Could anyone give me their experience of Hospital waiting lists?
I am about to go into the system for a hip operation.
First there is the wait for an appointment for x rays, followed by a review, followed by a specialist appointment inside four months, if I get into the top points.
Apparently within another four months I may qualify hopefully for surgery.
I just wondered what the “on the ground” experience was, as I have heard people can go on and off the list depending on money available to do a number of operations.
So, do I hold my breath or plan my life anyway? 2018. A pivotal year personally at 76.
PS. pain is so bad I am now on a walker, though the inflammation has been greatly helped by rose hip oil capsules twice daily plus pain meds.
Patricia I have been waiting since 2007 for an (ACC) covered Hernia operation to be done with (only local anaesthetic administration) in either HB or Gisborne.
No surgeon in NZ will perform a ‘local anaesthetic operation on a hernia’ – even a simple inguanal hernia as mine is.
You may wonder why I have need of ‘local anaethsetic’?
I have extreme drug reations to chemicals and drugs and my medical specialists have requested only local anaestic administration be used and not use either ‘general or spinal’ administration with me as it may cause death.
We need labour coalition to fix this impass now that national are gone.
There are many still awaiting surgery as I am so we need to do better, and thanks for the question I hope this helps.
Hi Patricia – close relative (78) had her hip done under epidural and sedation. Went very well and quick recovery time. Up and about quickly and excellent long term outcome. Sadly great variation between DHBs and waiting times.
My mother, now in her mid-80s, has had a number of hip operations over the last few years, starting from when she broke her hip in a fall.
Prior to the fall, she was experiencing pain and lack of function, and was in the early stages of a hip replacement process. Immediately after the fall, hardware got put in the top of her femur to give her some mobility back in the short term (a hip replacement then and there wasn’t feasible because of the break location).
After recovery had progressed far enough, she went back into the queue for a replacement. The schedule kept shifting, so she went ahead with her life including making arrangements for overseas travel to visit family. Then shortly before departure she got scheduled for the op at a time that would have required cancelling the trip. She decided the trip was more important to her and went ahead with that, so she lost her place in the queue.
However, it was only a few months after her return that they were able to schedule her back in and she got the replacement not much later than she would have otherwise.
So it seems to me that planning her life and living it anyway worked out ok for her. Her experience also looks to me like the health authority involved (Waitemata) do recognise that people have lives to live, and it’s one of the factors they have to account for when juggling all their different priorities. No, the timeline wasn’t as fast or convenient for her as it might have been with a fully-paid private route, but it did look to me like the system did a fair job of balancing the different constraints it has to work under.
Of course, your experience may end up wildly different…
Hiya patricia…sorry to hear of your troubles…and such a pity that the option of legal medical cannabis is not available to you….I have heard that even a balm can be quite relieving for such pain. 😉
My recommendations….be available for surgery once you get to the “You do need the surgery and you’re now on the list stage.” My partner ended up on such a list a few years ago and settled in for a long wait…couple of weeks later they had a ‘gap’, he got a call, “Can you come in tomorrow morning?” and voilla!
Another guy I know was told he could have the hip surgery done nowish if he was willing to go to Rotorua Hospital rather than wait for it to be done at Waikato.
Now…I wouldn’t ever suggest that anyone manipulate the system, but, if perchance, a person had a fall or a stumble and was writhing in agony (say in the middle of a busy pedestrian crossing at rush hour) and an ambulance was called to transport said person to A&E then suddenly the situation is an ‘accident’ and an ’emergency’ and voilla (again !) operating theatres and orthopeadic surgeons miraculously become available. This happened to my ninety year old neighbour some years ago after some time languishing where you seem to be. Afterwards she commented that she should have had her fall months earlier. 🙂
And another elderly friend, then in her 75th year, needed cataract surgery. She became highly pissed off at seemingly every doctor upon the road to the surgery asking her if she had medical insurance. This was 28 years ago and she did…but that wasn’t the point…there was, even then…this herding of as many patients as possible out of the public system and into the private system. More often than not it is the same surgeons performing in both venues…and my friend knew she was being profiled…
She was getting to the stage of being unable to drive so with great reluctance went private….then the insurance company tried to rip her off.
Your are entering shark invested waters mate….
If you truly want to become depressed…google “hip surgery unmet need” and you’ll find some uplifting academic research that rather coldly calculates the odds of making it to the table.
“Firstly, replacing joints in patients who have lived with disabling arthritis for a significant period of time, and who have more co-morbidities, is likely to result in poorer outcomes with higher postoperative complications. Secondly, managing these patients in the community will require increased resources. Thirdly, operating on ‘end-stage’ osteoarthritis can be surgically demanding, resulting in the use of more expensive implants, more extensive rehabilitation and intensive nursing; all of which require added resources.”
Where you come on the public service waiting list is based on need.
The higher your perceived need the quicker you will be seen.
While I wouldn’t wish to direct you to lie I would suggest you talk up the impact it is having on your life/mobility as much as you possibly can with the help of a supportive general practitioner.
And tell them you are in severe pain most of the time. It is, or at least was, more important than whether you can get around.
The Doctor who assessed me before I had mine replaced told me that you have to tell them the pain is unbearable. It is not the Doctor who decides whether you get on the queue. It is someone working in the DHB office who only sees your responses to a questionnaire.
It is an enormous change in your circumstances though.
No more pain.
“I had depressed myself earlier with the documents you listed xx.”
Actually…that quote I put up…“Firstly, replacing joints in patients who have lived with disabling arthritis for a significant period of time, and who have more co-morbidities, is likely to result in poorer outcomes with higher postoperative complications. Secondly, managing these patients in the community will require increased resources. Thirdly, operating on ‘end-stage’ osteoarthritis can be surgically demanding, resulting in the use of more expensive implants, more extensive rehabilitation and intensive nursing; all of which require added resources.”
wasn’t supposed to depress…its a hint. 😉 😉
Also…use your previous diagnosis of polio for all its worth…seriously, its a ‘co-morbidity’ that could/has already exacerbated your dodgy hip.
The last thing they wan’t is for you to lose independence…you’ll cost ’em more in the long term.
My partner has been a full time wheelchair user since 1970. At some stage, a tumble from his chair must have broke a hip (he can’t feel the pain) and it has set a bit weird. A few years ago he suddenly got an ugly, red swollen lump on that hip. Made sitting in his w/c really difficult. Chances of a hip replacement for someone who will never walk again and is already dependent on others for support is zero. This preparation was recommended ….https://www.nz-online-pharmacy.com/products/traumitane-recovery-action-cream-75g.html…twice daily. Way more effective than the hot rubs or the anti inflammatory rubs…and very gentle on a chemically sensitive skin. Tears of relief when the ugly red lump went away…..
