Groan – In defence of Mike King (again)
We are excellent on the Left at destroying those we hate.
Madeleine Chapman’s desecration of Mike King over at The Spinoff is a thing of monstrous beauty and vicious enough to make one reach out to Mike to check if he’s on a self-harm watch.
Snuff Journalism for the Woke would be an achievement even for The Spinoff!
At The Spinoff, Mike is problematic for owning a heteronormative penis for starters, so Madeleine’s avalanche of criticism is true grudge fuck level journalism, is this funded by NZ on Air?
Don’t get me wrong, Madeleine makes a strong case, Mike is Gumboot Friday’s greatest AND worst asset, but here’s the rub, I’ll put money on the table that Mike has been to more suicide funerals than Madeleine has.
It’s not just Madeleine of course, the usual chorus of once were twitter BlueSky echo chamber woke cancel culture Lynch mobsters are all ripping Mike’s throat out, first because he allowed National off the hook for doing anything meaningful towards mental health by holding up Gumboot Friday funding as their empty response, and secondly because Mike can be a prick and say things about suicide none of us want to hear.
But where I give him so much slack is because he is out there wading in this damage all the time.
He is invited to suicide funerals every month, he’s the one asked to reach out to families at their rawest moment, he has seen the callous calculations of public health when it comes to suicide.
Over half never reach out for support before killing themselves, how on earth do you budget to fight that when there are hip operations to pay for and medicines with actual real impact on health to fund.
As anyone trying to access mental health know, there is a 6 week stand down, Gumboot Friday gets two immediate counselling services, that is significant.
Is it perfect?
Of course not!
In a perfect world Government would properly tax the rich so that there was money for immediate counselling, ongoing phone counselling and proper one on one counselling – but we don’t live in that perfect world.
As for King’s booze comments, well, let’s be charitable…
Mike King was trying to make a valid point about alcohol, mental health boss says
- The chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation says there is some truth in Mike King’s comments about alcohol and mental health.
- King has been widely criticised for saying alcohol was a solution for some people with mental health problems.
- Shaun Robinson said there was some validity to those comments but the science also needed to be considered.
…or hilariously cruel…
…I find it grimly amusing this debate is occurring in the shadow of the 617 suicides this year. No one gives a shit because its mostly males who are committing suicide and King adds a masculine voice to this dynamic and his acknowledgement of booze as a crutch is too honest for NZ.
Look, we on the Left are super Tribal, and we love to destroy heretics who raise uncomfortable truths that won’t fit into our dogma, and I want to blame Mike King too because he’s an easy target.
His pain at attending suicide funeral after suicide funeral has embittered his temperament and makes him lash out, but I also know Mike is actually out there at those funerals and many many many of his critics are not.
Meanwhile men continue to murder themselves in enormous numbers.
I hope the woke Left will put as much energy into solutions as to why so many men are killing themselves as they are at tearing one man down.
BTW – Booze doesn’t help you stop suicide, medicinal cannabis on the other hand – hit that bong hard bro and let those troubles fade away.
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I am sorry to disagree once again. Unfortunately this man has been hoisted by his own petard. He is not the voice of reason for mental health, he is nothing but a coiled spring always in high alert saying stupid things. Mike king alone made his charity political. He is a mental health patient not a specialist. His actions alone have denied professional mental health services to hundreds of people young and old with his slavish support for Winston peters et.al knowing exactly what he was doing to garner funds when others were denied. It speaks volumes that his board has resigned. Mike king showed his true colours when speaking to a security guard last week and his loose words about alcohol does nobody any good
Not my government Many supported Winston Peters because of his concern re the transgender ideology in the school curriculum with its potential to cause mental health problems for kids. Telling school children that they can choose their own gender is highly questionable, not science based, confusing, and anxiety-producing.
Yes, 200% NMG. Tell it like it is. Really makes me sick how Gumboot Friday is using it’s charity cash haul to promote cod psychology and now, fucking polluters to children under ten under the guise of alleviating climate anxiety. Bullshit! The waste of money to promote and green wash business. Sickening and worthy tactics of a Trump. Mike King will be forming a political party next. He’s either a grifter or a patsy at this point.
Yes, not my governments remind me of Karen chour she the same thing has experienced it does not mean is the best person for the job.
Coming in from the freezing cold- have a nip of this spirit? No it is always, always safe to not drink.
Thank you Martyn, you are absolutely on the money and thank you again for saying this.
The auto-AI critics so quick with the instant PC condemnation can get stuffed.
Did they help out at a tangi where no one could breathe from shock?
Did they do any boots on the ground research into what happened to the hemp/medicinal cannabis industry as promised by Ms Ardern & co, which never actually happened?
Have they tried living on $50/week after rent which now runs to $450/week for an absolute dump?
Chances are that if they have an internet connection and a blue tick they can also afford food. And wine.
