
SHOULD NZ BAN VAPING
Here is a poll we can all relate to, one way or another.
Should NZ Govt ban vaping on its shores?
YES
NO
MAYBE
Vaping was suppose to be a transitional tool to get converted cigarette smokers unconverted from smoking anything except what's on the barbecue.
But, just like we were warned, vaping is almost as bad a killing and health damaging addiction pleasure, as is the fag. And with young people taking it up, worse.
Here is what they are about to do in brotherly Australia: Ban the importation of non-prescription vaping products including those that do not contain nicotine. Min quality standards for vapes will be introduced including restricting flavours, colours and other ingredients. Vape products will require chemist-like packaging and the allowed nicotine concentrations and volumes will be reduced. All single-use disposable vapes will be banned and only pharmacies will be able to stock and sell the product.
Obviously we will follow. I would like though to see all vapes gone.
NZ has this thing kind of hanging around its neck: to be a smoke-free country by 2025. It won't happen especially under a National-ACT coalition Govt. But by allowing vaping in the air, it will be harder to contain and place further restrictions on cig smoking.
Second hand vaping can harm people and animals (and the environment) almost as much as second hand cigarette smoking. Upper Hutt has smoke-free regulations for all its parks. Will the council extend this to vaping if it hasn't already or just wait until vaping is outlawed going the way or even further than the Aussies?

Poll: Would you use a pet cemetery?
Dave Stephens has created a pet cemetery on his land.
The 10-acre site in Albany, Auckland, features graves nestled among beautifully manicured gardens and unique art pieces, offering a serene space where visitors can pay their respects in their own way.
Is this something you think you would use? Share your thoughts below.

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0% Yes
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0% No
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0% Other - I'll share below

NZSQ to play in Paekakariki
Paekakariki's Mulled Wine Concert series has been presenting top-class music in Kapiti for nearly twenty years. Organiser Mary Gow says she is really excited to be bringing to her home region one of the most well known and highest quality groups of classical musicians.
The New Zealand String Quartet is probably the best loved chamber music ensemble in the country. It is made up of talented musicians who are all dedicated performers and mentors to students across the country. The longest-serving member of the Quartet, violinist Gillian Ansell, was awarded the MNZM (Member of the New Zealand Order of
Merit) honour for services to music in New Zealand. The other permanent member is violinist Peter Clark.
As an exciting development in their history, and for the first time ever, the NZSQ have announced that two other positions in the group - violinist and cellist - will be filled by invited guest artists The invited musicians for the Paekakariki concert will be violinist
Monique Lapins, who was previously a member of the NZSQ. The other invitee - who will be of great interest to followers of the Mulled Wine Concert series - is Andrew Joyce, dynamic first cellist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Andrew is no stranger to Kapiti audiences, having played in many concerts here.
As a group, the quartet promise that their 2025 season will be an epic one.
The rest of 2025 will be filled with toe-tapping, awe-inspiring, boundary-pushing chamber music. From epic works for chamber orchestra by Shostakovich to the premiere of a brand-new New Zealand piece; from dancers to poets; from your local community centre to the depths of
space, we’re bringing the music to you they say.
The Paekakariki concert will take place at St Peters Hall on 16 March 2025 at 2:30PM and will feature works by Haydn, Dame Gillian Whitehead, Dave Flynn, Dvořák String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96, the American Quartet and excerpts from the Danish String Quartet Wood Works The Last Leaf. A concert not to be missed, indeed!
===ENDS===
Mulled Wine Concerts presents the New Zealand String Quartet in concert
Sunday 16 March 2025 at 2:30PM
St Peter Community Hall, Beach Rd, Paekakariki
Tickets $35, Students $15.
Online sales: marygow@gmail.com. Tel: 021 101 9609
Info: www.mulledwineconcerts.com... or on FaceBook: Mulled Wine Concerts.
Ticket outlets: Magpie Paremata, Mana Esplanade; Finns Hotel, Paekākāriki; Moby Dickens Bookshop, Paraparaumu Beach; Jenoa, 2 Mahara Place, Waikanae.
Haydn String Quartet, Op. 64, No. 5, 'The Lark'
Dame Gillian Whitehead, Poroporoaki
Dave Flynn, Slip
Dvořák String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96, the 'American Quartet'
Excerpts from Danish String Quartet's Wood Works / The Last Leaf


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