My theory ,for what it’s worth,is to always try and get a woman surgeon.Their success rate is better AFAIK.They seem more kind,caring and delicate in surgical matters,more finesse,nimble fingers.Its a conveyer belt system,quite efficient and impersonal.I suppose I can be accused of being sexist with my observation.Too bad.
Your theory is bullshit. It’s best to get an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in hips and performs multiple operations per week, furthermore it’s preferable that the surgery is performed in one of the main regional centres.
I would assume that these ops are performed by specialists in that field,not by anyone who walks through the door.Anyway your condemnation of my theory as b/s moved me to find out if it had any substance. http://time.com/4975232/women-surgeon-surgery/
only as a generality, it can’t be applied to individuals. And it’s not so much about gender making someone more suited, it’s that there are broad differences that affect things. Some are biological, some are social, good luck figuring that out.
Here’s the two useful paragraphs from that Time piece:
“Even after those adjustments, patients of female surgeons were 4% less likely to die, be readmitted or experience complications 30 days after their surgery compared to patients of male surgeons.”
So if there really is a difference, and not just an artefact of torturing the data, then the difference is still very very small.
“In the meantime, he says, gender shouldn’t be a factor in deciding which surgeon should be in charge of your next operation. “You should select a surgeon based on the rapport you have with him or her, what your family physician recommends, and the research you do,” says Satkunasivam. “You should be equally confident with a male or female surgeon.” ”
Not that you’re likely to have much choice in New Zealand’s system, mind. But it still points to the value of doing what you can to build rapport with your practitioners.
I agree, and it’s a big failing of the NZ system that it’s relatively difficult to choose the specialist or surgeon you see. Not impossible, but there is little attention paid to the value of having someone you get on with.
Given that reports written to claim there’s a difference between A and B usually find a way to maximise the apparent size of that difference, I interpret that reported 4% difference to mean that the rate of post-operative adverse events for female surgeons is say 4.85% and the rate for male surgeons is 5.05%, to end up with an average rate of 5% for all surgeons.
Yes it’s possible the rates are of the order of 2% and 6% respectively (allowing for there being a lot more male surgeons than female surgeons, to get a mean of around 5%). But if that were the case, I would expect the headline to be something like “Post-operative adverse events are 3 times higher for male surgeons than for female surgeons”
Thanks Zorb6 I will re-apply for my ACC operation now asking for a Woman for my operation too, as as a man while in Canada I underwent several medical proceedures and in several cases my experiences with women specialists/surgeons I recieved a full careful treatment and recovery that was provided was excellent there, so I agree with you there.
Bottom line, to qualify for hip or knee replacement there has to be “bone on bone” – if there is any padding inbetween they will make you wait that bit longer. Then you wait for the operation which is usually within 4 months. I don’t know about knee reconstructions or partial knees. I have had a knee replaced and it has worked wonders for me. I kept off pain killers and just used plenty of athletic strapping and local pain rubs like Deep Heat. Hips are a bit more difficult to keep the pain under control. Fish Oil and Glucosomine with Chondroitin also are great for hips and knees.
“Fish Oil and Glucosomine with Chondroitin also are great for hips and knees.”
Thanks for the info Kate, I am beginning to get hip problems and I have told my JP surgery is out. At my age, it would be a complete waste of time and money. Sooner they did it on younger persons or spent the money on some poor unfortunate kid.
My hip plays up at night keeping me awake I take the occasional Panadol as I am not a pill popper but have stayed away from those other products as I was not sure how they would work. Was about to visit my JP for his advice but now I will visit the chemist and buy some of those products
I hope my hip joint does not get too bad as we do a lot of photography, well, the photography is a means to an end it to get us out in the wild to appreciate this country of ours before it is well and truly stuffed.
Take the fish oil and glucosomine morning and night – I use quite high doses of the fish oil and what ever the glucosomine says on the label you can up the dose on that as well. It made all the difference to me when I started taking it twice daily instead of just the once. I presume you are using a walking stick. Also swing both legs out of the car when you get out and when getting up off dining chairs swing both legs around as well – try and keep the hips and legs together when sitting – no crossing legs or letting your legs lay apart when sitting.
As for your age – if it means you are going to have a better quality of life and you have over all general good health, then I think you should get it done and I am sure your doctor will agree.. We are all entitled to health care in this country.
Thank you for the tips. I invested in a swivel seat for the car. My problem is I have to lift my left leg now because of polio as a child…. adds to the woes.
Thanks for your reply Kate. No, I am fortunate that I can walk with no problems and have no need for a walking stick, I feel it has only just started, well been like this for the last 2 years about and only get pain when I lie down in bed or drive for long stretches.
Thanks for the general tips about getting up off chairs etc.,
Yeah, I agree with your last sentence Kate, but I have been fortunate had several hand ups along the way that has given me a successful life. I know we are all entitled to health care but after the Tories have destroyed the public system. and now with the limited health care and money available I feel in my very late years I don’t need expensive procedures just for a few years before I kick the bucket.
My GP (not JP as written in my first response. that is known as an SOS Silly Old Sod Syndrome) would agree with you.
Halfcrown, I mentioned Vital rosehip GOPO It has been clinically tested in 15 trials. (I could not use anti inflammatory aids other than this as they depressed my kidney function.) My hip to knee was hot and inflamed and within a week it had improved and a month later I realised I was able to sleep and sit a great deal longer and my hip was hot at one point only.
I have just started Glocosamine and chondroitin. It is not cheap, but will help as the tablet has Vit D etc. I don’t get out much currently as I had polio as a child and this is my “good” leg and I’m prone to falls.
I blessed the election, as we were in Australia when my hip was suddenly totally bad. The internet and this site gave me something else to focus on at 3.a.m.
Christmas and New Year are a “slow time” for progress with hips etc. (possibly car accidents, holiday period in general). Good luck with the treatment.
We have ordered the next lot of rosehip and await it from Chemist Wharehouse Auckland. An Australian crowd just starting up here. Norm got his glucosamine
from Go Healthy online. Cheers.
I too have a knee injury and am awaiting an operation on it to but no light at the end of the tunnel yet as there is a very slow rate of surgery of knee replacement now during 2017 so 2018 may be better.
My knee surgery Specialist comes from Hamilton to Gisborne and can only book twice on (two wednesdays) a month and he said last time that he is booked for six months ahead.
My knee injury was an ACC claim as it was pinned and crushed by a boat against a reef while fishing.
My inside left knee meniculus was ‘torn’ so it now feels like bone on bone and aches occassinally too.
The emergency doctor only gave me an opiate last year in may, (which I didn’t take)
I have used your treatment of fish oils and Glocosamine and chondroitin and use a floor cycle to excercise with now.
