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?"
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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 ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
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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