People sound off on M&M characters getting new designs as part of ‘more inclusive’ overhaul
As part of a larger ongoing effort to promote a world wherein “everyone feels they belong,” M&Ms has unveiled an updated take on its classic assortment of characters.
The Mars Inc.-owned candy-crafter unveiled the tweaks on Thursday US time, including in a one-minute video promoting the “For All Funkind” initiative’s core tenets.
In a press release, Cathryn Sleight–who serves as Chief Growth Officer at Mars–explained that the latest changes collectively stand as a “more concrete commitment” to what’s said to be the brand’s underlying ethos.
One of the problems with seeing everything through the lens of identity politics is that far larger issues are always missed.
Take M&Ms Woke makeover. All the focus has been on how outrageous it is to give them a Woke makeover vs those laughing at those for getting outraged.
The problem with this myopic focus on faux identity politics virtue signaling is that it eclipses the real issue which is M&Ms use child labour for their chocolate…
Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US
Eight children who claim they were used as slave labour on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast have launched legal action against the world’s biggest chocolate companies. They accuse the corporations of aiding and abetting the illegal enslavement of “thousands” of children on cocoa farms in their supply chains.
Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by the human rights firm International Rights Advocates (IRA), on behalf of eight former child slaves who say they were forced to work without pay on cocoa plantations in the west African country.
The plaintiffs, all of whom are originally from Mali and are now young adults, are seeking damages for forced labour and further compensation for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
…it’s not that Green M&M isn’t a sexual object for the male gaze, it’s that a multi billion dollar corporation is using children to make your fucking candy!
Likewise the sudden focus on go girl feminism icon Charlotte Bellis who is pregnant and has to turn to the Taliban for safety rather than the patriarchal MIQ…
Pregnant Kiwi journalist promised safety by Taliban after being declined emergency MIQ spot
A pregnant New Zealand journalist promised safe refuge in Afghanistan after failing to be granted an MIQ spot has had people offer to transfer their spots to her.
Charlotte Bellis says she had no choice but to ask the Taliban regime for help after being told she didn’t qualify for an emergency MIQ spot. Since Bellis’ predicament came to light on Saturday, she’d heard that people have volunteered to transfer their MIQ bookings to her – but it’s not allowed.
“I want to know what more the government wants from me to convince them I need help. If they were in my shoes what would they do?”
…put aside her PR team, hysterical media support and National Party MP, the issue isn’t that a pregnant go girl feminist icon was slow at making an MIQ application and faced bureaucratic issues that were immediately quenched, no the actual issue here is how we have allowed crippling sanctions to replace our occupation that now see 23 million Afghans starving to death.
The expectation is a million Afghan children will die.
Our obligations as an occupying force should be to the damaged country we occupied, not the traitors who helped us!
Our obligations as an occupying force is to end those punitive sanctions.
Our obligations as an occupying force is to not have millions starve to death!
Why aren’t we being confronted with the spectre of mass death from starvation in a country we previously occupied rather than breathless updates of a go girl feminist icon?
Of course Charlotte Bellis should return home immediately & Im almost certain Clarke will be sent to bring her through MIQ – but don’t pretend a bureaucratic process is the story – the sanctions we’ve put on a country we occupied is causing 20m starving Afghans – that’s the story!
In both cases, M&M wokewash and our myopic focus on go girl feminism, the low hanging fruit of identitarianism that dominates all journalism allows the far bigger issues of corporate malfeasance and military industrial profit margins to be eclipsed for the petty cacophony of intersectionist wounds competing for social hierarchy.
2.8million children work in the chocolate industry and 23 million Afghans face starvation, but sure, let’s focus on a NZ Journalist whose MIQ issues were sorted in 24 hours and woke candy.
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I want MIQ to end if for no other reason, to cease hearing about whinging jet setters who treat NZ like a roadside public toilet while they are gifting the real world their infinite sophistication.
Life is ironic, always. That Charlotte, who when not enhancing hey career and ego in a war torn country, had to seek refuge with the anti feminists she shit all over is rich to be fair.
Perhaps her PR entourage can help their government while she is living there?
The Government should do whatever it takes to get Charlotte Bellis ensconced in Foreign Affairs and on the case of working with the Taliban Government. Her mission should be to counter the “western accord” that won’t release Afghanistan’s gold reserves and is needlessly starving of the population.
Of course, that will never happen as our “neutral'” foreign affairs honchos including the PM and the Minister have been manacled by the International Coalition of Hypocrisy.
Hers was the SOLE voice speaking out at the time of the transfer – The ONLY journo over there who did not push the US MSM propaganda line.
And some here who claim to be “lefties” want her voice silenced.
Incomprehensible.
