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Prejudice against folks who get high to improve their mental health remains in the media. Media don't reflect grass-roots reality!
A couple years after California legalised cannabis for adult use in 2016, Danielle Simone Brand decided to try it. A journalist in the US Pacific Northwest, Brand, now 42, found cannabis left her feeling “better and more embodied, happier in my body and mind”. Looking at legal cannabis as a wellness tool, she quickly liked how using the substance herself bettered her ability to parent her two children, now 8 and 11.
“Cannabis helps me in certain transitional moments,” she says. “I can more easily set aside my workday to-do list, along with whatever challenges and frustrations I've experienced that day, and get into the kind of headspace where I can patiently help with homework or make dinner with my daughter.”
Brand, the author of Weed Mom: The Canna-Curious Woman's Guide to Healthier Relaxation, Happier Parenting, and Chilling TF Out, says cannabis helped her slow down enough to linger with her kids at bedtime. Because she was so often in a hurry to get them to bed at a reasonable hour – and buy some rest for herself – Brand says she was missing out on time when her kids were keen to connect. That meant she failed to hear important details about what they were learning, how they felt about school and their relationships with friends.
The first time researcher Heather McIlvaine-Newsad became aware of cannamoms was around 2018, due to the emergence of Facebook groups devoted to the new social movement. An anthropology professor and co-founder of Western Illinois University’s interdisciplinary minor in cannabis and culture, McIlvaine-Newsad noted some of the Facebook discussion groups had been running for several years. Today, she says there are more than two dozen such groups on Facebook, boasting several thousands of members.
53-year-old Barinder Rasode also felt her stress ratchet up during the pandemic. With three children, aged 28, 25 and 17, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based mother struggled to parent amid Covid-19, especially while trying to explain to her youngest child what was going on. “You’re dealing with a teenager whose world has got turned upside down, and you’re confined in a small space, all together, for more hours than anybody should,” says Rasode, a former municipal politician turned CEO of medical-cannabis business-incubator GrowTech Labs.
Many cannamoms, including Rasode, Thomas and Brand, all ‘microdose’ cannabis – using the plant or its extracts in small doses.
That's the key point for therapeutic usage. The homeopathic analogy applies. Just use enough to shift your state of mind. No more is necessary.
Why? The psyche is a complex system. Gestalt shifts result from tiny triggers. Neuroscience has documented the various ways different parts of the brain contribute their function to consciousness, and also has moved on to document how feelings produced throughout the body likewise affect our outlook, behaviour, and decision-making. Such practical holism informs our grasp of health nowadays.
Different strokes for different folks. Its a sorry description of those that have control that they should mandate that we only have access to the two most lethal.
A family member has the unerring ability to 'friend' the non functioning potheads. Some are truly sorry specimens particularly when the overuse is coupled with an innate lack of intelligence and the cannabis use started in the early teens. Some of them are not able to hold down a steady job and never will. I find it very sad.
I've been to the wards (note the plural) of non functioning people with fetal alcohol syndrome, truly disturbing individuals who never had a chance, never even had the choice, some not able to survive without assistance. I found that incredibly sad. No choice comes without repercussions. But that the government should dictate that alcohol is the only choice for an activity that seems to be intrinsic to mankind is truly heinous.
Its not about good and bad or protecting a population, if it was we would see regulation of sugar, its simply bad law and a rotten government unwilling to do the right thing.
Those days we got it via contacts as “Buddha Sticks” from off the ships at Port Taranaki. It was wrapped around matchstick-thin sticks of bamboo & came from SE Asia.
I rolled a cigar-sized doobie out of four cigarette papers for my mates at a party in Waitara. Got stoned as frack & it freaked me out – although it made the contemporary music we were playing on the stereo about 3 times as interesting – I found I could hone in on drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals, BVs & hear them with pristine clarity like never before.
I was so stoned that when I stepped off my mate’s doorstep to leave for home (about a four inch height) it was like I was experiencing slow motion & the step seemed about a foot high. Not hallucinating as such, just felt very much in an altered state of consciousness. Thank goodness another, rather straight, mate who didn’t partake drove us home to New Plymouth.
When I got home at about 2 am I was freaking out that I might have damaged my brain. I was much too stoned to even talk to my older brother who saw my red eyes, guessed what was happening, & told me to go to bed before my parents saw me.
Woke up the next morning & I was fine. No after effects at all. Man, this is way better than booze, I concluded.
It didn’t become a regular feature of my life until my mid-20s. I never got it from gangs. I always seemed to be able to find non-gang sources (at work or when out socially) who just quietly grew their own & sometimes sold oz bags on the side. I also grew my own (in amongst carefully selected tall marigolds) for about 10 years.
It was never available at my school in my schooldays, though I believe it IS commonly available there nowdays.
I’m glad I never got onto it when at school. I had enuf trouble concentrating when bored as it was. If I’d being doing dope in my schooldays I’d have had no idea what we’d just been taught after every class.
You may have heard NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warning the public that everybody should expect to get infected by the Omicron variant.
That’s pretty gloomy, but is he wrong?
I asked Hunter, Plank and Martiniuk about this.
“Basically he is correct,” Hunter replied. “Nothing in medicine is 100 per cent, but the large majority of people will get Omicron.”
Martiniuk said she did not know. “But wouldn’t you rather delay getting it until a few years from now? Wouldn’t you rather get it when there are better treatments and better vaccines?”
Plank certainly doesn’t agree with Hazzard’s messaging. He sees it as defeatist, but he acknowledges the minister probably has a point. The sheer speed at which the virus spreads, and the fact it evades vaccination, means that once it starts spreading it’s going to infect a lot of people – although maybe not everyone.
“But that doesn't mean you don’t do anything to try and slow it down or stop it,” Plank says, “And there are still vulnerable groups, and we really need to keep those groups in mind.”
Nothing wrong with slowing it down, applying the precautionary principle. However the unity stance is never going to work – particularly if directed against Gaia.
Problem with academics is lack of Gaian consciousness. Ivory-tower syndrome rules their thinking. Plank always seems sensible & I haven't disagreed with any of his views, but he's bound by his indoctrination like all the others. To grasp the evolutionary context, one must think outside the academic square.
There could already be people in the community with it that don't realise they have it. Remember many people don't know they have it until the test result comes back.
I already commented on that article on another thread, so won't repeat myself.
Instead, and in light of the official narrative crumbling (and not a moment too soon), I'll post these wee lines from a piece of Guardian reporting today –
The government said a further 154 people had died in England within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 174,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Bit of a shift from the reporting of these past few years that would have read along the lines of – "another 154 Covid deaths" and "there have been a total of 174 000 Covid deaths"
While I welcome the change, I'd really quite like the bastards behind the ubiquitous "project fear" reporting of these past few years to be dragged into public view and dealt with appropriately.
We can take comfort in recent UK trends (30th Dec. 332 deaths, 31st Dec. 203 deaths, 1st Jan. 154 deaths – a year ago it was 592 deaths per day [7-day moving average] and rising), and in the roll-out of boosters and new treatments for COVID infections.
Should be a doddle for all but the seriously ill and/or dying from now on – 'cry freedums' trumps "project fear". However, we may not be out of the dense woods just yet – let's touch base in 3 – 4 weeks to re-examine the pandemic success story that is the UK. And keep an eye out for new variants of concern, why not.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chairman, has said it is “wholly erroneous to talk about the risk of the NHS becoming overwhelmed”, adding that the new year began with the NHS “already overwhelmed, in a parlous state, and with patient care suffering”.
He described staff as “exhausted”, and added: “A key priority for the government this year must be to properly invest in doctors’ wellbeing, recognising that the NHS cannot afford to lose any more of its workforce without dangerously jeopardising patient care.”
Well nothing will change until the people of the world somehow unite and create a World without money system. We are still in a primitive stage of evolution so a World without money system could be a long time in the waiting.
