They were of no use long ago because of their inaccuracy. When the number of cases of covid in the community was tiny, a positive covid results was nearly 100% likely to be wrong. It was just sending well people home to isolate. There only use was in high risk areas such as at the border.
They are of more use now that PCR testing is getting overwhelmed in Auckland and the rates in the community are much higher. I know of someone who got a negative RAT and a positive PCR.
Yup. RATs have some limited value once things have gone pear-shaped. They'll maybe stop some symptomless Covid-positive people from wandering around and unwittingly infecting other people. That might slow the velocity of an outbreak somewhat – maybe. But it's only mitigation – RATS have no place in the important work of trying to stop things going pear-shaped to begin with.
No difference. Two wrongs don't make a right. The people of the Ukraine have an absolute right to self-determination and their cultural identity, AKA freedom.
This is what freedom actually means rather than being annoyed at having to wear a mask in a pandemic, and tens of thousands of people just like you and me are preparing to kill and be killed for it as we speak.
"The people of the Ukraine have an absolute right to self-determination"
sounds fine, but has never ever ever been put into practice.. that sentence is total nonsense
even in our own common law there are countless duties one owes to one's neighbours… nobody has the right to do whatever they wish, particularly when that involves putting said neighbour at risk
ffs this is so basic it shouldn't even need to be said
I will use some made up numbers for ease of clarity and simplicity, to clarify the misunderstanding
Covid data for Mars for the past week
Unvaccinated
Population 1,000,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 1,000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
In this example the vaccinated are catching covid at 2.5 time the rate as the unvaccinated, ( or more than twice as likely to catch covid.. )
The Scottish data ( this is an overview, exact numbers unimportant ) from October consistently showed the double vaxxed and boosted were far better off than the unvaccinated in all categories, but as the Omicron wave hit, and vaccine effectiveness fell, there was a change in the relative rates, and by early January, the bias showed the other way, with higher rates for the double vaxed over unvaxed for cases, hospital admission and death, but the boosted still had better rates.
They were concerned that people would mis-interpret that data as showing the vaccine was worse than ineffective.
They suggested part of the problem was ‘it has its limitations when people leave Scotland and do not inform ‘
So lets run Mars again, but with a corrected population to match the 'error' because some people left without letting the govt know.
Unvaccinated
Population 400,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 2,5000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
So to make the vaccine look like it is not negative, 600,000 unvaccinated would have to leave without telling the govt.
The first set of numbers for Mars are actually pretty close to Scottish numbers from dec 25 to 31
It is interesting that I saw no mention of what I would be the most significant confounder that makes the vaccine look bad. Unvaccinated not bothering to get tested !
Failure to test is very defiantly happening here ( I know, because unvaxed friends said they would not bother as there was no benefit to getting tested. )
The Scottish data is a mess…. and If they publish such a mess and people get the wrong idea, whose fault is it? And when it changes from looking good to looking bad and they stop publishing it, they are going to look like they are trying to hide something.
Beautiful practical example of how to get people to distrust you.
They ( and people here ) want me to just trust them because they are the experts.
First cautionary tale, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study by the US public health service. They lied to a group of people with syphilis that they would treat them for free as if they joined the study.
But the 'experts' instead gave them placebos and watched 128 die.
I saw no reference in the wiki page to any experts going to jail…..
Then there is Pfizer, which has paid billions in fines for violating laws, but none of the people ever go to jail, they get to keep their bonuses.
I could have more trust if the people involved were rotting in jail…
A rather important number….Look down near the bottom for this section where they looked all cause death data,
Over large numbers this is a useful tool, and in the past has found problems that would not be observed in other ways.
However they observed half the expected number of deaths.
This is a screaming alarm that they have some serious issues with either their data, assumptions or processing.
This sort of discrepancy should have sent them back to the drawing board to see what was going on, and they have had plenty of time, sitting at home on full pay while remote working….
How much confidence can you have in their data analysis….
You have to link to the thing you are quoting directly. eg if it's to a comment in TS, then click on the date/time stamp of that comment, copy and paste the URL to your comment below the quote.
You said,
Google search for “vaccine will preventing covid”
Google comment displayed above any results
Think about how this works for other, especially moderators. One, google delivers results based on the individual searcher's history. So we're all going to get different results.
Two, you're asking us to do work when the onus is on you to make your argument and support it.
You could have done the google search yourself and then linked to that search. But it's still pretty vague, because it then assumes we are going to look at the search and parse what you meant.
Instead, make your point in your own words, briefly quote to support that, and provide a direct link to that quote.
Put the link in the clear, not embedded in text. That way it's very easy to see what the link it is to. This is especially important for people reading on a phone.
eg
“A deliberate misinterpretation! Of course there are going to be more vaxxed people catching Covid than unvaxxed people you twat. Take New Zealand for example. 95% of the population are double vaxxed and only 5% unvaxxed. Get the picture?
“A deliberate misinterpretation! Of course there are going to be more vaxxed people catching Covid than unvaxxed people you twat. Take New Zealand for example. 95% of the population are double vaxxed and only 5% unvaxxed. Get the picture?
People make less mistakes with linking this way too.
