Posts by Carol Stewart
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Hard News: WOTY: The Kindness Scandal,
I loved your chat with Guyon this morning Russell. Don't ever stop!
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Hard News: Public Address Word of the…,
Hana Koko, our Māori Santa.
A non gender specific Māori Santa would be even better, but hey, baby steps. -
Up Front: It's Beginning to Look a Lot…,
Even Roald Dahl was in on the action with this wee verse:
Where art thou, Mother Christmas?
I only wish I knew
Why Father should get all the praise
And no-one mentions you.I’ll bet you buy the presents
And wrap them large and small
While all the time that rotten swine
Pretends he’s done it all.So Hail To Mother Christmas
Who shoulders all the work
And down with Father Christmas,
That unmitigated jerk. -
Up Front: It's Beginning to Look a Lot…,
With you, Kiwiiano, except that having a big baked ham is not too hard to organise and is a basis for meals for days afterwards. Turkey = not happening.
With you as well Soon Lee about no, or very minimal, gifts for adults. If I'm going to give anything as gifts it will a batch of mince pies. If I may say so, my mince pies are far better than any bought ones, and have been known to convert lifelong mince-pie doubters. When I get home later on I'll double check the sweet short crust pastry recipe that I use, from the hippie classic cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas, and share recipe here. -
Up Front: It's Beginning to Look a Lot…,
Wonderful post Emma. Thank you so much.
I remember a Minhinnick cartoon back in the day, that went along the lines of:
"Mother bought the presents, Mother made the cake
Mother made the Christmas punch, mother baked the ham
Mother filled the stockings, Mother dressed the tree
‘Oh look Mum, FATHER Christmas came, look what he brought for me!’"And Mother doing her best to look delighted.
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What a great interview.
And how very sad. -
Hard News: This is your government on drugs, in reply to izogi,
That's a great summary from Dave Hansford. Thank you.
Did you read this more recent piece in the Spinoff? I thought it was quite bleak - he describes the problem very clearly but he seems pretty stumped about solutions.And Steven - you might be thinking of ionising radiation..
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Hard News: This is your government on drugs,
I can't disagree with you on any of that, Rosemary, and I've no doubt that Sue Grey is an effective campaigner for medicinal cannabis reform.
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Hard News: This is your government on drugs,
As for the second youtube thing, yes it's true that the WHO have classified non-ionising radiation from mobile phones as a Class 2B carcinogen. This means 'possibly carcinogenic'. Other Class 2B substances include coffee, kava, pickled vegetables and aloe vera extract. The WHO classification was based on the IARC review that I mentioned above, and was a precautionary approach (appropriate I think) based on weak and limited evidence of an increased glioma risk in heavy mobile phone users. The sensible thing to do here is to limit the amount of time you have your mobile phone pressed to your ear.
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Hard News: This is your government on drugs,
Rosemary, finding one 'expert' to back up your views is not the same as scientific consensus. If you want an expert consensus view on RFEMR hazards to health, go to the IARC monograph here: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol102/mono102.pdf
Sue Grey is fond of citing this one, though needless to say she doesn't represent its findings honestly or accurately.