Anzacs independently act on anti-smoking policies...

NZ and Australia independently act on anti-smoking policies...


Today New Zealand has increased excise taxes on cigarettes by 10% and roll your own cigarette tobacco by14% now and another 10 % at Christmas time for the next two years.



Australia has announced that in future cigarettes and tobacco will be sold in plain packets. No details are available at present.



Two different policies to encourage people to give up smoking? But New Zealand has really done nothing to disencourage smoking and assist people to quit by subsidising nicotine patches and gum for a limited period, and to provide a toll free phone service for counselling.



I believe New Zealand's policy is a revenue gathering exercise to finance hidden agendas. They are expected to raise 250 million dollars or more a year from the increased revenue/

Read here

Facebook members should change their passwords - Russian hacker on the prowl and hiding out in NZ...

Image by magerleagues via Flickr

Russian computer hacker is hiding out in New Zealand. He has confirmed this fact. Kiwi police are chasing him because he claims he has Millions of Facebook identities for sale.

My advice to all Facebook members with considerable personal details: Change your passwords immediately.

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Kiwi police hunting for Russian computer hacker...

Image via Wikipedia

Kiwi police looking for Russian computer hacker


A Russian computer hacker is selling account details of millions of Facebook users - he may be hiding in New Zealand.

Police are hunting a Russian computer hacker who may have set up shop in New Zealand, selling the account details of millions of Facebook users.



Detectives from the National Cyber Crime Centre are investigating whether the hacker Kirllos is using New Zealand as a base.



He's offering to sell Facebook user names and passwords on an underground hacker forum.








Acknowledgements: © 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

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An Icelandic bar decorated its toilets...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

An Icelandic bar decorated its toilets...




An Icelandic bar decorated its toilet's urinals with pictures of those ex-bankers responsible for the country's financial crash.



Another way of telling Icelandic people how things had gone down the gurgler!

Read here Volcanic ash cloud: Iceland closes airports for first time (telegraph.co.uk)

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Experts predict the demise of the Melbourne Storm - but will it happen...

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Experts predict the demise of the Melbourne Storm - but will it happen...



Rugby League experts have predicted the Melbourne Storm will fold in light of the uncovering of a five-year long systematic salary cap rort by the once mighty franchise. But will it happen?



Ray Hadley and Mark Geyer, speaking on Controversy Corner last night, both predicted the demise of the club in the wake of the cheating scandal.



"People said that the Storm would never do this as it would be an embarrassment to News Ltd. who are so invested in the game," Hadley said. "Despite News Ltd assurances the future of the Melbourne Storm is in grave, grave doubt."



The Daily Telegraph's Paul Kent said Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy would be lucky to see out the week still at his job.



Kent also felt the extent of the deceit was so deep it might result in jail terms for Storm administrators.



"This is fraud, every NRL club signs a statutory declaration every season.



"Former Storm CEO Brian Waldron, now with the Melbourne Rebels rugby union team could be facing fraud charges."

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Can't handle the jandal - no intestinal fortitude...

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Can't handle the jandal - no intestinal fortitude


In New Zealand we have a saying for those who lack a bit of intestinal fortitude - they can't handle the jandal. What on earth is a jandal I might hear you say?



In Aussie lingo jandals are the thongs you wear on your feet at the beach or as part of casual wear. Another name is flip flops.



So I will point the bone at a Blogevolve.com  members who can't handle the jandal and state they weren't real members of BE anyway.



Some blog for money, fair enough, others claim they can't handle the splogs here. The Terminator regularly deletes as much splog as humanly possible.



The excuses of some are what I said they were; a lack of intestinal fortitude, application and an inability to handle the jandal.

Am I really being hard on people? Tell that to the two people struggling to keep the blogsite going! Blog at Blogevolve until the cows come home!

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Oh Blogevolve where art thou gone...

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I visited the community blog below and found that none of my old friends had visited, posted or commented for days. Will they return? Should I stay or should I go?


'Oh Blogevolve where art thou gone.'

This blogsite is still called "Blogevolve", but it is not the site I once knew before the sploggers took control and drove all the good bloggers out to the four winds. They are all missing in action!



In months and years gone by you could confide in your friends here and receive a sympathetic ear and advice if you wished to take it. When your troubles became a little too much to bear in silence - my skin cancers, and when my at risk grandson went missing for three days and we as a family feared the worst, the support, understanding and prayers from friends and fellow bloggers here gave me strength.



Now its all gone now, and I believe the days of the real community blogs have gone as well. You can still find the forums to discuss matters of interest, but the sympathetic ear and voice of support are now absent. The blog family has split up and sadly gone their seperate ways.

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Balloon boy's parents to pay $36,000 in compo...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Ballooon boy's parents to pay $36,000 in compo.

..

FORT COLLINS, Colorado : The parents who pleaded guilty in the balloon boy hoax have agreed to pay about $36,000 in restitution to authorities who responded to the incident.