Seeing as you know how to use tags, can you please use the quote tags instead of "". Again, this will make it much easier to read and understand what you are trying to say. This is in addition to what Incog has just said, the more you can make your comments comprehensible, the better the debate will be.
I’d also ask kindly that you’re more succinct. Your comments tend to be overly long with an awful lot of stuff to unpack and poorly structured, which makes it hard to parse your actual comment. To me, if feels like somebody is trying to gaslight me. Sadly, you’re not the only one doing this here …
“So much data from government sources is inconsistent, or poorly organized or presented.
Just look at the Scotland data (which they have stopped publishing) which seemed to show that double vaxxed were more than twice as likely to catch covid as the unvaxed and also more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaxed “
“A deliberate misinterpretation! Of course there are going to be more vaxxed people catching Covid than unvaxxed people you twat. Take New Zealand for example. 95% of the population are double vaxxed and only 5% unvaxxed. Get the picture?
The vaccine has never been sold as being able to prevent people catching Covid.
But you are going to get a mild version of the disease with no long term consequences.
A factor you choose to ignore.
From what I understand world-wide… the most serious cases resulting in death are almost always among the unvaxxed so… if you choose to take that risk then be it on yourself if you end up in hospital gravely ill
. I'm not sure you are worthy of this response but it just might ring a bell.”
I will use some made up numbers for ease of clarity and simplicity, to clarify the misunderstanding, using the same base format as the Scottish data
Covid data for Mars for the past week. Total population 2,500,000
Unvaccinated
Population 1,000,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 1,000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
In this example the vaccinated are catching covid at 2.5 time the rate as the unvaccinated, ( or more than twice as likely to catch covid.. )
The Scottish data ( this is an overview, exact numbers unimportant ) from October and before consistently showed the double vaxxed and boosted were far better off than the unvaccinated in all categories.
But as the Omicron wave hit, and vaccine effectiveness fell, there was a change in the relative rates, and by early January, the bias showed the other way, with higher rates for the double vaxed over unvaxed for cases, hospital admission and death, but the boosted still had better rates.
They were concerned that people would mis-interpret that data as showing the vaccine was worse than ineffective.
They suggested part of the problem was ‘it has its limitations when people leave Scotland and do not inform ‘
So lets run Mars again, but with a corrected population to match the 'error' because some people left without letting the govt know.
Unvaccinated
Population 400,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 2,5000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
So to make the vaccine look like it is not negative, 600,000 unvaccinated would have to leave without telling the govt.
The first set of numbers for Mars are actually pretty close to Scottish numbers from dec 25 to 31
It is interesting that I saw no mention of what I think would be the most significant confounder that makes the vaccine look bad. Unvaccinated not bothering to get tested !
Failure to test is very defiantly happening here ( I know, because unvaxed friends said they would not bother as there was no benefit to getting tested. )
The Scottish data is a mess…. and If they publish such a mess and people get the wrong idea, whose fault is it? And when it changes from looking good to looking bad and they stop publishing it, they are going to look like they are trying to hide something.
Beautiful practical example of how to get people to distrust you.
They ( and people here ) want me to just trust them because they are the experts.
First a cautionary tale, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study by the US public health service. They lied to a group of people with syphilis that they would treat them for free as if they joined the study.
But the 'experts' instead gave them placebos and watched 128 die.
I saw no reference in the wiki page to any experts going to jail…..
Then there is Pfizer, which has paid billions in fines for violating laws, but none of the people ever go to jail, they get to keep their bonuses.
I could have more trust if the people involved were rotting in jail…
A rather important number….Look down near the bottom for this section where they looked all cause death data.
Over large numbers this is a useful tool, and in the past has found problems that would not be observed in other ways.
However they observed half the expected number of deaths.
This is a screaming alarm that they have some serious issues with either their data, assumptions or processing.
This sort of discrepancy should have sent them back to the drawing board to see what was going on, and they have had plenty of time, sitting at home on full pay while remote working….
How much confidence can you have in their data analysis….
". Data in this table should not be used as a measure of vaccine effectiveness due to unaccounted for biases and risk factors in different populations. For more information, please see the….."
The devil is in the detail – comparing those vaccinated first because of their far higher risk due to their co-morbidities with those yet to be vaccinated due to their complete lack of co-morbidities is an exercise in foolishness IMO.
And on the trust side of things, when the vaccines first came out the covid strain of the day (not a bowel movement) was delta, against which several vaccines do massively reduce the infection rate.
Not sure it's a "trust" issue that covid mutates into new strains.
There is the usual fine print below the table, but then in normal size text is
"Age-standardised mortality rates for COVID-19 deaths shown in Table 3 are significantly lower for people who have received a booster or third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to individuals that are unvaccinated or have received one or two dose of a COVID-19 vaccine."
As it was just below table 13, and table 3 is about contact tracing, and table 13 is about deaths, I think it is fair to assume they just missed a "1"
When the numbers look favorable, all is good, and you promote them, but when they turn against you, ….oops….you look like an idiot
This 60-70km long "column" of Russian vehicles north west of Kyiv appears to be more of a road bound parking lot than an actual advance, given that its been there for two-three days and hasn't even managed to cover the 100km from the Russian border to Kiev.
