tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40516270440997481792011-04-22T13:48:48.390+12:00Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-6271120276230683022008-01-17T17:44:00.000+13:002008-01-17T17:49:24.022+13:00

Long time, no see, huh? My last months of '07 were spent online at a mate's Facebook (no link, sorry - 'invitation only' to avoid trolls & weirdos) discussing moteatea (laments) & haka. It was great to spend time with really keen, enthusiastic people who are so passionate about Maori oratory. It was humbling to be among such learned company; folk who are knowledgeable about kapa haka (performing

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-84563312456024480062008-01-17T16:47:00.000+13:002008-01-17T17:17:14.738+13:00

On Monday, 13 January, 2008, the NASA probe MESSENGER snapped this photo of Mercury, the first time in history anyone's seen this hidden side of the planet. Because of its rotational peculiarities and proximity to the sun, this face of Mercury has never before been photographed."More unprecedented images of the tiny planet are expected as the MESSENGER craft completes three flybys of Mercury

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-55419150587286202342007-08-20T21:35:00.000+12:002007-08-20T21:51:58.429+12:00

... 'til the fat lady's stabbed?Heather MacDonald in a long, depressing essay on the phenomenon of Regietheater (director's theatre), an unwelcome development in Europe where operas are debased with all manner of gratuitous violence, explicit sexual acts and debauchery, including orgies and massacres. The 'modern' restaging and reinterpretation is completely at odds with the composers' original

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-60721182070345402752007-06-25T21:06:00.000+12:002007-06-26T03:05:38.951+12:00

The Sunday Star Times has an editorial scolding us for using the term 'nanny state'. Defending the draconian anti-smacking law, it claims:"It is right... that the government should support [parents] in finding other ways of correcting their kids"But the govt hasn't 'supported' parents, it has coerced them against the will of the overwhelming majority. Coercion isn't support. Such semantic

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-78430950605296203742007-06-19T21:48:00.000+12:002007-06-19T22:04:29.535+12:00

"Ma te whakama e patu"Let shame be your punishment ~ Maori proverbRemember this face!This is sex pervert, Chris Campbell, an ex-district councillor whose convictions for possessing child pornography were overturned on appeal because of a technicality. Judge Raynor Asher ruled an affidavit appended with a search warrant was not well prepared.So a child predator goes free. Disgusting! Very little

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-33559254478666047832007-06-11T19:58:00.000+12:002007-06-11T20:22:12.322+12:00

We're becoming more entangled in the ever-encroaching tentacles of nanny-state with the education ministry's decision to ban 'unhealthy' food from school tuck shops. The govt fat-phobics' feeble excuse is their priority to educate students about making healthy food 'choices'. But having regulations forced down your throat is no 'choice'. A shame the govt doesn't give the same due attention to '

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-30084642512113382912007-04-12T18:56:00.000+12:002007-04-12T19:03:12.318+12:00

Between 50 - 60 jobs to be axed at TVNZ's news & current affairs section as the broadcaster faces a 15.5% drop in net profit. But if cuts are due to a loss in (advertising?) revenue which is directly linked to declining ratings, then the news-makers have only themselves to blame. TVNZ news is rubbish.Their political bias gives me indigestion, in particular the revolting adulation of Helen Clark.

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-63723461682963748602007-04-10T20:16:00.000+12:002007-04-10T20:33:15.550+12:00

The Christchurch Health & Development Study says young women (15-21) who have abortions attain higher educational achievements, and show improved outcomes in employment, welfare dependence and relationships. I haven't read the research (and the msm are notorious for spinning an entire article from selectively extracted tidbits) but the reported results don't surprise me. One sentence stands out."

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-19199983616370997272007-04-08T12:35:00.000+12:002007-04-08T12:47:08.955+12:00

The politicisation of the police force continues. A new process makes it easier to fire 'unsuitable' cops. The current Police Tribunal, which demands a standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt before sacking errant cops, will be replaced by a system "based on the balance of probability, and fairness." Margaret Bazley, a wildly overpraised bureaucrat who is neither an employment lawyer nor judge,

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-11536159193797865582007-04-04T21:55:00.000+12:002007-04-04T22:41:04.052+12:00

If American, Michael Phelps, is swimming's "Boy Wonder," then surely Australia's Libby Lenton deserves the title "Wonder Woman." In the 2007 world champs in Melbourne, the Aussie swimming sensation collected the 50m & 100m free, 100 butterfly titles plus 2 relay gold medals. Incredibly, as lead off swimmer in a 4x100m mixed relay between US vs. Oz, she showed grit, graft, and God-given gift to

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-86706700400789382962007-04-02T21:05:00.000+12:002007-04-02T22:39:06.651+12:00

Jan Peeters, a visiting 'expert' tells the Early Childhood Council's annual conference that NZ is one of the 'worst' developed countries regarding men working in early childcare."NZ has 13,609 women & only 132 men working in its free Kindgartens, childcare centres & in homebased care. (2005 figures) Since the early 1990s the percentage of men.. has halved from 2% to less than 1%"The clouds of the

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-72389249402225780832007-03-31T20:10:00.000+12:002007-04-01T00:02:56.431+12:00

A "Purely Girls!" Christian camp to be held to promote chastity among young women. I applaud this move and endorse celibacy and monogamy for all single youths, both as a corrective to promiscuity (there's no sound, practical reason to promote sluttiness) and as a preventative health measure: physical, psychological and social. I've become more conservative as I've aged. The heady promises of the

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-25152790849343254372007-03-31T12:42:00.000+12:002007-03-31T12:48:36.148+12:00