Larimer County Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski accepted the agreement that prosecutors reached with Richard and Mayumi Heene, who weren't at the hearing.



The Larimer County sheriff's office and other agencies had sought $48,000 for responding to the October 15 incident. The Heenes reported their 6-year-old son had floated away in a homemade UFO-shaped helium balloon, touching off a scramble of emergency responders.



The boy wasn't on the balloon.



The Heenes' attorneys had argued the couple should pay only a small amount in compensation.



Acknowledgements: Associated Press

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NZ Lotto winner almost loses his winnings...

NZ lotto winner almost misses deadline and nearly loses his winnings.







Up to three per cent of prizes go unclaimed every year, according to Todd McLeay. Photo / Martin SykesA tardy but lucky Aucklander has claimed a half million dollar Lotto prize, just one day before it expired.



The First Division winning ticket was sold a year ago at a superette in Ponsonby and the ticket holder had until close of business yesterday to come forward.



The ticket had been left forgotten in a drawer until Saturday and the man says although it was a bit faded, he noticed the date and thought he had better check it quickly.



The largest prize that expired in recent times is a three million dollar prize sold in Masterton in early 2003 and Lotteries' Chief Executive, Todd McLeay, said up to three per cent of prizes go unclaimed every year.



If the lucky Aucklander had waited until today, he would have won nothing.



Acknowledgements: - NEWSTALK ZB

Kiwis, the bird variety, are beginning to suffer from the severe drought in New Zealand's north...

Image via Wikipedia

Kiwis, the bird variety, are beginning to suffer from the severe drought in New Zealand's north.



These shy, nocturnal birds have been seen in daylight hours lately, as the grubs they eat become victims of the heat as well. No photos are available at present.



These shy, nocturnal birds have been seen in daylight hours lately, as the grubs they eat become victims of the heat as well.



Things have become so bad for these Kiwi birds, people have been asked to feed them when they actually see them, because they are most likely very hungry. We hope things don't get too bad for these iconic Kiwis, because they are on the endangered list anyway.

The ironies of ironies - Kiwi PM John Key is now a dedicated anti-nuker...

Image by womenwithoutborders via Flickr

The ironies of ironies - Kiwi PM John Key is now a dedicated anti-nuker.

When the New Zealand Labour Government introduced and adopted its anti- nuclear policy in 1987, the then National opposition not only vehemently opposed it, they actually ridiculed it as nonsense!

It put New Zealand off-side with the US for over 20 years until President Obama has introduced his nuclear weapons reduction policy and agreement with Russia to reduce their nuclear weapon arsenals by a third. Obama also seeks a world without nuclear weapons - rhetoric perhaps, but a mindset change in reality.

 During these years of isolation for NZ after they refused entry to US warships unless they were prepared to disclose they were nuclear powered or armed, NZ has been unable to train with the US miltary or receive intelligence reports from them, and NZ was locked out of the ANZUS alliance. New Zealand received information from third parties and trained with mainly Australian military forces. NZ adopted an independent foreign policy, but was always a friend and ally of the US, but not officially the latter.New Zealand refused to commit combat forces to  Iraqi conflict unless it was sanctioned by the United Nations. New Zealand has shown its commitment by sending special forces troops to Afghanistan for the next 18 months or so at least.

Well that has now apparently all changed, and NZ has come in from the cold. But the US found over 23 years that the little guy won't always accept being bullied in the schoolyard by one of the big guys! I'm pleased anyway because I'm not anti-American but was just anti- bully!

So here is Johny Key one of President Obama's favoured guests this week as a member of a foreign conference of world leaders in Washington. He has already met with Vice-president Joe Biden and will talk with President Obama on the nuclear issue. PM Key has found himself the vehicle to which recognition of New Zealand's two decade long opposition to nuclear weapons will be directed. And that dear readers is the ironies of ironies; granted that Key was hardly old enough to have been a politician back in 1987. He is the one who accepts New Zealand's anti-nuclear redemption on its behalf. Did the National Party actually oppose New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy? Yeah right!

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China and Nepal finally agree on the height of Mount Everest...

China and Nepal have agreed after 150 years on the height of Mount Everest. They agree on a snow height of  8848m.

The mountain lies on the border of the two countries and they have disagreed  for years over the exact height of the great mountain. It is now 4 metres higher than previously claimed by China.

The agreement was settled at a meeting in the legendary capital of Kathmandu during the last week.

Thousands of mountaineers have scaled the mighty peak since New Zealander, Sir Ed Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay scaled it in 1953. But its height has been disputed since the first measurement was made in 1856.

Sir Edmund Hillary died in 2008 at th ripe old age of 88 years. He wanted  his ashes scattered off Auckland, New Zealand, and on Mount Everest. It had been arranged that one of  Nepals's greatest climbers would take Hillary's ashes up the mountain, but a last minute decision by local authorites prevented this being completed.