However, this column represents the sort of target artillerists and attack pilots dream about. The fact that the Ukrainian have not be able to dent let alone massacre this Russian traffic jam indicates they've lost the power to conduct even limited offensive action/manoeuvre warfare and the defenders are now in a totally passive mode, awaiting the Russians in Kyiv and Kharkiv (the scene of four major battles in WW2 that left the city in ruins, the fifth battle of Kharkiv in eight decades is now underway) in what I think will be the most violent and prolonged urban street battle since Berlin in 1945 – bigger than Tet and the battle of Huế (a battle that lasted two months).
The final act of this war is going to be a savage and bloody street battle where the citizens of Kyiv are going to be subject to the indiscriminate barbarism of Russian military brutality we’ve seen previously inflicted on the citizens of Aleppo and the Chetchens.
A very long line of sitting ducks. If the Ukrainian nazis really had their act together they would have hangars full of these antiques designed to pound such targets:
Russians have air superiority. This is why there has been a call for a no fly zone, as if that could be enforced without ending up with NATO Aircraft and Russian aircraft in direct conflict.
There has been evidence of drone strikes on this convoy and other Russian armour. However the number of drones and bombs the Ukranian nation have pales in comparison to the number of Russian military vehicles.
In this situation those who have taken up arms to defend against this invasion are best suited using their advantages. Small mobile units harry the convoy whilst obsticles are set up in the streets of cities. Other defenders identify choke points where they can engage restricted targets and be able to quickly relocated after fast attacks. Every street becomes a bloody battle.
This is what Putin has bought about by deciding to invade and remove a democratically elected Jew who you want to call a Nazi.
a democratically elected Jew who you want to call a Nazi
Was interesting until you made this mistake. The only Ukrainians I want to call nazis are the ones who actually present themselves to the world as such. In case you weren't reading comments here the other day the primary group seems to be the Azov regiment.
Possibly the Russian convoy is a decoy. Putin has enough rockets that he can fire them into Kyiv without entering Kyiv. As well the convoy can send missiles from the trucks. Putin will probably only send in ground troops when Kyiv is bombed heavily.
All that may be true Sanctuary but there may be other reasons like a lack of fuel at the front of the queue and the fact that the ground is not frozen as the Russians may have expected and the farmland is too boggy, certainly for fuel trucks, so the roads are the only option. Also the Ukrainians have demolished most of the bridges on the approach to Kviv. Also to keep in mind the early troops that were repulsed were the elite Special Forces units, if they have had their arse kicked there may well be reluctance amongst the leadership to take big risks.
An excellent opportunity for the Ukrainian oligarchs: send in a bunch of mobile fast-food outlets to cruise up & down the line providing better options for soldiers fed up with military hard-tack, employ locals to staff the operation, win/win all round…
If anyone wants to see an outstanding piece of rhetoric, and get a standing ovation from the most cynical of audiences, take 8 minutes out of your day to check out Zelinsky addressing the EU Parliament yesterday. It will put a wistful note of light in an otherwise dark day.
Putin will take Kyiv due to Russia having 100 million more population, so a superior army. Other countries are reluctant to send troops as this just prolongs a war so Zelensky will be forced out.
Once Putin has Ukrainia will this be enough for him?
interesting clip about Lia Thomas, who was born William Thomas and ranked 462 amongst male swimmers in the male category. Now as Lia Thomas swimming in the female category is coming first and breaking all sorts of records in the female category. But hey well trans women are real women.
tbh I didn’t watch the interview, the opening statement, was 462, now 1st was enough for me."……….
. No one could believe the insanity. I talked with families far and wide who were curious about what was happening in the Ivy League. My call the lawyer that I knew at the ACLU to ask how the law women's rights in Title Nine might be handled in a case like this. I was trying to be respectful in my language, using trans women and biological women to differentiate and trying to use requested pronouns. I made clear that I didn't want to offend but pleaded that it seemed there was an obvious conflict here for women who already have so much less opportunity in sports, to now have to give spaces away to individuals who identify as women. I was met with the single most stunning response I've ever received on any issue. I was told that the words biological and genetic have no business being in a discussion around sex and gender. I was told trans women are women. They are female. They're girls, no language that minimizes that point should be tolerated. I was told that was an offensive question. My language was out of date. I was told that sex and gender are equally important and that the ACLU is actively removing sex from legal documentations and legal language. I tried to gently prod at the preposterous arguments I was hearing and I was met with an absolute brick wall when she concluded with let me tell you with certainty, the ACLU will never represent cis women against women.
But not to worry, the schools were ready and prepared to address any confusion their athletes might have. mandatory meetings were called with scripts read off by coaches from the athletic department or in some cases handed out the girls already caught off guard and intimidated but upset. We're now silenced. They were manipulated, coerced and emotionally blackmailed. They were told their leagues and their schools had spoken and made their positions clear. They his athletes had made the decisions to be a part of these schools and this league and they needed to support it. They were told if they had opinions, or were asked to speak, they had to clear it through their coaches and their athletic department leaders. This was also of course for their own protection has no one wants their team slung through the mud. Finally, they were told their first priority needed to be the safety and protection of their of their trans classmates who are being thrust into the media. Any harm or damage that befell their classmates due to expressing opinions that might not support them would be their responsibility. Work done Message received. Now there was little to no chance they would speak out. I know girls from Harvard, Penn, Dale and Dartmouth, that all received various versions of this same message. After these meetings, I spoke to my daughter the influence was clear.
