earlier. This quote to be reinforces that there is a major issue regardless of the police not being involved and it brings home the overall vibe that young women are getting via their gut ….that it isn't safe to be a young woman on her own when there is nobody around to protect you.
Yep, the girl learned it well. She like so many women will never leave the house again without making sure that she is able to 'protect herself' from the boys and men in her community, because she has learned that the boys and men in her community are predators and she is pray!
Women 0
Rapeculture 1
prey.
phonetic writing. 🙂
And I don’t think it’s a healthy world for boys either.
Nah similar shit went on 20+ years ago… take a group of young men add alcohol and this shit is inevitable.
Very hard to fix its a societal problem, our booze culture isnt helping.
None of that was filmed, released globally and then never prosecuted because the police can't prove intent to harm.
Strangulation during sex wasn't common until recently (read an article somewhere…sorry can't recall where).
Yep. Listening to women who have partners who are addicted to internet porn is a real eye opener.
difference is, we've had twenty years of addressing rape culture. This should have been more successful than it is. Online porn is a massive issue in terms of what it is teaching young men and women about sex and not teaching about consent and boundaries. Porn isn't the only factor, but it's a core one. Sex positivity, overall a positive social movement, has dropped the ball too. As with the sexual revolution in the 60s which affirmed male sexuality but ignored women, sex positivity has been coopted by neoliberalism and again women's needs are ignored. This isn't an argument for returning to the 1950s, it's pointing out that we're making progressive liberal gains but losing class ones, and we're just not very honest about it.
Rape culture was around way before the sexual revolution.
[G’day millsy, you have a Moderation note still waiting for a response from you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28-06-2021/#comment-1800423.
You may want to stick to your usual e-mail address if you want to go forward and I’ve changed it this time – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 1:08 pm.
Yes it was Millsy we just weren’t allowed to talk about it. Eg use of the term rape culture is relatively recent and it enabled feminists in particular to name problems and solutions to the extent the term and concept is used in msm and understood in public. This should have been more successful than it has been. Other forces in the culture work against that.
Agree 100 %about the alcohol.
… take a group of young men add alcohol and this shit is inevitable.
Glad someone has mentioned it.
40 plus years ago the law said it was illegal for anyone under 20 years to buy alcohol. That meant in practice if you were 18 years you could get away with buying alcohol.
20 plus years ago (or thereabouts) the law said it was illegal for anyone under 18 years to buy alcohol. That means in practice if you are 16 years you can get away with buying alcohol.
And therein lies a large part of the problem and most of us saw it coming 20 plus years ago but – as always – we were ignored.
these children are high schoolers and are below the legal age.
You can put the age limit to 40 and people will still rape. With or without alcohol.
It is so easy for predators to hide behind societal excuse of 'I was drunk'. Heck all a predator has to do is drink and then go out on the prowl.
Blame the booze Not the drinker.
Rapeculture 1
Vicitms 0
All true. I worry about the world that is being created with the level of violence in porn.
The Rape of the Sabines comes to mind.
Essentially part of the creation myth of Rome.
The boys, Romulus and Remus on the other side of river had no girls, got bored and decided to cross the river and get some girls from a tribe called the Sabines.
The called their mate, told em : Mate, its a good day for some lootn, pillaging, n'rapin, you game? And the mates went : Yeah, nah, Yeah!
And so they went and killed all the men and stole all the girls and made them theirs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women#:~:text=The%20Rape%20of%20the%20Sabine%20Women%20(Latin%3A%20Sabinae%20raptae),other%20cities%20in%20the%20region.
for the life of me i could never understand why anyone would name their daughter Sabine.
What i am trying to say is that sometimes teh booze comes after making the decision to raping. For courage, nshit.
Porn has been around since ever, in Pompei, paintings of erected Phallus was a good omen/fertility sign and affixed above doors.
Sex were women are brutalised is norm, always was norm, until the 80's in many countries in the western world a women could not say no to her husband.
Women 0
Rapeculture 1
We must stop to make excuses for these shits. If Rachel Steward can loose her guns for a 'word crime' cause 'hate crime' then the Men / boys (and also women but not in this particular case ) who rape, assault, harass, sexually batter others (yes, men boys too get raped) should be charged fully, and sentenced. And that is were we Fail, collectively as a society. We actually put the rapists wellbeing above that of his victim.
Roastbusters come to mind.
The cops did not even charge these Shits for 'supplying alcohol to a minor'. Nothing. They got away. “Charges are still being laid” (lol), yet after all these years they are still out there living their life.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/roast-busters-new-charges-to-be-presented-after-another-complainant-comes-forward/T5RDUH2RLJTVSWDNUAZSHNTXUQ/
Cause at the end, OUR society does not give a fuck.
