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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
GBE2 Blog on: 15 Minute free write exercise...
GBE2 Blog on: 15 minute Free write exercise...
Christmas
is coming and I'm looking forward to the family coming home for Christmas
dinner. The grown-up children and grandkids from 3 years to 22 years. All that
cooking, but not all here at home this time. Sharing it around this year.
Thinking of two of my elder grandchildren. Pride, my 16 year old grandson, the professional rugby league recruit with the Melbourne Storm NRL club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. First Christmas away from home. Danielle my eldest granddaughter, 18 years old and also first time away from home at Christmas. We'll see Pride at the end of January when he comes back to New Zealand on leave. Danielle will be back in a week.
Oh dear Jesus, two days before Christmas and more earthquakes in Christchurch. Two in 80 minutes over 5.8 and 26 aftershocks in twenty four hours. No serious injuries luckily - but the mess in the eastern suburbs - the liquefaction that oozes out of the ground like stinking mud if its mixed with sewerage. It dries out to silt and sand - and has to be shovelled into wheelbarrows and dumped on the side of the road for contractors to collect. But look at all those volunteers of all ages helping out again? The fourth time. Now this is Christian charity of effort - helping out your neighbors and other people you may not even know.
Now this is Christmas! My family are coming, my family are coming! Christmas is real again, not just some commercial enterprise. Long live the people of Christchurch my home town. My people, my family too! Merry Christmas everybody!!
http://anzacbloggersunite.blog.co.uk
Christmas
is coming and I'm looking forward to the family coming home for Christmas
dinner. The grown-up children and grandkids from 3 years to 22 years. All that
cooking, but not all here at home this time. Sharing it around this year.Thinking of two of my elder grandchildren. Pride, my 16 year old grandson, the professional rugby league recruit with the Melbourne Storm NRL club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. First Christmas away from home. Danielle my eldest granddaughter, 18 years old and also first time away from home at Christmas. We'll see Pride at the end of January when he comes back to New Zealand on leave. Danielle will be back in a week.
Oh dear Jesus, two days before Christmas and more earthquakes in Christchurch. Two in 80 minutes over 5.8 and 26 aftershocks in twenty four hours. No serious injuries luckily - but the mess in the eastern suburbs - the liquefaction that oozes out of the ground like stinking mud if its mixed with sewerage. It dries out to silt and sand - and has to be shovelled into wheelbarrows and dumped on the side of the road for contractors to collect. But look at all those volunteers of all ages helping out again? The fourth time. Now this is Christian charity of effort - helping out your neighbors and other people you may not even know.
Now this is Christmas! My family are coming, my family are coming! Christmas is real again, not just some commercial enterprise. Long live the people of Christchurch my home town. My people, my family too! Merry Christmas everybody!!
http://anzacbloggersunite.blog.co.uk
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Merry Christmas to my friends and readers..
Wishing all my blogging friends and their families from around the world a very Merry Christmas and a most happy New Year.
http://www.ruthann1.com/MerryChristmasMyFriend.htm
http://www.ruthann1.com/MerryChristmasMyFriend.htm
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
British men losing their reputation as beer drinkers...
It has been claimed that Britain is losing its reputation as a nation of beer drinkers.
Beer consumption has apparently fallen by a quarter since 2006, because many men have stopped going down to the local pub, preferring to stay at home with their wives and girlfriends, sharing a bottle of wine, cider or spirits.
I wonder how true this really is? Or has it to do more with economics? Read on:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10774796
Kiwipete
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Graffiti tagging can be a dangerous artform...
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| Image via Wikipedia |
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| Image via Wikipedia |
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| Image by Franco Folini via Flickr |
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| Image by epSos.de via Flickr |
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| Image by NguyenDai via Flickr |
For many decades tagging has been a problem in NZ cities and towns, but was mainly confined to central and local government buildings and usually didn't affect private dwellings.
But about a generation ago, there was a mindset change probably brought about by a growing lack of empathy for even private property by disaffected and bored youth and young adults towards society, triggered perhaps by the advent of hard drugs such as methamphetamine or P, (and local gang prospects trying to prove a name for themselves), as it is known in NZ, Since then the fences of private homes have become fair game and targets of taggers.