Can they look at what happens to weed grown under lights and boosted with hormones & chemicals, all nasty, nasty because, unlike most other up to date countries, a small amount of weed or a couple of home grown plants is still illegal in Aotearotten?
There are ‘experts’ in every field telling us what to do about our feelings and how to express our frustration with the cynically compromised and corrupt, without being racist or sexist or anti-semitic or cruel to kittens, yet as you point out, here is someone who has trodden on that path of the unforgiven and because he hasn’t made a Womens’ Weekly finish accompanied by the NZSO he is to be labelled a prat.
The ‘winners and losers’ celebrity culture we blindly accept as status quo sees literally millions of good people permanently discouraged and defunded, as well as defrauded, by the fallacy that Mrs TV and Mr Google love you and look after you. If you switch channel by mistake you might see the crushed bodies of helpless children covered in cement dust while the funders of these atrocities pimp out their artists at scale.
ps
I’m just getting drunk ‘cos I can’t get stoned- on organic home-grown weed, grown with love and mindfulness.
Mike is telling us about life and how it is for many. But we don’t want to know because it upsets our conception of how things should be and points out what they are. Janis Ian sang in her song At Seventeen about having’ books and magazines that tell you how to be while you are being’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi-5tiHE48c She was a lesbian who was refused a place on Bill Cosby’s show as a young woman because of that. He turned out to be a lecher revealed in his older age.
Here is someone who knows about not coming up to appropriate conceptions, Stephen Fry, a very worthy joker in all senses!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/532704/stephen-fry-returns-to-new-zealand
Mike is on the spot – faces reality which most of the country and the world don’t. So support Mike who looks for a way through the morass of our conceptions, which are full of misconceptions, like David Seymour and our idea of what democracy is, and what it delivers to us to our front door (which many of us don’t have).
Society and democracy – failing us. Because we all have different ideas of what it is. Because it is all based on conceptions that not everyone has agreed are reasonable, workable, adequate to have a satisfactory life on. The conceptions include that if there is fault and repair is needed, if the PTB aren’t greatly affected you look away. That’s 20th century sh.t. You all know what that word is but the conception is that it shouldn’t be used in polite conversation. I go along with that but this is no time for po-light.
It’s serious, the life and ways we have formed over thousands of years is being stripped away by a deluded bunch of mystics who transmogrify promises and bits of substance into life’s pinnacle. They are mechanical worshippers – tech, space, denial of humanity their apparent holy grail. FFS wake up and hold together,work together, not just protest and snarl at each other for being quirky people. Help each other kindly but demand practical self-work, individuality but co-operation.
alcohol and drugs are both a symptom and a cause – been there done that – nowadays I just look at some of my fellow humans and realise, I’m actually OK.
While I have my own solution to this worlds problems I am reasonable enough to understand that lots of people don’t share my faith so they try other means to get stability. It appears that Mr King has retreated from some of his alcohol comments and since Martyn obviously has a current understanding of the work Mike does I can accept his opinion. Personal I think that it was a disgrace that we lost the option to select prohibition or state purchase and control regarding alcohol at the election and having stopped using alcohol about 35 years ago I can’t think of any good things about it however I am only 1 in 5 million so the rest of you are safe with your drinking habits.
Prohibition would be nuts. But taking alcohol out of supermarkets wouldn’t be. Off-licences as in UK might then work. Eats of simple sort in drinking establishments mandatory.
I met a Municher brewer visitor recently and he was saying how tight Europen regulations are and they can only use four ingredients and concentrate on making good beer to a high standard. He liked our hops. The craft beer now on sale is a good step for income to Kiwis and interest in quality rather than just chucking it down throats, and then a technicolour yawn, as in Barry Humphries character. I know about the addictive alcoholic character by the way and have assessed myself as also having that, so keep to a small drop now and some chat, crack – as the Irish say.
One of our major beer makers was sold to Japanese interests many decades ago so that profit is lost to NZ. Another one of our fine business-friendly self-centred unkiwi moves We are good at something; losing money – income, revenue, and opportunities to be a great little country that is wealthy and holds onto it – no way Jose’.
Blokes having a few quiet ones and checking in on each other is a good thing. A beer or wine to de-stress or to cope with keeping demons at bay is not a bad thing.
But significant side effects https://youtu.be/_VYocL2inU4?feature=shared
What was Mike Kings’ stance on the cannabis referendum?
A second time for a recent item of complaint by rival changemaker to Mike King, and then a link to video to this person who is a transport manager in Auckland. It is a pity that he has to interfere in another’s efforts to help with another problem.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/532735/mike-king-s-charity-i-am-hope-accused-of-greenwashing-over-climate-anxiety-booklet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRNRswKgzNo
Transporting Us To A Cooler Future – Tim Adriaansen 16m
Two great singers supporting each other for a great effect. More of this and what a great world – singing or non-singing.
The Pearl Fishers
Kaufmann and Hvorovotsky?
Think I have got it right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2MwnHpLV48