For decades women get fobbed off because it required surgery to verify a diagnosis …
Wynn-Williams said that international recommendations encourage more ultrasounds and MRIs – instead of surgery – for a quicker diagnosis. Meanwhile, many endometriosis sufferers are hoping for more recognition and research into the condition.
Getting even an ultrasound or MRI is seriously challenging in the health system ATM.
I have both friends and family members with Endo – and it can be a crippling condition, affecting quality of life (and, sometimes the ability to have children), but also (more importantly from the Government perspective), the ability to hold a job, and progress a career.
But, the same can be said, with equal justification for knee and hip replacements (although, possibly not affecting the ability to have children 🙂 )
Most surgeries can be justified on those grounds. I detest the use of the word 'elective', since no-one chooses to go through the process of a surgery with all the associated risks if it wasn't necessary (except perhaps, self-absorbed celebrities and their cosmetic surgeries).
Now, your ability to receive surgery in the public system seems to more depend on how quickly you'll be dead without it. Appendix, yep. Cataracts, they won't kill you.
Guess that there's still a post-code lottery going then – because my experience (in Auckland) differs. Cataracts – yep, you can get on the list for a publicly funded one (just one eye) – it might take 9 months or so to get to the top of the list. Knee replacement surgery – not a chance, sunshine. It's either private or not at all.
I was assessed at Waikato Hospital in March last year for knee replacement surgery. I was told that it needed to happen and that I would go onto the waiting list. I half expected that to be the end of the saga for months if not years, but it all happened in September – I was operated on at Southern Cross Hospital, Hamilton, after having been advised I may well be transfered to a private hospital in Rotoroa, Hamilton or even Auckland. Of course this all happened before the General Election last year, so I have no idea what would happen now.
Cataracts won't kill you – but they can stop you doing your job. They can stop you driving, they can stop you from reading, they can make using a computer very difficult. Mine also stopped my voluntary work.
My eyes are complex – it took 6 months to get all the calculations done for my last surgery. I operated on one and a half eyes for about 8 months. I spend a lot of my $$ on health insurance because of the difficulties with my eyes. I have a corneal graft in one eye, and a very expensive bit of plastic in the other eye.
After the last surgery which also cleared up a cataract, I can actually see to get safely to the bathroom at night without my contact lenses. I cannot have corrective glasses because the irregularities of my corneas require the use of hard contact lenses.
My first surgery took nearly 3 years to get right. Corneal grafts are very hard to do – I got very used to seeing someone coming at my eye with a scalpel and a pair of tweezers as they took out the various stitches.
Good to see the punks taking on the racist right wing fascists in the UK (once again).
Punks – in town for the annual Rebellion festival – squared off against men in football shirts, separated only by police.
“England ‘till I die” and “We want our country back,” crowds chanted, alongside: “Oh, Tommy Robinson,” and “Protect our kids.”
“Where the f*** were you in Leeds?” Others shouted.
Counter-protesters returned verbal volleys of: “Nazi scum off our streets” as bottles were thrown and minor skirmishes broke out.
One woman holding a placard saying “Thugs (and) racists not welcome” had it torn from her hands as crowds pushed from the town hall to the Metropole and as sirens filled the summer air.
10,000 anti fascist punks are in Blackpool for Rebellion Festival. Safe to say the little Tommy lads misjudged this, like most of their pitiful life decisions. They ran away. Moral of the story: Don’t fuck with punks, they hate the far right.
Well technically I don't mean that. The right wing fascists chanting it do though.
His plea to Trump was pretty pathetic though. Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Paul Gosar amongst his supporters. Noting he also has supporters in New Zealand including some who petitioned for his release from jail.
I feel like I'm two days away from being sentenced to death in the U.K. for journalism. Today, I am calling on the help of Donald Trump, his administration and the Republican Party to grant me and my family political asylum in the United States of America. … I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case. I need evacuation from this country because dark forces are at work. … This is a direct appeal on behalf of my family – we love the United States, I have no future here [in Britain]. The country has fallen.
1/ 🧵Just did a network analysis of the "far right thugs unite" hashtag. It largely seems to be a simulated scandal/outrage to promote the Reform Party and Nigel Farage and – while also being an attack on Keir Starmer.
Farage was also described on Wednesday as “nothing better than a Tommy Robinson in a suit” by Brendan Cox, the campaigner and husband of the murdered Labour MP, Jo Cox. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the EDL in 2009.
There was a rapid spread online of misinformation after the attack, with inflammatory far-right narratives rife on the comment threads under posts by Farage and another Reform MP, Rupert Lowe, on their official Facebook pages.
Under posts by Farage and Lowe, who echoed Farage by saying there was “more to this than we’re being told”, comments ranged from predictions of a coming race war, sharing of misinformation, antisemitic tropes and claims of a cover-up.
“This is clearly not a case of accidental mischaracterisation. This is Reform and Farage in particular actively spreading disinformation and actively using insinuation to incite anxiety, concern and inflame emotions,” Cox said.
Farage was described as “utterly shameful” by the Tory peer Lord Barwell, the former MP who served as Theresa May’s Downing Street chief of staff.
He said: “He is an MP. If he has questions, he could have asked them in the House of Commons yesterday – but he wasn’t there. Instead he prefers to encourage those spreading misinformation on here [social media]. Utterly shameful.”
10/ Another interesting element is that the account with the most impressions on this hashtag is ReformUK member, @TalkTV Host, and former employee of Cambridge Analytica's parent company SCL Group @ThatAlexWoman (Alexandra Philips)
I assume the massive copy and paste (as opposed to retweet) is to make it look like more people re individually supporting the right – even if some accounts have shiny new AI generated photos.
Carole Cadwalladr on the amplification of outright lies and fueling the ensuing outrage.
.
Algorithms that send the most outrageous comments viral and a chain reaction of anger and disinformation made the riots that followed the Southport killings inevitable
[…]
“It feels like it was only a matter of time before we saw something like this in the UK,” said Julia Ebner, the leader of the Violent Extremism Lab at the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion at Oxford University. “This alternative information ecosystem is fuelling these narratives. We saw it in Germany in the 2018 Chemnitz riots, which this strongly reminded me of. And we saw [it] in the US with the January 6 insurrection.
“You see this chain reaction in these alternative news channels, where disinformation can spread so quickly and can mobilise people to take the streets – who are then prone to using violence because there’s this anger and these really deep emotions that are, of course, being amplified. And then, from these alternative outlets, it’s carried on to X or on to the mainstream social media platforms.”