The girls got a life sentence and considering the state of mental health and access to treatment, they are on their fucking own with their issues resulting from rape.
Roastbusters/Rapeculture 1
Women/Girls/Victims 0
I find it sad that these battles tend to be fought with arguments about economic costs and negative impacts on health before people’s personal self-worth (in the broadest sense) comes into it. It can be soul-destroying to be overlooked, ignored, denied, marginalised, or even mocked and ridiculed. A one-off is not nice but when it is reoccurring and becomes a pattern, at least a perceived one in one’s mind, it changes expectations and behaviour into a somewhat self-fulfilling paranoia. This not only costs the victim dollars and may shorten their life expectancy; it also definitely leads to loss of quality of life. It sucks!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-03/racism-costing-the-australian-economy-billions/100252786
Absolutely incognito.
Respect between parents and children with little talks about why it is important, and some sorrys from the two ages, is a good start. Then extend that to having self-respect so that it is hard to find a weak spot for a bully – when someone calls you 'Fatty' or some other descriptive term, if you just acknowledge that and go on, it takes the punch out of it. Some handy rejoinders that mock the bullyer will save a lot of angst too.
Instead of weak unhappy people trying to pull someone down to their level, if bullyers have to go through a workshop of setting future goals and identifying their own strengths, really thinking about their approach to life and what life has got to offer them, stopping putting others down can be part of building their personal make-up.
'
When will New Zealand start cutting its green house gas emissions?Cancel that.
When will New Zealand stop increasing its greenhouse gas emissions?
New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions are increasing | Stuff.co.nz
When there are massive increases in wind farms and hydro dams to shut Huntly coal thermal power down.
Not before.
All is good then. 🙂
article is from 2019.
‘
Hi Weka,
As I am sure you are aware, 2020 was an anomalous year for carbon emissions due to the measures taken to combat the global pandemic.
If we applied the same measures we applied to beating covid-19, the climate disaster and global biosphere collapse could be averted.
video is from 2020
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/fuo5zf/due_to_decrease_in_pollution_himalayan_mountains/
It's heartbreaking really, it's like nature showed us how to save ourselves, but we decided to keep on destroying the biosphere anyway.
Because y'know, the economy.
Videos like this prove that we could have saved the biosphere, if we chose to.
For wilfully ignoring the unique insight and opportunity to change our ways, afforded to us by the pandemic, our generation will be loathed and despised for the rest of recorded history.
We should all be deeply ashamed.
Morning all,
Finally relived that the Nth’ern NT is no longer in locking, but in the same token I managed to knock out a couple of more model ships.
Anyway I see the UKLP won the recent By-election, but it’s not out of the woods yet and to be quite honest I don’t think they will never get a chance to serous threaten BoJo atm unless there is some serious changes within the UKLP
Found this on the Tribune Website. An interesting read, I must say.
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/07/how-the-fall-of-mining-unions-eroded-the-foundations-of-the-red-wall
Finally I must say watching the Nat’s slowly eat it’s self is very refreshing given the various NeoCon Lib BS of last 30ys from the National, but I must also confess this is bad for NZ Democracy as we must have an effective opposition to make the Government accountable. But since the National Party is now run by the Moriarty’s with all those negative waves they are producing atm, then it’s going to be a long time before they are back in Government or do anything meaningful in opposition.
Yes some are thinking of supporting Winston back – just so that there is an alert person awake in the Opposition benches.
As a site Moderator, I can and do highly appreciate this opinion piece by Jenny Nicholls.
Indeed, this is a misconception that seems to have taken root with a few lazy thinkers who don’t want to do the mahi and check let alone support their own opinion unless it is from a doubtful source, usually on social media.
QFT
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/125624319/letters-to-the-editor–why-are-so-many-bigoted-mad-or-just-plain-wrong
QFT indeed.
This one from Dom Post good as well – was in the handy additional links that stuff often includes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/300323411/letter-from-the-dompost-editor-are-letters-still-relevant-in-the-digital-age?rm=a
'
This is pretty unpleasant, but hard to argue against (Sex-trafficing/ abuse of minors content warning). The age restrictions in the prostitution laws really do have to be enforced!
I know people who have been through that and they are really not keen on having anything to do with the police, and who can blame them? But without prosecutions there is no incentive to change. Just so long as the victims are protected during the process.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446092/new-zealand-not-doing-enough-to-stop-trafficking-us-report-says
Pro-plague code is a thing.
https://twitter.com/VaxxersAnti/status/1410682117336363010
Purity pirouette
I’ve always believed that it takes two to tango. At least.
Two Step.
Dancers with wolves?