Has Biden succeeded in taxing the shit out of the wealthy, as he intended?
The only other way to control greed is by making it morally reprehensible to society, but even Christianity & Islam – which both try to do that – have spectacularly failed in that regard.
I dunno how practical a world without money is. Money has been around for so long because it’s just so practical.
But we could sure do with a major reform of the international currency markets that are still far too much controlled by the US & allow the US to strangle economies of countries they don’t like or whose leaders or policies are inconvenient to their government or the major corporations who fund their politicians.
If you really want to have a world without money you are going to have to come up with a simple way to trade your work for others..
If you, a maker of shoes, but who likes strawberries, wants to find a way of exchanging your shoes for someone else's strawberries how are you going to do it without having the intermediary of money? How do you find a seller of strawberries? What do you do if they don't want a new pair of shoes? What do you do if you really want some strawberries next month and not today? What if you only want a small amount of strawberries in comparison with a large pair of shoes?
etc, etc, etc. Money, in some form or other is perhaps the greatest invention of, and the most useful thing ever created by, the Human Race.
The experience of Hungary, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey – to name just the best-known recent cases – show that a transition from some kind of power-sharing democracy to despotism can happen rapidly, in not much longer than a decade.
That was certainly the case in the 20th Century & nothing has changed. In fact it can happen even more quickly these days, imo. Look how many people in the US bought into the “Trump’s the solution” madness from the “get-go”!
Democracy loses credibility when it fails to deliver. Find a National or Labour voter & target the bugger. See if you can wake him up. From your source:
Despotisms in practice strive to learn the arts of nimble governance. They do more than repeat the mantra of “popular sovereignty”: their leaders harness public opinion polling agencies, think tanks, election campaigns, happiness forums, policy feedback groups, online hearings and other early warning detectors.
The rulers of the new despotisms are deception and seduction perfectionists. They do all they can to camouflage the violence they wield against those who refuse to conform.
Using a combination of slick means, including calibrated coercion masked by balaclavas, they manage to win the loyalty of sections of the middle classes, skilled and unskilled workers, and the poor. Despotisms are hard governments in soft velvet form. They work tirelessly to lure their subjects into subjection. Voluntary servitude is their thing.
Voluntary servitude is the ethos of your typical Nat/Lab voter. They are literally unable to think of what else to do with their lives.
So my point is our mainstreamer political duopoly is already operating to simulate democracy just like the despots. They just use a bit more of that velvet…
It's worth keeping in mind that whenever we tear down the achievements of liberal democracy – that you're also serving an despot's purpose knowingly or not.
A decent start to the test, a bit disappointing losing Blundell at the end but its still 258 runs in the bank with 5 wickets in hand
Minimum target from here would be at least 350 and then we'll see what the bowlers can do on this pitch.
A good start to Youngs career as opener but its a shame we can't seem to produce another opening partner for Latham (at least it means we can put him in the team)
Blundell hasn't been going too well of late but he deserves more of an extended run in the role (maybe swop with Ravindra in the batting order?) however hes not just replacing an all time NZ great, hes replacing one of the best wicketkeeper/batters of all time
Having said that Cleaver, Fletcher and Seifert are all doing well in FC cricket so a decent score in the 2nd innings would do him a world of good.
So a team, in the near future, of:
Latham
Young
Williamson
Conway
Nicholls
Ravindra
Blundell
Jamieson
Southee
Wagner
Boult
Isn't too shabby, maybe would like to see more of Patel and Jamieson maybe a position too high but still pretty good.
Excellent choices for the Black Caps PR. I will miss Taylor.
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
Whats good about this team is that we also have Mitchell in the reserves and hes shown to be more than able to make the step up to top order international batting.
We've got good pace bowling reserves, plenty of wicket keeping/batters floating about. If we could just sort out the spinning options we'd be a threat in all conditions.
Excellent choices for the Black Caps PR. I will miss Taylor.
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary in the 2021 version, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
The "poster child" politicians for liberalism just can't help themselves. From Jacinda's "be kind" before openly guffawing at creating a divided NZ, to this corker from her "poster child" predecessor.
I think he was a black slave in a former life. He’s now a white 'waste of space' liberal who's conflicted. He now realises ''black faces don't matter.''
don't know who BLN are, but in this tweet, they are clearly misrepresenting what Trudeau is saying.
They claim that he said unvaccinated people are them unscientific, misogynists and racists, and that he was attacking unvaccinated people.
Whereas what he actually said is two things:
there are vaccine hesitant people, and they will keep trying to convince them
there are another group of people who are "ferociously against vaccination", and who tend to be anti-science, racist, misongynist. They are small group.
Here's a transcript,
Why BLN would want to conflate vax hesitant people with hard core anti-vaxxers connected to Qanon etc I don't know. Seems weird to me.
I don't believe Bull was being careless at all, quite the opposite in fact.
His "divided NZ" is just more billshit, some love to play the persecution up for whatever reasons."No papers" is another one used the other day . Ffs what's this country coming to when one has to travel 50 km , pass 6 supermarkets, 8 dairies, 3 bakeries just to find a bakery with a cafe attached to it in order to satisfy a need to feel persecuted!
Anyway. You want to talk to the 9 year olds who have been told they can't do any extracurricular activities next year unless they're injected and then come back and tell me how NZ isn't divided?
You want to talk about the kids whose heads are all fucked up because "unless injected" they don't get to hang out with their school pals? (Maybe you don't recall what a huge deal peer pressure and social acceptance was as a pre-teen kid)
Or maybe just tell me how the clip Rosemary put up doesn't mean that NZ's been deliberately divided?
20 odd km is the distance on public transport btw (not 50km) – to the bakery I've been buying my bread from these past two years or more because it's decent bread they bake.
You deliberately overlooking Trudeau's hypocrisy? (Blumenthal’s tweet’s arguably really quite pertinent and funny)
The guy who runs around in black face saying racists are not going to tolerated…
Anyway, hypocrisy aside, what do you think he means when he says those who resist the injections and who he considers to be anti-science and/or racist and/or misogynists may well not be tolerated?
You can the circularity of his argument, whereby anyone who refuses to submit to an injection in spite of government persuasion becomes almost by definition a person harbouring personal traits or beliefs that he reckons ought not to be tolerated, yes?
So what would the next step in this "othering" be? Open season on the deplorable un-injected?
Looks like the interview was from September, I'll hazard a guess that there is broader context, including what he said next.
BLN's website page on the piece is obviously manipulative and not journalism. There's no date or context for the video, and their headlines and brief content smack of sensationalism and trumpism (note they accuse Trudeau of being divisive while they are doing exactly that with their approach). This is the kind of shit I would expect to be passed around on FB without any attempt at fact checking.
BLN – "Shining a light on the science and data of Covid-19. Investigate and arrive at your own conclusions." BLN is also active on Telegram – the extremists' platform of choice.
The tweet was compiled by Max Blumenthal ffs. What earthly difference does it make what platform or outlet was carrying the original clip that he used in making his observation?
And….are you insinuating that "telegram" – 'the extremists' platform of choice' (in your words) is perhaps where misogynists, racists and anti-science types gather?
Perhaps you think, essentially in parallel with Trudeau, that Telegram, or anyone who uses Telegram is another indication (alongside people refusing injections?) of who ought not be tolerated?
Trudeau says, "But also, there are people who are ferociously against vaccination…" and it's those he lambasts, not the "vaccine hesitant” or the broader "unvaccinated".
The comment (above) "Prime Minister @Justin Trudeau launches into an unfounded and divisive tirade on unvaccinated people … " is a crock.
I call them 'malignant anti vaxxers' and they are a different breed from many who are hesitant or the broader unvaccinated. These are the ones who send out false letters to people about booster shots using MOH letterhead, damage vaccine centres, bully those turning up at centres so that the centres have to close.