He knows what he is doing. His algorithms are a party to incitement to violence. He is publishing Tommy Robinson’s words & pumping them to millions. He has no protection from Section 230 in the UK. He is a publisher. And publishers have responsibilities.
I have to say it has been disgusting to see the hysteria around Imane khelif.
A reprise of the facts.
Imane Khelif was born female in Algeria, a deeply conservative Islamic country that doesn't recognise trans people as even existing, let alone allowing people to transition.
She has lost nine times to date to other female fighters.
The IBA is a discredited, Russian dominated organisation banned from the Olympics because of it's corruption and doping scandals.
The IBF has an axe to grind with the IOC.
The IBA has not published any of it's so-called testing results relating to Imane Khelif.
People merely believed what the IB said because it suited their own agenda to make common cause with a fascist front organisation bent on discrediting the Olympics.
The IBA is little more than another branch of the vast Russian disinformation campaign aimed at disrupting the Olympics because the Russian have been kicked out for rampant doping and cheating.
When will all the useful idiots on here who enthusiastically joined the pre-formed narrative pile on to vilify Imane Khelif publicly confess their idiocy and draw the appropriate lesson and show the appropriate level of humility for their gullibility and credulity when manipulated by obvious Russian black propaganda & misinformation?
Big claims require proper evidence it is to the great discredit of this site that a content creator has jumped on the bandwagon to publish an item attacking someone based entirely on how she looks because it suits her raid culture war agenda. Imane Khelif is a hero in Algeria, where her life story is an inspiration – she is a UNICEF ambassador and walked ten kilometres a day to training when she was a youngster because she was too poor to get there any other way.
No issue has more exposed the mickey mouse logic and gullibility of the online culture war pseudo-commentariat style than this ever became an issue.
People will be more than happy to "withdraw and apologise" as soon as we see the karyotype results from an an accredited laboratory. A simple cheek swab will settle this argument for once and for all.
So you have reached the "made up my mind and no evidence is allowed to be produced" state of affairs? You are denying a person the ability to produce evidence to counteract the statements made by the IBA which have produced this controversy?
One would think that a reasonable person – when faced with the expression of such concerns – would have no problem submitting to a non-invasive test which would conclusively show the facts of the matter.
They said much the same things about Caster Semenya until the CAS decision came out – and then they didn't.
I am astonished at the level of stupidity a stubborn refusal to simply admit you were wrong can reach. The IBA made the claim Imane Khelif failed a DNA test.
Common sense tells us extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You've produced no fucking evidence that Imane Khelif isn't anything but a woman.
I read on a random website that you were arrested for fucking a pig six month ago, the police don't have any record of this but I'm predisposed to believe you have a porcine festish so until you produce a statement from the pig denying it and a cast iron alibi backed up by your employer I'll choose to believe a random website over the police.
Maybe address that the IOC doesn't think 46 XY DSD competitors are disqualified from women's boxing (while the IBA did), rather than throwing random allegations at other commentators. Because unless you agree on that the evidence presented by such a test is irrelevant, as is what the IBA has claimed.
If its ok for the IOC to include 46 XY DSD competitors in women's boxing then we can ignore the IBA statements entirely.
And yet I saw enough comments at TS before the election of those who were not going to vote Labour/Greens any more because of those parties’ anti-GC political decisions. Who did they decide to vote for, on finding Tanya Unkovich 8th on the NZ First Party list?
If someone voted for NZ First in 2023 on the basis of their GC platform, and helped them get enough party votes to be a member of the Coalition; then yes, in a broader sense, I consider that person to continue to support NZF in general.
Can't remember any posts (vs comments) here at TS on either Unkovich's toilet criminalisation bill or on NZF's threatened sports policy, opening things up for maybe an uncomfortable debate. Funny, that. That is why I suggested the Khalif controversy is a proxy here for debate on NZFs sports policy threat.
Note the Coalition only backed down on the proposed funding threats once Sports NZ and many individual sports associations basically told the government to get fucked, we've had this discussion with our particular sports community and are happy that our own solutions are fair and inclusive.
I'll take that as a retraction, as your original allegation appeared to be that posts were being put up on TS in propagandistic support of some NZ first policy (which is frankly clearly nonsense).
I'm happy to assume you miss-spoke and only meant that NZ first policy sometimes takes the same side as GC positions on certain issues and some commenters here may have even supported NZ first policy choices.
No. Instead of debating the pros and cons of NZF anti-trans policies, which I would expect from TS, given that, apparently, it's the only safe commentary site for kiwi GC advocates, there is a resounding silence here.
And so it looks to me like the Khelif story becomes the proxy for re-airing GC views on just who is entitled to participate in NZ boxing (but we can't talk about that!).
Instead of debating the pros and cons of NZF anti-trans policies, which I would expect from TS, given that, apparently, it’s the only safe commentary site for kiwi GC advocates, there is a resounding silence here.
It’s probably because most of the GC people here atm are feminists and lefties and we don’t have much in common with NZF policy apart from superficially.
Pretty sure the official site policy is if its worth mentioning you can raise a post about it (or just complain all passive aggressive that nobody wrote one for you instead).
As some 46XY DSD women have naturally given birth to children, as I referenced previously, I say Adult, female, whatever.
Why are you talking about 46XY DSD? Every biologist and sports writer I've seen in the past week is talking about 5-ARD, a DSD that only affects males (who can't give birth).
Nearly all the comments have been under my post, and most of the people who think there is an issue are left wing feminists and leftie men. I count one person who might be a NZF supporter, and another whose voting preferences I don't know.
You appear to be running genderist talking points that don't hold up to scrutiny.
Thanks, I can tick off lots of boxes on my culture wars Bingo card. Please define genderism for me, though.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
genderism is the term I use to short hand gender identity ideology. GII is a philosophy based in a range of overlapping beliefs: sex isn’t binary, humans can change biological sex, gender identity trumps biological sex, sex is a social construct, trans women are literally women, and so on.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
Honestly tWig, I think that is the result of two things: the places you choose to engage with, and No Debate. If it weren’t for No Debate, all the evidence would be in the MSM instead of disappearing down everyone’s twitter timeline.
You might want to tighten up your use of the word in trying to dodge the CW Bingo card.