Agree, this pandemic claptrap is for the bourgeois West. Food, sanitation, safety, infrastructure and an income are more important to poorer countries than proudly showing off their vaccine stocks, greedily stockpiling test kits, or virtue signalling and peacocking with a stupid bloody face muzzle.
In fairness she didn’t take up the offer to evacuate last August, staying on to challenge the Taliban to keep their promise to allow women’s rights. Getting pregnant while unmarried probably puts her at risk beyond the call of duty so MOH duffers should have allowed her recent appeal for special treatment.
Absolutely!
Reading her comments she had given up on pregnancy due to fertility issues. Came as a surprise. In my mind the child is a Kiwi, has no say, so the NZ government should look after its welfare.
stayed to challenge the taliban….ohhh really how deluded is she if she thinks her mere presence would register with religious bigots and effect their policy 1mm….the delusional thinking of a spoilt NZ child who’s parents never said NO.
And yet 2 All Blacks on emergency call up to Europe last October got MIQ straight away! It was luck according to the Government…no paperwork submitted by anyone for those 2 before last minute call up.
Why not the Journalist?
Depends which journos, I guess..
She’s just not MSM enough. Doesn’t toe the propaganda line.
Agreed Kheala…if it was Tova or Jessica, straight in, no questions about that.
Or Mike McRoberts – He used to report from those places – one of our last boots on the ground war-zone journos – He knows from his own experience what it must be like for her. I wish he would speak out on her behalf.
Russell Brand and M&M’s.
Is funny. Is also not funny.
YouTube.
https://youtu.be/b59MUUgebHQ
The ‘media’ (now owned and weaponised by autocrats.) uses banalities like sexy-boots lollies to deflect public scrutiny of the autocrats their all bought and paid for capitalism has enabled. Just like the military uses, or used, ‘chaff’ to deflect radar which is not that ironic really since we are at war with them on a daily basis and the battle front’s in our homes and cities.
Wikipedia
“Chaff (countermeasure)”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaff_(countermeasure)
We need to save our journalists, particularly the independent ones.
The fact that she was speaking with the Taliban through the changeover puts a target on her back from various military elsewhere. We should be rescuing her urgently.
Dirty politics from Granny as usual in the Charlotte Bellis laughable journalism.
The idea that a pregnant woman living in Belgium with an EU partner willingly flies to Afghanistan to give birth and it’s all NZ MIQ fault is laughable. As usual, a beat up story that avoids any journalism such as why not take a more sensible approach to getting into NZ or staying safe in the EU – possibly because she will not get free medical care, and the PM of Belgium doesn’t bend their immigration rule every time somebody gets pregnant and puts out a media story like NZ. Suing the government in Belgium is not a ‘thing’ like every man and his dog does in NZ, possibly because they get their own way by doing it, thus creating the precedent.
Who knew that if you have sex overseas to produce a pregnancy, then the overseas father also is supposed to be given residency in NZ and MIQ for Covid as well! Free birth, $6000 payment for having a child, DPB payments from end of pregnancy, not surprisingly mothers are going to time their births to get back to NZ to be supported, and it is her right to do so. But my concern is why the partner is allowed into NZ, avoiding the partner category of immigration and thus pushing them to the front of the queue.
In spite of Daddy being a citizen of Belgium (headquarters of EU) apparently the couple decided NOT to apply for residency and have the birth in Belgium but fly to Afghanistan instead! All good by the hearld as it’s another damning blow for how terrible NZ and Jacinda is. Even the Taliban is better! (Meanwhile the facts seem to be glossed over).
More dirty politics – Granny has always been pathetic for news, but their obsession with these strange MIQ stories without any basic journalism is pretty clear what a propaganda machine they now are.
I hope the Charlotte Bellis case does go to court and it backfires, because it will show that they had many other options but chose to take the most dangerous one, and then blame the NZ government.
We used to have a country that protected society from individualism (aka any immigration had to be for the good of NZ and society), somehow that has morphed into it has to be good for an individual and who cares about society in NZ being besieged by more people using novel ways of getting partners into NZ which then seems to not care when the relationships breaks up and another person living in NZ who got in through the back door.
Since most journo’s in NZ are on welfare payments and gig reporting, journo job prospects are poor in NZ (although maybe being anti government they will fire up lots of job offers to become a yet another media aid to a politician in NZ? Who knows?)
Remember Granny Herald’s story not long ago, about the terrible NZ health system that failed ‘a NZ resident from a war ravenged country’ who died of Covid in West Auckland, neglected to mention that he and his family had refused vaccination!
Nothing about how these decisions impacts the health professionals who have to put their lives at risk trying to treat people who take little measures to help themselves. Instead our media omits facts for their agenda of open borders and keep the slaves and consumers coming into NZ and our health and housing and social systems expected to cope with more novel ways to get in here without a proper assessment of burdens and effects on Kiwis who increasingly can’t get a house, a court date or an operation here.
