Student unemployment? Just check out trademe jobs...

This year, I decided to start my summer/ weekend job hunt nice and early, so that I didn't need to spend another holidays taking vegetable summer school papers and increasing my student loan. I anticipated that it would be a tedious process in the current economic crisis, having employment at an all time high. Yesterday afternoon I looked at the student job search website and found nothing, so opted to apply for a few things on Trademe and email my CV to some hotels, theaters etc. in Wellington. So far I have arranged for an interview later in the week at a hotel, as well as had an informal interview with a manager of a harbour cruise business who took down possible times that I could train later this week.

Have I just had a lucky day? Or will it be easier to find a job than I thought? Perhaps young people these days aren't pro-active enough in their job seeking or their résumés aren't pretty enough. I suppose I will find out in the coming weeks.

Labour Support Government funded condoms in supermarkets and dairys- hallelujah

NZ herald today reported that it is now on the labour party's agenda to have the government subsidize condoms in supermarkets, dairies and service stations (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10596944). A critical piece can be found on gotcha.co.nz.

Is subsidizing condoms really such a bad way to help reduce teen pregnancies and eventually the number of young single mothers on the benefit, raking in $700 a week from the taxpayer? I really do think that this is a great idea. At present, teens who generally can't afford condoms off the shelf (as they often cost around $20 at the supermarket) can get them pretty much free on prescription or from visiting family planning. Many people do not take into account that making an appointment takes time that lots of teens can't be bothered taking. I think another key factor is that doctor's surgeries and family planning clinics are generally not open on the weekends- kids can't pop in and get some condoms before they go to a raging party or a dodgey sleepover, and I would bet that many a teen pregnancy resulted from people turning up unequipped.

It would be important that supermarkets etc did not take advantage of the subsidies, and that fancy ones weren't subsidized, but hopefully someone could come up with a model that worked.

Taxpayer funding for condoms off the shelf is a great idea, and on this point the right really need to get off their high horse and see it for the logical step it is: some kids just ain't bright enough or confident enough to visit their local GP and tell them that they're sexually active, and those definitely aren't the kids that we want producing more kids. I can think of far more ridiculous things that the government has spent money on in the past.

Check out http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/keeping-mum/2009/9/14/protecting-unprepared/?c_id=1502464

Nong Duc Manh comes to visit

At parliament on Thursday morning there was great pomp and ceremony as John Key and Lockwood Smith went to greet this guy. The army band played the Vietnamese national anthem, interestingly played Pokarekareana instead of God Defend New Zealand, and I had an interesting discussion about how awesome it would be to be a member of the parliamentary kapa haka group. Although they may get a bit cold wearing piupiu on windy Wellington days, it looks like great fun greeting important people and it must pay okay.

Select Committee- Crimes (Provocation Repeal) Amendment Bill- 10/9

I attended the select committee on the repeal of the provocation defence on Thursday morning, and heard some compelling arguments for the repeal. The first submission was from 'Rainbow Wellington' (http://www.rainbowwellington.org.nz/), and suggested that the current law promotes "gay bashing" and "condones extreme violence". In my view this has definitely been the case, in light of the defence being used in cases such as Ferdinand Ambach's ramming a banjo down Ronald Brown's throat in response to a homosexual advance. The second submission was from Alana Bulmer of the NZ roundtable on violence against women (http://roundtablevaw.org.nz), also supporting the Bill. Ms Bulmer claimed that the defence of provocation was unnecessary to protect women who had killed their partners in abusive relationships, as the battered women's defence was covered under self defence. The third submission was that of Catherine Ketty of the Womens refuge and collective organizations, who questioned the effectiveness of self defence in the absence of provocation, based on the premise that battered women often "defend" themselves at a different time to when they are being abused. She likened them to being in a situation not unlike prisoners of war, and Kennedy Graham questioned whether battered women should be given such a status under law.

It would appear that this defence should be repealed, in light of it's unanimous support on its first reading, and the fact that it has been criticized for decades for it's facilitating the slander of deceased victims in court. Perhaps it is also important to recognize that it did serve a certain purpose, and self defence may have to be redefined before the repeal to ensure that victims of domestic abuse be adequately protected.

Potato bake

Ever wondered what you could make with potatoes, an onion, a can of watties pasta sauce and a couple of slices of pams bread that's almost past it? Make yourself a yummy potato bake!

1. Boil the potatoes until they are just edible
2. Dice and fry the onions
3. Put it all in a baking dish, cover with sauce and mix it up a bit
4. Slice bread into little cubes, and sprinkle ontop
5. Bake for about 20 mins at 180'C, or until bread cubes are crispy.

Bon apetit! (being a student ain't so bad after all!)