They are the ones who featured in David Farrier's Loopy article
Looks like omicron is becoming likely to be viewed as similar to the flu.
A Belgian scientific research station in Antarctica is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, despite workers being fully vaccinated and based in one of the world's remotest regions. Since 14 December, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus. Officials say cases remain mild so far.
Joseph Cheek, a project manager for the International Polar Foundation, told the BBC: "All residents of the station were offered the opportunity to leave on a scheduled flight on 12 January. However, they all expressed their wish to stay and continue their work."
Govts have trained people to see a 64% pandemic infection rate as a calamity. Having this team of scientists treat it as no problem could cause a wave of cognitive dissonance to spread around the world with this news…
Leader of Finland’s biggest opposition party says ”NATO membership would improve Finland’s security and bring predictability to our region”. Green Parliament Group leader (in gov’t) says ”NATO membership of 🇫🇮& 🇸🇪 would clarify Europe’s security arrangements and build stability”.
So we've gone from it being official govt figures, to a youtuber not even bothering linking to a news article I can't read.
[RL: Bill provided a time reference: At about 10 minutes in, the NHS figures are presented. I tested all the links and encountered no problem or paywalls. Moderation has been working to encourage cites and your initial sneering response, lacking any argument or detail, was not needed. Personally I do not do Twitter and you seem to have a thing against YT, but both are frequently used and that isn’t going to change.]
"About 10 minutes in", NHS figures for admissions are presented, but then factored down with the "20%" figure from the telegraph (a link only visible as far as I can see at the bottom of the paper in the video, and had to be hand-transposed into the browser to find I wasn't allowed to read the article).
There appears to be a fundamental citation gap in that argument, let alone from anything based on official figures for the 20% claim.
[RL: Your carping about paywalls is easily addressed in a few seconds work with a search engine. I’m not going to do that for you. In the meantime you have failed to acknowledge my original moderation warning and are now heading into ‘wasting my time’ territory.]
Didn't realise it was a warning, and still can't find the telegraph source from the video in the links you reckoned worked fine. But now I know, so I'll leave it.
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Matauranga Maori just keeps on giving, providing a regular supply of grist for the mill of scientists such as Jerry A. Coyne, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago and publisher of Why Evolution is True. It is also a belief system which ...
Brian Easton writes –The public service is suffering from the downgrading of the role of professionals, experts and those at the workface with the public. There is a management fashion which believes that by imposing layers of generic managers, public spending will become more efficient because they ...
A short one this morning. Things are a bit quiet on the political front over Easter.Many of you will no doubt have recently heard about Chat GPT. The system people are trying out to see how far Artificial Intelligence (AI) has progressed. There has been much discussion of jobs that ...
This week in the Big Read on the Herald, there’s an expose written up by David Fisher on the peorson known as Chantelle Baker. One can say known as, because who knows what is actually underneath all that vacuous, attention-seeking behaviour. Is it the person who is merely ...
I’m a Greens Party member and supporter. But you probably knew that. I reckon I’ve mentioned it before.It’s an odd choice in some ways. My tribe ought to be Labour. That’s my family background, my political heritage, hardcore Labour. But not me. If I had to explain why in just ...
We are back in one of my favourite places in the world. Here is the second largest and third deepest lake in Aotearoa looking first rate.Yesterday morning, I joined a 5km fun run from the Lake Te Anau Control Gates to the Takahē Sanctuary and back. Read more ...
Hi,As we’re in the weekend, I thought it could be a good time to do an Ask Me Anything — an AMA. If you’ve been here for a while you know I like to do these from time-to-time, so I’ll be lurking in the comments all weekend to answer anything ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Apr 2, 2023 thru Sat, Apr 8, 2023. Story of the Week Earth Could Warm 3 Degrees if Nations Keep Building Coal Plants, New Research WarnsSeveral nations plan to build new coal ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act again has been mentioned in despatches from the Beehive: this time Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Duncan Webb has announced changes to come into force next month, “improving safe access to credit for Kiwis”. These changes suggest they didn’t ...
One of my favourite things about writing this newsletter is the stories that people tell me. I feel very privileged that you share them with me and I always ask permission before using any of them, it’s only polite. A friend got in touch with me yesterday.I just feel broken ...
Graham Adams writes – The focus on co-governance obscures direct iwi control of water. The clock is ticking. October’s election is just over six months away. But despite the Prime Minister’s assurances in early February that the public would be told in “another couple of weeks” of any ...
Open access notables What does intellectual bankruptcy often look like? Trying to switch topics by going ad hominem, that's what. When somebody stops thinking and begins flinging irrelevant insults, threats and accusations at a person, we're seeing a crisply humiliating admission: "I have nothing." Going broke isn't free. In the case of ...
The public service is suffering from the downgrading of the role of professionals, experts and those at the workface with the public. There is a management fashion that believes that by imposing layers of generic managers, public spending will become more efficient because they will control the professionals, who cannot ...
Buzz from the Beehive No, the chart above does not come from the Beehive. We found it today on Kiwiblog, under an item headed The Facts on violent crime.The chart from The Facts ...
1. What did Jacinda disclose, in her farewell, that she often ate before question time?a. Rare steak b. Fish and chipsc. Lisa’s Hummusd. Nothing2. Which of these did not happen?a. David Seymour said on Max Key’s podcast: Ardern is too dumb to keep up with a global conspiracyb. David Seymour said ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill (Ibrahim Omer) The bill would make it a crime to deliberately fail to pay money owed as part of an employment relationship. Sadly, Labour being ...
The RBNZ’s hike was a shock, but borrowers can blame the weather, an American bank, a Swiss bank and the Reserve Bank’s yet-to-be-confirmed fear of a pre-election lolly scramble. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Reserve Bank just threw a big cat among the Kererū in our political ...
Yesterday I listened to a couple of interviews on RNZ and NewsHub with the leader of the opposition, Christopher Luxon. The lead questions were about Kiri Allan having said, at her partner Māni Dunlop’s leaving do, that RNZ need to do a better job promoting Māori broadcasters. Mr Luxon explained ...
With Good Friday tomorrow, we thought we’d do the weekly roundup a day early this week. Here’s a basket of reading goodies for your long weekend. Our header image this week, via the Auckland City Centre Residents Group, shows a social gathering in the Emily Place park (a legacy project of the ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins must be wondering what else he needs to do to make sure his Cabinet understands the rules of being a Cabinet Minister. Minister of Justice and Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan this week became the latest to apologise to him for not following the rules in ...
The Sunday before the 2017 election I had been scheduled to interview Jacinda Ardern before she fronted a big rally in Hamilton. She suggested we do it over lunch at a Hamilton café. Looking back, the strengths and the weaknesses of her Prime Ministership were already evident though maybe ...
Go well, Jacinda, best Prime Minister I ever saw, some of my fellow New Zealanders have been saying.Others dripping venom say,I’m putting my deeply offensive T-shirt back on to give you a proper sendoff you evil bitch.Some people are clearly allergic to decency.The Act Party's sawn-off leadership has happily had ...
Events have gone sour quickly for the dairy industry, and in turn for the country’s external accounts, with a sharp fall in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction this week. Prices fell 4.7% overall – the fourth consecutive decline — to an average of $US3,227 ($NZ5,112) per metric tonne. ...
Buzz from the Beehive One former minister – former Prime Minister, actually – has a new job while a current minister has taken on more work (briefly) to involve herself in another minister’s portfolio. The first of those two ministerial happenings has been officially recorded on the Beehive website. The ...
Today the Government adopted a long held Green Party position to increase the number of water entities to ensure a closer connection with communities they serve. However, despite the rebrand, significant concerns remain. ...
Auckland Central Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick welcomes the findings of the Auckland Flood Response Review and urges Council to not delay implementing the 17 recommendations. ...