Now I have two small bottles of “Vital 3” I just recieved from my wife as she sent an order to ‘Vital3.com’ in NY for some as she saw it on the website.
Before I try three drops with water every morning do you know about the product?
Cleangreen, no not that one. I hadn’t seen that before. Just read about the USA trials and patent online now.. Try it, as it doesn’t affect other meds. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I’ll be interested to hear of your progress. Please let us know. Good luck.
From people I know who’ve been through this, keeping the pressure on helps. The people managing the lists are working in a stressful situation (not enough funding), but I think polite but firm persistence, especially if you are being given the run around, can keep them focussed. It’s work, but if you’re not getting your medical needs attended to, go back to your GP, get a letter, give it to the hospital, phone them, talk to the manager etc. Yes there are processes and rules, but people get dropped out because of the limits of the system, and reminding them of your rights can get you back in and reprioritised.
(and yes, that means someone else will get dropped off. If this is manageable for you, start hassling your local MP as well).
Hah! I know another guy, in his seventies, who still blames Labour for all the failings in the Public Health system. His usual MO when told to wait his ‘turn’ for hip, knee, shoulder surgery (he has had all of these) is to visit his local MP (always National) and proceed to rant and rave with promises to return if they don’t sort it. Seems to work. Alternatively, it could be the fact that he has a rather well developed sense of entitlement and conveys such to whichever health professional has the misfortune to suggest that there might be a wait.
I had surgery in 2013 at Waikato Hospital. To speed the process up, my GP referred me to a private specialist surgeon who also worked in the public system.
After the consultation, the surgeon put me on the waiting list, advising it was urgent case. I had to pay for the private specialist and an MRI.
Five months later I had the operation. If I didn’t go private for the specialist surgeon consult and MRI, it would have added another six months to the process.
It seems wrong that I had to pay around $1,500 myself because the system is so slow.
Maybe you could do something similar to speed things up, if possible?
I hope things go well for you and you have a speedy recovery.
Thank you all for your responses. In your head you know you are not alone with this, but at 3.a.m it can feel like that!
I am cheered by your suggestions, I guess I worry they may not be very quick, as my doctor said possibly Nov, and I thought “well I’m going to live my life.”
I wonder why Greenwald never appears on New Zealand television….
…the centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy, really in the wake of World War II through the Cold War, and then even with the fall of the Soviet Union, has been to align with and to embrace and to support dictators, tyrants and repressive regimes, as long as they serve the interests of the United States. So, anybody in their right mind who ever takes seriously pronouncements from official Washington that they’re motivated by anger over repression or a defense of the political rights of people in other countries is incredibly naive at best, to put that generously.
Just this week, Juan, there was an amazing leak that Politico published, which was a State Department memo written to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that explicitly said what has been long obvious, but usually isn’t put into words so clear, that human rights is not actually something the U.S. government believes in; it is a cudgel that it uses to undermine and bash countries that don’t serve its interests. They use denunciations of human rights abuses to undermine and weaken governments that are contrary to their agenda, like in Iran, while at the same time, this memo said—this isn’t me saying this, this is the State Department memo saying—they overlook and even sanction repressive behavior on the part of their allies.
And it goes beyond the Trump administration. I mean, if you look at how official Washington works in terms of, say, the leading think tanks in Washington, the Brookings Institution, for example, which has become incredibly popular among liberals in the Trump era, is funded with tens of millions of dollars by the government of Qatar, one of the most repressive regimes on the planet. The Center for American Progress, which is probably the leading Democratic Party think tank in the United States, is funded in—one of their biggest funders is the government of the United Arab Emirates.
Destroy a county’s economy via sanctions. Sit back and wait for things to hopefully boil over. Give a further nudge, a push or a shove if possible. If and when country disintegrates, point out it was a basket case of a place and ride in on a white horse of humanitarianism to rip it wide open for “free market” exploitation democracy …to be governed by western friendly administrations.
Okay. Now I’ll watch the vid and be very surprised if Greenwald is deviating from that basic line that repeats in country after country that the west has a dim view of.
What will 2018 bring for Donald Trump? Senator Mitt Romney of Utah. One more Republican that won’t be afraid to criticise him. And even, if it ever gets that far, vote for conviction in an impeachment proceeding.
The vacuous Megan Whelan said nothing this morning when her guest said that
boycotting Israel “reminds some people of the Nazi boycotts of the Jews”.
RNZ National, Wednesday 3 January 2018, 9:30 a.m.
I tuned in to this outrageous little piece of propaganda masquerading as analysis toward the end, so I wasn’t sure who was speaking. I assumed he was someone from the Israeli Consulate, because he made several sleazy insinuations against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, and talked condescendingly and dishonestly about Lorde’s decision to boycott Israel. I thought it might be the infamous Dr David Cumin, who reared his head in late 2016 in order to denounce Marama Davidson….
But this voice was different to Cumin’s. I knew I’d heard him before, but who WAS it? He spoke as smoothly and with the same nerveless dishonesty as Dr Cumin. It might have been the Wellington dentist David Zwarz, who used to be the go-to man whenever the media needed a local comment supportive of a massacre in Gaza, or the shooting of unarmed Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem. But it wasn’t David Zwarz.
Who WAS it?
Finally, at the end of the interview, his patsy Megan Whelan identified him: “That was Professor Robert Ayson, from Victoria University’s School of Strategic Studies.”
Of course! Robert Ayson!!! This bloke has form. A couple of years ago, he insisted to me by email that U.S. troops kill civilians with the best intentions….
…in seeking to target people and groups they believe to be in particular locations they sometimes make poor judgements about the wider consequences.
regards
Rob
I replied:
The United States military was repeatedly given the coordinates of Kunduz Hospital. They didn’t get their targeting wrong. When they “conquered” Fallujah General Hospital in November 2004, U.S. troops tied up doctors and nurses, and forced patients out of their beds, before also tying them up. Again, that doesn’t seem like getting their targeting wrong.
There is something I find even more disturbing than the malicious propaganda these people routinely dispense: the silence, bordering on approval and complicity, of the person supposed to be interviewing them. David Cumin’s patsy was Jesse Mulligan, who like the others in the studio remained silent as Cumin poured scorn on Marama Davidson and the rest of the protestors who broke through Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza in 2016. I suspect this was a condition insisted on by Cumin before he spoke.
Robert Ayson’s patsy this morning was Megan Whelan, who seems to have no knowledge whatsoever of the situation in Palestine, or of the movement to boycott Israel. On such ignorant and compliant accomplices do Israeli apologists depend.
Yes. Megan and Jim are both extremely ‘nice’.
I think possibly RNZ are using the holiday period to train the next generation of personalities and presenters.
