February 1, 2024

Genderqueer person kicked off Delta flight for not wearing a bra.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/kiwi-traveller-allegedly-removed-from-delta-airlines-flight-for-not-wearing-bra/57VO4PWEOZEGXJFGFQJ232GGSA/

What's next mandatory corsets and skirts?

April 23, 2023

New charity that removes racist and extremist tattoos for free

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/new-charitable-initiative-launches-to-remove-racist-and-extremist-tattoos-for-free/BZYE4CU4DRDTBPXSYKWGWN4IDY/

"The new Chance for Change programme will offer Kiwis with tattoos featuring racist symbols, images, hate-related words and slogans or extremist ideologies free removal.

Experts say the removal of offensive tattoos can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars and could be a barrier to progression in life, however, the new charitable initiative offers a pathway for participants to rid themselves of the last vestige of an ideology they no longer identify with.

One applicant to the programme had swastikas all over his legs and although he had been out of that lifestyle for more than ten years felt the legacy was always with him. He now had a five-year-old daughter and he had never worn shorts as a result. This guy had been riddled with self-loathing, disgust and self-doubt and he said having these tattoos removed had given him a fresh start in life,” he says."

More of this please. We need creative pathways to help support people back to sanity.

March 6, 2023

World's first openly transgender mayor and Member of Parliament has passed

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/worlds-first-openly-transgender-mp-and-mayor-georgina-beyer-dies-aged-65/XJYEBLG24JEZFJ5TZPNG7LSPTE/

"Georgina Beyer, the world’s first openly transgender Member of Parliament and mayor has died aged 65....

Beyer became the first openly transgender mayor in the world when she was chosen to serve as Carterton’s mayor in 1995.

She was later elected as a member of parliament in 1999 as Wairarapa MP and in 2005 elected as the first openly transgender MP."

A woman whose remarkable life deserves some exposure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgina_Beyer



Moe mai rā.

June 21, 2022

It's as important to recognise the people who did the right thing as it is to prosecute

those who did the wrong thing.

For people wondering what the point of these hearings will be if DoJ doesn't indict (and I still think it's likely they will), telling the stories of ordinary people suffering threats and injustice and still telling the truth is the point. These people deserve their time in the sun and to have an opportunity to inspire others to do the same.

June 13, 2022

The power of positive thinking meets the rule of law.

The January 6th hearings today illustrates for me again why it was always a terrible idea to elect a businessman to run the country "like a business".

There's a cult in corporate management culture which glorifies imagining a goal and then not letting anything get in the way of achieving that goal, certainly not facts. If you can dream it, you can do it. And that's exactly what Trump was doing - what his background trained him to do.

The self-evident problem is that facts are facts and the law is the law. And good government is usually about determining the least bad course of action on the basis of the best facts that can be mustered within the constraints of law and due process.

While Trump is his own whole self-contained bag of snakes, I think he also manifests a dangerous American cultural trend that prioritizes "vision" over living in a fact based reality.

Being good at government takes a lifetime of study and experience. We need to fight back harder against sneering attacks on the professionalism of the civil service and of career public servants.

February 12, 2022

Here's how you shift anti-vax convoy bullies

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-parliament-protest-speaker-trevor-mallard-plays-barry-manilow-macarena-over-loud-speakers-to-deter-crowd/KRZ3NHOVFXS2GNPMDAWZOQU2HA/

"Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard has started his next attempt to make life uncomfortable for the protesters outside Parliament, by setting up speakers to boom Barry Manilow, the Macarena, and Covid-19 vaccination messages at them...

Mallard, who had Parliament's lawn sprinklers turned on last night, had his speakers turned on as Freedom and Rights Coalition speeches ended...

Mallard said: "We wanted to make sure everybody here had the warning about trespass and because of the number of unvaccinated people in the audience, we believe it's important to promulgate messages about vaccination.

He said the 15-minute loop of music and Covid-19 ads would play on repeat, possibly through the night."

And there's a cyclone on the way. Seriously, screw these people. They've been digging trenches through the middle of the lawn in front of Parliament to try to get the sprinklers to drain away from their tents and throwing things at school kids wearing masks as they try to walk by.

August 16, 2021

The GOP Serenity Prayer: Kabul Version

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the horrific consequences of my greed and incompetent mistakes on others,
except where I can make political hay by blaming those consequences on Democrats trying to fix them,
and an electorate too ignorant to know the difference."

June 13, 2021

Families of Christchurch mosque shooting protest Hollywood film that makes it all about Jacinda

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-mosque-attack-movie-jacinda-ardern-says-they-are-us-too-soon-too-raw-for-nz/NV3OMYIREPR2OET6YLYX6N7QL4/

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/125426510/family-of-christchurch-mosque-attack-victim-writes-open-letter-to-hollywood-actress-rose-byrne-to-refuse-her-role

I'm a bit torn on this one. I think Jacinda Ardern's (and New Zealand in general's) response to the mosque shootings was exemplary and should be held up and celebrated.

But at the same time we've had enough white saviour complex movies and it is ultimately a story that should be primarily about the victims and their families.

Unbelievable was one of the best films I've seen in the last twenty years because it actually took the time to portray the impact of rape on the victim and didn't give any screen time at all to the perpetrator. It completely upended the standard narrative where at least half the screen time goes to a sexy, scenery-chewing villain. Part of what was so good about NZ's response to the mosque shooting was that the media embargo on the shooter's name and social media. The focus was kept on the pain, suffering and humanity of the victims instead of giving a wider platform to the creepy loser who did it.

It's ultimately down to the skill of the writers and actors but I have a terrible feeling this film is set up to be half-Rose Byrne looking compassionate in a scarf and firing off press releases from her desk and half-Tom Hiddleston packing an ominous black bag, adjusting his body cam, and typing out manifestos and two or three minutes focused on the real heroes of the day - the average people throwing themselves in front of bullets and chasing after a man with a AK-47 to protect each other.

So I don't know that they shouldn't make it, but I do think it's too soon and if they insist on doing a Jacinda-centric version they should wait until after there has been a victim-focused one.

Any thoughts?

May 6, 2021

If all the world's scientific resources could be marshalled again to cure a disease

which are the top three that you would cure?

It gives me hope that, properly motivated and funded, we got a Covid vaccine in less than a year. If we took all the money and time and brainpower we currently waste on weapons and pointless apps to monitor egg freshness and boner pills and hair loss treatments and focused it all on researching how to cure something, what would have the biggest impact?

Mine would be:

1. Alzheimers
2. Diabetes
3. Asthma/COPD

Alzheimers and diabetes because they are horrific ways to die and asthma because it's so widespread, kills young people and reduces quality of life so much for decades.

February 26, 2021

And I have a new favorite "Dumbass Capitol Rioter Gets Busted" story...

"On or about January 22, 2021, Anna Morgan-Lloyd went to the Greene County Sheriff's Office ("GCSD" ) to obtain a firearms permit. While processing the application, a GCSD employee recognized Morgan-Lloyd as a person that posted on Facebook about the January 6th events at the US capitol... GCSD referred Morgan-Lloyd to the FBI"

https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Dona%20Sue%20Bissey%20and%20Anna%20Morgan-Lloyd%20Statement%20of%20Facts.pdf

I think this just edges out the stupidity of the multiple people who went there wearing their court-ordered ankle bracelets.