So many pathetic MIQ beat ups from Granny to open our border but no mention that there was 21 deaths reported in New South Wales on Wednesday topping the previous record of 18 set on Monday. https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/australias-new-south-wales-sets-new-high-for-covid-deaths/.
I guess that is why the herald is failing and support falling and they have to give away free newspapers with these ‘exclusive’ strories.
I have a mate who used to work for Al Jezeera, he said that Al J would probably airlift her to Dubai. They wouldn’t leave her in Afghanistan with the fucking Taliban.
Your mate must have missed this then:
https://dubaicourtmarriage.com/blog/pregnancy-law-in-uae-for-unmarried-women/
It is very crucial to remember that it’s absolutely illegal for any woman who’s unmarried or single to be pregnant while residing in UAE. The consequences of local authorities discovering that any single woman is carrying a baby can include jail and deportation. There were even cases wherein physical punishment or lashings were inflicted
Re Ms Bellis – this doesn’t ring true. So many questions to ask instead of emoting and ranting against the evil government.
So her partner is Belgian from the EU and she can’t stay there? We are expected to take him as well at the drop of a hat? She can’t follow the MIQ rules? She seems to have retained a PR firm and enlisted support from other notable NZ’ers. What happens if they come here then break up? Are we supposed to let him stay?
The NZ family and immigration courts are full of these sorts of cases with mixed NZ/international custody disputes. Are we going to add another with this couple – no baby yet, no DNA test to prove he’s the father, but our courts will be the ones filling up with these sort of disputes.
With all these other people jumping in, it feels like another dirty politics beat up. Already making front page news before they even get here.
NZ is a soft target for this sort of thing and it’s getting worse and worse.
This is why Labour is still popular. Keeping the borders closed from the 300,000 plus temporary visas per year we were getting before, is what’s keeping this government ahead of National in the polls.
100% Martyn……….virtue signalling by the confectionary company…doesn’t it all feel so good, so inclusive, warm and fuzzy. Meanwhile kids being used to make the wretched sugar filled, worthless confectionery…..
This has the grubby fingers of woke identity politics over it. This sort of “inclusion” is about superficial cosmetic change, while underneath sinister things are happening.
OK, Mars are woke-washing their product. So what’s new? If a journalist were to challenge Jeff Bezos about the zero-hours contracts and prison-like conditions inside Amazon’s “Fulfillment Centres” (how Orwellian is that term?), I imagine Bezos would immediately start crowing about how “diverse” and “inclusive” Amazon’s board of directors is.
How many independent, on-the-ground investigative journalists do we even have??
Let alone in war-torn territories.
They are a nearly extinct species.
And some in the military would like to keep it that way.
Kheala “ How many… investigative journalists do we even have?” Nicky Hager, maligned as a conspiracy theorist by Key, (and largely ignored by thick msm sycophants ) and who I believe history will show to have done New Zealanders a far greater moral and social service than any contemporary politician. Jon Stephenson who also went into Afghanistan and was lied about by a head of of the NZDF and who settled out of court; Robin Hammond, international award winning photo-journalist, living I think in Paris, who went illegally, I think investigating and recording in Zimbabwe and other places ; other serious researchers who do write, and who maintain a low profile, which is a good idea in a country where intellectuals and independent thinkers get systematically squeezed around the throat by dimwitted politicians and rednecks, in roughly equal parts.
Yes. Thanks.
“Some in the military would like to keep it that way.” Not necessarily so. Traditionally the military has seen journalists playing an important role, and historically some have panned out in an interesting way; in Afghanistan, the main criticism of journos by Brit officers has been about being deflected from their normal duties, and the extra security measures necessary for them.
A number of competent women journalists have long ventured into Afghanistan, Iraq,Lebanon etc. Megan Stack, has reported on war, terrorism and political Islam since 2001, and among other things published, “ Every Man In This Village Is A Liar” in 2010, an incredible record, unbelievable friendships, including prodding warlords. There’s been other outstanding female journos, always – if this is a girl thing.
The Dom-Post used to publish the inimitable Robert Fisk’s columns, then they abolished him, and subsequently they went on the back foot stumbling explaining about why they were cutting back on overseas news – for no good reason.
Bellis will be signing up with either granny herald or as a natz candidate when she gets back. She may even lead their DPB. We already have enough right wing natz reporters in Aotearoa.
meaningless piffle distracting from real issues.
..ok MandMs are hoping to make a quid on ‘woke’ but their chocolate is still crap.