Janet Wilson trying to make up for rubbishing The Nat’s the other day and realising she had closed off her last possible employer for a P R job so accuses Labour of lying over vac rollout in today’s Stuff. It is bullshit that UK has vaccinated 60% of their population, less than that have had a single dose with about 33% coverage for the nastiest variant. My daughter got her Phizer stab in London the same day as me here in NZ, I get my second in a week, she has to wait another 10 weeks for her second. That’s not vaccination that’s politically ball juggling and explains why the UK is about to move into a seriously big spike in cases. And as for Australia, Scotty -from Marketing’s ScoMoJo has deserted him, they are in deep shit over there with their first Phizer s months away because he backed the wrong horse.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/125626002/covid19-honest-conversations-absent-on-vaccine-supply-and-rollout
Please add the link yourself, next time, thanks.
you find that no she did not lie about the levels of english vaccinations.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55274833
just scroll down to see the vaccination rates accross English Regions.
Again, the vaccines do not prevent the catching of covid, but so far they prevent a whole lot of death and hospitalization.
The delta variant for now will most like become the most prominent / strongest variant, however that will change in due time and it will be replaced by another variant. As posted below, maybe it is now Indonesia’s time to breed one.
It is lovely that you had your vaccinations, ditto for your daughter, however there are many in this country that have yet to receive even just the invite that they have been waiting for a longtime now.
It actually does not matter atm really, could the Government be more forthcoming with the truth, rather then couch it in platitudes that are utterly meaningless – ditto we are ahead of what?
What matters is that hopefully the Government will abandon its 'one fits all' approach, and has the health department approve the other options, Astra Zeneca being one.
Fwiw, we have friends from NZ in the UK and not only have the bought a house there recently they also got their jabs.
And fwiw, not knowing anything about this Journalists, i am happy to note that she can write stuff about both N and L and call them out on their 'issues'
We now know the answer to David Hall's question.
John Key must be laughing up his sleeve.
Wow! Canada will not just a ban the importation of internal combustion vehicles, but will even ban the sale of ice vehicles.
New Zealand can't even agree on a ban on importing them.
So much for fast follower.
Not even.
Norway is on track to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/05/electric-cars-record-market-share-norway
i wonder what we are going to do with all these cars?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/plotsummary
And would you have it, on TV2 tonight, WALL-E is busy saving the world (what's left of it anyway)
Yup, retracted, but at considerable cost already.
https://sciblogs.co.nz/diplomaticimmunity/2021/07/03/fundamentally-flawed-study-on-covid-19-vaccine-safety-is-rapidly-retracted/
Even without going into the depth that our eminently qualified Dr Helen Petousis-Harris goes into, it was obvious from a simple google search on the study authors that this was a deeply flawed study.
It didn’t take much time, but a fair bit of effort, for the system to self-correct and go though the due process. However, anything on the Web can spread far & wide within minutes, i.e. go viral [sorry for the pun]. The seed has been planted in many because the seed & soil approach works wonders online.
From the link:
I was in a waiting room of a specialist in skin care recently when some woman started rabbiting on about the Covid 19 vaccine causing sterility in young women. It transpired her daughter worked for a medical outfit and they had all been vaccinated. It happened without her knowledge and she was furious because she is convinced her daughter can no longer have kids.
I managed to contain my fury until after the woman had left……
Not a new problem…
Not by a long shot.
Later, more modern variations on Johnathon Swift’s observation on the dissemination of lies and falsehoods, have been attributed to Mark Twain and Winston Churchill, (among others).
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/indonesia/
Tragic epidemic in the world's 4th most populous country set to get worse, and increase the potential for selection of new COVID-19 variants on Australasia's 'doorstep'.
If we've learnt anything at all over the past eighteen months.
― Albert A. Bartlett
https://twitter.com/WMO/status/1410223888412381193
https://twitter.com/weatherdak/status/1410429592213413889
https://twitter.com/weatherdak/status/1411191134357901313
And then there’s this:
https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1411073985765314560
lets buy electric cars and pave more roads.
And stop eating chocolate
Steady on there, sport…
I hear you, but if we're going to knock the uptake of evs for personal transportation, we may as well take the hit to immediately reduce the deforestation, high water use and increased pesticide use that comes with growing cocoa, and that's before we even mention the emissions involved in world wide distribution from tropical growing areas to everywhere else on the planet.
ah, but you can get good beans from samoa, java, heck, even Australia. and i know of a few people here in NZ that are wondering if you could grow the plant.
The thing is that everything we do involves the issues that you just listed. Was your computer or phone made here? Every car is imported. Every single car. I dont' have one, and can't see myself getting one. See, i am offsetting my chocolate already.
my option is as always, provide free and or very cheap public transport to first get all the cars of the road that are unsafe, unrego'd and mainly there because it is the only meas of transport. The tax incentives for E-bikes and hanger (Germany does this quite successfully). The rich are rich enough to buy themselves a 50.000 + new vehicle – electric or gasoline, its the poor that don't have a choice its a crappy cheap old 500+ car or nothing.
