Catch the link

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/3289274/Bank-worker-caught-ogling-pictures-live-on-TV

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/3289687/Internet-linked-to-depression

One article describes a person who uses the internet to 'combat depression' on live TV, while the other explains internet addiction and linked effects. Hm.

Remember, politicians are people too!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10623042

'Defriending' spats are usually reserved for teenage whingers and drama-seeking normal-phobes, but it appears that the people who are meant to be leading our country into the future are not immune from senseless dramatic conflict either... It gives the term 'Government Censorship' a new meaning =P

and the followup... http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3277401/Turei-asks-Mallard-for-pax-on-Facebook

"We're all going to die anyway, so we should smoke while we still can."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10622940

49.8% of NZers surveyed indicated that they wanted cigarettes banned within 10 years. Is it really a case of arguing for civil liberties when the nicotine is known to be addictive and the smoke is known to be harmful to not only the smokers but also to those around them? Or perhaps NZ should maintain it's personal freedoms approach and let people harm themselves if they want to?

Better than nothing...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10622596

25c. Labour says it's not enough, but we didn't get any increases from them until right before election time in their third term. If the Govt. says that it's all we can afford at the moment, I'm prepared to believe them. Right after an 'economic crisis', having ANY wage increase is better than having it decreased, having hours cut or becoming unemployed. The unions should be glad that they're getting this raise at all, because it could have quite easily have gone the other way. It's a reasonable compromise for both the employers and the employees, with a small cost to businesses for a small increase in wages - if you're being sandwiched between two fiercely opposing groups, you're probably in the right position.

Skycouch!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10622347

OMG.... these look soooo comfortable, except to get one all to yourself you have to pay 2.5x the normal fare (although you could possibly divide that between two people) - is it worth it? I spend most of my long-haul flights watching stuff on the nifty little screens in front of me - how long would I spend actually asleep? I think that (until I get a girlfriend,) I'm probably not going to shell out for these seats...

Warbots

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10621725

Hey, in the future we might not lose any lives at all when we have wars, we can just make the robots go fight each other. Or alternatively, we could lose even more lives, when the robots kill indiscriminately and have no moral or ethical compass. Who knows? All we do know is that the militaries of the world are spending a hell of a lot of money investing in these things... whether or not it's a good advancement of technology remains to be seen.

One US report recently claimed they will turn war into "an essentially frictionless engineering exercise".

Hmm.

Bad Assery is ALL that Matters

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3256684/I-m-okay-Apiata-tells-worried-family

As stated in the article, there have already been hundreds of photographs and videos of the man posted on youtube and in other newspapers. The history of the SAS in Afghanistan has been tainted with numerous security leaks where the information of their existence in A-stan has been leaked, and usually by very high-level officials who obviously didn't realise what they were doing.

Anti-social Behaviour

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10621866

I would've thought that the behaviour that led to the order was extremely social, but apparently the British judge disagrees with me. The judge said: "It needs to be a prison sentence because you need to be deterred," - It's hardly like she's going to be rehabilitated by being in prison... Hopefully this woman catches a break somehow, because giving her jail time just seems ridiculous.

It's for the economy, I swear!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/3241370/Shakiras-pledge-to-shop-more-often

It really is a thin line between "saving to conserve funds and reduce wastage" and "spending to stimulate and support the economy". Sometimes frugality is great for the public and the economy, at other times it can be a disease where the only cure is more spending -Which side are you on? Post a comment below!

Courgars in the Media.... Again

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/7018801/Outrage-over-Air-New-Zealand-cougar-advert.html

It's like the media are now marketing towards a specific demographic, with all this mentioning of cougars recently. They're all over the place, and their poor cub prey are getting hit left, right and center. Apparently this new advertising campaign is offensive to the victims of these 'cougar attacks', which I guess is a real concern, but let's face it - most advertising campaigns are going to offend at least one person, somewhere. At least this one isn't offending an entire race/gender/sexuality/hobby-people-like. At worst, it makes the victims actually look worse off for bashing on Air New Zealand for what they call a bit of 'light humour.' Cougar rape should probably be taken seriously, but crying foul over this campaign is unlikely to win them many brownie points with the general public.