It’s our 10 second attention span that’s the problem, and the amount of time that we spend looking at eye candy on television and videos rather than paying attention to factual news and world, even our conditions. Muldoon gave charity CORSO the boot when it showed that NZ had poverty as well as overseas. We don’t want to know, scoop up the M*Msand pass around.
Myself I haven’t got tv but I read far too much. I’m retired but still have plenty to do plus keeping up with our, and the world news, from my newspaper and radio news and this and other blogs and the internet. But reading, and words and imagination aid undertanding and my ability to communicate. And it stops me from going into a slump of depression, which I feel brightly coloured tv also serves. But it’s an addiction! If watching so much, where is the time to go to a meeting and belong to a group that works to support some worthy outcome to the community?
I am reading books from the 1960s and further back. It reminds me of the zeitgeist then. The belief that we were managing okay after WW2 and would slowly improve. But we couldn’t get overseas goods easily, we were expected to live within our limited export earnings. I wanted stuff from England and I had to buy a voucher to obtain sufficient international currency with a limit of 10 shillings a day I think. So you had to wait, go to the Post Office and accumulate. But getting everything one wanted from overseas, cheap, hadn’t entered everybodys mind as an everyday thing then. And I had a house to live in and could afford the mortgage payments on a 25 year table mortgage with 40 hour employment and time and a half for anti-social hours and weekends, as a rule.
I want the pink one with titties and a schlong
Having forced myself to read this fair maidens plight, the manipulation alarm went off.
Excruciatingly middle class privileged white femnist “go girl” woman who has a liking for war zones, who appears very in control of not only her life but exactly where she wants it to go just gets pregnant whilst the old nan is stuck in another war zone.
That just so happens to coincide with her being in a middle east country reeking of misogynistic everything and because she is unmarried she must flee and slum it in Belgium but has to flee there ( not explained why) and of all the countries in the world picks the second most war torn. Surely to God Syria had to have been considered first? Or Somalia? They are probably equally dysfunctional if not worse?
All of which then focusses like a laser beam of the nouveau riches hatred of the MIQ system.
I’m sure Ms Bellis will get very wealthy writing a breathless feminist memoir on how she, abandoned by the country she abandoned, single handedly braved bullets, snow, heatwaves, Alligators plus Jaguars and bearded misogynists, whilst pregnant, to highlight atrocities everywhere in every corner of the world.
I’m mean honestly, the moment dirty little Nat MP’s and PR firms get involved, this story reeks of horse shit.
Excellent comment Xray, totally agree.
me too
me too 100%
Belgium headquarters of EU, clearly doesn’t allow ‘drop in’ immigration for social services and she or the father didn’t apply for her to stay there…. instead they decide to go to Afghanistan….
“We flew to Jim’s home country of Belgium, but I was not a resident. New Zealanders can only spend three of every six months in the Schengen zone and I had eaten through half of that by the time January came around.”
According to the article and herself, the bad guys are not Qutar that doesn’t allow unmarried woman, not Belgium who has clear rules on visitor stays, Not Afghanistan which has huge human rights issues or their own inability to be responsible for their own pregnancy and lifestyle, but NZ!
wow an EU country with actual border controls….quick e-mail the brexiteers ….oh they already know cos they were full of it from day one…
not relevant to this I know but fukkid
yer not wrong
The situation in Afghanistan is horrendous.
Other countries have rushed to give aid – food, medicines and financial support.
We in AO/NZ should be doing more!
Turkey has sent off two trainloads, nearly 50 wagons of aid:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkiyes-charity-train-carrying-750-tons-of-aid-leaves-for-afghanistan/2487259
India sends fourth load of medicines:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-supplies-medicines-to-afghanistan-7747418/
Aid workers are racing to help before winter freezes:
https://people.com/politics/aid-workers-are-rushing-to-save-afghans-in-freezing-weather/
UN calls for more:
https://www.trtworld.com/asia/un-urges-nations-to-release-frozen-assets-increase-aid-to-afghanistan-54117
UK pledges $133 million:
https://pajhwok.com/2022/01/29/uk-pledges-133m-in-emergency-funds-to-afghanistan/
Norway pledges assistance:
https://ariananews.af/norwegian-charities-pledge-humanitarian-assistance-during-ieas-visit-to-oslo/
Aid from China reaches the provinces:
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0124/c90000-9948487.html
Saudi Aid group distributes tons of shelter and food aid:
http://alriyadhdaily.com/article/677375eb91534fc0ac8f2c27bbcf9b0a
happy to help afganistan WHEN all NZers have food in their bellies, shoes on their feet and a roof over their heads
Just want the sanctions removed…
Sports people, Lorde, rich pricks, DJ’s all get preferred treatment from a ‘Labour’ government over a pregnant kiwi. Jacinda is a fraud, just look at Clarke for confirmation. Empathy my arse.
Top comment
I missed that – what preferred treatment did Lorde get?