Wiki has a grab-bag of definitions for genderism.
You asked for a definition and I gave you one so you could understand what I am meaning. I’m more interested here in effective communication than random wiki definitions. I can use GII instead from now on.
Please define No Debate for me, your in-house lexicon is opaque.
I don’t do twitter or social media, never have. Most of the references I have read are articles in ‘print’ media, science papers, and excellent rebuttals put up by pro-trans writers.
No Debate is a strategy developed over the last decade by lobby groups like Stonewall UK, it was designed to stop the public debating the GII agenda they were rolling out. The idea was that instead of putting out ideas and policy change and convincing the public to accept them, debate would not be tolerated and should be blocked and shut down.
It was incredibly effective, and has affected MSM and many public institutions like universities, government departments and NGOs.
That means that many of the rapid societal changes around GII have happened without public scrutiny. Turns how that is an own goal, because now there is a growing backlash as people start to understand what has happened and what it means.
No Debate was broken by a number of key actions, largely by left gender critical feminists in the UK, but also whistleblowers eg at Tavistock. Grass roots feminism and resistance, along with GI activist basically breaking societal boundaries and safeguarding, eventually got through to the MSM, first the conservative press and then eventually the liberal press.
Now MSM are more willing to cover the stories. But No Debate still has a strong influence, especially in places like NZ.
Material reality is a term used to refer to nature/the physical world, that exists independently from human perception.
For Marx and Engels, materialism meant that the material world, perceptible to the senses, has objective reality independent of mind or spirit. They did not deny the reality of mental or spiritual processes but affirmed that ideas could arise, therefore, only as products and reflections of material conditions.
I’m not a marxist, but read and engage with socialist feminists, radical feminists and gender critical feminists who understand Marx, which is where I get my own understanding of the concept of material reality from.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the gender critical feminist position. The argument isn’t that TW are a danger in women’s toilets, it’s that male people as a class are. This is one of the reasons why why we have female spaces and services in the first place. Not all men, but enough of them and we can’t predict which ones, are dangerous to women.
TW are a subset of males, and appear to have the same patterns of male socialisation and violence against women as other men.
I will post some examples of TW and male violence against women. There’s plenty of it about if you don’t block it.
But wait, wouldn't that all have come out in Parliamentary debates and select committes on NZ transgender policy and legislation, if there was such incontrovertable evidence that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? There were plenty of GC submissions weren't there? Must have missed all that evidence.
But wait, wouldn’t that all have come out in Parliamentary debates and select committes on NZ transgender policy and legislation, if there was such incontrovertable evidence that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? There were plenty of GC submissions weren’t there? Must have missed all that evidence.
who has said that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? Did you just make that up?
That’s a website that pulled together examples of the harassment women were getting online for talking about women’s sex based rights. Lots of violent rhetoric. Twitter eventually shut that down after they got hauled before the UK parliament and asked to account for why they were allowing this. So you don’t see it as much now, but the website is a very good example of the kinds of MVAW that is embedded in GII. GII lefties/liberals stood by and let that happen, I spent a lot of time reporting tweets like that to twitter and almost never saw a leftist trans ally condemn them.
But both sides are 'armed' in that particular culture war, and 'TERFs' and their supporters give as good as they get, if not more, like actually murdering a trans girl in the UK. Or inciting men to go armed into womens toilets, good one, KJ whassaname.
What a sad piece of evidence that is. I was expecting pages and pages, full of breakdowns by crime, etc. But 2-3 pages, one of which misquotes and misinterprets the conclusions 'Swedish study', which I read myself last year, and the rest on the UK trans prison sexual assault data, which, frankly, was a mess (eg, no differentiation between trans men and trans women in that study, just for starters).
Here's a submission to the same committe (twice as long, and more readable than the original submission) that challenges, in the politest possible way, the barely-there claims in Freedman, Stock and Sullivan's submission. Honestly, you wouldn't get a pass mark for their one if you wrote a stage 2 criminolgy essay.
The IBA supplied the results of the tests to the IOC. There were two tests – done at two different laboratories. As I said – Khalif could allow the publication of those tests, or get another one done and publish that.
The pig says you never paid him when you pimped him out!
here's the reference for the IOC having seen the test results,
PARIS – The athlete who has ignited a worldwide controversy in Olympic women’s boxing was disqualified from the 2023 International Boxing Assn. world championships in New Delhi after two tests, one in India amid that tournament and a prior test in Turkey in May 2022, “concluded the boxer’s DNA was that of a male consisting of XY chromosomes,” according to correspondence the IBA sent in June 2023 – more than a year ago – to the International Olympic Committee.
The June 5, 2023, letter, spotlighting Algeria’s Imane Khelif, reads, “This situation epitomizes the importance of protecting safe sport, and the integrity of sport in which the Olympic Movement is jointly committed to.”
I think this podcast featuring Professor Ross Tucker, a sports scientist is outstanding on the subject of these two boxers. Thoroughly recomend you listen to it Sanctuary if you want unbiased scientific evidence on this situation.
BTW the IBA can't release the tests undertaken by these two boxers it is confidential information. But both boxers had the opportunity to appeal to the Swiss based Court of Arbitration for Sport and chose not to.
As to the Italian woman boxer who stated she withdrew from the match because she feared for her life? Well who cares about her or believes her anyway (sarc)
“Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”
No, read Casini's full comments in her post-match statement in the article I cited. Vsub is creating a victim where there is a boxer who says she quit the bout because it was too difficult for her, her words immediately on pulling out were driven by anger at losing her Olympic opportunity, and does not 'blame' Khelif, where many here are.
That is as valid an interpolation of Casini’s state of mind as that postulated bu Visub, and one tjat grants Casini considerably more agency than a victim frame.
he was in tears in the ring and as she faced the media after the bout.
“I wasn’t able to finish the match. I felt a strong pain to my nose and I said [to myself] for the experience that I have and the maturity as a woman that I have, I said I hope my nation won’t take it badly, I hope my dad won’t take it badly – but I stopped, I said stop for myself,” Carini told BBC Sport.
“It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.
“I didn’t have fear, I don’t fear the ring. I don’t fear taking the blows. But this time there’s an end for everything, and I put an end to this match, because I wasn’t able to [continue].”
“After the second punch, after years of experience, I felt a strong pain in the nose. I said enough, because I didn’t want. I couldn’t finish the fight after the punch to the nose. So it was better to put an end to it.“
The body that oversaw that 2023 event is the International Boxing Association (IBA) and it says both fighters failed gender eligibility tests.