Most city councils have carried out their own dedicated campaigns of action to combat taggers and their graffiti. The general belief is that tags should be painted out within 24 hours before there is much public exposure - most tags have a signature to their style. Here in Lower Hutt city in Wellington there has been a team of painters who patrol the city in their van with their paint equipment, deleting tags as they appear. It is very well organised and keeps new graffiti under reasonable control. They have been sponsored by local companies who have often been targets of taggers themselves.
While they can control tagging of public buildings, it can often be more difficult to control that of private buldings because permission is necessary and owners cannot always be contacted.
I think most councils run similar programs to that of the Hutt City Council in Lower Hutt city. Some years ago the Auckland City Council decided to go a step further and keep a record of graffiti by digitally photographing tags and storing them on a council website. When taggers were arrested evidence was much easier to be gathered by referring to what was stored online. As I mentioned earlier taggers have their own style and signature and evidence is much more forthcoming when a comparison can be made. Some say there is a difference between graffiti and tagging. If it is mural painting I would agree. Some murals underneath bridges look quite artistic and seem to discourage random tagging.
Graffiti costs councils and businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in deletion costs. The Auckland City Council lays charges of wilful damage against any taggers who have been caught painting graffiti.
There is concern at the potential violence that could be metered out against taggers if they are caught, and by taggers themselves if they are caught in the act. A 15 year old boy in Auckland was killed by a property owner who caught him and his accomplice in the act. The man chased the boy and killed him with one blow from his 13 cm knife blade. The man was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for his actions in 2009. Extenuating circumstances apparently downgraded the charge to manslaughter. But why confront a tagger with a knife in your hand? Why not a broom or a 4x2?
Overseas taggers have been run over or hit by vehicles when tagging by freeway overpasses and one man fell and broke his back when tagging on an overpass itself; he was still clutching his spraycan when rescuers got to him. Other taggers have been shot at, stabbed and attacked members of the public who witnessed their grafitti tagging. The potential for violence is always present. Australian councils have had their own problems and have come up with their own solutions which have often mirrored the NZ experience.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Actual classified ads...
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| Image via Wikipedia |
Our
experienced Mom will
care for your child. Fenced yard, meals, and
smacks included.
Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children.
Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel.
Stock up and save. Limit: one.
Semi-Annual after Christmas Sale
3 year old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred.
Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating.
Girl wanted to assist magician in cutting off head illusion. Blue Cross and salary.
Dinner Special -- Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Children $2.00
For sale: antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers.
Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.
We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.
For sale. Three canaries of undermined sex.
Great Dames for sale.
Have several very old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition.
Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you'll never go anywhere again
Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children.
Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel.
Stock up and save. Limit: one.
Semi-Annual after Christmas Sale
3 year old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred.
Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating.
Girl wanted to assist magician in cutting off head illusion. Blue Cross and salary.
Dinner Special -- Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Children $2.00
For sale: antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers.
Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.
We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.
For sale. Three canaries of undermined sex.
Great Dames for sale.
Have several very old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition.
Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you'll never go anywhere again
Friday, December 16, 2011
Don't stone the crows - science has proven they are not bird brains...
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First published at Qondio:
Don't stone the crows - science has proven they are not bird brains. Indeed these members of the avian family have a lot more going for them than a lot of their feathered friends. New Zealand scientists and Aesop the famous Greek writer of fables have something in common - don't stone the crows, they are actually cunning birds who appear to understand basic physics- In one of Aesop's fables illustrating the virtue of ingenuity, a crow was able to drink from a half-filled pitcher by dropping stones in it to raise the water level.
Auckland University psychology researchers have recreated the fable, with a tall half-filled tube of water, which had a small piece of meat floating on the surface. The four rooks named Pepe, Caesar, Mimic and Laura were given a collection of stones and learned to drop them into the tube to raise the water level and allowed them to fish out the food.
They proved to be even more cleverer, however, and when given a selection of small and large stones, they picked out the larger ones which displaced more water at once and brought the food within their reach more quickly. The crows showed an immediate preference for the larger stones, two of them actually disregarding the small stones during their first attempt and before they actually observed their effect on the water, the researchers wrote in their notes.- They were also tested with heavy and light objects, choosing rubber cubes over similar sized polystyrene cubes.