But it came up again before IV Championships where the girls usually share a space for all the teams. I asked my daughter what she would do with Leah was changing in there. And she said resignedly. I'm not sure I'd have a choice. I still can't believe I had to tell my adult age daughter. You always have a choice about whether you undress in front of a man. What messages have these girls been receiving this year? How many of the other girls were feeling this my heart was ripped apart. Damage far greater than the sports arena was now apparent to me.
Those of you so certain of the non-evidential inclusion of transwomen in women's sports, should be able to withstand listening/reading this and coming up with justification for this situation.
I await your comments below, but anticipate your continued silence.
I saw a response somewhere that the girls may have to make a hard choice, but if enough do it now they could save girls sports.
If all the girls decided that at the start whistle, they all just sat down instead of racing, and face being kicked of the teams, they would send a message.
Why bother trying when you have no chance.
Embarrass enough people with trans only races like that and you might get girls sports to survive.
That is very amusing, but not for the other female swimmers. Jonah Lomu should have converted and played female rugby. Imagine that. He was already hard to stop,
Very very unfunny for the female swimmers, especially when Lia goes into their change room.
and this mother trying to stand up for her daughter and being silenced. It’s an outrage.
There has been a lot of talk about crazy views of the protesters at parliament, but tbh, I don’t see a lot of difference between some of their unscientific views and the idea that Lia is really a woman cause she feels like one and so therefore can compete with the women
Í can simply not get my head around how a person who is/was male, can compete in the same league as women. "Amusing" was the wrong word, I actually think it is crazy and unfair. Like I said above what if Jonah Lomu had played against women? What if Novak Djokovick played in the womens comp? We know what the result would be. IMO Laurel Hubbard should not have been in the womens weightlifting. Perhaps there needs to be a mens, womens and a third category.
Perhaps there needs to be a mens, womens and a third category.
There is no need for the expense of a third category, when categories based on fairness and safety already exist. No one is prevented from participation or competition.
This along with the disabled man who is to be deported to India after 22 years living in NZ reflect really poorly on this government and the lack of value they place upon disabled people. Far to often we have heard similar stories.
I am favor of having a high bar for giving people the gift of NZ citizenship but in this case the child is a NZ citizen so her disability status should have no impact on the decision about the status of the rest of the family.
I am aware that the rules around citizenship by birth in the country were changed quite a while back I don't remember the details but I imagine the poor young girl is not a citizen.
Maybe we'll see some courage somewhere in government to change the settings, not just make exceptions every now and then. The settings go back to at least 2005, must be time for another review.
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Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
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Luxon on TV1 Breakfast this morning earnestly confirming that he doesn’t know anything.
Saw him briefly – I thought he was looking strained – as if the job is already taking a toll.
Did he know that he use to run an Airline though?
During the good times could be a struggle for him in today's environment, safer where he is now, easy money being a politican.
Sounds like he did as badly as Hipkins did on One Zb this morning. Luckily they only have about two listeners so I've been told.
We can finally buy RAT tests. We should have been able to do this long ago.
Price war beckons as The Warehouse starts selling rapid antigen tests | Stuff.co.nz
They were of no use long ago because of their inaccuracy. When the number of cases of covid in the community was tiny, a positive covid results was nearly 100% likely to be wrong. It was just sending well people home to isolate. There only use was in high risk areas such as at the border.
They are of more use now that PCR testing is getting overwhelmed in Auckland and the rates in the community are much higher. I know of someone who got a negative RAT and a positive PCR.
Yup. RATs have some limited value once things have gone pear-shaped. They'll maybe stop some symptomless Covid-positive people from wandering around and unwittingly infecting other people. That might slow the velocity of an outbreak somewhat – maybe. But it's only mitigation – RATS have no place in the important work of trying to stop things going pear-shaped to begin with.
Thought I'd group source a query. There appears to be one or two Standardistas who have a bit of beauracratic health knowledge.
I understand that hospitals are accredited. This accreditation is dependent on different things and one of them is staffing.
Is this so?
The staffing of different departments needs to be at a 'safe' level eg numbers, skill mix etc.
Then if things get really dire, a commissioner can be appointed.
Am I on the right track
Cheers in advance, I am away from the net for most of the day.
This?
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/certification-health-care-services
how is
USA invading Iraq
different from
Russia invading Ukraine
?
No difference. Two wrongs don't make a right. The people of the Ukraine have an absolute right to self-determination and their cultural identity, AKA freedom.
This is what freedom actually means rather than being annoyed at having to wear a mask in a pandemic, and tens of thousands of people just like you and me are preparing to kill and be killed for it as we speak.
I notice one big difference….the U.S was not subjected to worldwide sanctions and opprobrium.
"The people of the Ukraine have an absolute right to self-determination"
sounds fine, but has never ever ever been put into practice.. that sentence is total nonsense
even in our own common law there are countless duties one owes to one's neighbours… nobody has the right to do whatever they wish, particularly when that involves putting said neighbour at risk
ffs this is so basic it shouldn't even need to be said
Similarities and differences between the invasions of Iraq and Ukraine are explored here by General Petraeus in a useful interview.