Thank you for writing that No Biggy…it is so true
But DJ’s are classified as essential workers in a way that much needed nurses and medics aren’t, sports people are the bread and circuses for the hoi polloi, and pop star Ed Sheerhan had scones especially baked for him by the Prime Minster, at whose wedding Lorde will allegedly perform, all of which is unrelated to, and predates, the dilemma of Ms Bellis.
warrabout? is not an argument.
gagarin. Correct, it’s not an argument, it is a cynical comment. The DJ’s , for example, being classified as essential workers, when our under -resourced hospitals need nurses and doctors, and overworked nurses are actually quitting is disgraceful. Whoever did the prioritising just look like a bunch of young people entertaining themselves, and they should have to explain themselves.
I don’t think Labour have quite got it yet. Jacinda can be as empathetic, kind and transformational as she likes. It won’t make a blind bit of difference when you don’t have the senior ranks of the public service and their spin meisters on board. Half them are not even behind PS reform (although many pretend to be).
And then when you’ve put a monkey on your back with certain of your Ministers (not looking at you Kris), don’t be surprised when you end up pleasing no one.
Quite sad in a way that journailsts who understand the Taliban best (e.g. Bellis, Yalda Hakim, Jon Stevenson, Lyce Doucet, Secunder Kermani) sometimes struggle to be heard and simply ending up using whatever platform will take them.
Personally I wouldn’t give a shit if Bellis, or Hakim, or Stevenson were a bit partial to M&M’s in their spare time, or whether they fuck chickens and are dressed by Khatmandu, Armani, and whatever other oiconic brand is in vogue.
As long as they do their best to represent the plight of Afghanis, or the plight of Malian and other African kids.
And now an Al Jazeera journo hasnt got her expected preferred treatment after she attempted to game the MIQ que. What to do? International media hissy fit, because she can.
Yes she could have written in detail about the plight of unmarried mothers in Quatr or the starvation from the Punishment Sanctions or Afghanistans almost worst in the world pregnancy death rate but she made herself the news rather than report the news. Go girl.
If Ms Bellis is employed by Al Jazeera, which operates under the auspices of Qatar, and is a not insignificant media organisation, it is disappointing that Al Jazeera has not stepped up to help it’s employee.
Bellis told RNZ she didn’t feel as though she could approach her employer at the time, Al Jazeera. “It is illegal, and Al Jazeera is owned by the Government.”
Thanks DX5, Yes:
Bellis told RNZ she didn’t feel as though she could approach her employer at the time, Al Jazeera. “It is illegal, and Al Jazeera is owned by the Government.”
“I know of other western women who have been in this situation and had their assets seized, been deported… there’s women in prison giving birth, and it wasn’t something I was willing to play around with.”
As an Anglican, she called the Catholic Church to see if she and Huylebroek could get married, but was told there was a 6-month wait.
When asked if she was safe, her reply was: “I don’t know, to be honest. It’s not set in stone that we are safe, and that every person in power of the Taliban is going to feel the same way as the guys we talked to.”
From : https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127637895/kiwi-journalist-charlotte-bellis-offered-asylum-by-another-country-but-no-help-yet-from-new-zealand
yet she’s happy to be the paid mouthpiece of a media outlet owned and run by such a govt? juzz sayinn loike
exactly.
Problem is that NZ has become the default country to support middle class overseas adventures and those still here paying taxes fund their returns and welfare.
Going forward if all NZ’s citizens live and work overseas but just come back to NZ for free maternity care and social benefits at the drop of a hat, how quickly will NZ’s free welfare system be overloaded and privatised.
Probably in the next 10 years if NZ is prepared to keep giving free services to those who pay no taxes and don’t live in NZ but just drop in when it’s convenient such as pregnancy, redundancy or retirement, to grab the benefits that were afforded by those paying taxes in NZ but now increasingly can’t afford to live here.
Despite the humanitarian crisis, the UK has sanctions preventing or impeding help getting to Afghanistan. They have now implemented a “humanitarian exemption”, but it still sounds a bit lame:
https://www.europeansanctions.com/2022/01/uk-implements-humanitarian-exception-to-afghanistan-sanctions/
Maybe its because these corporations/individuals aren’t anymore woke or socially aware than anyone else it’s just they wish to appear that way. For whatever reason. The older I get the more cynical I get.
Following the Oslo talks which have just completed (EU with Taliban reps) – a joint statement by EU & UK has been released: https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-176489
After a blurb about how the Taliban must improve their Human Rights approach, they added this:
The special representatives of the above countries noted that their governments are expanding relief operations, helping prevent the collapse of social services and supporting the revival of Afghanistan’s economy. No further details of such aid so far.
