The PR Blog

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard won two gold medals at the recent Pacific Games. Hubbard, 41, was born as a bloke named Gavin. Laurel took double gold in the women’s over-87kg category at the Samoa 2019 games.

Some people feel that this is tantamount to cheating. If Gavin couldn’t win as a bloke, they say, then “ Laurel”  might win in the women’s division.

Up until 2003, Gavin would have to have had his bits and pieces chopped off (also known as reassignment surgery) plus undergoing at least 2 years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible to compete. Now, surgery is no longer required.

Apparently, it is now all about testosterone and the Olympic Committee (IOC) criteria regarding testosterone levels for transgender athletes.

My daughter has been a vegetarian since she was 6 years old. She is now in her 40's and still a vegetarian.

She decided that meat was not for her, and, I , as her mother, learned how to adapt and serve meat and 3 vege to the rest of the family, along with my daughter's need to avoid animal flesh.

At the beginning it was difficult. Serving meatless meals was a walk in the park after a few short months and I managed to keep the hubby happy and the daughter happy by just knowing my way around a kitchen.

 It all started this morning when I went to my local bakery to buy my decadent monthly treat. It ended up being about dodgy dudes.

My decadent indulgence is a big cream stick doughnut, with lashings of homemade strawberry jam and enough cream to drown out any guilt that I should have felt for having dared to challenge my body’s right to have an opinion on the matter.

I buy two – one for me and one for my Mum. We sit in the sunroom, Royal Albert teacups in hand, serviettes at the ready and our toes curled up in unison as we delight in our guilty pleasure. It is a lovely wicked indulgence and I have tried to feel bad about it. I truly have. But I don’t care. For about 10 minutes, once a month, we sit there laughing smiling, oohing and aahing about a cream doughnut that makes us forget all the nasty in the world, all the PC rubbish, all the political treason and the misery that is modern-day life.

 Where did the teachers go? Somewhere, over the Rainbow?

Kids having story books read to them by bearded men with lipstick seems wrong to me. Where did all the  real teachers go? Those that taught us to think for ourselves, not to think as they think?

To be a teacher is a most honourable profession. Or, at least, it should be. Sadly, today, too many are incapable of simple arithmetic without the use of a calculator. More importantly, there are those who seek to stifle critical thinking and promote their own views to the children whose young minds are in their care.

Back in January, Gillette decided to destroy its brand. 

We have an old family saying " Whose bright idea was this ? " when something goes terribly wrong. And there must be a few people at Gillette now saying that phrase as the company announces an $8 billion loss in the second quarter. 

At the time, it seemed a crazy idea: make an ad that attacks all those that buy your product. Tell them that they are nasty brutes who need to stop being sexist bullies.

Within days of the release of the " Woke " ad, it received over 600,000 downvotes. It now sits at in excess of 1.5 million. 

My question is this : Why the hell do these companies insist on alienating and insulting their customers in order to appease a small minority who probably don't buy their products anyway?

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A boomerang is an ancient weapon created by Australian Aboriginal ( Indigenous ) People. It was a hunting weapon. If it hit its target, the prey and the boomerang could be used for the future. In the case of the prey for food, clothing and in the case of the weapon, to be recycled to use again.

If, on the other hand, the weapon missed its target, it would come back to wait until it could be hurled in the future to harvest its prey.

Trump is a master boomerang hurler. He throws them out and sometimes hits and sometimes misses. But he always knows his target. When he misses, the prey, whether it be a kangaroo, a snake or a wayward lizard, he will always know that it was nearly a victim and it feels fear of the next attack.

The ” missed kangaroo “ feels the presence of the mighty warrior that stalks it; the shadow that follows it and tries to hide in caves and gullies. But it can never rest easily for fear that the boomerang slayer is close behind. Ready to launch the shot that will kill it or , worse stun it.

The stun is the worst shot. The prey is still alive and fully aware that it is about to be vanquished. No, death is preferable to stunning. At least death is a quick kill. But to stun you? ? To stun is actually terror: to come back to consciousness and see the eyes of your hunter staring at you and ready – not to kill you, but to torture you.