David Petraeus on What Iraq Tells Us About Ukraine – The Atlantic
My post yesterday (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-03-2022) stirred up a hornets nest… and most of it seems to have stemmed from missing the point I was trying to make.
The main point of this is about TRUST
After all, I am told to trust the experts
But first to address her statement “The vaccine has never been sold as being able to prevent people catching Covid. “
Google search for “vaccine will preventing covid”
Google comment displayed above any results
[quote without link deleted]
Anne (post 7.4) jumped down my throat, and it looks like the paragraph she was upset about was
[quote without link deleted]
The Scottish data tables showed the rates per 100,000.
(https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/11763/22-02-16-covid19-winter_publication_report.pdf)
I will use some made up numbers for ease of clarity and simplicity, to clarify the misunderstanding
Covid data for Mars for the past week
Unvaccinated
Population 1,000,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 1,000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
In this example the vaccinated are catching covid at 2.5 time the rate as the unvaccinated, ( or more than twice as likely to catch covid.. )
The Scottish data ( this is an overview, exact numbers unimportant ) from October consistently showed the double vaxxed and boosted were far better off than the unvaccinated in all categories, but as the Omicron wave hit, and vaccine effectiveness fell, there was a change in the relative rates, and by early January, the bias showed the other way, with higher rates for the double vaxed over unvaxed for cases, hospital admission and death, but the boosted still had better rates.
They were concerned that people would mis-interpret that data as showing the vaccine was worse than ineffective.
They suggested part of the problem was ‘it has its limitations when people leave Scotland and do not inform ‘
So lets run Mars again, but with a corrected population to match the 'error' because some people left without letting the govt know.
Unvaccinated
Population 400,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 2,5000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
So to make the vaccine look like it is not negative, 600,000 unvaccinated would have to leave without telling the govt.
The first set of numbers for Mars are actually pretty close to Scottish numbers from dec 25 to 31
It is interesting that I saw no mention of what I would be the most significant confounder that makes the vaccine look bad. Unvaccinated not bothering to get tested !
Failure to test is very defiantly happening here ( I know, because unvaxed friends said they would not bother as there was no benefit to getting tested. )
The Scottish data is a mess…. and If they publish such a mess and people get the wrong idea, whose fault is it? And when it changes from looking good to looking bad and they stop publishing it, they are going to look like they are trying to hide something.
Beautiful practical example of how to get people to distrust you.
They ( and people here ) want me to just trust them because they are the experts.
First cautionary tale, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study by the US public health service. They lied to a group of people with syphilis that they would treat them for free as if they joined the study.
But the 'experts' instead gave them placebos and watched 128 die.
I saw no reference in the wiki page to any experts going to jail…..
Then there is Pfizer, which has paid billions in fines for violating laws, but none of the people ever go to jail, they get to keep their bonuses.
I could have more trust if the people involved were rotting in jail…
Medsafe (NZ ) did some work to try and quantify how many people are being killed by the vaccine.
A rather important number….Look down near the bottom for this section where they looked all cause death data,
Over large numbers this is a useful tool, and in the past has found problems that would not be observed in other ways.
However they observed half the expected number of deaths.
This is a screaming alarm that they have some serious issues with either their data, assumptions or processing.
This sort of discrepancy should have sent them back to the drawing board to see what was going on, and they have had plenty of time, sitting at home on full pay while remote working….
How much confidence can you have in their data analysis….
In God we trust, everyone else, show me the data…
[quotes without links deleted. Links need to be direct. Please read this .https://thestandard.org.nz/some-notes-on-moderation/. You’re still in premod – weka]
mod note.
Apologies,
I thought that posting the exact search then quoting the google text would be sufficient in context with the way other posters do.
And i thought that posting the link to the open mike page and listing the post number would be enough.
I cant see how to edit, so will repost and embed the links.
cant see how to edit the existing so will repost w
editing comments only lasts ten minutes.
You have to link to the thing you are quoting directly. eg if it's to a comment in TS, then click on the date/time stamp of that comment, copy and paste the URL to your comment below the quote.
You said,
Think about how this works for other, especially moderators. One, google delivers results based on the individual searcher's history. So we're all going to get different results.
Two, you're asking us to do work when the onus is on you to make your argument and support it.
You could have done the google search yourself and then linked to that search. But it's still pretty vague, because it then assumes we are going to look at the search and parse what you meant.
Instead, make your point in your own words, briefly quote to support that, and provide a direct link to that quote.
a few further pointers.
Put the link in the clear, not embedded in text. That way it's very easy to see what the link it is to. This is especially important for people reading on a phone.
eg
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-03-2022/#comment-1869695
Rather than,
People make less mistakes with linking this way too.
Seeing as you know how to use tags, can you please use the quote tags instead of "". Again, this will make it much easier to read and understand what you are trying to say. This is in addition to what Incog has just said, the more you can make your comments comprehensible, the better the debate will be.
I was trying to follow the level of linking to substantiate claims that was being praticed by other commenters with respect to general claim etc
I guess i misjudged
No problem, I will work at being very pedantic about the linking.
it's ok, it's just a learning curve.