This from PBS:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-you-can-help-people-in-afghanistan
In the aftermath of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August and the Taliban’s takeover of its government, a human rights crisis has ballooned. As the country experiences a drought and a harsh winter, the global community has cut off non-humanitarian aid, frozen the government’s assets abroad and imposed harsh sanctions…
As of early December, according to the U.N., nearly 23 million people are facing extreme hunger, and 9 million are at risk of famine in the country. Here’s a roundup of some of the organizations that are working inside the country in an effort to deliver aid to people in Afghanistan.
The World Food Program: Several branches of the United Nations are providing humanitarian aid to Afghans. The World Food Program “provides unconditional, fortified and nutritionally-balanced food assistance to people in need,” according to its website on its Afghanistan work. In December, UNICEF launched its largest-ever single country appeal for aid to help Afghanistan’s children, saying $2 billion is necessary to avoid total collapse.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: The program, which provides assistance and aid to refugees, is distributing hygiene kits to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among displaced people in temporary shelters, as well as emergency cash support and winterization assistance, such as blankets, solar lanterns and tent insulation kits.
The International Committee of the Red Cross: is also providing aid to Afghans “by helping wounded and disabled people, supporting hospitals, making prison visits and helping detainees maintain contact with their families,” among other services.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent humanitarian organization helping refugees, provides a wide variety of services to Afghans. The group manages displaced persons camps, works to increase education access for children, provides counseling and legal services, distributes food assistance, establishes shelters and helps businesses, among other services.
More at the link, including links for donations.
This Female Journalist sums up perfectly the attitude of these woke washed, mostly white, entitled New Zealanders who, like all these whining, whingeing ex pats, expect preferential Treatment to return back too NZ, whenever they feel like it & are shocked to discover that they are being refused due to the fact that we are in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC! I’m sorry, Woke Woman, you chose to go & be impregnated by your Belgium Boyfriend, it’s his bloody child, his responsibility, go & bloody live in his Country! I’m so sick of these ex pats who contribute nothing to this Country, they don’t pay Taxes here & constantly moan, belittle & denigrate NZ from afar, this Country owes you nothing, you chose to leave NZ to ply your Trade, you made that choice, now live with the consequences of your decisions!
The likes of you wouldn’t let returning soldiers back in after fighting for you. Sad little weakling.
link to support your claim?
What a Moron! Soldier’s have every right to return too their Country after fighting to protect it? How does that compare with a idiot NZ Journalist who got spudded up by some Belgium sperm donor that can’t keep his dick in his pants? Her pregnancy is Belgium Man’s responsibility, not the NZ Govt!
Plenty of NZ soldiers wanted to return home in the middle of the battle of El Alamein, they were told to fight their way out…
BTW they were able to come home when the war was over. They just had to get the job done.
SECONDED
What about my cousin in Australia, my relation in Mozanbique, friends in UK, all wanting to get back to dying parent but shes wanting to jump the que. Her claims makes Novax Djokovich sound like an honest guy.
Think if the entitled hack(pretty) and her Belgium boyfriend had pulled out early,she wouldn’t have got pregnant.
We need to have love, committed people and families in this world. Random people coupling around the world can find it has its downsides as Grace Mullane and her demon lover did. We will continue having sex and babies I hope, but we need to have fewer children, more like China has tried to do. But not have a one-child policy.
instead of the madonna like deification of the ‘young mum’ in every conceivable media story…it needs to be made plain to every single person…more than 2 little gifts from god is not only the road to poverty but the key in the door that keeps you there, sorry if that offends the sentimental but thems’ the breaks kids.
Just lockdown the borders indefinitely.
So they all can moan how oppressed they feel somewhere else.
Normal service will resume once the caretaker government does something about it.
Sad little kiwi.
You do have to laugh when … The Taliban offer to accommodate her needs and that she will be safe compared to the widdle princess of kindness saying Nah! Then, nekminit, bad PR, I’ve changed my mind!
Looks like the Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment needs a tune-up.
The shock of what is happening, of NZ’s callous response, is echoing around the world.
Many countries are reporting on it, and many of those news outlets don’t sound at all “woke”.
… Which is very reassuring.
There are still some genuine, empathetic human beings out there.
“There are still some genuine, empathetic human beings out there.”
Indeed there are. Unfortunately, if you follow the polls, it’s a diminishing number. But what else should we have expected?
The bullshit and spin only works so far. The point at which what the media (in whatever its form) tells us one thing, whilst a growing number experience the exact opposite. And I mean an INCREASING number
I could give you examples galore but I’m not really that fond of pissing in the wind whereby there is a whole state apparatus geared up to tell us the wind is blowing the other way while I’m covered in urine.
Let it play out. And whatever the inevitable quinsiquince – ya did your very bestest in that space going forward.