On Monday the IBA will hold a news conference to give a “detailed explanation of the reasons for the disqualification”.
They oppose the newly formed WBO being recognised by the IOC as their replacement.
The IBA, formerly known as AIBA, was formed in 1946 as a worldwide governing body for amateur boxing. The IOC recognised the IBA as the sport’s governing body until 2019.
'I can't be bothered learning about DSDs, femaleness is an assignment, not biology, I hate the Russians therefore anyone associated with them is tainted beyond redemption and handily it means I don't have to consider how my politics might fuck over women, but who cares, let's just pretend they're all bigots anyway, or culture war dupes'
Fwiw, Khelif could have been an amazing ambassador for sports people with DSDs. But who cares about them eh.
Please be a bit more discerning in splashing the word "facts" about. There's strong evidence Khelif is male and so far no evidence beyond "Trust me bro it says so right there in her passport" or "But she was raised as a girl" that Khelif is female.
If you are wrong in your claim, and I believe you are wrong, you are advocating for male athletes to punch female athletes in the face as a public spectacle and be rewarded for doing so. Given what's at stake, some consideration of the possibility you may be wrong would be well advised here.
I agree, there's a huge amount of evidence that identity claims about sex can be different from a person's actual sex. This is why identity claims are worthless when the stakes are as high as "If we're wrong about this, a man will get rewarded for punching women in the face as public entertainment." Actual sex can be tested for and, in this context, absolutely should be.
It is interesting that the Gender Idealogues who up till now have been saying that sex is "assigned at birth" presumably by the appearance of the genitalia, and can be assigned wrongly, are now all sex absolutists saying that the boxers were female at birth, were raised as female, and are female now.
The "assigned at birth" mantra which was stolen from the language which was used in relations to persons with a DSD in the times and places where chromosome tests were not available, is very applicable in the current circumstances but the words have conveniently vanished from the lexicon.
Is it because the landlord class have health insurance?
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Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Public transport in Queensland now costs just 50 cents. Yet in the first six months of the trial, it’s been revealed that thousands of commuters were ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor, Griffith Law School, Griffith University Two federal politicians from opposing camps reached across the aisle this week to promote a valuable cause – the wellbeing of future Australian generations. Independent MP Sophie Scamps tabled the Wellbeing of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Younger, Lecturer in Southern Ocean Vertebrate Ecology, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Australia’s Antarctic territory represents the largest sliver of the ice continent. For decades, Australian scientists have headed to one of our three bases – Mawson, ...
A Māori Purposes Bill is an omnibus bill that enables minor, technical, and non-controversial amendments to legislation relating to Māori affairs. This Māori Purposes Bill aims to modernise some legislation relating to Māori Affairs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Campbell, Lecturer, Performing Arts, UniSA Creative, University of South Australia Matt Byrne/STCSA Housework, a new play by Emily Steel, lifts the rock off politics to expose its crawling, ruthless, yet undeniably comic underside. The result is masterful, hilarious and deeply ...
After two years of major damage from storms, a key government unit has made an abrupt change to focus on cyber security over and above natural disasters. ...
Pacific Media Watch Papua New Guinea’s civic space has been rated as “obstructed” by the Civicus Monitor and the country has been criticised for pushing forward with a controversial media law in spite of strong opposition. Among concerns previously documented by the civil rights watchdog are harassment and threats against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Younger, Lecturer in Southern Ocean Vertebrate Ecology, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Australia’s Antarctic territory represents the largest sliver of the ice continent. For decades, Australian scientists have headed to one of our three bases – Mawson, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Dwyer, Research Director, Energy Futures, University of Technology Sydney 24K-Productions Our cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there’s another step ...
Everything you missed from day four of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard two hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.Parliament’s Room 3 was the same old, same old on Thursday morning for the fourth Treaty principles bill hearing – brown ...
By Melina Etches of the Cook Islands News A motion of no confidence has been filed against the Prime Minister and his Cabinet following the recent fiasco involving the now-abandoned Cook Islands passport proposal and the comprehensive strategic partnership the country will sign with China this week. Cook Islands United ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Dwyer, Research Director, Energy Futures, University of Technology Sydney 24K-Productions Our cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there’s another step ...
The December results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2024 (HYEFU 2024), published on 17 December 2024, and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ajay Narendra, Associate Professor of Insect Neuroethology, Macquarie University Pranav Joshi Jumping spiders – one of the largest spider families – get their name from the extraordinary jumps they make to hunt prey, to navigate and also to evade predators. Male ...
Both ministers have confirm they shared a phone call on Thursday morning, with the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement due to expire next month. ...
The final designs for the long-awaited Courtenay Place revamp have been released. Joel MacManus takes a closer look at the details. At an embargoed media briefing on Wednesday, Wellington mayor Tory Whanau and a team of council staff showed journalists a 3D-printed model of Courtenay Place. For about an hour, ...
The Economic Growth Minister is targeting increasing competition in the banking, grocery, and electricity sectors for the government to address this year. ...
Ecomatters Bike Hub has helped 30,000 Aucklanders start cycling. Shanti Mathias rides over to understand the impact of these community bike workshops.When An Na moved with her husband and two kids to Auckland in 2022, it took a while to start learning their way around. “We started taking our ...
Echo Chamber is The Spinoff’s dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. Labour leader Chris Hipkins is on the war path – the path being the overthrowing of Act leader David Seymour, and hopefully ...
Callaghan Innovation told 63 workers their roles were being made redundant, including 16 commercialisation roles, 14 scientists and engineers, 6 Māori Innovation roles, and others working in data, digital, product design, risk and audit, marketing, government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Sheedy, Professor – Risk governance, culture, remuneration, Macquarie University This week the corporate regulator is taking on executives and directors of Star Entertainment in the Federal Court, in a landmark case for Australian corporate governance. ASIC will allege that despite multiple ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Allen, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Shutterstock It’s hard to remember a time the United States seemed as tense and divided as it does today. That should serve as a stark reminder of just how important it is to monitor ...
I’m a proud atheist who outgrew my religious upbringing. So why am I getting antsy about the rapture all of a sudden? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera,I’m a proud atheist and since I managed to move past the childhood trauma of my religious upbringing ...