New Zealand’s rivers, lakes and freshwater are in crisis and there needs to be a more ambitious Government plan to clean them up and protect against nitrate contamination, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party welcomes the broadening of the number of professions who are part of the Green List and Straight to Residency Pathway, and calls on the Government to do more for the workers who are currently without any pathways to residency. ...
The Green Party is tonight welcoming the progress made with Chlöe Swarbrick’s Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) member’s bill but disappointed Parliament has once again kicked the rest of the can down the road. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take responsibility to reduce inflation by taxing wealth, instead of leaving RBNZ to continue hiking the Official Cash Rate. ...
Shane Jones: Chris Hipkins is handing out policy Easter eggs but voters are not bunnies Easter is upon us and our dairies are chocker with eggs. Firm on the outside but mushy in the middle. Not unlike those in the political nest. If early 2023 is a clue forwhat will ...
The past few years have been incredibly difficult for many New Zealanders. Most recently, severe weather events have hit our regions hard, causing extensive damage to communities. We’ve faced the most significant global challenge in decades, and now in the wake of the pandemic, high inflation is affecting us here ...
These candidates bring with them a vast range of experiences, knowledge and skills to this year's election. The Green Māori voice this year is strong, bold and shows the diversity of tangata whenua voices. ...
Over a million New Zealanders will receive a little extra to help with the cost of living as a result of our 1 April changes. Around the world, inflation is causing costs to rise and we’re feeling it here at home. In tough times, we need to support those who ...
With benefit changes coming into effect tomorrow, the Green Party is calling on the Government to lift benefits to liveable levels to make sure everyone has what they need to thrive. ...
Following decades of work by the Green Party alongside the organics sector, people will finally be able to be confident that products labelled organic have met standards. ...
The Green Party supports immediate Government action to close the pay gap as called for in an open letter released today by the Human Rights Commission and 50 other organisations. ...
The Green Party is today welcoming the release of the Government’s waste strategy, but says it has a big gap without action on the container return scheme for beverage containers. ...
The Government’s decision to introduce ‘mass arrivals’ legislation goes against the values we all share of Aotearoa as a place where all people are treated fairly, the Green Party says. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says taxpayer money is being used for an all-out assault on western values. In his State of the Nation speech, he warned of a powerful elite, devoted to the destruction of "our cultural inheritance". He promised New Zealand First, if re-elected, would ...
On Saturday morning, I was hit by a motorcyclist who struck me at a pedestrian crossing. The person who hit me was part of a convoy of motorcyclists. ...
NZ First's Winston Peters has outlined several pitches to prospective voters- and issued a warning in his State of the Nation address. Winston Peters proposed more funding for frontline agencies, mandatory prison sentences for people who assault first responders and promised to strip Te Reo names from Government departments.Peters also ...
MINISTER DAVIDSON MUST RESIGN AFTER 'VIOLENCE' COMMENTS Marama Davidson should stand down as ‘Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence’ for the clear and outrageous statement she made at the Posie Parker protest that ‘white straight men’ are the cause of violence. Her offensive, racist, and sexist remarks ...
Nearly half a million solar panels across two Waikato solar farm projects that could reduce over 200 million kilograms of carbon pollution each year have been referred for fast-track consenting, creating up to 280 jobs, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. Referring the Rangiriri Solar Farm Project and Waerenga Solar ...
The Government is proposing new unit pricing measures that will help Kiwis make informed decisions at the checkout and improve competition at the supermarket, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr Duncan Webb announced today. “The cost of living is the number one issue for the Government, and the rising ...
The Government is rolling out new programmes in areas that have seen spikes in youth offending to help steer rangatahi into training and employment, Associate Minister of Social Development and Employment Willie Jackson has announced. Whakawatea te ara Poutama involves 15 work-readiness and employment training programmes in those areas which have ...
Minister of Transport Michael Wood marked the completion of the Northern Corridor Improvements project this morning, opening the final six kilometre section of shared path on Auckland’s North Shore between Constellation Station and Oteha Valley Road. “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, greener, and ...
The Government has made $10.8 million available for urgent research and science services to aid the recent extreme weather response and recovery. “There is a high demand for evidence to address immediate needs and inform recovery decisions following devastating weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle,” Research, Science and Innovation Hon ...
10 new regionally owned and led public water entities to be established New approach avoids a rates blow out and delivers savings to households between $2,770-$5,400 per year by 2054 Entities will be owned by local councils on behalf of the public, and entity borders to be based on existing ...
The latest data confirming a reduction in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 shows the government’s actions are working, says Climate Change Minister James Shaw. New Zealand’s official Greenhouse Gas Inventory released today shows that gross emissions declined by 0.7 percent in the 12 months to the end of ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has welcomed the Climate Change Commission’s latest advice on the settings for the Emissions Trading Scheme. “A well-designed system for pricing emissions is a central part of our Government’s climate change policy framework. The advice published today will guide Cabinet in its decisions about how ...
The Government has agreed to a request from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care for more time to deliver its final report. “In the past year, the Commission has received a large amount of evidence that requires detailed analysis, including over 400,000 evidential documents. There have also ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta today announced the appointment of senior diplomat David Taylor as Aotearoa New Zealand’s next ambassador to Sweden. “Aotearoa New Zealand greatly values its warm relationship with Sweden. Our relationship is anchored in shared values and common perspectives as liberal democracies and open economies. This is reflected ...
The Government has appointed the co-chairs to design a survivor-led independent redress system for historic abuse in care. “The work on redress for survivors of abuse in care remains a high priority for government, and today’s appointments reflect our commitment to maintain momentum towards achieving justice for survivors,” Minister for ...
Associate High Court Judge Kenneth Johnston KC has been appointed as the next Chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), Justice Minister Kiri Allan announced today. Judge Johnston takes up his appointment on 1 May and will replace Judge Colin Doherty who is standing down after five and a ...
Disabled leadership networks will receive a $1m boost as the Government lays the foundation for transformation in the disability sector, Minister for Disability Issues Priyanca Radhakrishnan has announced. “This additional funding supports the expansion of a regional disability leadership model successfully piloted in Waikato, MidCentral and Christchurch,” Priyanca Radhakrishnan said. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced his intention to promote Willow-Jean Prime to fill a vacancy in Cabinet, resulting in a 50/50 gender balance in Cabinet for the first time in New Zealand’s history. “Willow-Jean will move into the Cabinet at number 20. She retains her current portfolios. All other ...
Being up to date with vaccinations, staying home if unwell and wearing masks in healthcare settings remains key to minimising the impact of COVID-19 and reducing pressure on our health system over winter, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall said today. Cabinet has agreed to retain mandatory measures for cases ...
The Government has added 32 new health sector roles to the Straight to Residence pathway of the Green List to help prepare our health system for the coming winter, Immigration Minister Michael Wood and Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “The world is currently facing a global health worker ...
Grant Robertson departs this evening for Washington DC to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The annual meetings bring together finance ministers, central bankers and private and public sector representatives from around the world to discuss the global economy, development, concerns and opportunities. ...
The largest women’s sporting event in the world is now only 100 days from hitting New Zealand shores. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia from 20 July to 20 August 2023. “Co-hosting an event of this magnitude will generate huge social and ...
Further legislation to support cyclone recovery efforts passed its third reading in Parliament today. The Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill supports more timely recovery efforts by communities following the recent severe weather events in the North Island. “This Bill provides the flexibility necessary to allow communities and local authorities, ...
The Government has announced that changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) will come into force in May, improving safe access to credit for Kiwis, said Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr Duncan Webb. The changes include: explicitly excluding discretionary expenses from affordability testing providing more ...
15% decrease in notifications to Oranga Tamariki compared to 2020/21 13% of children aged 0-14 years lived in households where food runs out sometimes or often, compared with 15% the previous year and 20% in 2019/20 91% of young people aged 15-24 years reported their physical health as good, very ...
