New Zealand warmly welcomes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Well sort of.

US media travelling with Sec of State Rex Tillerson surprised by the number of people flipping the bird at his motorcade in Wellington.

— Tracy Watkins (@tracy_watkins) June 6, 2017

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

The US Secretary of State has been met with a frosty reception and a backhanded compliment from the prime minister while on a flying visit to New Zealand. 

Rex Tillerson arrived in wet and windy Wellington for an eight-hour visit on Tuesday, with his motorcade greeted by middle fingers and thumbs-downs. 

Fairfax Media reported that the US media contingent were surprised by the hostile reception from members of the public.

“I’ve never seen so many people flip the bird at an American motorcade as I saw today,” the New York Times’ Washington correspondent, Gardiner Harris, told Stuff.co.nz. 

The whole Trump Administration is now the laughingstock of the world. 

I swear this is even worse than the ill will created by George W. Bush and his cadre of criminal accomplices.

Yesterday we mourned, today we protest. Update!

THIS IS WHAT a plane full of women who are ready to resist the Trump agenda LOOKS LIKE pic.twitter.com/jqLPNE9VOh

— ann friedman (@annfriedman) January 20, 2017

Courtesy of Vox:

The Women’s March on Washington on Saturday is set to be huge, drawing more charter bus permit applications than the actual Inauguration Day — of President Donald Trump — it’s protesting and more than 220,000 committing to going on Facebook. 

In fact, the protests look to be so big that currently airplanes full of women are flying to Washington, DC, to join the demonstrations.

Estimates are that the number of anti-Trump protesters today are going to far outnumber the people who showed up for yesterday's inauguration.

Speaking of yesterday's inauguration, get a load of this:

#Inauguration crowd size? The difference in pictures. pic.twitter.com/SulfzccOyc

— Dan Gross (@DanJGross) January 20, 2017

Trump is so embarrassed by this that he has ordered the Interior Department (Who provided the side by side comparison.) to stop tweeting.

By the way these "Sister Marches," as they have been named , are already underway here in America and in other places like Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Big cheers on 7th street at the enormous crowd gets its first look down the hill at the even bigger crowd in the mall. #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/aXGZRlOL7s

— James West (@jameswest2010) January 21, 2017

Up here in Alaska we have several of these planned all OVER the state, with the one in Anchorage starting around 10"30 AM our time.

 People have been asking what they can do, well this is a great start.

In fact I worked all of yesterday to find a way to attend the Anchorage march myself, but work responsibilities are unfortunately going to keep me close to home.

However I will continue to cover today's protests and to spread the word for this and other protests to come.

Remember, they might be able to stifle the Interior Department, but they can't shut us all up.

And they have only just begun to hear our voices raised in protest.

P.S. By the way, men are perfectly welcome to these "Sister Marches" as well, as the great Nick Offerman explains quite eloquently to jerkwad extreme Piers Morgan.

Update: Take a look at this.

Per @womensmarch organizers, they're increasing today's turnout estimates to 500,000 participants. Be patient & kind! #WomensMarch

— Deputy Mayor Donahue (@SafeDC) January 21, 2017

I have not yet seen reliable estimates on the inauguration crowd size but I would not at all be surprised if this march had already exceeded it.

And that does not even count the marches happening around the world.

Update 2: Another woman offers her support.

Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 21, 2017

The People's President.

Update 3: Women's March in Anchorage.

#WomensMarch in #Alaska pic.twitter.com/bspvBvZMAr

— Julia O'Malley (@julia_omalley) January 21, 2017

That is a damn fine turnout considering the weather.

But what can I say? You just can't keep strong women down, now can you?

First official Pastafarian wedding to take place in New Zealand.

Courtesy of RadioNZ: 

Toby Ricketts and Marianna Young will be married by the leader of the New Zealand Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and attendees - bride and groom included - will be in full pirate regalia. 

Pastafarians believe in an airborne noodle god, wear colanders on their heads and practice a gentle form of piracy. 

The couple are recent converts to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and the bride-to-be Ms Young said a conventional marriage and all the traditions that went along with it did not appeal. 

"So this offered an opportunity to do something different that fitted for us."

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster started as a parody to protest the teaching of creationism in Kansas public schools.

And now look at how it has evolved.

And to be honest, is it really any more ridiculous than any of the other religions that it was created to mock?

American Medical Association calls for ban on the advertisement of prescription drugs.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

The American Medical Association on Tuesday called for a ban on advertising prescription drugs and medical devices directly to consumers, saying the ads drive patients to demand expensive treatments over less costly ones that are also effective. 

The influential doctors' group said the new policy reflects physicians' concerns that marketing spending on a proliferation of advertising is helping to drive up drug prices. The group voted at its annual meeting in Atlanta to support a ban. 

"Direct-to-consumer advertising also inflates demand for new and more expensive drugs, even when those drugs may not be appropriate," AMA Board Chair-elect Patrice Harris said in a statement. 

The United States and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

Welcome to one of Gryphen's biggest pet peeves.

I have long argued against these commercials, because they actually convince perfectly healthy people that they are ill and that they need drugs which they simply do not need.

I work with a population highly susceptible to suggestion, and many of them have complained of symptoms that they do not have, and have requested access to prescription medications that not only don't they need but are also potentially hazardous for them to take.

I know we rely on doctors to be the voice of reason for their patients, but the sad truth is that these companies send incredibly attractive drug reps to doctor's offices all over the country with offers of free seminars in exotic locations, golf trips, and a number of other perks to persuade them to push their product, and let's face it not all doctors can resist the temptation.

So yes we most certainly should ban these advertisements. 