A most despicable decision by Sidetick to rob me of potential earnings and disable my account...

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What do you know about Sidetick, a recent addition to the list of social network sites on the internet? Sidetick claimed last year, 2009, that they wanted to become the top site of its type out there.

I was introduced to the site by a good blogging friend and became quite rapt with Sidetick. Everything you did on site, visiting friends participating in polls, writing and replying to blog posts, playing games, adding music, photos, videos etc. I also participated regularly in last season's American Football Pools. using my memory really, as a New Zealander with limited knowledge of the game and the teams, I was earning from 3500 Points or Sidetick dollars up to 5000 a week. Hey, my points began to mount up.

Sidetick promised a payout to EVERYBODY at Sidetick when they had amassed 200,000 SD or US$100.00. On Feb 23 this year I noticed I had earned 89,000SD. The following day a bombshell was released! But for some reason I didn't pick it up until Feb27, my birthday. Do you know what it was? Well let me tell you dear reader!

Sidetick announced that only Americans and and some friends from Canada, United kingdom, Australia and Israel would continue to be allowed to earn money at Sidetick.I was shocked because as a New Zealander, across the Tasman Sea from our cousins in Australia was now a declared foreigner. As foreign as a North Korean! I was disgusted and deeply hurt by the despicable decision and ban against me. I sent some strong messages and wrote a couple of blog posts at Sidetick expressing my opinion. I have never been called a foreigner by Americans - usually friends and allies. We have special forces troops laying it on the line in Afghanistan. Tell our SAS troopers they are a bunch of foreigners!

So the upshot of Sideticks decision - treating those thousands of foreign members who have been supporting Sidetick very poorly indeed. They messaged us telling us they would investigate ways for foreign members to continue earning Sidetick dollars which could be cashed out in time. Well I've only earned what in reality will be pennies. I would never be in a position to ever cash my 89000SD into cash.

Its actually false pretences back home here in NZ. They have actually illegally changed their rules. I haven' t bothered to participate in Sidetick since. I have written and sent a Letter to the Editor of a Georgia newspaper. Sidetick are based in Atlanta.

Well, what do you think of that decision readers? Sidetick will never become a leading soaial network site because they don't understand the word "social".

Since I wrote this they have disabled my account and basically robbed me of potentially about US$45.000. I will continue to tell the world about their despicable treatment of me and other "foreigners".

Don't have a bar of these so-called social networkers -  they will rob you blind. No? What do you think they have just done to me?

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Despite the complaints I don't think bloggers are looking for a community blog at all...

Image via CrunchBase

Despite the complaints I don't think bloggers are looking for a community blog at all...


Despite all the criticism of sploggers ruining community blogs, I don't think bloggers are really looking for an alternative site at all. Thats their perogative; they can please themselves, I can't tell them what they should do. Bur I will express my opinion. And strongly too - because thats me!



While we struggle at Blogevolve because of an inattentive Admin, other sites are being ruined by over-reactive admins who have put in place security programs that not only fight the splog, spam and pornography, but make it difficult at times for the genuine blogger.



I've given up at Blogger Party - no more party for me. At times I couldn't get new material posted, while Xomba claimed I had broken the terms of their TOS - but like when Adsense disabled my account they make some broad statement but refuse to tell you just how they maintain you have broken their RULES. Well both sites, along with Communati can go to hell in a handcart!



The fact of the matter is I overextended myself in believing the Adsense propaganda that it is easy to make money through Adsense advertising. It isn't easy - its not impossible but the claims are exaggerated. So I don't really mind shedding some of these second rate community sites anyway.



The pro bloggers are right, you have to spend money to make money. Yes, Sire I still believe in your advice, if you ever read this.



But I'll keep posting at Blogevolve, despite all the splogging, spamming, and occasional porn links there. I still have a few friends there, despite many bloggers taking their toys off elsewhere.

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British couple won $19 million on the UK lottery - husband died destitute...

Image via Wikipedia

British couple won $19 million on the UK lottery - husband died destitute...



Five years ago a British couple won $19 million on the UK lottery, but the husband died destitute.



Five years ago Keith and Louise Gough were on top of the world after winning their multi-million dollar prize. Keith has died through too much drinking and money problems. A flash BMW car, racehorses, an executive box at the Aston Villa soccer club and other extravagance.



Keith drank through boredom, afer quitting his job as a baker, and then finally their 27 year marriage broke down.



The final act in this tragedy was a conman duping Keith of his final couple of million dollars.



He collapsed and died at his nephews place, regretting the fact his wife had bought the lottery ticket which brought him firstly fortune, and finally misery and death.



He was happy to be able to spend the extra time available with his loving wife and pursue his passion of fishing, but just couldn't handle the stress of having too much money which finally destroyed his marriage and his life.

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