Analysis: A couple of hours ago, Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown posted a Facebook picture from a visit to China’s National Deep Sea Centre in Qingdao, 700km north of Shanghai. The centre’s crewed submarine ‘Jiaolong’ has just been given a major upgrade and is set for sea trials in March. This is no ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kaitlin Barham, Wildlife ecology researcher, The University of Queensland Australia Zoo Crocodiles are hardy creatures, capable of adjusting their behaviour to cope with the heat of the tropics. But there’s a limit to their endurance. Our new research shows the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damien O’Meara, Lecturer, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University Stan Stan’s new series Invisible Boys follows four young gay men as they understand and explore their identities while living in Geraldton, a regional town in Western Australia. Charlie Roth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pandanus Petter, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University The upcoming federal election will see the incumbent Labor prime minister, Anthony Albanese, face off against Liberal opposition leader, Peter Dutton. We’ll likely see a strong focus on ...
For decades women get fobbed off because it required surgery to verify a diagnosis …
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/08/04/decade-to-diagnosis-endometriosis-sufferers-agonising-wait/
Can Health New Zealand deliver, or do younger women have less political clout than older people – cancer drugs, hip and knee repalcements …
Getting even an ultrasound or MRI is seriously challenging in the health system ATM.
I have both friends and family members with Endo – and it can be a crippling condition, affecting quality of life (and, sometimes the ability to have children), but also (more importantly from the Government perspective), the ability to hold a job, and progress a career.
But, the same can be said, with equal justification for knee and hip replacements (although, possibly not affecting the ability to have children 🙂 )
Most surgeries can be justified on those grounds. I detest the use of the word 'elective', since no-one chooses to go through the process of a surgery with all the associated risks if it wasn't necessary (except perhaps, self-absorbed celebrities and their cosmetic surgeries).
Now, your ability to receive surgery in the public system seems to more depend on how quickly you'll be dead without it. Appendix, yep. Cataracts, they won't kill you.
Guess that there's still a post-code lottery going then – because my experience (in Auckland) differs. Cataracts – yep, you can get on the list for a publicly funded one (just one eye) – it might take 9 months or so to get to the top of the list. Knee replacement surgery – not a chance, sunshine. It's either private or not at all.
I was assessed at Waikato Hospital in March last year for knee replacement surgery. I was told that it needed to happen and that I would go onto the waiting list. I half expected that to be the end of the saga for months if not years, but it all happened in September – I was operated on at Southern Cross Hospital, Hamilton, after having been advised I may well be transfered to a private hospital in Rotoroa, Hamilton or even Auckland. Of course this all happened before the General Election last year, so I have no idea what would happen now.
Guess that it is an example of different 'rules' in different geographical areas.
Guess Dr Levy will attempt to 'fix' regional inequities in public health services.
Cataracts won't kill you – but they can stop you doing your job. They can stop you driving, they can stop you from reading, they can make using a computer very difficult. Mine also stopped my voluntary work.
My eyes are complex – it took 6 months to get all the calculations done for my last surgery. I operated on one and a half eyes for about 8 months. I spend a lot of my $$ on health insurance because of the difficulties with my eyes. I have a corneal graft in one eye, and a very expensive bit of plastic in the other eye.
After the last surgery which also cleared up a cataract, I can actually see to get safely to the bathroom at night without my contact lenses. I cannot have corrective glasses because the irregularities of my corneas require the use of hard contact lenses.
My first surgery took nearly 3 years to get right. Corneal grafts are very hard to do – I got very used to seeing someone coming at my eye with a scalpel and a pair of tweezers as they took out the various stitches.
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/finance/john-key-pushes-back-on-nicola-willis-hope-for-a-disruptive-kiwibank-academic-labels-idea-irresponsible
Old boy keys told the nats off twice this week , do you think the youngins will listen!!!
Good to see the punks taking on the racist right wing fascists in the UK (once again).
Punks – in town for the annual Rebellion festival – squared off against men in football shirts, separated only by police.
“England ‘till I die” and “We want our country back,” crowds chanted, alongside: “Oh, Tommy Robinson,” and “Protect our kids.”
“Where the f*** were you in Leeds?” Others shouted.
Counter-protesters returned verbal volleys of: “Nazi scum off our streets” as bottles were thrown and minor skirmishes broke out.
One woman holding a placard saying “Thugs (and) racists not welcome” had it torn from her hands as crowds pushed from the town hall to the Metropole and as sirens filled the summer air.
https://thelead.uk/skirmishes-and-simmering-tensions-blackpool-protest-wake-southport-attacks-takes-place
10,000 anti fascist punks are in Blackpool for Rebellion Festival. Safe to say the little Tommy lads misjudged this, like most of their pitiful life decisions. They ran away. Moral of the story: Don’t fuck with punks, they hate the far right.
https://x.com/supertanskiii/status/1819880615853859318
Some things remain constant.
Dead Kennedys – Nazi Punks Fuck Off
Tommy Robinson? oh you mean Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon who is skulking in Cyprus hiding from his court case.
Well technically I don't mean that. The right wing fascists chanting it do though.
His plea to Trump was pretty pathetic though. Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Paul Gosar amongst his supporters. Noting he also has supporters in New Zealand including some who petitioned for his release from jail.
I feel like I'm two days away from being sentenced to death in the U.K. for journalism. Today, I am calling on the help of Donald Trump, his administration and the Republican Party to grant me and my family political asylum in the United States of America. … I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case. I need evacuation from this country because dark forces are at work. … This is a direct appeal on behalf of my family – we love the United States, I have no future here [in Britain]. The country has fallen.
All roads lead to Farage.
1/ 🧵Just did a network analysis of the "far right thugs unite" hashtag. It largely seems to be a simulated scandal/outrage to promote the Reform Party and Nigel Farage and – while also being an attack on Keir Starmer.
https://x.com/marcowenjones/status/1820114563469127841
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1820114563469127841.html
Farage was also described on Wednesday as “nothing better than a Tommy Robinson in a suit” by Brendan Cox, the campaigner and husband of the murdered Labour MP, Jo Cox. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the EDL in 2009.
There was a rapid spread online of misinformation after the attack, with inflammatory far-right narratives rife on the comment threads under posts by Farage and another Reform MP, Rupert Lowe, on their official Facebook pages.
Under posts by Farage and Lowe, who echoed Farage by saying there was “more to this than we’re being told”, comments ranged from predictions of a coming race war, sharing of misinformation, antisemitic tropes and claims of a cover-up.
