Have Your Say

A NZ Legal Complaints Review Officer has formally observed that the lawyers’ professional disciplinary regime was being weaponised “as a forum for advancing [complainants’] opposition” on a contested policy issue.
Read that again. The regulator’s own oversight officer says the complaints process is being abused for ideological reasons.
The case: Stephen Franks, Free Speech Union Council Chair, wrote a lawyer’s letter for a client warning health practitioners about potential liability for puberty blockers and other “gender-affirming” treatments for minors, in light of the Cass Review.
Six people complained. None had received the letter. Two were lawyers with no stake in the matter. One was the head of a lobby group. The Standards Committee found against him by majority.
The Review Officer quashed it on every point.
Stephen could fight back – his own firm, fifty years of practice, the resources to see it through.
Most people in his position couldn’t. That’s the point.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/…/7BZTF63A4JDNNGCGCOQBQHM6VU/

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 — 𝐔𝐀𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐎𝐈𝐋 𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐘𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐔𝐙 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟕, 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐇𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓
The announcement, in plain language:
‘𝘜𝘈𝘌 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘺𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘻 𝘪𝘯 2027. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘻. 𝘎𝘪𝘨𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴.”
Why this is the most important Middle East infrastructure story of the year. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐳 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟒𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. A UAE pipeline routed via Fujairah on the Indian Ocean side of the Strait 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐮𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬. The strategic implication: every dollar of UAE investment in this pipeline is a dollar of strategic capability Iran loses permanently.
What this does to the Iran negotiation. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐳; the UAE just announced it will build the workaround that makes any future blockade by Iran irrelevant. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐧 — every month of delay on a deal is a month closer to a Gulf oil grid that the regime can no longer threaten.
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐀𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐔𝐙 𝐎𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐌𝐄’𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 — 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

NZTA camera trailer towed. Ya gotta laugh.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1422352089929163&set=pcb.1422352513262454

Europe has decided it is no longer acceptable to call people illegal immigrants or asylum seekers.
They should now be addressed as Travellers Without Authority To Stay…
or
T. W. A. T. S. for short.

Activist: “Your cows are putting carbon into the atmosphere.”
Farmer: “Where did they get it?”
Activist: “What?”
Farmer: “The carbon. Where did the cow get it before it put it anywhere?”
Activist: “From… eating?”
Farmer: “From eating grass. And where did the grass get it?”
Activist: “The soil?”
Farmer: “The air. The grass pulled it out of the air last spring. The cow ate the grass. The cow breathed some of it back out. It went back into the air it came from.”
Activist: “But it’s still going into the atmosphere.”
Farmer: “It’s going back. There’s a difference between a thing going somewhere and a thing going back. You’ve described a circle, and you’re frightened of it.”
Activist: “Then just don’t have the cow.”
Farmer: “The grass still dies in autumn. It rots where it falls. The carbon goes back into the air either way, just without anyone getting fed in the middle.”
Activist: “It’s not that simple.”
Farmer: “It’s grass, cow, breath, grass. Or it’s grass, rot, air, grass. Same circle, fewer dinners. If that’s complicated for you, I’d stay away from the water cycle. That one’s got clouds in it.”