208 days ago

DEMOCRACY FALLOUT, FAILING

Michael from Trentham

One watches in horror as the democracy of the USA is all to quickly dismantling. The Supreme Court is the latest in a long line-up to go really rogue. After years of being tampered with politically.

Of course would-be dictator, corrupt and criminal villain Trump and Trumpism has opened up a festering wound that is probably too deep now to successfully patch up.

NZ has not got the American system of democracy thank goodness and has often been internationally ranked first or in the top three as the world's most democratic and least corrupt country in the world.
But there is cuttings at the edges of our democracy not the least displayed by the current Government. Examples are breaking election-gaining promises and even in the one they kept - tax cuts - by borrowing more than the defeated Labour-Green Govt has to cement in the financial shortfall of the tax reduction, and by going further in cutting out thousands of jobs in the public sector which also impacts on the private sector.

More messages from your neighbours
29 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

Image
15 hours ago

2025: The Year of Puzzling It Out!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

There’s a one-story house where everything is yellow.

The walls are yellow, the doors are yellow, and even the furniture is yellow.

What colour are the stairs?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

Image
1 hour ago

EMPIRE BUILDING TRUMP

Michael from Trentham

So Donald Trump does not want to start any wars and is a peace maker.
And yet he is seriously seeking to annex the world's largest island, Greenland from Denmark, take over the Panama Canal from the sovereign country of Panama who have owned it since 1977 and even forthrightly suggesting that Canada ceases being a nation and become a state or series of states of the USA.

Greenland above everything else, harbours minerals vital for todays and tomorrows world and that is what probably attracts Trump most. His son is looking things over in Greenland as this thread is being produced. Climate change is also changing Greenland which despite its name is currently mainly covered in ice and snow all year round.

Panama's major asset after tourism and services is the canal with a current revenue of $5 billion. It operates its shipping charges through an international organisation so that the USA gets an unbias deal for its ships etc that use the canal.

Denmark is a member of NATO. But Trump is happy for the USA to pull out of this Europe-USA defence alliance and Greenland may be the straw that breaks it.

Canada is surrounded by the USA but it is so much unlike the USA and much more akin to Australia and NZ. In contrast to the USA, Canada is one of the happiest countries in the world.

NZ is going to come under the scrutiny of Trump and his henchmen/women? He will probably look to cut NZ away from its free trade arrangements with China with some kind of ultimatum.