At times I think they must also be using it to train the new breed of panel operators (or whatever they call them these days) too.
Well worth the read about the actions of twitter and facebook. Happy to promote the violence of the state. But God help you if you say “F%^k off” to rapist or their apologists, you will get banned.
The more Washington lashes out in anger at those who will not bow to the unipolar world order, the more the rest of the world fights back. As the launch of its Yuan/Gold-settled oil futures looms, China is escalating its de-dollarization scheme further by seeking a bilateral rial-yuan agreement with Iran.
Once the US dollar loses its place as the Reserve Currency of the world, which should have happened when they dropped the Gold Standard under Nixon, the US economy will crash and burn as the world stops using the US$ for trade.
According to a VICE News special investigation, US troops are now conducting 3,500 exercises and military engagements throughout Africa per year, an average of 10 per day. US mainstream media rarely discusses this ongoing war, thus giving the military ample space to destabilize any of the continent’s 54 countries as it pleases.
“Today’s figure of 3,500 marks an astounding 1,900 percent increase since the command was activated less than a decade ago, and suggests a major expansion of US military activities on the African continent,” VICE reported.
Following the death of four US Special Forces soldiers in Niger on October 4, US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, made an ominous declaration to a Senate committee: these numbers are likely to increase as the US is expanding its military activities in Africa.
But wait, there’s more…
The old colonial ‘Scramble for Africa’ is being reinvented by global powers that fully fathom the extent of the untapped economic largesse of the continent. While China, India and Russia are each developing a unique approach to wooing Africa, the US is invested mostly in the military option, which promises to inflict untold harm and destabilize many nations.
It’s not just the US that is trying to grab all of the remaining resources of the world for themselves.
And people still think that we don’t need a defence force.
People might want to check out this article (https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/01/02/the-10-dumbest-rightblogger-writings-of-2017/) – a review of the 10 most ridiculous set of excuses and obsfucations used by far right commentators when trying to spin dumb comments and decisions from Trump. It’s informative and entertaining and there are lot of links.
It’s not the 10 worst comments or decisions (that would be a hard list to compile – imagine having to decide what to leave out), the focus is more on how media commentators, bloggers, spin docs etc aligned with Trump try to find or manufacture some sense in what he’s saying and doing.
The “Italian Job” is a great English movie that Fintan O’Toole sees as a metaphor for their Brexit mess.
“Which brings us to The English Job of 2018. The British government is currently like Croker’s gang – immobilised by an impossible choice while their grand project teeters over the abyss. They can keep moving towards the fool’s gold of hard Brexit, but if they do their economy will go over the cliff. Or they can keep the bus from falling by moving away from their dreams towards the far end.”
You mean the O’Toole piece? It seems to be a question of how many times you can use one movie reference in a single opinion piece.
I suspect ‘hard Brexit’ (what ever that means) will be about as terrible for the UK economy as Brexit was in fact. Remind me wasn’t a Brexit outcome going to cause the UK economy to enter recession?
The supporters of Brexit I suspect didnt want it. They were hoping that there was a no vote so they could have the continued luxury of moaning about the EU without having to do anything. Now they have to back their words up with actions and they have no idea what to do except bumble along. They are probably waiting for someone to say, “let’s not do this’.
Mega-mergers have been happening since the 1980s when deregulation set in – and we’ve been told of the consequences for poorer services, higher prices and other forms of monopoly powers since.
I reckon it’s been quite some time since either has seen his own button in the flesh.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
For a second I thought you said ‘his most irresistible tweet ‘. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. I do hope the North Korean leader has a sense of humour. Good luck to possible talks that the North and South might have which I heard about on RadioNZ today.
There is a crash coming.
And it will be bigger than 2008.
‘Global instability appears to be the big risk for NZ economy
This year could see a geopolitical crisis on the scale of the financial crash a decade ago, a New York-based political risk consultancy is warning.
Citing “daunting” global political challenges, Eurasia Group said that “if we had to pick one year for a big unexpected crisis – the geopolitical equivalent of the 2008 financial meltdown – it feels like 2018”.
Now look at them yo-yos, that’s the way you do it
You play the [odds on the casino see]
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain’t dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb
Agriculture is killing us.
And the article doesn’t mention the damage agriculture does to our environment.
‘Agriculture remains New Zealand’s most dangerous industry to work in, according to WorkSafe New Zealand.
As of November 2017, nine people lost their lives working in the industry last year – with three of those people dying as a result of quad bike accidents.
With a total of 124 deaths in the past six years, the sector is New Zealand’s deadliest. ’
Thanks for the link draco – I remember the table being tweeted – and good that the Royal Society of Statistics has chosen this (or rather the 69 lawnmower deaths per year) to be the most significant statistic of the year – and one that is on the increase.
Reminds me of the story about the guy who was driving home from work and saw someone cutting their hedge with a rotary mower. Wow that’s a great idea he thought! On his subsequent trip into the hospital with all his fingers chopped off – the doc in emergency says: “Don’t tell me – but you were driving home and saw this guy cutting his hedge with a rotary mower – right?
“Yeah! How did you know?
” because I’ve just treated him.”
President Trump is threatening to suspend the US$400 million a year it spends in the Palestine Authority areas, if the Palestinians don’t get to the peace negotiating table:
The owners of Fusion GPS, the outfit who commissioned Steele to investigate and report on Trump, have penned an op-ed saying Trump’s operation is nothing more than a money laundering front.
A very interesting piece – thanks for the link Joe. Pretty much confirms what I have been thinking and saying for the past year. Interestingly Steele chose on his own bat to go to the FBI with the results of his investigation, independently of who had commissioned him, it was that serious. This confirmed with the FBI what they had been hearing from different sources.
The fact that Trump is shunned by every major bank in the US and has used Deutsche Bank for all his business activity, and that he has so many dealings with Russian Oligarchs (who are only oligarchs because of their intimate relationship with the Kremlin) it is hardly surprising that there was something fishy going on. And the twitter outburst today merely confirms it. “He doth protest too much”.
It is beyond my comprehension that so many nation’s leaders including Australia, Britain and maybe even NZ are prepared to do business with such a corrupt regime as the Trump administration. Link:
Congress should release transcripts of our firm’s testimony, so that the American people can learn the truth about our work and most important, what happened to our democracy.
Why don’t Fusion GPS leak their own testimony then?
Close, I reckon. The material would have legal privilege if released by the committee – but not if leaked by the submitters, who could then be arrested or sued for defamation etc by interested parties.
I suspected as much. But they could still release an ‘overview’ without revealing the actual content of the testimony. That should be enough to point people in the right direction and set a dialogue going.