The results of the various experiments indicated the birds actually 'understood' their actions, rather than simply doing something because it worked first up.- " The differences between causal and arbitary tasks that we presented to the crows strongly suggest that cognitive mechanisms other than simple associative learning are involved."
- The above is what researchers wrote in the now published entry in PLoS One, which is widely seen as one of the world's leading general science journals.
Crows have previously shown they can use stick-like tools to manipulate their environment, such as dropping nuts on pedestrian crossings for passing cars to crack them open, then waiting for the 'green man' signal so they can safely collect their nuts.
Now Aesop was well aware of their abilities 2500 years ago when he wrote "The Crow and Pitcher", about a thirsty crow learning how to raise the water level in a pitcher by dropping in the stone.
This tale concludes with the proverb: "Necessity is the mother of invention" something that most of us have read at some time, some place, and somewhere! Contributor's Note Have a look at a smart rook now!
Monday, December 12, 2011
"Scary as hell"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJR5GeCv0q8&feature=related
http://communitybloggersevolve.blog.co.uk
A visit to a 'real' haunted house...
A
visit to Thorpe Lodge - a haunted Norfolk house. Real paranormal activity caught
on camera. You be the judge. Come along for a visit here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeXmgSLIlfU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Friday, December 9, 2011
Aussie train service terminated by giant purple penis...
Aussie train service terminated by giant purple penis art...
http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8387342/penis-graffiti-causes-sydney-train-to-terminate
http://huttriver.blog.co.uk
http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8387342/penis-graffiti-causes-sydney-train-to-terminate
http://huttriver.blog.co.uk
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The gay escapee...
A
criminal escapes from prison where he has been for 15 years. He breaks into a
house to look for money and guns and finds a young couple in bed.He orders the guy out of bed and ties him to a chair, while tying the girl to the bed he gets on top of her, kisses her neck, then gets up and goes into the bathroom.
While he's in there the husband tells his wife, "Listen, this guy's an escaped convict, look at his clothes! He probably spent lots of time in jail and hasn't seen a woman in years. I saw how he kissed your neck." If he wants sex, don't resist, don't complain, do whatever he tells you. Satisfy him no matter how much he nauseates you. This guy is probably very dangerous. If he gets angry, he'll kill us. Be strong, honey. I love you."
To which his wife responds, "He wasn't kissing my neck. He was whispering in my ear. He told me he was gay, thought you were cute, and asked me if we had any vaseline. I told him it was in the bathroom. Be strong I love you!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
What on earth are western troops doing supporting an insidious Islamic Sharia law in Aghanistan...
What are western troops doing supporting such an insidious Islamic Sharia law in Afghanistan...
An international uproar at the way this innocent woman was treated. Her crime? She was raped and made pregnant by a relative. Read the article below:
Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images
Burqa-clad Afghan women walk in the old part of Herat on November 23.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock after she was raped by a relative.
Karzai’s office said in a statement that the woman and her attacker have agreed to marry. That would reverse an earlier decision by the 19-year-old woman, who had previously refused a judge’s offer of freedom if she agreed to marry the rapist.
Her plight was highlighted in a documentary that the European Union blocked because it feared the women featured in the film would be in danger if it were shown.
More than 5,000 people recently signed a petition urging Karzai to release the woman. She had the man’s child while in prison and raised her daughter behind bars, which is common among women imprisoned in Afghanistan.
A statement released by Karzai’s office says that after hearing from judicial officials, the decision was made to forgive the rest of the sentence she received for having sex out of wedlock, a crime in Afghanistan. The presidential statement did not say when the woman was to be released or how much prison time had been pardoned.
The woman told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she had hoped that attention generated by the EU film might help her get released. With the film blocked, she said that she was losing hope and considering marrying her rapist as a way out. She said her attacker was pressuring her to stop giving interviews.
About half of the 300 to 400 women jailed in Afghanistan are imprisoned for so-called “moral crimes” such as sex outside marriage, or running away from their husbands, according to reports by the United Nations and research organizations. Fleeing husbands isn’t considered a crime in Afghanistan.