Bookings for New Zealand’s iconic Great Walks will open from 20 April, marking the return of international tourists for the full season, Minister of Conservation Willow-Jean Prime has announced. “We know Kiwis and international travellers alike love our Great Walks with a passion,” Willow-Jean Prime said. “When bookings opened this ...
82 Percent of children referred to Kotahi te Whakaaro programme have not reoffended 65 percent fall in Ram Raids over six months In the six months following the announcement of the Government’s Better Pathways package, most children are not reoffending and ram raids have dropped significantly. “Of the 147 children ...
The latest Youth Justice Indicators Summary report has been released today. The number of children who offended each year over the past decade has decreased from 4292 to 1791. The number of young people who offended decreased from 11,557 to 5,765, across the same time period, despite the inclusion of ...
The Government is investing in Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and NZ On Air to ensure all New Zealanders have access to public media that delivers world class content, Minister for Broadcasting and Media Willie Jackson announced today. RNZ will receive an annual increase of $25.7m. This will include: $12m for ...
Wellington King’s Counsel Paul James Radich has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, and Wellington barrister Andrew Cunningham Skelton has been appointed an Associate Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Radich graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 1986 with an LLB (Hons), and ...
$23 million boost to the fund that has successfully helped farmers and growers with post-cyclone clean-up, taking total primary sector support to $78 million. Nearly 6,000 applications received for grants, with 3,290 approved, and $37 million paid out to farmers and growers to date. More support likely as Government backs ...
Thank you very much to the Business Energy Council and Genesis for inviting me along bright and early this morning! As has come as a bit of a tradition I’m going to talk about my priorities for 2023, and the important programmes that government and industry are working on together. ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has kicked off construction for a crucial roundabout on Aotea Quay which will improve road safety and usability for a crucial gateway to Wellington City. “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer and more efficient for now and future generations to ...
Kiwis could get better access to ACC support for a greater number of occupational diseases, including those more likely to affect women, ACC Minister Peeni Henare announced today. The Government is reviewing the list of occupational diseases in Schedule 2 of the Accident Compensation Act for the first time ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has appointed Jacinda Ardern as Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call. The newly created position will represent New Zealand’s continued commitment to push for greater protection online from terrorist and violent extremist content. The Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call will report directly to the Prime ...
The Government’s balanced and disciplined financial management has left New Zealand well placed to focus on supporting Kiwis dealing with cost of living pressures and the recovery and rebuild of Cyclone Gabrielle. “As I’ve previously said, 2023 is going to be a difficult and testing year. We are well placed ...
The Integrity Sport and Recreation Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a major step towards establishing the Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission. “Once up and running, the new Commission will help protect the wellbeing of athletes and participants and uphold the fairness of competition,” Grant Robertson said. ...
New Zealand’s action to cut emissions is delivering results, says Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Data released today by Stats NZ that shows total greenhouse gas emissions have fallen to their lowest levels in eight years. This is the fourth quarter in a row where emissions have fallen. “This has been ...
$14 million available in the seventh round of the Tourism Infrastructure Fund Resilience and recovery of regions hit by recent weather a priority All councils encouraged to apply, especially those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle A particular priority for this year’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund will be on the rebuild and recovery ...
New Zealand’s avocado industry represents a bright future for the sector, Associate Minister of Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri says. Speaking at the opening of the World Avocado Congress in Auckland, Minister Whaitiri acknowledged the resilience of local growers, despite recent challenging weather events. “The avocado industry is a significant contributor ...
Businesses could soon have access to thousands of additional working holiday makers as the Government boosts the number of working holiday places for Spain, and extends the period for working holiday makers currently in New Zealand, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced. “The government recognises the crucial role working holiday visa ...
· Requesting the Speaker remove swipe-card access to Parliament for business, non-government sector and union representatives · Offering Government support to third-party lobbyists to establish a voluntary code of conduct · A refreshed Cabinet Manual being published this month sets clear expectations for Ministers in relation to conduct and decisions ...
A number of cyclone affected communities in Tairāwhiti have been reconnected following the opening of a temporary bypass on Stage Highway 35 north of Tokomaru Bay, Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan says. The Mangahauini track opened to the public this afternoon, following weeks of hard work by roading contractors in ...
The Government has released its interim response to the Productivity Commission’s Report, Immigration – Fit for the Future. “We asked the Productivity Commission to undertake the inquiry to help us determine which immigration policy settings would best facilitate Aotearoa New Zealand’s long-term economic growth and promote the wellbeing of New ...
Timaru and Waimakariri District Councils have filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal against the High Court decision declining to grant declarations about property rights. Timaru, Waimakariri and Whangarei District Councils had asked the High Court for ...
Here’s all our 14 nominations and what they were for. Journalists around the country flocked to the Newspaper Publishers’ Association website this morning to learn that The Spinoff is the only outlet nominated* for Voyager Media Awards in 2023, with 14 nominations across the 64 award categories. In a genuine ...
This year’s headliners are Blackpink, Frank Ocean and Bad Bunny but it’s who’s on the undercard that makes this year’s Coachella festival far more interesting. Blondie’s in the mix, so’s Björk, Charli XCX and the Chemical Brothers, as well as the first ever performance from Jai Paul. If you were ...
Analysis: Extending Covid-19 isolation period creates dissent; Chris Hipkins challenged over the state of the health system and National vows to repeal the government's revamped Three Waters. ...
A bill could narrow the scope and conditions under which restraint of trade clauses may be appliedOpinion: Restraint of trade clauses are common in employment agreements. Not surprisingly, their use in New Zealand has long been subjected to legal scrutiny. The clauses are typically considered enforceable if they are reasonable ...
Strikes, stop-works and other protests were once the way workers could push back against rising costs and too-low pay. So what happened to collective action? Most people today are coping with the rising cost of living individually: cost cutting, looking for a better paid job, taking on “side hustles”, and ...
International migration statistics give the latest outcomes-based measure of migration, which includes estimates of migrants entering or leaving New Zealand. Key facts Annual migration Provisional estimates for the year ended February 2023 compared with ...
Greenpeace is welcoming the Climate Change Commission’s latest recommendations on Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) settings, and says the advice should not only be accepted but should be binding and free from political interference. The Commission’s ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson has announced she plans to campaign as a list-only candidate, and is supporting another candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau seat. ...
Last week, the Police Association refused to publish an article by COLFO which detailed objections to the fees and has since run in the New Zealand Herald. The article cites a January briefing to the Police Minister which warned that the high fees proposed ...
As New Zealand prepares for its next nationwide climate strike on Friday 26th May, organisers are making it clear that they have specific demands for meaningful climate action from government and industry leaders. “The time for action is now, ...
The government’s minor tweaks to the Three Waters Reform have largely disappointed Hurunui District’s Mayor Marie Black, which she claimed have highlighted the fact the Reform for those in the Beehive is nothing more than a political issue. “The ...
The local government minister says while the savings will be less under the Three Waters revamp, the government has found a balance to ensure local voice. ...
Ali Wong and Steven Yeun’s road rage saga isn’t about what it says it is at all.* This is an excerpt from The Spinoff newsletter Rec Room. Sign up for this and much more delivered to your inbox every Friday here. Ali Wong is seething. She’s furious. No one ...
Morning Report - RNZ and NZ Herald's deputy political editors Craig McCulloch and Thomas Coughlan evaluate Labour's latest Three Waters reforms rejig. ...
Wellington’s Dominion Post has announced a rebrand, ditching the “Dominion” from its name and simply becoming The Post. It’s been over 20 years since the capital’s newspapers The Evening Post and The Dominion merged, but the paper’s current editor Caitlin Cherry said the name didn’t make sense for an independently ...
Councils are going to great lengths to avoid dumping 350,000 tonnes of food waste into landfills each year.This story was first published on Stuff. Auckland’s banana skins, potato peelings and other scraps are taking a three-and-a half hour road trip south to help ripen tomatoes instead of being buried in ...
