New Zealand Conservative

Well the bureaucrats have anyway A charity worker drowned in a 3ft deep lake when a policeman and a paramedic were ordered not to try to rescue him. Simon Burgess, 41, was left to float face down as emergency crews watched. Health and safety rules stopped them going more than ankle deep into the lake, an inquest was told yesterday. Beyond bizarre

So the ability for them to use their iphones to order sushi or a warm servings of gluten-free spaghetti bolognaise to be delivered to their classroom is an innovation that is probably well over due. Alas this service is only available in high-decile Auckland schools .

The Herald is hand wringing: Attack highlights 'bystander apathy' Meanwhile the BBC reports on the fate of a man who came to the aid of a train conductor: 'Big Man' charged over train eviction 21 st century disconnect.

The departments of Pacific Affairs and Women's Affairs come in for a bit of stick in today's SST. Don Brash says of the later "I have never been clear on what its role actually is. It produces a number of reports but I can't think of any policy changes that have been made," While United Future says it would rename the Department "Gender Affairs" . That's thinking out side the box, just think how a new letter head, logo and image could usher in a whole new era in bureaucratic bumph relating to gender relations in New Zealand.

You get the EU. 21 scientists worked for three years to come up with a ruling that you cannot claim bottled water prevents dehydration. Any vendor of bottled water who makes such a claim can be imprisoned for up to two years. Source: Now barmy EU says you CAN'T claim drinking water stops dehydration

Apparently she entered the Cathedral to the sound of Native American chants and drumsbeats. More: D.C. gets first female Episcopal bishop

The world's a safer place today after the Parisian police arrested four Chinese Nationals and seized 270 tonnes of contraband Eiffel towers. The French authorities don't want unlicensed people selling tourist tack on their streets it seems. Illegal street vending in France carries of maximum six-month jail sentence and a 3,750 euros fine. A police source said the aim of the operation is to dismantle supply networks as well as fight against the vendors. During March and September 2011, 4,000 illegal street vendors were detained including 1,200 who were taken into custody. It's comforting to see the authorities in times of economic meltdown are still on the case and not letting entrepreneurship get out of hand.

As Europe pays China to manufacture refrigerants that nobody will ever use in order to save the planet ( see post below ) and as nations are going bankrupt and loosing their sovereignty in the process, it is nice to know that there are people who are not facing hardship, the loss of their life savings and still have money to spend. Like whoever paid $4.34 million for this photograph at an Art Auction in New York last night.

2011's fad of the unpalatable, unwashed, setting up inner city camps to protest capitalism has not had much success so far. But they have claimed scalps in one bastion of the establishment - St Paul's Cathedral, London. For two weeks paying tourists have not been able to visit Christopher Wren's masterpiece of architecture due to occupation and the Dean's decision to have their happy campers moved on by taking a legal injunction against them hasn't removed them. However it has led to three resignations, including his, from the Cathedral's staff . Weird

Police pepper spray Utah haka

Something you can't do in the privacy of your own bedroom in Scotland is to have sex with your bike . Never fear the human rights people are onto it and within the decade I expect you will be able to marry it, if you so desire. And if you have money it could be parent-2 for the children you purchase. Imagine that having a bicycle for a mother parent-2.

There are people in this country who living in circumstances that if you kept an animal that way you would be prosecuted. But a penguin in distress ...... Fans in tears as Happy Feet makes tracks Priorities priorities ?????????????????

Situations Vacant Transgendered Sami pipefitter required to complete our team. If you are a transgendered person with Sami heritage and working in a diverse environment appeals to you then we want to hear from you. Pipefitting experience not required as we are willing to train a suitable candidate who meets our requirements. NZX chairman Andrew Harmos has confirmed that publicly listed companies may soon be required to have a gender and ethnic diversity policy. Harmos told a meeting of business people this morning that the NZX would propose a rule change mandating the policy and requiring companies to report back on how well they are doing at appointing more women and ethnic groups to their organisations .

What's with this, we are getting a succession of stories about men taking a leak in the passenger compartments of airplanes. Is it a fashion or something? Gerard Depardieu joins the ranks of the urinators

Why are the United States Federal Government going after a small company in Puerto Rico for gender discrimination against males ? A U.S. enforcement agency has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a wholesale jewelry and beauty products company of discriminating against men by hiring only women for its managerial positions. Well someone went boo hoo hooing the the Feds because his career in cosmetic sales didn't turn out as he had hoped. And they have chosen to act . This is how it should have been handled.

Sometime between the 6 th and the 8 th of October 2009 at McCormick & Schmick's restaurant in Washington DC, Alasdair Thompson made "lewd comments" about Helen Kelly's relationship with John Key presumably implying their relationship consisted of something more than just a working relationship. Apparently these comments were directed at Helen Kelly herself but overheard by Maryann Street and the person who told the Herald, I assume, an unnamed " influential business leader, who witnessed the confrontation at a high-powered dinner in Washington DC," and who said last night that she would make a formal complaint to the board of the EMA ." Oh dear, you piss the sisterhood off at your peril .

Let's get this straight. Valerie Morse who burnt a New Zealand Flag at an Anzac Day dawn service is not guilty of Disorderly Behaviour . Originally she had been found guilty of this charge, the original district court judge ruling that such actions were offensive in the context of the Anzac Dawn Parade. But the Supreme Court begs to differ. They ruled the District Court Judge had misunderstood the meaning of Offensive behaviour. The majority believing it had to be capable of "wounding feelings or arousing real anger, resentment disgust or outrage". Her actions didn't do that? You could have fooled me, but what would I know. "Because unanimously of the view that the trial in the District Court proceeded on a wrong basis in law through failure to assess impact on public order, the Supreme Court has set aside the conviction," the judges said in a written statement to the media. What does "failure to assess impact on public order" mean? Does t...

Subtext: we don't like what you're doing, but we love you and are going to vote for you anyway (and give you our dollars for your campaign to tell you this.)

I don't know about you but whenever I get my photo taken for a passport or drivers licence the result is not usually flattering. Usually it comes out like a mug shot, I look like some desperado finally caught with no way out. The other perhaps related effect is the startled rabbit look, a characteristic of my current passport photo. Anyway for school photos some photographers have taken matters into their own hands. Students at Box Hill’s Our Lady of Sion College received their school photos yesterday and to their amazement their photographs had been photoshopped. Some girls had different hairstyles from those they wore the day the pictures were taken, some had had had their ear studs removed and one girl at least had an entirely new pair of ears. The girls and their parents are none too pleased . Just why this happened is a mystery.