Actually I think they have done that already in the piece that joe links to above. It’s pretty clear that the Testimony they gave would be along those lines that the Steele investigation revealed a great number of questionable relationships between Trump, his organisation, and the campaign, and Russians with links to the Kremlin. Trump has already been convicted via his casinos of money laundering. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/trump-taj-mahal/index.html
The deal wrt to Florida Mansion sale to a Russian Oligarch reeks of money laundering as well. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/why-did-a-russian-pay-95m-to-buy-trumps-palm-beach-mansion/
to name but two examples.
These people have Trump in their pocket.
‘Google has moved more than £14 billion ($26.8b) into a tax haven in a controversial bid to slash its bills.
The internet search giant funnelled the cash through low-tax European countries and then into Bermuda, in a switch thought to have saved it £2.7b ($5.1b) in 2016.
To reduce its bills, Google books most of its international advertising revenues – including those from the UK – in low-tax Ireland.
It then passes this on to a company in the Netherlands, where there are also generous tax laws, in a strategy known as “the Double Irish with Dutch Sandwich”.
From there the money is sent to Bermuda, where the corporate tax rate is zero.
The Internal Revenue Service is demanding a whopping $7 billion or more in back taxes from the world’s most profitable hedge fund, whose boss’s wealth and cyber savvy helped Donald Trump pole-vault into the White House.
Suddenly, the government’s seven-year pursuit of Renaissance Technologies LLC is blanketed in political intrigue, now that the hedge fund’s reclusive, anti-establishment co-chief executive, Robert Mercer, has morphed into a political force who might be owed a big presidential favor.
The American New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt’s first two terms combined the goals of financial stabilization, reconstruction, conservation, and employment—jobs for the jobless; public works; power systems and new industries, especially in the South; soil conservation and reforestation to battle the Dust Bowl; and a potent mix of regulations and insurance to assert public power over high finance.
Doesn’t that sound like the sort of thing we should be doing. It might save us big grief if we could batten down the hatches, borrow some money while it is still cheap and do something about our infrastructure. Alternatively we could continue on back to the glory days of previous laissez faire approaches and use child labour down mines, women naked to the waist etc. Men working in bare feet building roads. Old people in workhouses. The RW haven’t got any ideas about governing for the people, when push comes to shove it’s them at the front of the queue for any benefits, advantages to be handed out.
I’m sick of us paying pollies to drive the mammoth vehicle straight into a blinding disaster. They are trying to bring us back to where we should have been ten years ago. But now times are different and upskilling the problem solving to practical, rather than theory based would be good.
Talking about miserly sods who make mega bucks. This morning I was listening on RNZ to the back story of the Scandanavian flat pack empire Ikea. The guy who owns it has spent his life cost cutting, dodging tax and making it his life ambition to shave costs from the day of its inception. Now I have no truck with shaving costs, but to have all his well earned profit going into tax havens makes me feel a bit dirty as if I need a shower.
It must be a miserable existence to spend your entire life just wanting more and more and never giving a little to make life better for his employees and to support his country with the largesse of his good life – taxes to help the country to be a decent place to live. This skinflint is worth millions and is in the world’s top rich list. Good for him for being so successful but a really black score for being such a miserable shit. We have many more like him in this world and what a sorry state the world is in for it.
I put the arsehole Peter Thiel in the same bracket. Pops down to NZ. Ingratiates himself with wannabe billionaires like John Key. Spreads a bit of largesse around to make it look like he’s generous. Buys a swanky mansion down Queenstown way. Rumoured to have purchased other properties – probably for tax avoidance/evasion purposes. Finally signs a deal with the Key government… does the dirty on them and skives off with all the profits… fleecing the NZ taxpayers in the process.
‘He said it was the worst conditions the area had seen in decades.
“This is my first year where I’ve had to make the decisions, which has been a baptism by fire. My father has been on the farm 44 years, running it, born and bred on the farm, he’s never seen anything like this.”
The muppets sandflys were at it again today were ever I go the sandflys are following me playing with them selves I see there moves and lol.
I have told stories about when I was young and I said when he tried to hit me I ran away some people have enterpered that as I was badly beaten well know I had fights with people a couple of years older than me but because cause of my grate grandmother Mana everyone treated me really well after she died it changed but not totally. I figure out that it was them knowing that my mama will and the money in my accounts you see at the time of the incident of taking me to the bank I did not know it was to draw out my money. It wasn’t until one of my favourite aunties asked what happened to the money and her will and that mama told her that she was leaving everything to me that I came to that conclusion of being used for the money my MAMA has a lot of Mana. My wife had a hard life when she was young what I don’t get is intelligent people around her when she was young would have known what was going on and chose to do nothing WTF.
Alcohol was used to destroy Maori Mana.
Alcohol and a deceit full society.
Ana to kai
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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 is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
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, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
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 ...
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Could anyone give me their experience of Hospital waiting lists?
I am about to go into the system for a hip operation.
First there is the wait for an appointment for x rays, followed by a review, followed by a specialist appointment inside four months, if I get into the top points.
Apparently within another four months I may qualify hopefully for surgery.
I just wondered what the “on the ground” experience was, as I have heard people can go on and off the list depending on money available to do a number of operations.
So, do I hold my breath or plan my life anyway? 2018. A pivotal year personally at 76.
PS. pain is so bad I am now on a walker, though the inflammation has been greatly helped by rose hip oil capsules twice daily plus pain meds.
I can help with this.
My mum needed a hip replacement which was completed about 2 weeks before Christmas in the Waikato.
Was all done under public health. Total time from docs to surgery was under 2 months.
Edit Mum is about the same age as you also.
Thanks James. I’m in Rotorua. I believe it varies.
Patricia I have been waiting since 2007 for an (ACC) covered Hernia operation to be done with (only local anaesthetic administration) in either HB or Gisborne.
No surgeon in NZ will perform a ‘local anaesthetic operation on a hernia’ – even a simple inguanal hernia as mine is.
You may wonder why I have need of ‘local anaethsetic’?
I have extreme drug reations to chemicals and drugs and my medical specialists have requested only local anaestic administration be used and not use either ‘general or spinal’ administration with me as it may cause death.
We need labour coalition to fix this impass now that national are gone.
There are many still awaiting surgery as I am so we need to do better, and thanks for the question I hope this helps.
Yes, I also have issues being an asthmatic and ex polio. LOL never really “ex” as the effects are life long.
I have heard of a hip op done as you describe. I’ll ask my friend where her surgery was done 5 years ago.
I hope things improve for you as that is a painful situation, and limiting.
Hi Patricia – close relative (78) had her hip done under epidural and sedation. Went very well and quick recovery time. Up and about quickly and excellent long term outcome. Sadly great variation between DHBs and waiting times.