The EU welcomed the woman’s release.
“Her case has served to highlight the plight of Afghan women, who 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime often continue to suffer in unimaginable conditions, deprived of even the most basic human rights,” the European Union’s Ambassador and Special Representative to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, said.
He said the EU hoped the same mercy would be extended to other women serving similar terms. Usackas said he planned to raise the issue of Afghan women’s rights at an international conference on Afghanistan Dec. 5 in Bonn, Germany.
Some of the most severe restrictions women faced under the Taliban, like a ban on attending schools and having to have a male escort to venture outside the home, were done away with when the radical Islamic movement was driven from power in 2001. But Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative and male-dominated society, meaning women are still sold to husbands and rights enshrined in law are often ignored.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
The truth as I see it today...
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| Image by Getty Images via @daylife |
GBE2:Blog on: The Truth as I see it today.
We have just had an election in New Zealand and, as expected, the right wing conservative National Party was returned in a narrow result with the left of centre block. But our major left of centre party, the historical Labour Party had one of its biggest defeats in its history. We have a proportional system here now, known as MMP. Our system is based on the German system and allows for a variety of interested parties, political affiliations, ethnic and social minorities etc. We used to have the First Past the Post system - winner takes all. But democracy occasionally allows for some political machinations and corruption to some degree or another.
I'm not complaining so much about the result, it was in many ways a foregone conclusion, but for voters to regard it as such and not bother to vote defeats the democratic right to vote - millions in other places around the world don't enjoy that right - and add the apathetic voters to that mix, and you don't have a very good political environment or outcome.
So what have we been promised by the right wingers? Privatisation of state assets, welfare reform to get everybody off welfare benefits: the unemployed, the sick, the invalid, get them all ready for work! I don't have a problem with getting the unemployed to work, to training or up-skilling. They have also indicated that further eroding of the rights of New Zealand workers is on the agenda again - just like the fascist Employment Contracts Act of the 1990's which was used to emasculate the NZ union movement, to create more flexibility in the labour market and allow more casualisation, and to reduce the real cost of wages and salaries.
But where are the jobs for those thousands of semi-skilled workers now that so many industries have gone offshore to places like China? And there are severe economic difficulties being experienced in Europe and to a lesser degree other places too. What sort of employment is there for the sick or invalid? They are on these benefits because health professionals have assessed them unfit to work and needing welfare support.
Those on invalid benefits include the mentally ill, and those with intellectual difficulties. Across the western world mental health hospitals and facilities have been closed and sold off and replaced by emergency units in recent decades. IHC sufferers no longer have IHC Workshops where they could do part time work and meet socially. There are few residential homes in New Zealand for IHC patients. So many are looked after by family members, particularly grandparents who struggle for financial support because society says they are "family" and should do it for love! Fortunately this attitude is changing and there is now a belief that family members should at least be paid the minimum wage for looking after children or family members fulltime. Invalid benefits do not provide all the finance needed to cater for mentally unwell and intellectually deprived and challenged people.
But we don't have such people living on the streets here in this country. Some homeless people are that way inclined, because there is support in New Zealand for the homeless. So somebody living under a bridge is not really an indictment of NZ society.
But in the meantime we will have to suffer fools rather ungladly, those ideologically driven, ignorant politicians who lack first hand knowledge of those people they claim should get back into work and stop using resources that would better (in their opinion) utilised in building more highways and motorways to the beaches and holiday resorts further north, building higher decile schools and private hospitals for the offspring of the privileged sector of New Zealand society.
Until help is really on the way and the left of centre Labour Party is able to rejuvenate itself, we will have to tolerate the inanities and ignorance of the political right here in New Zealand. And that friends, is the truth and nothing but the truth! Every decade the Labour Party has to rejuvenate and reinvent itself as another generation of the politically inane right of centre tries to influence the good people of this fair country, be they farmers, business people, those that service our industries, and those that actually provide the sweat and tears and make the wheels of industry and service go around - the working people of New Zealand.
http://anzacbloggersunite.blog.co.uk
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