I’d also ask kindly that you’re more succinct. Your comments tend to be overly long with an awful lot of stuff to unpack and poorly structured, which makes it hard to parse your actual comment. To me, if feels like somebody is trying to gaslight me. Sadly, you’re not the only one doing this here …
My post yesterday () stirred up a hornets nest… and most of it seems to have stemmed from missing the point I was trying to make.
The main point of this is about TRUST
After all, I am told to trust the experts
But first to address her statement “The vaccine has never been sold as being able to prevent people catching Covid. “
Google search for “vaccine will preventing covid”
Google comment displayed above any results “All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are effective at preventing COVID-19. Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccination gives most people a high level of protection against COVID-19. You should get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if you already had COVID-19.
“ Anne (post 7.4) jumped down my throat, and it looks like the paragraph she was upset about was
“So much data from government sources is inconsistent, or poorly organized or presented.
Just look at the Scotland data (which they have stopped publishing) which seemed to show that double vaxxed were more than twice as likely to catch covid as the unvaxed and also more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaxed “
“A deliberate misinterpretation! Of course there are going to be more vaxxed people catching Covid than unvaxxed people you twat. Take New Zealand for example. 95% of the population are double vaxxed and only 5% unvaxxed. Get the picture?
The vaccine has never been sold as being able to prevent people catching Covid.
But you are going to get a mild version of the disease with no long term consequences.
A factor you choose to ignore.
From what I understand world-wide… the most serious cases resulting in death are almost always among the unvaxxed so… if you choose to take that risk then be it on yourself if you end up in hospital gravely ill
. I'm not sure you are worthy of this response but it just might ring a bell.”
My reply
The Scottish data tables showed the rates per 100,000. (https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/11763/22-02-16-covid19-winter_publication_report.pdf)
I will use some made up numbers for ease of clarity and simplicity, to clarify the misunderstanding, using the same base format as the Scottish data
Covid data for Mars for the past week. Total population 2,500,000
Unvaccinated
Population 1,000,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 1,000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
In this example the vaccinated are catching covid at 2.5 time the rate as the unvaccinated, ( or more than twice as likely to catch covid.. )
The Scottish data ( this is an overview, exact numbers unimportant ) from October and before consistently showed the double vaxxed and boosted were far better off than the unvaccinated in all categories.
But as the Omicron wave hit, and vaccine effectiveness fell, there was a change in the relative rates, and by early January, the bias showed the other way, with higher rates for the double vaxed over unvaxed for cases, hospital admission and death, but the boosted still had better rates.
They were concerned that people would mis-interpret that data as showing the vaccine was worse than ineffective.
They suggested part of the problem was ‘it has its limitations when people leave Scotland and do not inform ‘
So lets run Mars again, but with a corrected population to match the 'error' because some people left without letting the govt know.
Unvaccinated
Population 400,000
Cases 10,000
Rate per 100k 2,5000
Two doses
Population 1,500,000
Cases 38,000
Rate per 100k 2,533
So to make the vaccine look like it is not negative, 600,000 unvaccinated would have to leave without telling the govt.
The first set of numbers for Mars are actually pretty close to Scottish numbers from dec 25 to 31
It is interesting that I saw no mention of what I think would be the most significant confounder that makes the vaccine look bad. Unvaccinated not bothering to get tested !
Failure to test is very defiantly happening here ( I know, because unvaxed friends said they would not bother as there was no benefit to getting tested. )
The Scottish data is a mess…. and If they publish such a mess and people get the wrong idea, whose fault is it? And when it changes from looking good to looking bad and they stop publishing it, they are going to look like they are trying to hide something.
Beautiful practical example of how to get people to distrust you.
They ( and people here ) want me to just trust them because they are the experts.
First a cautionary tale, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study by the US public health service. They lied to a group of people with syphilis that they would treat them for free as if they joined the study.
But the 'experts' instead gave them placebos and watched 128 die.
I saw no reference in the wiki page to any experts going to jail…..
Then there is Pfizer, which has paid billions in fines for violating laws, but none of the people ever go to jail, they get to keep their bonuses.
I could have more trust if the people involved were rotting in jail…
Medsafe (NZ ) did some work to try and quantify how many people are being killed by the vaccine.
A rather important number….Look down near the bottom for this section where they looked all cause death data.
Over large numbers this is a useful tool, and in the past has found problems that would not be observed in other ways.
However they observed half the expected number of deaths.
This is a screaming alarm that they have some serious issues with either their data, assumptions or processing.
This sort of discrepancy should have sent them back to the drawing board to see what was going on, and they have had plenty of time, sitting at home on full pay while remote working….
How much confidence can you have in their data analysis….
In God I trust, everyone else, show me the data…
Hamish I presume you read the report?
". Data in this table should not be used as a measure of vaccine effectiveness due to unaccounted for biases and risk factors in different populations. For more information, please see the….."
I counted FIVE of those warnings.
I did read that, and their musings as to why the data APPEARS to show the vax was innefective.
And I thought I was very clear that they bear reaponsability for presenting the data the way they did.
They set themselves up….