My mother, now in her mid-80s, has had a number of hip operations over the last few years, starting from when she broke her hip in a fall.
Prior to the fall, she was experiencing pain and lack of function, and was in the early stages of a hip replacement process. Immediately after the fall, hardware got put in the top of her femur to give her some mobility back in the short term (a hip replacement then and there wasn’t feasible because of the break location).
After recovery had progressed far enough, she went back into the queue for a replacement. The schedule kept shifting, so she went ahead with her life including making arrangements for overseas travel to visit family. Then shortly before departure she got scheduled for the op at a time that would have required cancelling the trip. She decided the trip was more important to her and went ahead with that, so she lost her place in the queue.
However, it was only a few months after her return that they were able to schedule her back in and she got the replacement not much later than she would have otherwise.
So it seems to me that planning her life and living it anyway worked out ok for her. Her experience also looks to me like the health authority involved (Waitemata) do recognise that people have lives to live, and it’s one of the factors they have to account for when juggling all their different priorities. No, the timeline wasn’t as fast or convenient for her as it might have been with a fully-paid private route, but it did look to me like the system did a fair job of balancing the different constraints it has to work under.
Of course, your experience may end up wildly different…
I too have family in Australia. That is part of the equation at my age .
Hiya patricia…sorry to hear of your troubles…and such a pity that the option of legal medical cannabis is not available to you….I have heard that even a balm can be quite relieving for such pain. 😉
My recommendations….be available for surgery once you get to the “You do need the surgery and you’re now on the list stage.” My partner ended up on such a list a few years ago and settled in for a long wait…couple of weeks later they had a ‘gap’, he got a call, “Can you come in tomorrow morning?” and voilla!
Another guy I know was told he could have the hip surgery done nowish if he was willing to go to Rotorua Hospital rather than wait for it to be done at Waikato.
Now…I wouldn’t ever suggest that anyone manipulate the system, but, if perchance, a person had a fall or a stumble and was writhing in agony (say in the middle of a busy pedestrian crossing at rush hour) and an ambulance was called to transport said person to A&E then suddenly the situation is an ‘accident’ and an ’emergency’ and voilla (again !) operating theatres and orthopeadic surgeons miraculously become available. This happened to my ninety year old neighbour some years ago after some time languishing where you seem to be. Afterwards she commented that she should have had her fall months earlier. 🙂
And another elderly friend, then in her 75th year, needed cataract surgery. She became highly pissed off at seemingly every doctor upon the road to the surgery asking her if she had medical insurance. This was 28 years ago and she did…but that wasn’t the point…there was, even then…this herding of as many patients as possible out of the public system and into the private system. More often than not it is the same surgeons performing in both venues…and my friend knew she was being profiled…
She was getting to the stage of being unable to drive so with great reluctance went private….then the insurance company tried to rip her off.
Your are entering shark invested waters mate….
If you truly want to become depressed…google “hip surgery unmet need” and you’ll find some uplifting academic research that rather coldly calculates the odds of making it to the table.
https://nzoa.org.nz/system/files/Quantifying%20the%20demand%20for%20hip%20and%20knee%20replacement.pdf
https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/read-the-journal/all-issues/2010-2019/2016/vol-129-no-1432-1-april-2016/6861
“Firstly, replacing joints in patients who have lived with disabling arthritis for a significant period of time, and who have more co-morbidities, is likely to result in poorer outcomes with higher postoperative complications. Secondly, managing these patients in the community will require increased resources. Thirdly, operating on ‘end-stage’ osteoarthritis can be surgically demanding, resulting in the use of more expensive implants, more extensive rehabilitation and intensive nursing; all of which require added resources.”
The very best of luck patricia….
Where you come on the public service waiting list is based on need.
The higher your perceived need the quicker you will be seen.
While I wouldn’t wish to direct you to lie I would suggest you talk up the impact it is having on your life/mobility as much as you possibly can with the help of a supportive general practitioner.
And tell them you are in severe pain most of the time. It is, or at least was, more important than whether you can get around.
The Doctor who assessed me before I had mine replaced told me that you have to tell them the pain is unbearable. It is not the Doctor who decides whether you get on the queue. It is someone working in the DHB office who only sees your responses to a questionnaire.
It is an enormous change in your circumstances though.
No more pain.
Rosemary, this is as I thought. Thanks for your good wishes.
Rosemary that has been the experience of friends in the past. I had depressed myself earlier with the documents you listed xx.
“I had depressed myself earlier with the documents you listed xx.”
Actually…that quote I put up…“Firstly, replacing joints in patients who have lived with disabling arthritis for a significant period of time, and who have more co-morbidities, is likely to result in poorer outcomes with higher postoperative complications. Secondly, managing these patients in the community will require increased resources. Thirdly, operating on ‘end-stage’ osteoarthritis can be surgically demanding, resulting in the use of more expensive implants, more extensive rehabilitation and intensive nursing; all of which require added resources.”
wasn’t supposed to depress…its a hint. 😉 😉
Also…use your previous diagnosis of polio for all its worth…seriously, its a ‘co-morbidity’ that could/has already exacerbated your dodgy hip.
The last thing they wan’t is for you to lose independence…you’ll cost ’em more in the long term.
My partner has been a full time wheelchair user since 1970. At some stage, a tumble from his chair must have broke a hip (he can’t feel the pain) and it has set a bit weird. A few years ago he suddenly got an ugly, red swollen lump on that hip. Made sitting in his w/c really difficult. Chances of a hip replacement for someone who will never walk again and is already dependent on others for support is zero. This preparation was recommended ….https://www.nz-online-pharmacy.com/products/traumitane-recovery-action-cream-75g.html…twice daily. Way more effective than the hot rubs or the anti inflammatory rubs…and very gentle on a chemically sensitive skin. Tears of relief when the ugly red lump went away…..
Rosemary thanks. I use painaway from Aus. It will be good to find a helpful thing here. You both deserve a good New Year xx
My theory ,for what it’s worth,is to always try and get a woman surgeon.Their success rate is better AFAIK.They seem more kind,caring and delicate in surgical matters,more finesse,nimble fingers.Its a conveyer belt system,quite efficient and impersonal.I suppose I can be accused of being sexist with my observation.Too bad.
Are you saying that someone could be better at a job simply because of their physical sex ?
Your theory is bullshit. It’s best to get an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in hips and performs multiple operations per week, furthermore it’s preferable that the surgery is performed in one of the main regional centres.
I would assume that these ops are performed by specialists in that field,not by anyone who walks through the door.Anyway your condemnation of my theory as b/s moved me to find out if it had any substance.
http://time.com/4975232/women-surgeon-surgery/
So you agree that a persons physical sex can make them more suited to a particular job or task ?
only as a generality, it can’t be applied to individuals. And it’s not so much about gender making someone more suited, it’s that there are broad differences that affect things. Some are biological, some are social, good luck figuring that out.