“This is clearly not a case of accidental mischaracterisation. This is Reform and Farage in particular actively spreading disinformation and actively using insinuation to incite anxiety, concern and inflame emotions,” Cox said.
Farage was described as “utterly shameful” by the Tory peer Lord Barwell, the former MP who served as Theresa May’s Downing Street chief of staff.
He said: “He is an MP. If he has questions, he could have asked them in the House of Commons yesterday – but he wasn’t there. Instead he prefers to encourage those spreading misinformation on here [social media]. Utterly shameful.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/31/farage-accused-of-inciting-southport-violence-by-former-counter-terror-chief
Indeed.
10/ Another interesting element is that the account with the most impressions on this hashtag is ReformUK member, @TalkTV Host, and former employee of Cambridge Analytica's parent company SCL Group @ThatAlexWoman (Alexandra Philips)
I assume the massive copy and paste (as opposed to retweet) is to make it look like more people re individually supporting the right – even if some accounts have shiny new AI generated photos.
Carole Cadwalladr on the amplification of outright lies and fueling the ensuing outrage.
.
Algorithms that send the most outrageous comments viral and a chain reaction of anger and disinformation made the riots that followed the Southport killings inevitable
[…]
“It feels like it was only a matter of time before we saw something like this in the UK,” said Julia Ebner, the leader of the Violent Extremism Lab at the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion at Oxford University. “This alternative information ecosystem is fuelling these narratives. We saw it in Germany in the 2018 Chemnitz riots, which this strongly reminded me of. And we saw [it] in the US with the January 6 insurrection.
“You see this chain reaction in these alternative news channels, where disinformation can spread so quickly and can mobilise people to take the streets – who are then prone to using violence because there’s this anger and these really deep emotions that are, of course, being amplified. And then, from these alternative outlets, it’s carried on to X or on to the mainstream social media platforms.”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/aug/03/a-polarisation-engine-how-social-media-has-created-a-perfect-storm-for-uks-far-right-riots
Apartheid Clyde.
@carolecadwalla
He knows what he is doing. His algorithms are a party to incitement to violence. He is publishing Tommy Robinson’s words & pumping them to millions. He has no protection from Section 230 in the UK. He is a publisher. And publishers have responsibilities.
https://x.com/carolecadwalla/status/1820158514259427717
I have to say it has been disgusting to see the hysteria around Imane khelif.
A reprise of the facts.
Imane Khelif was born female in Algeria, a deeply conservative Islamic country that doesn't recognise trans people as even existing, let alone allowing people to transition.
She has lost nine times to date to other female fighters.
The IBA is a discredited, Russian dominated organisation banned from the Olympics because of it's corruption and doping scandals.
The IBF has an axe to grind with the IOC.
The IBA has not published any of it's so-called testing results relating to Imane Khelif.
People merely believed what the IB said because it suited their own agenda to make common cause with a fascist front organisation bent on discrediting the Olympics.
The IBA is little more than another branch of the vast Russian disinformation campaign aimed at disrupting the Olympics because the Russian have been kicked out for rampant doping and cheating.
When will all the useful idiots on here who enthusiastically joined the pre-formed narrative pile on to vilify Imane Khelif publicly confess their idiocy and draw the appropriate lesson and show the appropriate level of humility for their gullibility and credulity when manipulated by obvious Russian black propaganda & misinformation?
Big claims require proper evidence it is to the great discredit of this site that a content creator has jumped on the bandwagon to publish an item attacking someone based entirely on how she looks because it suits her raid culture war agenda. Imane Khelif is a hero in Algeria, where her life story is an inspiration – she is a UNICEF ambassador and walked ten kilometres a day to training when she was a youngster because she was too poor to get there any other way.
No issue has more exposed the mickey mouse logic and gullibility of the online culture war pseudo-commentariat style than this ever became an issue.
People will be more than happy to "withdraw and apologise" as soon as we see the karyotype results from an an accredited laboratory. A simple cheek swab will settle this argument for once and for all.
So you've reached the guilty until proven innocent state of affairs have you?
So you have reached the "made up my mind and no evidence is allowed to be produced" state of affairs? You are denying a person the ability to produce evidence to counteract the statements made by the IBA which have produced this controversy?
One would think that a reasonable person – when faced with the expression of such concerns – would have no problem submitting to a non-invasive test which would conclusively show the facts of the matter.
They said much the same things about Caster Semenya until the CAS decision came out – and then they didn't.
I am astonished at the level of stupidity a stubborn refusal to simply admit you were wrong can reach. The IBA made the claim Imane Khelif failed a DNA test.
Common sense tells us extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You've produced no fucking evidence that Imane Khelif isn't anything but a woman.
I read on a random website that you were arrested for fucking a pig six month ago, the police don't have any record of this but I'm predisposed to believe you have a porcine festish so until you produce a statement from the pig denying it and a cast iron alibi backed up by your employer I'll choose to believe a random website over the police.
See how that works?
Maybe address that the IOC doesn't think 46 XY DSD competitors are disqualified from women's boxing (while the IBA did), rather than throwing random allegations at other commentators. Because unless you agree on that the evidence presented by such a test is irrelevant, as is what the IBA has claimed.
If its ok for the IOC to include 46 XY DSD competitors in women's boxing then we can ignore the IBA statements entirely.
As some 46XY DSD women have naturally given birth to children, as I referenced previously, I say Adult, female, whatever.
GC commentators at TS may be heating this debate up to prop up NZ First in government who threatened to cut off funding to NZ sports bodies with inclusive trans participation policies. This, despite it NOT being an issue in the majority of NZ sports, after considered community debate and policy setting.
Interstingly, boxing is one sport where they have created ‘open’ categories to address the issue of trans participation.
And this policy to relate to all levels of participation, not just elite competition level, a US RW weapons-grade ban.
"Sport NZ advocates for flexibility and bespoke policies suited to each sport, opposing a “one-size-fits-all” solution."
Lol, I doubt any commentators on TS are motivated by propping up NZ first.
And yet I saw enough comments at TS before the election of those who were not going to vote Labour/Greens any more because of those parties’ anti-GC political decisions. Who did they decide to vote for, on finding Tanya Unkovich 8th on the NZ First Party list?
Any surprise that Tanya has introduced a private Members' bill to make it an offense for any person found using a toilet "who is not of the sex for which that toilet has been designated."?