Pfffffft, fart, next
As a working class white male, when ever I was made redundant, restructured etc, I was made to feel guilty if I didn’t get another job soon enough, & was a bludger if I considered on the dole. Whenever I traveled overseas, I had travel insurance, because I shouldn’t expect the taxpayer to bail me out. I know of one family who had to mortgage their house to medi vac their son from Thailand, & it was your fault didn’t have insurance…
Now it’s the privileged middle class being inconvenienced and they expect the taxpayer to fund them.
Has the taxpayers Union been asking the questions about how much tax she has paid to the IRD?
@ Terry, Very good point
Funny enough we don’t get the bludger angle from Taxpayer unions, or ‘Deadbeat Daddy responsibility” when you are rich enough for overseas travel and lifestyle, and want to embarrass the government.
no because the tax payers union is a middle class/ business nz organisation dedicated to not paying tax and benny bashing.
I haven’t seen it explicitly mentioned, but I will take a stab, and the heat, if I’m wrong.
Is she trying to get her partner in too? I fecking well hope not.
Yep, Daddy’s expected to come for the birth!
“The timing was perfect. I would be 29 weeks pregnant and could get back in time for our little girl’s birth in May. Foreigners would be allowed in from the end of April, so Jim could be there for the birth too. We booked flights home and found a midwife in Christchurch.”
Weirdly they have no problem finding a midwife from overseas, but people in NZ can’t get one. Midwives are leaving in droves due to poor wages and conditions.
Midwife crisis: Wellington’s ‘code red’ as region’s only birth centre risks closure, expecting parents struggle to find midwives
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/08/midwife-crisis-wellington-s-code-red-as-region-s-only-birth-centre-closes-expecting-parents-struggle-to-find-midwives.html
Renewed calls for action on Southland maternity care after woman gives birth in carpark
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/rural/2019/06/renewed-calls-for-action-on-southland-maternity-care-after-woman-gives-birth-in-carpark.html
Belgium ruled out as they don’t have the lax residency laws that NZ does…
“We pondered about where to wait. We flew to Jim’s home country of Belgium, but I was not a resident. New Zealanders can only spend three of every six months in the Schengen zone and I had eaten through half of that by the time January came around. We wanted to keep time up our sleeves for an emergency, so decided to rebase.”
On Thursday, 27 January, Jim woke up to an email from Immigration NZ. His visa was approved and he could now apply for an emergency MIQ spot.
Bellis’ partner is Jim Huylebroek.
My 85 year old cousin was dying last year and was trying to hold on until his son in Mozambique and two daughters elsewhere around the world could get back. He was resigned to not making it and decided that he will get cremated and have a tangi when they can all get back. He died in December and everyone accepted that. His children have still not come back.
There’s funny vibes going on with Bellis. Why didnt she stay in Belgium with the baby’s fathers people. Who would decide to go to Afghanistan instead. I think Dirty politics is rearing its head and with granny herald are starting their promotion of the natz. Slater and hooten will be teaming up with their old friends in natz and at granny herald and TV1 to commence election 23.
Did you see grannys poll on TV1 tonite that makes LUXON the most successful leader of a political party in the world. What an uneducated, foolish, story from a salivating hopeless much mackay. TV 1, Much and especially the kantar polsters have no credibility and are targets for derision and ridicule. I’ve got to get my wife to cancel granny heralds sub and to read the news online.
Bellis was not in what most people would call ‘dire straits.’ She wasn’t in an unsafe place.
In the realm of heartfelt, terrible, traumatic circumstances, Bellis’s situation is nothing compared to many others we’ve read about over the past couple of years.
But she’s a media star and is screwing that for all it is worth. She should get on a plane and head to Great Britain. Dan Wootten, Phillip Schofield and Piers Morgan can sponsor her, content that they’ve taken in a refugee, saved her from the worst country in the world. I don’t want her, they can have her.
Don’t worry Dirty politics daily mail is on the job, “supporting the story”.
Not sure about media star, had anybody heard of her before?
I guess in NZ anybody with a grievance against Jacinda/Government policy is a media star.
normally pete I wouldn’t wish piers morgan on anyone but in this case I’m prepared to make an exception.
Why didnt she stay in Belgium with the baby’s fathers people. Who would decide to go to Afghanistan instead.
New Zealanders can only stay in Belgium for three months (in any six months).
Afghanistan was the only other place for which she had a visa.
Strongly agree with you about the poll-spinning gymnastics.
she could have claimed asylum as a refugee from nazi/stalinist (PLEASE STRIKE OUT AS YOU FEEL APPROPRIATE) Nuuu Zild
I understand there are 26 countries in Europe NZ’ers can enter…exempt from Visas and the Schengen visa applies to 25 of those countries outside …Belgium.
