Holiday drowning figures worst in 40 years, water safety experts try to diagnose the cause.

Do you think that perhaps the same amount of drownings would have occurred if people could holiday overseas but decided not to because of the fear of not getting back into the country?
Or do you think that the excessive amount of heat so early in the year has driven people to beaches and rivers just to cool off with no regard to safety?

Or are their other reasons?

William and Carol Stewart had been together for 44 years when the both contracted the virus. Both ended up in hospital, where they were placed side-by-side in intensive care at Parkland Medical Centre.
A crowdfunding page set up by the couple's nephew Tim explained both Bill, 73, and Carol, 69 ÔÇô who were not vaccinated
The entire family of eight had tested positive for COVID-19, however Bill and Carol were not vaccinated. Melissa (Daughter) has urged everyone to get vaccinated, including boosters, to avoid similar tragedies.


How many times have we heard similar stories? What will it take for these people to see sense? And Im damn sure I wouldn't pay into a crowdfunding page knowing they were unvaccinated, I mean hell vaccinations have been out longer in the states than they have here so there is no friggin excuse!

One year after the earlier protest, detainees have again protested at what they say are inhumane conditions. Imo, the Australian govt has behaved appallingly. They surely must expect people to eventually react when they're deprived of all but the most sporadic contact with their families & legal representation.
I'd like to see the Australian govt legally prevented from treating anyone in this way & made to do something to help repair the damage they've done.


https://www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...ocates-say

"George Newhouse, the principal solicitor of the National Justice Project, said the latest incident was ÔÇ£the result of isolation and up to 22 hours of being locked inside compounds with no access to green space and miserable conditions of detentionÔÇØ.
ÔÇ£The federal government has a policy of keeping detainees in harsh and inhumane conditions to force them to leave Australia ÔÇô this disturbance should not be a surprise to our leaders,ÔÇØ he said.
ÔÇ£These individuals have been taken away from their families, friends and advocates and they have essentially been disconnected from the mobile phone system. [Because of poor reception] the processing of their applications is delayed.ÔÇØ

Came across this earlier; when there was a lot of interest in a rental property, the landlord promptly added another $50 pw to the rent, making a total of $900pw. Its extremely unlikely that, if a prospective tenant says they'll pay the $900 the landlord would then take a tenant who's able to pay only the quoted rent of $850. it was advertised on TM.
If that isn't blatant greed, then its an excellent imitation.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed...g-response

"A hopeful Auckland renter has been left fuming after the owner of a Silverdale property bumped the rent up $50 to $900 per week after their online listing received an ÔÇ£overwhelming responseÔÇØ.

Millwater resident Julie Gielen said the rent hike strikes her as an investor exploiting a housing crisis, and has lodged a complaint with Tenancy Services, saying it breaches a law that prohibits rental bidding."

Why does every second news story or lightweight documentary have references to areas, weights and distances of random items instead of actual measurements?

This vessel is capable of transporting the equivalent of 11 African elephants, the fire covers an area of 2500 rugby fields, the flow is equivalent to 200 Olympic sized swimming pools, or that distance is the equivalent to that between London and Timbuktu. What is wrong with these fuckwits that they can't use standard units of metres, tonnes, kilometres or hectares? Is it because they have previously demonstrated that they don't know the difference between a millimetre or centremetre, kilometres or mile, or metre or foot. The product of an education system where there are no wrong answers if your intention was well meaning? Idiocracy in the making!

I heard someone say that kids are different these days.
I disagree.
Kids are the same.
What's changed, is society with lower expectations, lack of discipline, and acceptance of disrespect.
Give kids boundaries, expectations, rules, limits, rewards and consequences.
They will rise to the challenge, and exceed your expectations every time.


Agree or disagree??

A very interesting piece in the Washington Post this morning.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolog...3f8b7dfb69

Siouxsie Wiles & Shaun Hendy are saying that Auckland university could have done more to ensure their safety. There've been some incidents involving people turning up & making threats as well as harassment via social media.

Those opposed to vaccinations do seem to be quite excitable, & get carried away easily.





https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industr...f-auckland

"High profile academics and Covid-19 commentators Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles say harassment towards them is escalating, and their employer the University of Auckland has not done enough to ensure their safety.

A recently released Employment Relations Authority determination says Hendy and Wiles brought separate but similar claims against the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland."

Well, that's a new one on me, but having heard that Desmond Tutu requested it I googled and I think I might prefer that to the hot version...

There's 2L of milk sitting in the fridge that needs using. What should I do with it?