You're saying supporting some policies of a political party makes one a propagandist for that political party?
If someone voted for NZ First in 2023 on the basis of their GC platform, and helped them get enough party votes to be a member of the Coalition; then yes, in a broader sense, I consider that person to continue to support NZF in general.
Can't remember any posts (vs comments) here at TS on either Unkovich's toilet criminalisation bill or on NZF's threatened sports policy, opening things up for maybe an uncomfortable debate. Funny, that. That is why I suggested the Khalif controversy is a proxy here for debate on NZFs sports policy threat.
Note the Coalition only backed down on the proposed funding threats once Sports NZ and many individual sports associations basically told the government to get fucked, we've had this discussion with our particular sports community and are happy that our own solutions are fair and inclusive.
I'll take that as a retraction, as your original allegation appeared to be that posts were being put up on TS in propagandistic support of some NZ first policy (which is frankly clearly nonsense).
I'm happy to assume you miss-spoke and only meant that NZ first policy sometimes takes the same side as GC positions on certain issues and some commenters here may have even supported NZ first policy choices.
No. Instead of debating the pros and cons of NZF anti-trans policies, which I would expect from TS, given that, apparently, it's the only safe commentary site for kiwi GC advocates, there is a resounding silence here.
And so it looks to me like the Khelif story becomes the proxy for re-airing GC views on just who is entitled to participate in NZ boxing (but we can't talk about that!).
It’s probably because most of the GC people here atm are feminists and lefties and we don’t have much in common with NZF policy apart from superficially.
Pretty sure the official site policy is if its worth mentioning you can raise a post about it (or just complain all passive aggressive that nobody wrote one for you instead).
Sure thing. Might take TS up on that post.
Why are you talking about 46XY DSD? Every biologist and sports writer I've seen in the past week is talking about 5-ARD, a DSD that only affects males (who can't give birth).
Just replying to Nic the NZer who mentioned it in the comment before.
Nearly all the comments have been under my post, and most of the people who think there is an issue are left wing feminists and leftie men. I count one person who might be a NZF supporter, and another whose voting preferences I don't know.
You appear to be running genderist talking points that don't hold up to scrutiny.
Please define for me what specifically is 'genderist' in my comments? Is that even a word?
liberal leftie support for gender identity ideology above material reality.
Thanks, I can tick off lots of boxes on my culture wars Bingo card. Please define genderism for me, though.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
genderism is the term I use to short hand gender identity ideology. GII is a philosophy based in a range of overlapping beliefs: sex isn’t binary, humans can change biological sex, gender identity trumps biological sex, sex is a social construct, trans women are literally women, and so on.
Honestly tWig, I think that is the result of two things: the places you choose to engage with, and No Debate. If it weren’t for No Debate, all the evidence would be in the MSM instead of disappearing down everyone’s twitter timeline.
You might want to tighten up your use of the word in trying to dodge the CW Bingo card.
Wiki has a grab-bag of definitions for genderism.
You asked for a definition and I gave you one so you could understand what I am meaning. I’m more interested here in effective communication than random wiki definitions. I can use GII instead from now on.
Please define No Debate for me, your in-house lexicon is opaque.
I don’t do twitter or social media, never have. Most of the references I have read are articles in ‘print’ media, science papers, and excellent rebuttals put up by pro-trans writers.
that’s a pretty big hole in your knowledge then,
No Debate is a strategy developed over the last decade by lobby groups like Stonewall UK, it was designed to stop the public debating the GII agenda they were rolling out. The idea was that instead of putting out ideas and policy change and convincing the public to accept them, debate would not be tolerated and should be blocked and shut down.
It was incredibly effective, and has affected MSM and many public institutions like universities, government departments and NGOs.
That means that many of the rapid societal changes around GII have happened without public scrutiny. Turns how that is an own goal, because now there is a growing backlash as people start to understand what has happened and what it means.
No Debate was broken by a number of key actions, largely by left gender critical feminists in the UK, but also whistleblowers eg at Tavistock. Grass roots feminism and resistance, along with GI activist basically breaking societal boundaries and safeguarding, eventually got through to the MSM, first the conservative press and then eventually the liberal press.
Now MSM are more willing to cover the stories. But No Debate still has a strong influence, especially in places like NZ.
Material reality is a term used to refer to nature/the physical world, that exists independently from human perception.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectical-materialism
I’m not a marxist, but read and engage with socialist feminists, radical feminists and gender critical feminists who understand Marx, which is where I get my own understanding of the concept of material reality from.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the gender critical feminist position. The argument isn’t that TW are a danger in women’s toilets, it’s that male people as a class are. This is one of the reasons why why we have female spaces and services in the first place. Not all men, but enough of them and we can’t predict which ones, are dangerous to women.
TW are a subset of males, and appear to have the same patterns of male socialisation and violence against women as other men.
I will post some examples of TW and male violence against women. There’s plenty of it about if you don’t block it.
But wait, wouldn't that all have come out in Parliamentary debates and select committes on NZ transgender policy and legislation, if there was such incontrovertable evidence that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? There were plenty of GC submissions weren't there? Must have missed all that evidence.
who has said that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? Did you just make that up?
what makes you think evidence wasn’t presented?
some real world data.
https://terfisaslur.com/
That’s a website that pulled together examples of the harassment women were getting online for talking about women’s sex based rights. Lots of violent rhetoric. Twitter eventually shut that down after they got hauled before the UK parliament and asked to account for why they were allowing this. So you don’t see it as much now, but the website is a very good example of the kinds of MVAW that is embedded in GII. GII lefties/liberals stood by and let that happen, I spent a lot of time reporting tweets like that to twitter and almost never saw a leftist trans ally condemn them.
But both sides are 'armed' in that particular culture war, and 'TERFs' and their supporters give as good as they get, if not more, like actually murdering a trans girl in the UK. Or inciting men to go armed into womens toilets, good one, KJ whassaname.
feel free to link to the evidence that gender critical feminists are using online violence and threats against trans people.
KJK isn’t a feminist. She’s a right wing populist.
I’m not seeing anything gender critical about Brianna Ghey’s murderers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Brianna_Ghey
‘And spporters’ was the key. Splashback for the GC brigade, who may not have committed the violence, but who built up the heat in society to a boil.
Perhaps Farage and the EDL riots give a similar analogy.