If hundreds of thousands of working class, alienated, and discarded people that have never left Aotearoa/NZ during COVID got a sliver of the publicity that Golden Girl Charlotte has received, it would advance the political debate.
Charlotte was a Paul Henry “girl” was she not? If she is not well ensconced in NZ National’s toxic attack on the Govt. over COVID it would be very fucking surprising!
People need to realise their is a pandemic on, and stop taking holidays…. this family went to OZ to visit family and now is testing positive and thus 40 days in MIQ.
Family’s MIQ stay stretches
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/family’s-miq-stay-stretches
Part of the problem is our appalling paid for media presence in NZ that doesn’t bother reporting news anymore, but just paid for opinions and propaganda, thus it is constantly in ‘opinion pieces’ that Covid is just like a common cold and Jacinda is Nazi Germany/Communist leader consecutively (they seem to believe both). Then we get another group of idiots believing all this and embarking out on holidays only to come back with entire family catching Covid. Since there is not long Covid which seems to have permanent effects on health, it is irresponsible to be doing unnecessary travel.
Covid is out of control in many countries and 30 people died in New South Wales recently. I guess they believe it’s fake like the moon landing.
NZ media is banging the drum that we should just allow Covid to spread and overwhelm our health facilities and put everyone else including our health workers at risk… and a holiday is well worth 30 lives, 100 lives, 1000 lives – not sure what level they put on human life, but it seems below holidays or doing a business meeting via zoom.
Bear in mind that the taxpayers also pay for the MIQ stays of holiday and business people in many cases.
There should have been free stays for those who got trapped overseas when Covid first hit, but now 2 years later, if NZ citizens they didn’t bother making it back apart from for emergency social services with entourages in tow and leave NZ for whatever reason, it should be at the travellers cost for their MIQ stays.
The fact you can multiple book MIQ stays and then not bother turning up with zero consequences is another issue where NZ taxpayers are paying for the stupid to continue their merry ways.
Bear in mind, that nurses can’t get a pay rise and the disabled living in NZ don’t have funding for showers, but family travel and middle class business trips are on taxpayer funded MIQ.
You should see the Granny newspaper today – Im sure that it is a National party publication. Now another failed politician in Peter “mr no-nonsense” Dunn with his useless un-informed comments about Bellis. Let Bellis go and stay with Henry in LA, or Belgium or UK with Piers etc. We dont want her and her mate here. My sick cousin and a friend in Australia also want to come back – shall I get herald and tories and tv1 to run a story to get them back?
Some thoughts about MIQ from those who have been watching and measuring covid is helpful.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/460531/covid-19-miq-working-but-has-tough-trade-offs-epidemiologist
The system has come under increasing criticism recently as people struggle to return to New Zealand through the MIQ lottery or on emergency grounds.
Professor Michael Baker said while MIQ had done its job, it had come with some tough trade-offs….
Bellis said other countries were now offering their support but she felt let down by the system.
“I think they [MIQ] have such a narrowly-defined set of categories that there’s really no pathway if you’re pregnant because you’d have to have a time-critical, scheduled treatment,” she told RNZ.
Baker said border restrictions had put a huge personal strain on many New Zealanders but they had also been a key part of the country’s Covid-19 strategy and had helped to keep the mortality rate low.
I woud have thought that a modern country would know enough about the human body and treatment, to know that the whole period of pregnancy is a delicate condition, with fast-changing growth occurring in the baby, and the mother’s health is paramount for a good outcome. Perhaps NZ is not modern, or is it that modernity is treating humans now as replaceable units in a manu-factory system.
I’m beginning to think the Charlotte Bellis situation could be a media beat up to be used against the PM and the government, with Bellis being the catalyst, considering she has had plenty of time to organise her return to MIQ in NZ.
To allude to the Taliban showing more humanity than the NZ government is about as low as anyone can go in my opinion. Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear. Could it be Dirty politics to promote Luxon and National at the expense of Jacinda Ardern and the government, is rearing its ugly head once more?
mary-a. Of course it’s a media beat up to flagellate the government, and only an idiot would make such sweeping statements comparing the Taliban, quite an amorphous grouping, to the New Zealand government operating under the rule of law, and nor can poor Afghanistan, enduring a lifetime of self-interested outside plunderers, be compared to a more conventional post-war arena. Tabloid journos may know no better, but politicians should.
MIQ is not a replacement for my NZDF.
Interesting that while the Government is caving to the moaners, we now have days when covid infections that are picked up at the border exceed the numbers for rest of the country.
How does that come about?
fake tests and testing that is not working accurately, catching it on the planes. MIQ is clearly necessary and avoid anybody coming and going from NZ (if they plan to return).
Charlotte is special. Apparently.