Aotearoa needs to double the size of its electricity industry over the next 30 years to meet our emissions reductions targets. We’ve done it before in 1945 to 1985 but can we do it again? With a myriad of privately and publicly owned companies waiting for market and regulatory signals, ...
The minister in charge of the government’s three waters overhaul has admitted there was difficulty getting the public onboard with the so-called “co-governance” aspect of the original plan. It was confirmed yesterday that the water infrastructure plans would be moving ahead but with some substantial changes. There will be now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Murphy, Senior Lecturer, Astrophysics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock Finding life on other planets might well be the holy grail of astronomy, but the hunt for suitable host planets that can sustain life is a resource-intensive task. The search ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyria Bennett Moses, Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW; Director of the UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, UNSW Sydney Michael Dwyer/AP Australia has joined other countries in announcing a ban on the use ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University Shutterstock With the days becoming noticeably shorter, winter is on its way in the Southern Hemisphere. Most pregnant women are aware of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natasha Ward, Lead Researcher, RMIT University Nicolas Rakotopare, Author provided In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, a totem is a spiritual emblem from the natural world, such as a plant or animal. The totem is gifted to an individual ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catharine Coleborne, Professor of History, School Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle This article is the first in our series on big ideas for the Universities Accord. The federal government is calling ideas to “reshape and reimagine higher education, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock It has long been known that incomes in Australia are more evenly distributed than in the United ...
A new economic forecast predicts inflation will be at 6.6% by the end of this year and 3.8% by the end of next year, still well above the Reserve Bank’s target of 1% to 3%. Infometrics’ chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan says that while inflation pressures are reducing internationally, New Zealand ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Marriott, Professor of Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images As it stands in Aotearoa New Zealand, beneficiary fraud (fraud by people on benefits) is largely dealt with under the Crimes Act, while tax evasion ...
The name is gone, but how much have the government’s much-maligned water reforms really changed, asks Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.So farewell then, Three Waters By the time prime minister ...
In episode 3 of Raw Politics, we look at whether National, six months out from the general election, is in the fit state to govern, and debate whether the Three Waters changes are real or imaginary Every Friday, Jo Moir, Sam Sachdeva and Tim Murphy talk through the big issues and scrutinise ...
Crime novelist Anne Perry’s literary aspirations began in Christchurch in the 1950s. Back then she was Juliet Hulme and she and her best friend Pauline Parker dreamed of selling novels in America – before they were convicted of murder. Earlier this week it was announced that Anne Perry had died ...
Rideshare services benefit when public transport is unreliable. But they can’t serve everyone – and they often exacerbate the problems of a public service in crisis. “I get more rides when buses are cancelled,” says Nimo*, an Uber and Ola driver who works in Auckland. He’s used to driving to ...
Story sovereignty means telling a story on your own terms, without outside influence. The concept has gained momentum in the Māori and Pasifika worlds, as writers and filmmakers look to step outside the realm of Pākehā publishers. The LGBTQI+ community, and others, are also embracing it.The Detail's recent ...
Hayden Thorne breaks down the latest Clarence Thomas scandal and the problem of integrity in American politicsComment: In March of last year, I wrote that the Supreme Court – at the time engulfed in scandal thanks to Justice Clarence Thomas’ lack of integrity and ethically-suspect behaviour – was in danger ...
Comment: New Zealand's forestry standards are weak, but the industry is already bound by international standards it is breaching routinely in Tairāwhiti, writes Dame Anne Salmond In the wake of the devastation caused by forestry slash in Tairāwhiti during Cyclone Gabrielle, it is obvious to almost everyone that the Government's ...
The latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve Braunias (plus recipe book giveaway)FICTION 1 Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) "The new novel by Eleanor Catton is at once deep and meaningless. It's a thriller where just about the most ...
Local councillors might have more bums on seats at the regional water table, but the loser in the Government’s shake-up of Three Waters is ratepayers, writes political editor Jo MoirOpinion: Save costs and share the burden was the whole point of new water infrastructure services. The Government’s inability to ...
There are new voices in the commentary box for NZ's top basketball leagues this season, including Tall Fern Tessa Boagni and rugby presenter Taylah Johnson - who are also expecting baby boys at the same time, Merryn Anderson discovers. While two potential basketball stars chill in the commentary booth, it’s their mums ...
Terms like 'mainstream media' have become highly politicised. To build trust, we need to change how we talk about news media, writes Dr Merja Myllylahti.Comment: When Twitter owner Elon Musk labels publicly funded independent broadcaster as ‘state-affiliated media’, we have a problem. When the public believes that the news ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock You may have read this week that Australia’s super tax breaks are excessively generous (“well beyond any plausible purpose”) and that their costs unsustainable. The claim came from a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Dan Himbrechts/AAP At the March 25 New South Wales state election, Labor won 45 of the 93 lower house seats ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Over Easter I relistened to Jim Mora’s RNZ interview (17 May 2020) of Johan Giesecke, “world leading epidemiologist” and Professor Emeritus at the Karolinska Institute ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of Melbourne Despite warnings of a global economic downturn, Australia has again defied the odds with its official unemployment rate remaining steady at 3.5% in March. Behind that number though, plenty happened. The total ...
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Prejudice against folks who get high to improve their mental health remains in the media. Media don't reflect grass-roots reality!
That's the key point for therapeutic usage. The homeopathic analogy applies. Just use enough to shift your state of mind. No more is necessary.
Why? The psyche is a complex system. Gestalt shifts result from tiny triggers. Neuroscience has documented the various ways different parts of the brain contribute their function to consciousness, and also has moved on to document how feelings produced throughout the body likewise affect our outlook, behaviour, and decision-making. Such practical holism informs our grasp of health nowadays.
Wondering if these cannamoms ,start off….'cannakids'….I hope not,although it is hard to imagine…they won't.
I hope so. They'd be likely to become the ones that rescue humanity from mainstreamer-driven cultural toxic sludge.
I've seen it affect people in different ways…functioning potheads,psychotics and schizophrenia….
Me too, in 1972. It became obvious that some users just don't do moderation. The concept of self-discipline is too alien..
Different strokes for different folks. Its a sorry description of those that have control that they should mandate that we only have access to the two most lethal.
A family member has the unerring ability to 'friend' the non functioning potheads. Some are truly sorry specimens particularly when the overuse is coupled with an innate lack of intelligence and the cannabis use started in the early teens. Some of them are not able to hold down a steady job and never will. I find it very sad.
I've been to the wards (note the plural) of non functioning people with fetal alcohol syndrome, truly disturbing individuals who never had a chance, never even had the choice, some not able to survive without assistance. I found that incredibly sad. No choice comes without repercussions. But that the government should dictate that alcohol is the only choice for an activity that seems to be intrinsic to mankind is truly heinous.
Its not about good and bad or protecting a population, if it was we would see regulation of sugar, its simply bad law and a rotten government unwilling to do the right thing.
I was 16 when I first tried it in 1973.
Those days we got it via contacts as “Buddha Sticks” from off the ships at Port Taranaki. It was wrapped around matchstick-thin sticks of bamboo & came from SE Asia.
I rolled a cigar-sized doobie out of four cigarette papers for my mates at a party in Waitara. Got stoned as frack & it freaked me out – although it made the contemporary music we were playing on the stereo about 3 times as interesting – I found I could hone in on drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals, BVs & hear them with pristine clarity like never before.
I was so stoned that when I stepped off my mate’s doorstep to leave for home (about a four inch height) it was like I was experiencing slow motion & the step seemed about a foot high. Not hallucinating as such, just felt very much in an altered state of consciousness. Thank goodness another, rather straight, mate who didn’t partake drove us home to New Plymouth.
When I got home at about 2 am I was freaking out that I might have damaged my brain. I was much too stoned to even talk to my older brother who saw my red eyes, guessed what was happening, & told me to go to bed before my parents saw me.