The devil is in the detail – comparing those vaccinated first because of their far higher risk due to their co-morbidities with those yet to be vaccinated due to their complete lack of co-morbidities is an exercise in foolishness IMO.
yup.
And on the trust side of things, when the vaccines first came out the covid strain of the day (not a bowel movement) was delta, against which several vaccines do massively reduce the infection rate.
Not sure it's a "trust" issue that covid mutates into new strains.
Obviously, we cannot trust the virus not to change its spots.
or spikes.
was trying to be subtle
They do an age standardization on the base numbers to get the displayed rate.
for example if I look at the hospitalization table, end Jan start Feb
Unvaxed base data in the table gives a raw rate of 11.8 but the age standardized rate almost tripples of 32.15
boosted raw rate 8.7 drops to adjusted rate of 7.47
So that is a pretty big bias to account for the unvaxed being probably younger and healthier and the boosted older.
Blending all the age groups into one is a hell of a messy job.
Israel data used to break it down into 10 yr band, and you could see the differences across the age bands
Now I am at my laptop a wee bit more
you clipped the word 'Warning' from the front,
In the PDF the whole warning is in red, pretty hard to miss…
But my memory was that it did not used to be there..
So looked back at the Jan 12 report
There is the usual fine print below the table, but then in normal size text is
"Age-standardised mortality rates for COVID-19 deaths shown in Table 3 are significantly lower for people who have received a booster or third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to individuals that are unvaccinated or have received one or two dose of a COVID-19 vaccine."
As it was just below table 13, and table 3 is about contact tracing, and table 13 is about deaths, I think it is fair to assume they just missed a "1"
When the numbers look favorable, all is good, and you promote them, but when they turn against you, ….oops….you look like an idiot
Hamish this is only an opinion.just looked up Scottish public health service website.
They are saying people are misreporting data cherry picking different data from different days.
But they make a statement outline the reality.
Mainly around Deaths 83.7% unvaccinated.
7.6% I dose within 7days
7.9% 2 doses within 7days.
Yet it takes 2 weeks to gain full immunity so in fact if 14days taken into account maybe even lower numbers.
This 60-70km long "column" of Russian vehicles north west of Kyiv appears to be more of a road bound parking lot than an actual advance, given that its been there for two-three days and hasn't even managed to cover the 100km from the Russian border to Kiev.
However, this column represents the sort of target artillerists and attack pilots dream about. The fact that the Ukrainian have not be able to dent let alone massacre this Russian traffic jam indicates they've lost the power to conduct even limited offensive action/manoeuvre warfare and the defenders are now in a totally passive mode, awaiting the Russians in Kyiv and Kharkiv (the scene of four major battles in WW2 that left the city in ruins, the fifth battle of Kharkiv in eight decades is now underway) in what I think will be the most violent and prolonged urban street battle since Berlin in 1945 – bigger than Tet and the battle of Huế (a battle that lasted two months).
The final act of this war is going to be a savage and bloody street battle where the citizens of Kyiv are going to be subject to the indiscriminate barbarism of Russian military brutality we’ve seen previously inflicted on the citizens of Aleppo and the Chetchens.
A very long line of sitting ducks. If the Ukrainian nazis really had their act together they would have hangars full of these antiques designed to pound such targets:
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/06/20/screaming-bird-of-prey-how-the-ju-87-stuka-exceeded-its-life-span-and-carried-the-luftwaffe-through-wwii/
Russians have air superiority. This is why there has been a call for a no fly zone, as if that could be enforced without ending up with NATO Aircraft and Russian aircraft in direct conflict.
There has been evidence of drone strikes on this convoy and other Russian armour. However the number of drones and bombs the Ukranian nation have pales in comparison to the number of Russian military vehicles.
In this situation those who have taken up arms to defend against this invasion are best suited using their advantages. Small mobile units harry the convoy whilst obsticles are set up in the streets of cities. Other defenders identify choke points where they can engage restricted targets and be able to quickly relocated after fast attacks. Every street becomes a bloody battle.
This is what Putin has bought about by deciding to invade and remove a democratically elected Jew who you want to call a Nazi.
a democratically elected Jew who you want to call a Nazi
Was interesting until you made this mistake. The only Ukrainians I want to call nazis are the ones who actually present themselves to the world as such. In case you weren't reading comments here the other day the primary group seems to be the Azov regiment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azov_Battalion
If this is your reasoning then I worry about who is open to invasion and being tarred with the Nazi brush
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/09/white-supremacist-group-patriot-front-one-in-five-applicants-tied-to-us-military
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/05/four-held-on-suspicion-of-being-members-of-outlawed-neo-nazi-group-national-action
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nz-defence-force-says-white-supremacist-is-a-former-soldier/WAKCYC7K4ENTMF2N26RGVKW2AI/
Possibly the Russian convoy is a decoy. Putin has enough rockets that he can fire them into Kyiv without entering Kyiv. As well the convoy can send missiles from the trucks. Putin will probably only send in ground troops when Kyiv is bombed heavily.
All that may be true Sanctuary but there may be other reasons like a lack of fuel at the front of the queue and the fact that the ground is not frozen as the Russians may have expected and the farmland is too boggy, certainly for fuel trucks, so the roads are the only option. Also the Ukrainians have demolished most of the bridges on the approach to Kviv. Also to keep in mind the early troops that were repulsed were the elite Special Forces units, if they have had their arse kicked there may well be reluctance amongst the leadership to take big risks.