Here’s the two useful paragraphs from that Time piece:
“Even after those adjustments, patients of female surgeons were 4% less likely to die, be readmitted or experience complications 30 days after their surgery compared to patients of male surgeons.”
So if there really is a difference, and not just an artefact of torturing the data, then the difference is still very very small.
“In the meantime, he says, gender shouldn’t be a factor in deciding which surgeon should be in charge of your next operation. “You should select a surgeon based on the rapport you have with him or her, what your family physician recommends, and the research you do,” says Satkunasivam. “You should be equally confident with a male or female surgeon.” ”
Not that you’re likely to have much choice in New Zealand’s system, mind. But it still points to the value of doing what you can to build rapport with your practitioners.
I agree, and it’s a big failing of the NZ system that it’s relatively difficult to choose the specialist or surgeon you see. Not impossible, but there is little attention paid to the value of having someone you get on with.
Supposedly the chance of extreme adverse effects after surgery are 5%..i.e 1/20.On those odds ,even a 4% better success rate is a big plus imo.
Given that reports written to claim there’s a difference between A and B usually find a way to maximise the apparent size of that difference, I interpret that reported 4% difference to mean that the rate of post-operative adverse events for female surgeons is say 4.85% and the rate for male surgeons is 5.05%, to end up with an average rate of 5% for all surgeons.
Yes it’s possible the rates are of the order of 2% and 6% respectively (allowing for there being a lot more male surgeons than female surgeons, to get a mean of around 5%). But if that were the case, I would expect the headline to be something like “Post-operative adverse events are 3 times higher for male surgeons than for female surgeons”
Thanks Zorb6 I will re-apply for my ACC operation now asking for a Woman for my operation too, as as a man while in Canada I underwent several medical proceedures and in several cases my experiences with women specialists/surgeons I recieved a full careful treatment and recovery that was provided was excellent there, so I agree with you there.
Bottom line, to qualify for hip or knee replacement there has to be “bone on bone” – if there is any padding inbetween they will make you wait that bit longer. Then you wait for the operation which is usually within 4 months. I don’t know about knee reconstructions or partial knees. I have had a knee replaced and it has worked wonders for me. I kept off pain killers and just used plenty of athletic strapping and local pain rubs like Deep Heat. Hips are a bit more difficult to keep the pain under control. Fish Oil and Glucosomine with Chondroitin also are great for hips and knees.
“Fish Oil and Glucosomine with Chondroitin also are great for hips and knees.”
Thanks for the info Kate, I am beginning to get hip problems and I have told my JP surgery is out. At my age, it would be a complete waste of time and money. Sooner they did it on younger persons or spent the money on some poor unfortunate kid.
My hip plays up at night keeping me awake I take the occasional Panadol as I am not a pill popper but have stayed away from those other products as I was not sure how they would work. Was about to visit my JP for his advice but now I will visit the chemist and buy some of those products
I hope my hip joint does not get too bad as we do a lot of photography, well, the photography is a means to an end it to get us out in the wild to appreciate this country of ours before it is well and truly stuffed.
Take the fish oil and glucosomine morning and night – I use quite high doses of the fish oil and what ever the glucosomine says on the label you can up the dose on that as well. It made all the difference to me when I started taking it twice daily instead of just the once. I presume you are using a walking stick. Also swing both legs out of the car when you get out and when getting up off dining chairs swing both legs around as well – try and keep the hips and legs together when sitting – no crossing legs or letting your legs lay apart when sitting.
As for your age – if it means you are going to have a better quality of life and you have over all general good health, then I think you should get it done and I am sure your doctor will agree.. We are all entitled to health care in this country.
Thank you for the tips. I invested in a swivel seat for the car. My problem is I have to lift my left leg now because of polio as a child…. adds to the woes.
Thanks for your reply Kate. No, I am fortunate that I can walk with no problems and have no need for a walking stick, I feel it has only just started, well been like this for the last 2 years about and only get pain when I lie down in bed or drive for long stretches.
Thanks for the general tips about getting up off chairs etc.,
Yeah, I agree with your last sentence Kate, but I have been fortunate had several hand ups along the way that has given me a successful life. I know we are all entitled to health care but after the Tories have destroyed the public system. and now with the limited health care and money available I feel in my very late years I don’t need expensive procedures just for a few years before I kick the bucket.
My GP (not JP as written in my first response. that is known as an SOS Silly Old Sod Syndrome) would agree with you.
100% Half crown
I too am 73yrs old and feel the same here too.
Halfcrown, I mentioned Vital rosehip GOPO It has been clinically tested in 15 trials. (I could not use anti inflammatory aids other than this as they depressed my kidney function.) My hip to knee was hot and inflamed and within a week it had improved and a month later I realised I was able to sleep and sit a great deal longer and my hip was hot at one point only.
I have just started Glocosamine and chondroitin. It is not cheap, but will help as the tablet has Vit D etc. I don’t get out much currently as I had polio as a child and this is my “good” leg and I’m prone to falls.
I blessed the election, as we were in Australia when my hip was suddenly totally bad. The internet and this site gave me something else to focus on at 3.a.m.
Christmas and New Year are a “slow time” for progress with hips etc. (possibly car accidents, holiday period in general). Good luck with the treatment.
We have ordered the next lot of rosehip and await it from Chemist Wharehouse Auckland. An Australian crowd just starting up here. Norm got his glucosamine
from Go Healthy online. Cheers.
Patricia,
I too have a knee injury and am awaiting an operation on it to but no light at the end of the tunnel yet as there is a very slow rate of surgery of knee replacement now during 2017 so 2018 may be better.
My knee surgery Specialist comes from Hamilton to Gisborne and can only book twice on (two wednesdays) a month and he said last time that he is booked for six months ahead.
My knee injury was an ACC claim as it was pinned and crushed by a boat against a reef while fishing.
My inside left knee meniculus was ‘torn’ so it now feels like bone on bone and aches occassinally too.
The emergency doctor only gave me an opiate last year in may, (which I didn’t take)
I have used your treatment of fish oils and Glocosamine and chondroitin and use a floor cycle to excercise with now.
Now I have two small bottles of “Vital 3” I just recieved from my wife as she sent an order to ‘Vital3.com’ in NY for some as she saw it on the website.
Before I try three drops with water every morning do you know about the product?
Cleangreen, no not that one. I hadn’t seen that before. Just read about the USA trials and patent online now.. Try it, as it doesn’t affect other meds. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I’ll be interested to hear of your progress. Please let us know. Good luck.
Thanks for that Patrica I will be going ahead with the advice and suggestions from both you and Kate.