Woke up the next morning & I was fine. No after effects at all. Man, this is way better than booze, I concluded.
It didn’t become a regular feature of my life until my mid-20s. I never got it from gangs. I always seemed to be able to find non-gang sources (at work or when out socially) who just quietly grew their own & sometimes sold oz bags on the side. I also grew my own (in amongst carefully selected tall marigolds) for about 10 years.
It was never available at my school in my schooldays, though I believe it IS commonly available there nowdays.
I’m glad I never got onto it when at school. I had enuf trouble concentrating when bored as it was. If I’d being doing dope in my schooldays I’d have had no idea what we’d just been taught after every class.
Should Team Kiwi keep trying to slow it down, or just let 'er rip? I'd prefer to err on the side of caution, but ‘we’ may not have much choice.
Unite against
COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz
Nothing wrong with slowing it down, applying the precautionary principle. However the unity stance is never going to work – particularly if directed against Gaia.
Problem with academics is lack of Gaian consciousness. Ivory-tower syndrome rules their thinking. Plank always seems sensible & I haven't disagreed with any of his views, but he's bound by his indoctrination like all the others. To grasp the evolutionary context, one must think outside the academic square.
Your humble giants must be quite lumbered by Frank farsightedness
There could already be people in the community with it that don't realise they have it. Remember many people don't know they have it until the test result comes back.
Good point, Jester, there certainly could be – guess we'll find out soon enough.
I already commented on that article on another thread, so won't repeat myself.
Instead, and in light of the official narrative crumbling (and not a moment too soon), I'll post these wee lines from a piece of Guardian reporting today –
The government said a further 154 people had died in England within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 174,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Bit of a shift from the reporting of these past few years that would have read along the lines of – "another 154 Covid deaths" and "there have been a total of 174 000 Covid deaths"
While I welcome the change, I'd really quite like the bastards behind the ubiquitous "project fear" reporting of these past few years to be dragged into public view and dealt with appropriately.
We can take comfort in recent UK trends (30th Dec. 332 deaths, 31st Dec. 203 deaths, 1st Jan. 154 deaths – a year ago it was 592 deaths per day [7-day moving average] and rising), and in the roll-out of boosters and new treatments for COVID infections.
Should be a doddle for all but the seriously ill and/or dying from now on – 'cry freedums' trumps "project fear". However, we may not be out of the dense woods just yet – let's touch base in 3 – 4 weeks to re-examine the pandemic success story that is the UK. And keep an eye out for new variants of concern, why not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic#Misinformation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation
Just something else to fret about.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/despotic-regimes-a-new-global-competitor-to-be-reckoned-with?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=9668ee764f-Summer+Newsroom+02.01.2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-9668ee764f-47886425
ISTM inequality is the driving force. Even in Aotearoa.
Well nothing will change until the people of the world somehow unite and create a World without money system. We are still in a primitive stage of evolution so a World without money system could be a long time in the waiting.
The BIG question is how do you control greed?
Regulation. And taxation.
Has Biden succeeded in taxing the shit out of the wealthy, as he intended?
The only other way to control greed is by making it morally reprehensible to society, but even Christianity & Islam – which both try to do that – have spectacularly failed in that regard.
Speaking of…morals…arise Sir Tony Blair…what rogues gallery would be complete without his admission.
A man who ignored 1million people protesting in London,and went ahead with a war of death and destruction in Iraq,based on a litany of…lies.
Wonderful world…beautiful ..people.
Well said Blazer
I dunno how practical a world without money is. Money has been around for so long because it’s just so practical.
But we could sure do with a major reform of the international currency markets that are still far too much controlled by the US & allow the US to strangle economies of countries they don’t like or whose leaders or policies are inconvenient to their government or the major corporations who fund their politicians.
Well I have an opinion piece on that,too big for here but can be read as a free download at: http://byd0nz.com
If you really want to have a world without money you are going to have to come up with a simple way to trade your work for others..
If you, a maker of shoes, but who likes strawberries, wants to find a way of exchanging your shoes for someone else's strawberries how are you going to do it without having the intermediary of money? How do you find a seller of strawberries? What do you do if they don't want a new pair of shoes? What do you do if you really want some strawberries next month and not today? What if you only want a small amount of strawberries in comparison with a large pair of shoes?
etc, etc, etc. Money, in some form or other is perhaps the greatest invention of, and the most useful thing ever created by, the Human Race.
The experience of Hungary, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey – to name just the best-known recent cases – show that a transition from some kind of power-sharing democracy to despotism can happen rapidly, in not much longer than a decade.
That was certainly the case in the 20th Century & nothing has changed. In fact it can happen even more quickly these days, imo. Look how many people in the US bought into the “Trump’s the solution” madness from the “get-go”!
Thanks for that. A good read & well-made points.
Democracy loses credibility when it fails to deliver. Find a National or Labour voter & target the bugger. See if you can wake him up. From your source:
Voluntary servitude is the ethos of your typical Nat/Lab voter. They are literally unable to think of what else to do with their lives.
So my point is our mainstreamer political duopoly is already operating to simulate democracy just like the despots. They just use a bit more of that velvet…
Excellent article.
It's worth keeping in mind that whenever we tear down the achievements of liberal democracy – that you're also serving an despot's purpose knowingly or not.
Isn't he saying that liberal democracy=despotism?
Cricket, cricket, cricket!
A decent start to the test, a bit disappointing losing Blundell at the end but its still 258 runs in the bank with 5 wickets in hand
Minimum target from here would be at least 350 and then we'll see what the bowlers can do on this pitch.
A good start to Youngs career as opener but its a shame we can't seem to produce another opening partner for Latham (at least it means we can put him in the team)
Blundell hasn't been going too well of late but he deserves more of an extended run in the role (maybe swop with Ravindra in the batting order?) however hes not just replacing an all time NZ great, hes replacing one of the best wicketkeeper/batters of all time
Having said that Cleaver, Fletcher and Seifert are all doing well in FC cricket so a decent score in the 2nd innings would do him a world of good.
So a team, in the near future, of:
Latham
Young
Williamson
Conway
Nicholls
Ravindra
Blundell
Jamieson
Southee
Wagner
Boult
Isn't too shabby, maybe would like to see more of Patel and Jamieson maybe a position too high but still pretty good.
Heartening to see this: https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/black-caps/300489169/devon-conway-plays-leading-hand-for-black-caps-on-return-from-injury-with-ton
Some good comments in there
Time ticks on. Southee 33 years old, Wagner 35, Boult 32.
Incredible effort by Bangladesh today to lose only 2 wickets. Hats off to this young side.
Indeed, they're doing very well. The Black Caps maybe a little complacent..?
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
Whats good about this team is that we also have Mitchell in the reserves and hes shown to be more than able to make the step up to top order international batting.
We've got good pace bowling reserves, plenty of wicket keeping/batters floating about. If we could just sort out the spinning options we'd be a threat in all conditions.
on another recreational note, West Side Story 2021 is definitely worth seeing. I am not going to make any judgements about which version is better. I love this musical and both movies are wonderful. One of the differences though is that I found the gangs quite scary in the 2021 version, especially the Jets. There was a look of deprivation about them and the violence felt more authentic to who the characters were (rather than unfortunate accidents in the 1960’s version).
I couldn’t help but think of the gangs in NZ and how we hear about these scenarios in the news.
Santners no good at test level (very good white ball player though)
Disappointed with Patel not playing and I think we're a batter or all rounder short
The "poster child" politicians for liberalism just can't help themselves. From Jacinda's "be kind" before openly guffawing at creating a divided NZ, to this corker from her "poster child" predecessor.
I think he was a black slave in a former life. He’s now a white 'waste of space' liberal who's conflicted. He now realises ''black faces don't matter.''
lol yes he makes your skin crawl doesnt he haha
don't know who BLN are, but in this tweet, they are clearly misrepresenting what Trudeau is saying.