No week is complete without a customary jab at the tripe merchants who call themselves journalists. Political writer, Audrey Young, obliges with a featherbrained forecast about Beehive life in the year 2011. Oh, Audrey, this column is just plain silly. Parliamentary prognostication? Have you combined your politics column with the horoscope section? Please return to your usual one-eyed style:

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-25641432738290604062007-03-30T11:54:00.000+12:002007-03-30T12:11:33.748+12:00

Michael Phelps is Superman. Swimming's a really exciting spectator sport, imo (even though all they do is go up & down). I'm frellin' awestruck by this young fullah from Michigan, USA, smashing world records left, right & centre. He could very well end up being the Best Swimmer Ever in History. I can't find words enough to express my gaping astonishment. Beyond praise, he's stupefying and

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-59450166340167205312007-03-29T22:35:00.000+12:002007-03-30T00:01:33.216+12:00

Good news for our Police. Research shows they're generally well esteemed by the public. No details about the study's methodology (in this article), but they're given an average 'score' of 68/100. This should be a morale booster on the eve of the release of Dame Bazely's report, which is sure to send TVNZ & the NZ Press Association into dyspeptic do-gooder delirium.Groups that gave police lower

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-4883039325394904722007-03-29T17:35:00.000+12:002007-03-29T17:44:21.983+12:00

Chuckling over a Maori Party delegate in court charged with threatening behaviour after confronting a woman playing hanky-panky with her man.[Ms] Karu went to [her] home.. after she found out the woman was sleeping with her partner.. knocked on the front door and became "highly aggressive and agitated".. saying 'come out here you f***ing b**ch, come out here, I'm going to kill you'LOL - 'Marae

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-50350408562709446072007-03-28T22:46:00.000+12:002007-03-28T23:11:34.932+12:00

Hexagon over Saturn's North PoleThis is pretty cool. A 15,000 mile wide hexagonal cloud pattern photographed by the Saturn orbiter, Cassini. It was first noticed 26 years ago by the Voyager probes. It's unlike any other weather pattern discovered on any planet. NASA scientists are completely baffled by the structure, composition and longevity of this strange formation centered directly over

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-39829146813856075342007-03-28T22:01:00.000+12:002007-03-28T22:45:00.443+12:00

City councils in Germany are urging women to dump their unwanted newborns in Baby-Klappe, (Baby-hatches) due to a recent upsurge in infanticide. Parents can anonymously 'deposit' their babies in special chutes in hospitals, and retrieve them up to 3 months later should they desire. Otherwise, the orphans are put up for adoption.Wikipedia says, the historic precedents were the 'Foundling wheels,'

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-48680145536102828582007-03-26T19:39:00.000+12:002007-03-27T16:47:33.785+12:00

Pondering the high incidence of dead and dying blogs, The Sunday Times (via The Australian) asks if enthusiasm for blogging has peaked and whether the online phenomenon is in decline, doomed to extinction. It cites 2 interesting stats:1) An estimated 200 million blogs created have since been forsaken by their authors.2) The creation of new blogs culminated in October 2006, when 100,000 new blog

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-33984754919609917142007-03-22T07:12:00.000+12:002007-03-22T07:48:02.371+12:00

"There’s.. a danger confronting young women that must be faced: deliberately seeking out authority figures for social encounters and eventually consensual sex is playing with fire."A striking quote from Michael Bassett's stunning column, "The Anti-Police Hysteria," where he makes several excellent points. This anti-cop dementia is largely media driven. Begining with the Dominion Post enabling

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-83061966367249052862007-03-20T22:00:00.000+12:002007-03-20T23:26:22.810+12:00

Good news from Iraq. General Petraeus is quietly optimistic, telling the NY Post about recent improvements in Ramdi. Having convinced locals they won't be 'abandoned' by US troops, commanders are enjoying an 'overload' of information intelligence. He cites al Anbar tribal chiefs, sickened by civilian deaths as al Qaeda continue to incite bloodshed."the sheiks up there are businessmen.. They are

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-50534058751995748772007-03-19T21:18:00.000+12:002007-03-19T21:41:24.666+12:00

Fed up with the (perceived) left-wing, liberal bias of internet encyclopedia Wikipedia, Andrew Schlafly invents an online alternative "Conservapedia" with an unabashed right-wing focus. It's front page boasts:[This] is an online resource and meeting place where we give full credit to Christianity and America.. You will much prefer using Conservapedia.. if you want concise, clean answers free of "

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-39592453504541548472007-03-18T13:24:00.000+12:002007-03-18T14:33:29.942+12:00

Kerre Woodham in a good column on the cult of victimhood that has mushroomed in NZ over the last 3 decades. Recounting a childhood encounter with a sleaze-bag paedophile, she shrugged and brushed the whole thing off. Thank goodness she was raised in an era when folks were made of sterner stuff. Today, she'd be smothered with excess mushy solicitude, coerced into feeling bad, and forced to dwell

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051627044099748179.post-24144795766657079632007-03-18T12:02:00.000+12:002007-03-18T14:38:27.281+12:00

Tuatahi, ka whakamoemiti atu ki te Runga rawa nana nei nga mea katoaKi nga tini mate, nga rau aitua kua wehe atu haere, haere, moe mai raKa huri ki te hungaora tena ano tatou katoa!He uri au no Paikea, no Porourangi, no Tapuhiko Hikurangi te Maungako Waiapu te Awako Ngati Porou te Iwiko Piripi tenei, e noho ana ki Te Whanganui-a-TaraNau mai ki aku tuhinga!Let's first give thanks and

Piripihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15363879671467801645noreply@blogger.com0