Les vues de vous

(Yes, I know that's awful French.)

And what a week it's been: bludging pregnant immigrants, killer animals, and over-the-counter P, to name just a few of the issues to have graced Your Views.

Sometimes the topics are just as ridiculously sad/funny as the responses. On Tuesday morning, YVers were asked "Should North Korea be allowed to further develop nuclear weapons and energy?" Their ensuing denunciations of Kim Jong-Il's regime have reverberated all week around the capitals of the globe. Just today, inspired by Noelle McCarthy's description of 'singer' Susan Boyle as "dead actually, as dead as phenomena go anyway," some bright young thing put up the topic "Is Susan Boyle dead as a phenomena?" Evidently, they were consequently briefed on the ins and outs of classical Greek noun endings, and the topic was corrected to "Is Susan Boyle dead as a phenomenon?" Unfortunately, it still says "phenomena" in the blurb. Ah well, I'm almost certain that it hasn't affected the quality of the discussion:

pCb (Mt Roskill): Maybe over as a phenomena but who wouldn't want the hype to be over - (especially with people like the 'perfect' Ms McCarthy harping on about you) Now SB has a career to look forward to while Noelle will continue her constructive path of first rate journalism . (Note to Auntie Herald vindictive bloggers don't add value to your paper and are not a classy look)

Dammit! It's not true, it's not true!


Should pregnant international students be able to give birth in NZ?

carpetnz (Tauranga): More important is why this high profile Korean comunity leader has to speak through a translator, Why has he not be made to learn english. He should be made to leave as well. How is a student going to pay for the medical expenses. She should be made to leave now before she costs money and is unable to fly. The same should go for any immigrant who is temporary.

Tauranga, Tauranga... that's Winston Peters's town, right?

lippy linda (Tauranga): Quick, send her home before it's too late - if we let her give birth here, it will be the beginning of 'the great asian baby boom' in nz, and we can hardly look after our own as it is.

It must be something in the water.

T W (Auckland): As harsh as it sounds - Absolutely NOT, We have a right & an obligation to ourselves & our future generations, to keep control of our own country & to avoid being internally hijacked by Non Maori/NZ European influences, which is obviously prevalent in the fabric of our society (Bankers, doctors, lawyers, judges, food industry etc) [blah blah blah I'm a racist...]

PS: I am not racist, if you are an immigrant please understand, how would you like your country to be controlled by someone else.

Some of my best friends are bludging foreigners trying to take over society...

KatieR (Point England): If she wants to pay for it- but why should she want to? Hasn't anyone told her we have a terrible mortality rate for births here? We have a third world system for maternity care. Hell- I don't want to have a baby here,because of the high risk so I can't possibly understand why anyone else would. She'd be safer in Korea. Maybe she should import her own medical team- we sure could use them.

World Health Organisation data for child mortality (yes, not the exact same thing, but a similar indicator):

• New Zealand: 5 per 1000 births
• South Korea: 6 per 1000 births
• Mozambique: 158 per 1000 births
• Sierra Leone: 283 per 1000 births
  

WHO data on maternal deaths during childbirth:

• New Zealand: 9 per 100,000 births
• South Korea: 14 per 100,000 births
• Mozambique: 510 per 100,000 births
• Sierra Leone: 2100 per 100,000 births
  

See Katie, that wasn't that hard!

Catalina Y (Mt Roskill): One missed period and summary deportation follows? Seems a little harsh - but, then again, they should be celibate whilst residing in NZ. They're here to study and learn; not fornicate, wilfully. Married or not.

Wilfully!


That's all for now. My eyes are bleeding.