A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: New Zealand

Nov 30 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Men charged more at coffee cart

Men charged more at coffee cart

Shabnam Dastgheib writing for Stuff.co.nz on something that happened yesterday:

Coffee will cost 10 per cent more for men than for women at Wellington’s Victoria University Law School campus this morning.

In an effort to highlight the continued lack of pay equity between men and women, a campaign by the YWCA is calling on Parliament to do something about the problem. A coffee cart has been set up on the Law School lawn this morning, which was as close as organisers could legally get to Parliament grounds, to illustrate the issue in real terms.

Long blacks and flat whites would cost $3.50 and $4 respectively for women, while the same drink would cost $3.85 and $4.40 for men.

Pay gaps are a problem all over the world, not just in the United States.

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Aug 31 2012
Mark Twain, probably

New Zealand passes 1st stage of gay marriage law

New Zealand passes 1st stage of gay marriage law

Nick Perry, AP:

New Zealand lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly cast a first vote in favor of a gay marriage bill that was given impetus by President Barack Obama’s public support of the issue.

…

The proposed changes can be directly traced to Obama’s declaration in May in support of gay marriage. That prompted center-right Prime Minister John Key to break his long silence on the issue by saying he was “not personally opposed” to the idea. Then lawmaker Louisa Wall, from the opposition Labour Party, put forward a bill she had previously drafted.

“If I’m really honest, I think the catalyst was around Obama’s announcement, and then obviously our prime minister came out very early in support, as did the leader of my party, David Shearer,” Wall told The Associated Press. “The timing was right.”

I wonder if Obama’s announcement actually had any effect on what’s going on in New Zealand or if this is just lip service. Words do have power.

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