However the other sad truth is that these companies own certain politicians outright and there is no way they will allow anybody to interfere in the billions of dollars in profit that their benefactors bring in each year.

Conservatives 4 Palin might be a dying website in America, but the Kiwis LOVE them!

Okay for the record I actually NEVER visit C4P these days, as they stopped being relevant about four years ago.

However somebody recently sent me some links which I found kinda interesting.

As you all know there is a site called Alexa which analyzes website traffic and ranks them based on popularity.

I also never visit there myself because according to my therapist constantly seeking validation by checking a website ranking your blog is "A cry for help Jesse."

Anyhow based on an e-mail I received I went ahead and visited Alexa to check out the rankings for C4P. And what I found there was a little strange to say the least.

As you can see the vast majority of the internet traffic going to C4P comes from New Zealand of all places.

They are ranked only 175,754 in America but a rather incredible 1,521 in New Zealand.

By contrast the Sarah Palin Channel is ranked 162,949 in the US and 61.3% of their traffic comes from America. Which seems about right.

Soooo, what explains the fact that C4P has so many Kiwi visitors?

Is this fake internet traffic that was purchased by C4P? Is there a glitch in Alexa's algorithm? Or is it possible that Palin is wasting her time in North America and should take that 15 hour flight to the self proclaimed "God Zone" where she could apparently reign as queen?

I
But if they DID buy visitors off of the internet, why did they buy so few that they still only rank 306,239 globally? That's not going to impress anybody.

Yep, it's a mystery alright.

By the way for those who are curious this is how IM ranks over at Alexa.

Not bad, not bad at all.

Even though we are going to be inundated with advertising today, I thought that this car safety ad from New Zealand was well worth sharing.

Yep, hits you right in the feels.

New Zealand demonstrates their respect for freedom and human rights by passing bill legalizing marriage equality. Do you hear that America?

Courtesy of CNN: 

New Zealand is set to become the one of the latest nations to allow same-sex marriage after the country's Parliament passed a bill legalizing the practice Wednesday. 

Parliament voted 77-44 on the bill's third reading, which is the penultimate step to enact laws in New Zealand. The final step, in which the governor-general gives royal assent, is generally a given. 

Local media report that the law is expected to take effect in four months. 

The bill's sponsor, Louisa Wall, released a statement saying she was "very proud to be a member of a Parliament that has voted overwhelmingly to give New Zealanders, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or gender, the right to marry."sexual orientation or gender, the right to marry." 

New Zealand's move comes a week after Uruguayan lawmakers approved a measure legalizing same-sex marriage. The measure awaits the signature of Uruguay's president, who has indicated he supports it. 

If the laws in New Zealand and Uruguay are enacted, the count of nations allowing same-sex marriage would rise to 13.

And yet here America sits, denying its gay sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons the same rights that all of our other citizens enjoy without question.

We are falling so far behind the rest of the world with this issue that soon people will call America "The land that USED to be the land of the free."

As wonderful as this news is to read about in print, it pails in comparison to watching it pass on video.

The song the crowd erupts into is called "Pokarekare Ana." and it is a New Zealand love song.

26% of Air New Zealand passengers would like to spend the flight snuggling with Sarah Palin. Really? Have they ever SEEN Sarah Palin?

"Does snuggling mean I have to touch them? Eeew!"

Courtesy of O'Dwyers Blog:

In celebration of the launch of its Skycouch service, Air Kiwi conducted a poll to find out which celebrities passengers would like to cuddle with during a long-haul flight. Jennifer Aniston took top honors, cited by 47 percent of men polled. She was followed by Megan Fox (37 percent) and Angelina Jolie (32 percent). 

Palin, the only politico on the list, ranked No. 4 at 26 percent. Only seven percent of surveyed females picked Sarah, proving once again that women are much smarter than men. Palin tied with Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, and Mila Kunis, who was the top choice of women with 27 percent. [Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Brad Pitt were the top men that women selected as cuddle partners. Hugh Hefner, Kobe Bryant and Arnold Schwarzenegger ranked on the bottom.] 

In a measure of sweet revenge, Palin nosed out her tormentor/impersonator Tina Fey, who clocked in at 24 percent. She crushed Lady Ga Ga, Rihanna, Kristen Stewart, Christina Hendricks, Emma Stone and Blake Lively. Men think Oprah, the political polar opposite of Palin, is the least cuddly celeb. Only eight percent of them would like a chance to snuggle with the media baroness. 

Like senility, Palin’s cuddle factor advances with age. Only two percent of men and women aged 18-to-24 want to cuddle with her, compared to 31 percent of those over the age of 55. On the educational front, Sarah scores best with college grads with a 29 percent score and worst (16 percent) with those without a high school diploma. Fox (32 percent), Beyonce/Aniston (31 percent) are favorites among the least school educated. Fey, at six percent, is the loser in that category. 

Okay at first I was WAY confused by this poll, because you know like..ick!

But then I read the entire article and realized that the men who chose Palin were mostly over 55, so I figured that their standards were probably lower, and they figured she was easy.

But then I also was puzzled by the fact that college graduates were more likely to choose her as well, but I have to assume that either they are intellectually curious about her and want to spend the flight studying her as a human oddity, or that they are closet Trig Truthers, who figure that by the end of the flight they might finally get to the bottom of the mystery.

Of course the possibility still exists that the passengers on Air New Zealand just have really bad taste in potential cuddle mates.

Any thoughts?

(P.S. Just for the record I would MUCH rather snuggle with Tina Fey than almost any other person on the list because she is both cute AND smart, which means that if the cuddling was not stimulating enough, the conversation definitely would be!)