Always interesting when the media actually does what they are supposed to do and looks underneath the events of the day to see what the real story is...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion...-mortgages

It was announced that Lynda has had to stop chemotherapy due to side effects. That doesn't sound too good.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment...R3QTD42IQ/

"New Zealanders are rallying together to show their support for two of the country's biggest stars.
Taking place on November 7 at The Civic in Auckland, New Zealand's top musicians and comedians will pay tribute to Dames Lynda and Jools Topp as they continue their battle against cancer.


Staring Tami Neilson, Anika Moa, Ria Hall, Dame Hinewehi Mohi, Troy Kingi, Jackie Clarke, Annie Crummer and Don McGlashan, the stars will perform Topp Twins songs but with a twist."



https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment...PFHEIKTBU/

Will we learn from the Northern hemispheres heat wave and drought and prepare ourselves for the same? Or will we do the usual just moan and have everyone say "its far too hot, we have never seen these conditions ever before, this is a 1 in 100 year drought", have we done anything to prepare based on the worlds evidence?

See that NZ Post have snuck their latest price increases in under my radar...

https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/september2022

Super.

And basically claiming that claiming NZ media are 'paid to lie'. They seem to have lost touch with reality to some extent.



https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/host...site-court

"Kelvyn Alp and Hannah Spierer were arrested by police in Christchurch last week. They host the far-right conspiracy theory website Counterspin Media and are accused of distributing an objectionable publication.

Counterspin Media broadcasts conspiracy theories and discredited Covid-19 misinformation.

Spierer (37) and Alp, a 51-year-old whose occupation is listed as 'consultant' and address was given as being in Woolston, Christchurch, each face three charges.
They are jointly charged that on February 23 this year at Wellington distributed a documentary which has been deemed an objectionable publication under the Films, Videos and Publications Classifications Act 1993.
Alp is also charged individually with distributing the documentary.



The pair are also both charged that on August 25 at Christchurch failed without reasonable excuse to assist a person exercising a search power when requested to do so under Section 130(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.


Spierer, whose address was also listed as being in Woolston, is also accused of failing to supply identifying particulars, namely fingerprints and photograph, at Christchurch police station on August 25.

When the case was called, the pair both refused to stand in the dock and represented themselves without a lawyer.
They stood at the lawyer's benches while Judge Jim Large ordered them to stand in the dock.




The pair claimed that they are on special appearance, not general appearance, and reserve all their rights.
"I do not argue the law, facts, jurisdiction or venue. I am only here to settle this matter," Spierer said, reading from a prepared script.

They were then forcibly moved into the dock by police officers and court security.
The judge said he intended to remand them on bail on all matters to seek legal assistance if they want. They are due back in court on September 21 and the judge advised that pleas would be required to be entered on that date."




https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/1...ublication

"After coming out the bail door, Spierer railed against the news media, the Government and Covid vaccines.

Thought it would be nice to put names to faces, so I let AI generate some pictures of a few of you... but can you guess who's who?

1.     ┬á2.     3.     4.     5.    

This is the UK but we seem to have similar problems here, & elsewhere around the world particularly where Neo Liberalism has been used.

If we fail to remedy the yawning gap between rich & poor then we may sooner or later, have revolution. As has happened previously.
Sometimes I wonder whether our species isn't totally insane.


https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-62707055

[b]Poverty caused by rising prices will have a "catastrophic impact" on children, Scotland's children's commissioner has said.[/b]
Energy regulator Ofgem increased the price cap on household bills by 80% earlier this week, adding to the pressure of the cost of living crisis.
Bruce Adamson said there was a "massive failure of government at all levels".

Charities and experts have called on the government to announce more support as a matter of urgency.


Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his successor will deliver a "huge package" of support, without saying what it would be.


Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, has called for urgent action from the UK government as only they can "access and make available resources of the scale required".

Mr Adamson, whose role as children's commissioner is independent but publicly funded, told BBC Radio Scotland's The Sunday Show that poverty "impacts every single element" of youngsters' lives.

"It can affect their development, it has a negative impact on their mental and physical health, their education, family relationships, standard of living, aspirations and life chances," he said.