Evidence and Data on Trans Women’s Offending Rates
Written evidence submitted by Professor Rosa Freedman, Professor Kathleen Stock and Professor Alice Sullivan [GRA2021]
https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/18973/pdf/
What a sad piece of evidence that is. I was expecting pages and pages, full of breakdowns by crime, etc. But 2-3 pages, one of which misquotes and misinterprets the conclusions 'Swedish study', which I read myself last year, and the rest on the UK trans prison sexual assault data, which, frankly, was a mess (eg, no differentiation between trans men and trans women in that study, just for starters).
Here's a submission to the same committe (twice as long, and more readable than the original submission) that challenges, in the politest possible way, the barely-there claims in Freedman, Stock and Sullivan's submission. Honestly, you wouldn't get a pass mark for their one if you wrote a stage 2 criminolgy essay.
OK, so you're not a serious person. Good to know.
[Please fix the typo in your email address, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
The IBA supplied the results of the tests to the IOC. There were two tests – done at two different laboratories. As I said – Khalif could allow the publication of those tests, or get another one done and publish that.
The pig says you never paid him when you pimped him out!
here's the reference for the IOC having seen the test results,
https://www.3wiresports.com/articles/2024/8/3/0d4ucn50bmvbndhhqjohaneccoqueq
via https://quillette.com/2024/08/03/xy-athletes-in-womens-olympic-boxing-paris-2024-controversy-explained-khelif-yu-ting/
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-real-science-of-sport-podcast/id1461719225?i=1000664021676
I think this podcast featuring Professor Ross Tucker, a sports scientist is outstanding on the subject of these two boxers. Thoroughly recomend you listen to it Sanctuary if you want unbiased scientific evidence on this situation.
BTW the IBA can't release the tests undertaken by these two boxers it is confidential information. But both boxers had the opportunity to appeal to the Swiss based Court of Arbitration for Sport and chose not to.
As to the Italian woman boxer who stated she withdrew from the match because she feared for her life? Well who cares about her or believes her anyway (sarc)
Reference, please for Italian boxer withdrawl.
reference for what?
A citation for your Italian boxer. I presume you don’t mean the boxer who took part in the bout, and who apologised for her comments?
Her apology included the words " I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,"
“Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”
are you trying to imply that Carini didn't say she ended the fight to preserve her life?
No, read Casini's full comments in her post-match statement in the article I cited. Vsub is creating a victim where there is a boxer who says she quit the bout because it was too difficult for her, her words immediately on pulling out were driven by anger at losing her Olympic opportunity, and does not 'blame' Khelif, where many here are.
That is as valid an interpolation of Casini’s state of mind as that postulated bu Visub, and one tjat grants Casini considerably more agency than a victim frame.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/cw0yvln9z00o
maybe slow down, because you seem to be confusing anker, visub and myself.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/01/angela-carini-abandons-fight-after-46-seconds-against-imane-khelif
Here's the reference for the Italian female boxers withdrawal
please provide the supporting quote, so people don't have to read a whole article to parse your meaning.
“After the second punch, after years of experience, I felt a strong pain in the nose. I said enough, because I didn’t want. I couldn’t finish the fight after the punch to the nose. So it was better to put an end to it.“
the quote from the article as requested
Thanks Sanctuary, brilliant comment, appreciated.
The IBA is to make a statement later today.
They oppose the newly formed WBO being recognised by the IOC as their replacement.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/cnk4427vvd2o
'I can't be bothered learning about DSDs, femaleness is an assignment, not biology, I hate the Russians therefore anyone associated with them is tainted beyond redemption and handily it means I don't have to consider how my politics might fuck over women, but who cares, let's just pretend they're all bigots anyway, or culture war dupes'
Fwiw, Khelif could have been an amazing ambassador for sports people with DSDs. But who cares about them eh.
Immediately followed by:
Please be a bit more discerning in splashing the word "facts" about. There's strong evidence Khelif is male and so far no evidence beyond "Trust me bro it says so right there in her passport" or "But she was raised as a girl" that Khelif is female.
If you are wrong in your claim, and I believe you are wrong, you are advocating for male athletes to punch female athletes in the face as a public spectacle and be rewarded for doing so. Given what's at stake, some consideration of the possibility you may be wrong would be well advised here.
There is also evidence that legal cisgender female identity and biological XX sex may be different.
I agree, there's a huge amount of evidence that identity claims about sex can be different from a person's actual sex. This is why identity claims are worthless when the stakes are as high as "If we're wrong about this, a man will get rewarded for punching women in the face as public entertainment." Actual sex can be tested for and, in this context, absolutely should be.
It is interesting that the Gender Idealogues who up till now have been saying that sex is "assigned at birth" presumably by the appearance of the genitalia, and can be assigned wrongly, are now all sex absolutists saying that the boxers were female at birth, were raised as female, and are female now.
The "assigned at birth" mantra which was stolen from the language which was used in relations to persons with a DSD in the times and places where chromosome tests were not available, is very applicable in the current circumstances but the words have conveniently vanished from the lexicon.
and 'born female', as if sex development in the womb doesn't exist.
Such a lost opportunity for us all to learn about how human biology works and how we establish cultural meaning from that.
Is it because the landlord class have health insurance?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350363007/skyrocketing-family-gp-fees-quite-sickening-doctors-say-its-last-resort
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/08/05/if-youre-going-to-protest-critical-minerals-mining-at-least-walk-the-talk/
An interesting read about how we get to net zero
Mining meeting sound regulatory criteria – not on the conservation estate, and not carbon is not in question.
Carbon gas
https://cylinderguy.co.nz/ask-pete/tips-advice/all-about-gas-water-heating
Coal for local power, or export/steel
https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/minerals-statistics/coal/operating-mines
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/environment/515221/is-nz-bringing-in-indonesian-coal-every-month-to-keep-the-lights-on
The future of reserve power is with the battery.
NZ is now in very high risk of hydropower not meeting demand this spring. Low snowpack and S.I. lakes.
Minister Watt needs to prepare the MBIE team and the EA for short term fixes not just strategies. Transpower are barely coping as is.
Watt and Jones need to call in that big Southland wind farm before it gets pecked to death by locals.
Good to see Shaw commenting there.
Another component in the health care system in crisis.
No pay rise offer and no government funding commitment.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/524201/thousands-of-ambulance-officers-to-strike-as-sector-in-worst-state-ever-seen