Excuses and diversions not accepted. You're either preaching on the climate change train or you're not really on it at all.
I suspect, like many business people, your green credentials come second to your bank balances.
Maybe you should think of the planet now and jump over to a more eco friendly 'trade'.
Or are you waiting for your own tax payer funded government grant before you stop wrecking the world?
at the moment i am doing what is preached – i have no single serve private vehicle i use public transport, my product is collectively imported by all the chocolatiers in nz – literally, and all other products used are produced and made local. I keep my own carbon footprint as small as i can, ditto in my private living. As for chocolate, eat it now, because we might run out within the next few years and it will become an object of luxury and rarety.
I however understand that what i do has very little effect on the outcome of the future, as per above images, never mind i shall carry on.
I made an obviously failed attempt at gallows humor at some dire imagery posted and for this I humbly off my apologies.
I shall now return to my prayer closet.
Sounds like a v8 driver on the school run who puts out the recycling bin every Thursday. Well done you.
Sabine very elegant retreat and interesting what you are doing.
A 1999 Toyota Corolla in good condition with a warrant and registration, can be bought for the same price as an entry level E-bike.
Apart from their cost, currently one of the big disincentives for owning an E-bike in a low decile area at the moment is that they are a hot ticket item for thieves. I suppose it's a form of primitive redistribution to the lowest of the low. But unfortunately the thieves don't ride them. They break them down and sell them for parts. Especially the battery.
Subsidising EVs for the middle class consumer is fine. but it is not going to do anything for the people of Manurewa or Otara who need to commute to their factory in Penrose or East Tamaki. Or our cleaning job in the hospitals and CBD.
How about this?
If the government can't bring themselves to subsidise E-bikes so the blue collar masses can own one, at least think of subsidising the insurance of the things.
The government could subsidize public transport so as to make it free or near free. That would be one of the easiest things to do. While the public transport net is still not optimal, it is there but expensive. I used to bus / walk to work in Auckland, and a monthly bus ticket is not cheap. I ended up walking Arch Hill / Grey Lynn to New market. I also lived closer to town where i worked simply so as to not need a car for commuting. I may have paid more in rent (yes, times have changed since then) but that was offset by not having a car.
And yes, it should subsidize other forms of transport if only to appear fair. But we are now helping well to do people by cars that are more expensive than what some people (nurses) earn in a whole year. Priorities.
https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1411017496212168706
Indeed. But of course, nothing much will change until the dams burst and suddenly the tucker we love is off the menu, supplanted by an entirely plant based diet and assorted ground up beastie proteins.
Only eating local will be a good thing, and I'm sure the ground up beastie proteins will still taste okay with tomato sauce all over them.
Anyhoo, while there's still chocolate to eat, I thoroughly enjoyed this in the early hours.
Natalie Haynes and Moy McGowan savour some chocolate podcasts. They discover how music can alter the taste of chocolate… and why the humble midge plays a vital part in the growing the bean that becomes your favourite bar! And they hear from Dame Cacao herself, the podcaster Max Gandy who is dedicated to crafting a sustainable and delicious world by changing the way we eat & understand chocolate.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xfp0
Tea drinkers first 🙂
Thank goodness for Hawke's bay and Nelson cider apples
We are all planning for that day.
In the meantime this will 'bridge' and be chocolate of the future.
https://www.barry-callebaut.com/en/manufacturers/wholefruit-chocolate-barry-callebaut
To be honest, can't wait to get that stuff in my melter.
"The UK has been wedded for decades to a household debt-led growth model, whereby ever-rising house prices driven by evermore bank credit support consumption via wealth effects and home equity withdrawal. Real estate is also the key form of collateral for the banking system, meaning house prices also impact directly on the ability of businesses to access credit."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/02/housing-bubble-birst-uk-gdp-house-prices-interest-rates-economy
"For a while, this form of “residential capitalism” can support consumption even when incomes stagnate. But it is economically inefficient and drives inequality and financial instability. Those who already own property gain the most while non-owners see their wealth decline and have to take on ever larger and longer mortgages to get on the housing ladder, suppressing their consumption. Since lower-income groups spend more of every additional pound of income, this can have deleterious economy-wide impacts.
High levels of household debt coupled with house price crashes are associated with deep and long recessions. This model also drives highly damaging boom-bust cycles and mediates against long-term business investment and productivity growth. Why invest in new products or services when you can get a higher return on property?"
Sound familiar?
The important questions
https://twitter.com/pookleblinky/status/1411142403629752321
https://twitter.com/rkbarney/status/1411122964016160768