"Everyone who has any level of power needs to be thinking about how they can use their powers in the most effective way and use the resources they have most effectively.

"We're talking about a rights issue here and at the most extreme we are talking about the lives of children, but we're also talking about education and health and mental health, and the impact of governments failing to act are going to be lifelong."

He said making additional money and support available now "makes economic sense".


"It's unacceptable that we've got children being left hungry, that families are without heating. These are political choices and we're leaving families unable to survive."

That's a hell of a lot of pithed off people! Good for them.


https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-62710430

"Around 8,500 cyclists prevented motorists from using a stretch of Germany's autobahn, during a protest calling for better public transport and cycle lanes.
The demonstration took place between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden - a distance of 40km (25 miles).
It was organised by Verkehrswende Hessen - a group seeking to make transport in the German state of Hesse climate-neutral by 2030."

An extremely interesting article about those still in Guantamo & their art - which they may now not be allowed to keep. It seems the spiteful cruelties of the Trump era may remain in place.
Some of their work is  just beautiful.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62399826

[b]"A few weeks ago, Khalid Qasim got some news he'd been waiting 20 years for. He had been cleared for release from the prison at Guantanamo Bay.[/b]

[b]By that point, Qasim had been in Guantanamo nearly half his life, aged 23 to 43. Like almost all the men sent there, he has never been charged with a crime.[/b]
His release order does not mean freedom, yet. It is merely the starting gun on a long process of resettlement that, going by previous resettlements, could take years. Where he will be sent, neither he nor his lawyers know.
[b]While he waits, Qasim will paint.
[/b]


[b]During his long detention, Qasim has created scores of intricate paintings and other artworks, from seascapes, to scenes of fire, to a series of lone candles that commemorate the men who died in Guantanamo.[/b]

[b]Qasim rarely puts Guantanamo on canvas in a literal sense. He is drawn to images of the sea, to images of ships and trees. He paints abstracts in vivid colours and still life scenes with deep blacks and dark expanses. He has used coffee and gravel from the exercise yard to create textures and ready-to-eat meal boxes to make mixed-media work.[/b]
"This is my life," Qasim said, of his art. "It was my life here."

But when Qasim is transferred out of Guantanamo, in months or years, he will not, as things stand, be allowed to take his art. It will remain the property of the US government, which may store or destroy it.

Keeping his art in Guantanamo would be "the same as keeping me here", Qasim said.
[b]"The art I made is me," he said. "If they keep my art here, my soul will stay here."
[/b]

Has the entire world gone barking mad?! Unbloodybelievable. How she thought she could get away with claiming to have won an Emmy is beyond belief, let alone claiming to have helped someone who'd had failed IVF treatment become pregnant through meditation.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/30...emmy-award

"Via her Twitter account, she shared videos and posts regarding the safety of the Pfizer vaccine by known anti-vaccine activists, including the ChildrenÔÇÖs Health Defense organisation ÔÇô a group widely discredited for sharing medical misinformation that┬áMeta recently removed from Instagram and Facebook for spreading potentially harmful and misleading claims.

She posted links to videos called ÔÇ£vaccine secretsÔÇØ, which made false claims about the vaccine including that it permanently affects the brain and DNA.

Ananda wrote on Twitter that she would not fly with Air New Zealand if they made vaccination mandatory, and shared a video from the Wellington protest against government mandates which ended in a riot in March this year.

Fringe group Voices for Freedom, exposed by Stuff Circuit documentary Fire and Fury for false rhetoric, had a leading role in the anti-government protest and has campaigned to get supporters into decision-making positions, but told candidates to hide their affiliations.


Via her social media channels, Ananda said she believes in the ÔÇ£vedic scienceÔÇØ of meditation, which she claimed in a video can cure many diseases and prevent ageing. She also posted about how this can heal, remove spots from hands, and said she helped a woman who had failed to conceive through IVF become pregnant using a guru.

She claimed people could charge a mobile phone battery by meditating over it, and posted a video about a retreat costing $10,000 USD which claimed to be able to teach superpowers, such as being able to see when blindfolded."