An excellent opportunity for the Ukrainian oligarchs: send in a bunch of mobile fast-food outlets to cruise up & down the line providing better options for soldiers fed up with military hard-tack, employ locals to staff the operation, win/win all round…
If anyone wants to see an outstanding piece of rhetoric, and get a standing ovation from the most cynical of audiences, take 8 minutes out of your day to check out Zelinsky addressing the EU Parliament yesterday. It will put a wistful note of light in an otherwise dark day.
Zelensky receives standing ovation after speech to European Parliament – YouTube
Not even sure Dubcek could match it at the height of the 1968 PRague Spring.
Zelenski on phone to Putin:
"Hi Vladimir you want to hear a joke."
Vladimir : "OK"
Zelenski : Kyiv
Vladimir (puzzled) : I don't get it.
Zelenski : that's right b**** you don't.
How I see the invasion of Ukraine ending.
Putin will take Kyiv due to Russia having 100 million more population, so a superior army. Other countries are reluctant to send troops as this just prolongs a war so Zelensky will be forced out.
Once Putin has Ukrainia will this be enough for him?
How ever if he gets bogged down like Afghanistan and a Gurilla war by the Ukrainian's.
Pootin's reign as Dictator of Russia could be over.
What do you mean by bogged down like Afganistan?
I need to look up the history of the Russian Afganistan war 1979 – 1989 to see how it played out.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bxpM20oXdM
interesting clip about Lia Thomas, who was born William Thomas and ranked 462 amongst male swimmers in the male category. Now as Lia Thomas swimming in the female category is coming first and breaking all sorts of records in the female category. But hey well trans women are real women.
tbh I didn’t watch the interview, the opening statement, was 462, now 1st was enough for me."……….
For the readers, transcript from a mother of one of the female swimmers here (posted audio yesterday) https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-03-2022/#comment-1869801 can be found here:
https://otter.ai/u/N7gCN1Xqfp6oVI5EeHFcFN6B3mQ
Those of you so certain of the non-evidential inclusion of transwomen in women's sports, should be able to withstand listening/reading this and coming up with justification for this situation.
I await your comments below, but anticipate your continued silence.
I saw a response somewhere that the girls may have to make a hard choice, but if enough do it now they could save girls sports.
If all the girls decided that at the start whistle, they all just sat down instead of racing, and face being kicked of the teams, they would send a message.
Why bother trying when you have no chance.
Embarrass enough people with trans only races like that and you might get girls sports to survive.
For the trans, have trans sports…
"For the trans, have trans sports…"
Or … for the reasons of safety and fairness, compete in the appropriate biological sex, weight and age categories – as everyone else does.
That is very amusing, but not for the other female swimmers. Jonah Lomu should have converted and played female rugby. Imagine that. He was already hard to stop,
Very very unfunny for the female swimmers, especially when Lia goes into their change room.
and this mother trying to stand up for her daughter and being silenced. It’s an outrage.
There has been a lot of talk about crazy views of the protesters at parliament, but tbh, I don’t see a lot of difference between some of their unscientific views and the idea that Lia is really a woman cause she feels like one and so therefore can compete with the women
The testimony of the mother is far from amusing, as is the situation and the impact.
What is it that you find funny?
Í can simply not get my head around how a person who is/was male, can compete in the same league as women. "Amusing" was the wrong word, I actually think it is crazy and unfair. Like I said above what if Jonah Lomu had played against women? What if Novak Djokovick played in the womens comp? We know what the result would be. IMO Laurel Hubbard should not have been in the womens weightlifting. Perhaps there needs to be a mens, womens and a third category.
Perhaps there needs to be a mens, womens and a third category.
There is no need for the expense of a third category, when categories based on fairness and safety already exist. No one is prevented from participation or competition.
It is crazy and unfair.
This just flat out wrong. This is worse than Aussie's 501s.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/02/christchurch-family-being-inhumanely-forced-out-of-country-because-4yo-disabled-daughter-can-t-get-residency.html
This along with the disabled man who is to be deported to India after 22 years living in NZ reflect really poorly on this government and the lack of value they place upon disabled people. Far to often we have heard similar stories.
Pretty much out and out discrimination if you ask me… has the disability commissioner had anything to say?
Somewhat galling that this Govt is very vocal about 501s when they’re kicking people out during to disability.
I am favor of having a high bar for giving people the gift of NZ citizenship but in this case the child is a NZ citizen so her disability status should have no impact on the decision about the status of the rest of the family.
I am aware that the rules around citizenship by birth in the country were changed quite a while back I don't remember the details but I imagine the poor young girl is not a citizen.
Agree – people born in NZ on or after 1 January 2006 are only citizens if either or both parents are NZ citizens or have residence class visas.
Thanks to Winston Peters
Possibly, although this particular provision was added to the relevant Bill in 2004 and passed in 2005 before NZ First were in government with Labour.
Maybe we'll see some courage somewhere in government to change the settings, not just make exceptions every now and then. The settings go back to at least 2005, must be time for another review.