They claim that he said unvaccinated people are them unscientific, misogynists and racists, and that he was attacking unvaccinated people.
Whereas what he actually said is two things:
Here's a transcript,
Why BLN would want to conflate vax hesitant people with hard core anti-vaxxers connected to Qanon etc I don't know. Seems weird to me.
just seen Robert has made the same point below.
Was Bill careless in posting this, or did he intend to smear Trudeau?
It's a poor attempt, either way. It only required reading and a little thought to expose the bullsh*t.
taking a crack at liberals, while smearing Trudeau and Ardern, in one short comment. And yep, the tweet had obvious red flags.
…smearing…Ardern…
She needs no help with that.
I'm not sure what she covered herself with here…but it won't go down in history as "glory".
You’re in premod. Please respond here https://thestandard.org.nz/new-zealand-2-covid-0-so-far/#comment-1847239
I don't believe Bull was being careless at all, quite the opposite in fact.
His "divided NZ" is just more billshit, some love to play the persecution up for whatever reasons."No papers" is another one used the other day . Ffs what's this country coming to when one has to travel 50 km , pass 6 supermarkets, 8 dairies, 3 bakeries just to find a bakery with a cafe attached to it in order to satisfy a need to feel persecuted!
You're correct. I wasn't being careless.
Anyway. You want to talk to the 9 year olds who have been told they can't do any extracurricular activities next year unless they're injected and then come back and tell me how NZ isn't divided?
You want to talk about the kids whose heads are all fucked up because "unless injected" they don't get to hang out with their school pals? (Maybe you don't recall what a huge deal peer pressure and social acceptance was as a pre-teen kid)
Or maybe just tell me how the clip Rosemary put up doesn't mean that NZ's been deliberately divided?
20 odd km is the distance on public transport btw (not 50km) – to the bakery I've been buying my bread from these past two years or more because it's decent bread they bake.
You deliberately overlooking Trudeau's hypocrisy? (Blumenthal’s tweet’s arguably really quite pertinent and funny)
The guy who runs around in black face saying racists are not going to tolerated…
Anyway, hypocrisy aside, what do you think he means when he says those who resist the injections and who he considers to be anti-science and/or racist and/or misogynists may well not be tolerated?
You can the circularity of his argument, whereby anyone who refuses to submit to an injection in spite of government persuasion becomes almost by definition a person harbouring personal traits or beliefs that he reckons ought not to be tolerated, yes?
So what would the next step in this "othering" be? Open season on the deplorable un-injected?
Scratch a liberal…. 😉
That's as may be, but the comment+tweet you put up is a crock.
Looks like the interview was from September, I'll hazard a guess that there is broader context, including what he said next.
BLN's website page on the piece is obviously manipulative and not journalism. There's no date or context for the video, and their headlines and brief content smack of sensationalism and trumpism (note they accuse Trudeau of being divisive while they are doing exactly that with their approach). This is the kind of shit I would expect to be passed around on FB without any attempt at fact checking.
https://brightlightnews.com/trudeau-launches-divisive-hate-rhetoric-against-unvaccinated/
BLN – "Shining a light on the science and data of Covid-19. Investigate and arrive at your own conclusions." BLN is also active on Telegram – the extremists' platform of choice.
The tweet was compiled by Max Blumenthal ffs. What earthly difference does it make what platform or outlet was carrying the original clip that he used in making his observation?
And….are you insinuating that "telegram" – 'the extremists' platform of choice' (in your words) is perhaps where misogynists, racists and anti-science types gather?
Perhaps you think, essentially in parallel with Trudeau, that Telegram, or anyone who uses Telegram is another indication (alongside people refusing injections?) of who ought not be tolerated?
Scratch a liberal…
Trudeau says, "But also, there are people who are ferociously against vaccination…" and it's those he lambasts, not the "vaccine hesitant” or the broader "unvaccinated".
The comment (above) "Prime Minister @Justin Trudeau launches into an unfounded and divisive tirade on unvaccinated people … " is a crock.
I call them 'malignant anti vaxxers' and they are a different breed from many who are hesitant or the broader unvaccinated. These are the ones who send out false letters to people about booster shots using MOH letterhead, damage vaccine centres, bully those turning up at centres so that the centres have to close.
They are the ones who featured in David Farrier's Loopy article
https://www.webworm.co/p/loopy
and form part of the dirty dozen anti vaxxers
https://www.counterhate.com/disinformationdozen
I am hoping that some of the genuine unvaccinated who have concerns about mRNA will take the opportunity to access the AstraZeneca vaccine
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300452571/covid19-nz-government-says-anyone-will-be-able-to-get-astrazeneca-vaccine
Just for something different (we all know who won)
That was quite stupid.
Didn't think it funny or not like the subject?
When the Rabbi Yeshua shot a couple of Corinthians…
Looks like omicron is becoming likely to be viewed as similar to the flu.
Joseph Cheek, a project manager for the International Polar Foundation, told the BBC: "All residents of the station were offered the opportunity to leave on a scheduled flight on 12 January. However, they all expressed their wish to stay and continue their work."
Govts have trained people to see a 64% pandemic infection rate as a calamity. Having this team of scientists treat it as no problem could cause a wave of cognitive dissonance to spread around the world with this news…
Maybe.
Has the strain been identified as Omicron?…..the article dosnt say.
Once bitten, twice shy.
test
edit: weird. Got a wordfence 403 error in another post.
comment doesn't work sans links, either. Supposed to be in the "Good News" post, but no messages banning me from it as far as I've seen.
I'll try posting it here, to see if the 403repeats
attempt 1 -fail
removing bullets – fail
half length with links in -pass
If someone wants to provide evidence via youtube, they have a couple of options:
they can either link to the source document directly and "tip their hat" to the youtube video; or
they can link directly to the timestamp of the relevant source being mentioned; or
they can do either of the above and
If someone wants to waste other people's time instead of actually providing evidence, they can provide a 20minute video.
As it was, the source for his 80% figure seems to be an article from the Telegraph – not included below his video with all the other links. Funny how the basis for his assumption isn't listed with the rest of his source data. The Telegraph article also seems to be paywalled. I'm sure it's just unfortunate.
So we've gone from it being official govt figures, to a youtuber not even bothering linking to a news article I can't read.
[RL: Bill provided a time reference: At about 10 minutes in, the NHS figures are presented. I tested all the links and encountered no problem or paywalls. Moderation has been working to encourage cites and your initial sneering response, lacking any argument or detail, was not needed. Personally I do not do Twitter and you seem to have a thing against YT, but both are frequently used and that isn’t going to change.]
other half test – fail
other half bullets removed -fail
no colons – pass
Now, I can offer a way that the two positions are conflicting with the same data-
20% might be the primary diagnosis with no secondary diagnoses. Covid, nothing else. Nothing, not even a sixth finger or scabies.
47% have a primary diagnosis of covid, with other secondary diagnoses of varying complexity
33% have covid as a secondary diagnoses, with their primary ailment as primary dx, or they caught it in hospital.
But then that would rely on lazy, unfamiliar, or outright misleading analyses on the part of the newspaper's source.
Mod note for you.
You tested all the links. Was the telegraph link in the section below the video?
because I'm still getting
"About 10 minutes in", NHS figures for admissions are presented, but then factored down with the "20%" figure from the telegraph (a link only visible as far as I can see at the bottom of the paper in the video, and had to be hand-transposed into the browser to find I wasn't allowed to read the article).
There appears to be a fundamental citation gap in that argument, let alone from anything based on official figures for the 20% claim.
[RL: Your carping about paywalls is easily addressed in a few seconds work with a search engine. I’m not going to do that for you. In the meantime you have failed to acknowledge my original moderation warning and are now heading into ‘wasting my time’ territory.]
Mod note
Didn't realise it was a warning, and still can't find the telegraph source from the video in the links you reckoned worked fine. But now I know, so I'll leave it.