Thank you very much Kate very good advise.
I think it depends on what DHB you are in too.
From people I know who’ve been through this, keeping the pressure on helps. The people managing the lists are working in a stressful situation (not enough funding), but I think polite but firm persistence, especially if you are being given the run around, can keep them focussed. It’s work, but if you’re not getting your medical needs attended to, go back to your GP, get a letter, give it to the hospital, phone them, talk to the manager etc. Yes there are processes and rules, but people get dropped out because of the limits of the system, and reminding them of your rights can get you back in and reprioritised.
(and yes, that means someone else will get dropped off. If this is manageable for you, start hassling your local MP as well).
“…keeping the pressure on helps.”
Hah! I know another guy, in his seventies, who still blames Labour for all the failings in the Public Health system. His usual MO when told to wait his ‘turn’ for hip, knee, shoulder surgery (he has had all of these) is to visit his local MP (always National) and proceed to rant and rave with promises to return if they don’t sort it. Seems to work. Alternatively, it could be the fact that he has a rather well developed sense of entitlement and conveys such to whichever health professional has the misfortune to suggest that there might be a wait.
And fuck me…it really seems to do the trick…
Yes!!! xx May be I should bother Tamati Coffey LOL Ta Rosemary.
I had surgery in 2013 at Waikato Hospital. To speed the process up, my GP referred me to a private specialist surgeon who also worked in the public system.
After the consultation, the surgeon put me on the waiting list, advising it was urgent case. I had to pay for the private specialist and an MRI.
Five months later I had the operation. If I didn’t go private for the specialist surgeon consult and MRI, it would have added another six months to the process.
It seems wrong that I had to pay around $1,500 myself because the system is so slow.
Maybe you could do something similar to speed things up, if possible?
I hope things go well for you and you have a speedy recovery.
Thank you all for your responses. In your head you know you are not alone with this, but at 3.a.m it can feel like that!
I am cheered by your suggestions, I guess I worry they may not be very quick, as my doctor said possibly Nov, and I thought “well I’m going to live my life.”
Hoping the best for you
Good commentary by Glenn Greenwald about Iran.
I wonder why Greenwald never appears on New Zealand television….
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/2/glenn_greenwald_on_iran_protests_trump
That was his best comment.
Greenwald will never appear on NZ TV, they are corporate lap dogs barking the truth they want you to hear.
“Liberalism is good for you, why even question it – go back to your barbque, and look they changed government, so everything is fine.”
Never! Not even once. Well maybe a little bit.
I should have said, he will never appear again. As he did a few times in 2014 – remember ‘the moment of truth’?
No, I can’t remember it 🙄
I expect the probability he’ll appear on TVNZ again soon just went up. Murphy’s Law.
Destroy a county’s economy via sanctions. Sit back and wait for things to hopefully boil over. Give a further nudge, a push or a shove if possible. If and when country disintegrates, point out it was a basket case of a place and ride in on a white horse of humanitarianism to rip it wide open for
“free market” exploitationdemocracy …to be governed by western friendly administrations.Okay. Now I’ll watch the vid and be very surprised if Greenwald is deviating from that basic line that repeats in country after country that the west has a dim view of.
What will 2018 bring for Donald Trump? Senator Mitt Romney of Utah. One more Republican that won’t be afraid to criticise him. And even, if it ever gets that far, vote for conviction in an impeachment proceeding.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-drive-to-block-mitt-romney-from-senate-stumbles?ref=home
The vacuous Megan Whelan said nothing this morning when her guest said that
boycotting Israel “reminds some people of the Nazi boycotts of the Jews”.
RNZ National, Wednesday 3 January 2018, 9:30 a.m.
I tuned in to this outrageous little piece of propaganda masquerading as analysis toward the end, so I wasn’t sure who was speaking. I assumed he was someone from the Israeli Consulate, because he made several sleazy insinuations against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, and talked condescendingly and dishonestly about Lorde’s decision to boycott Israel. I thought it might be the infamous Dr David Cumin, who reared his head in late 2016 in order to denounce Marama Davidson….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08102016/#comment-1241801
But this voice was different to Cumin’s. I knew I’d heard him before, but who WAS it? He spoke as smoothly and with the same nerveless dishonesty as Dr Cumin. It might have been the Wellington dentist David Zwarz, who used to be the go-to man whenever the media needed a local comment supportive of a massacre in Gaza, or the shooting of unarmed Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem. But it wasn’t David Zwarz.
Who WAS it?
Finally, at the end of the interview, his patsy Megan Whelan identified him: “That was Professor Robert Ayson, from Victoria University’s School of Strategic Studies.”
Of course! Robert Ayson!!! This bloke has form. A couple of years ago, he insisted to me by email that U.S. troops kill civilians with the best intentions….
I replied:
He did not reply to that.
http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.co.nz/2018/01/prof-robert-ayson-explains-why-mass.html
—————————————-
There is something I find even more disturbing than the malicious propaganda these people routinely dispense: the silence, bordering on approval and complicity, of the person supposed to be interviewing them. David Cumin’s patsy was Jesse Mulligan, who like the others in the studio remained silent as Cumin poured scorn on Marama Davidson and the rest of the protestors who broke through Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza in 2016. I suspect this was a condition insisted on by Cumin before he spoke.
Robert Ayson’s patsy this morning was Megan Whelan, who seems to have no knowledge whatsoever of the situation in Palestine, or of the movement to boycott Israel. On such ignorant and compliant accomplices do Israeli apologists depend.
Aw you are awful @ Morrisey! But I like you
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJmg-879j5o )
Being vacuous these days can apparently be an asset amongst those that are aspirational members of the 4th Estate
Megan Whelan is one of the producers for Jim Mora’s light chat show. Today’s hapless non-performance was not unusual….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06092017/#comment-1379646
This transcript sums up what is wrong with the chattering classes.
Mora never discusses the profound issues and delights in trivia.
Yes. Megan and Jim are both extremely ‘nice’.
I think possibly RNZ are using the holiday period to train the next generation of personalities and presenters.
At times I think they must also be using it to train the new breed of panel operators (or whatever they call them these days) too.
Brilliant Morrissey
Well worth the read about the actions of twitter and facebook. Happy to promote the violence of the state. But God help you if you say “F%^k off” to rapist or their apologists, you will get banned.
https://leecamp.com/twitters-new-rules-reward-military-violence-small-time-threats-facebook/?mc_cid=465790d481&mc_eid=524e48683c
The US is fucked:
Once the US dollar loses its place as the Reserve Currency of the world, which should have happened when they dropped the Gold Standard under Nixon, the US economy will crash and burn as the world stops using the US$ for trade.
Shadow armies: The unseen, but real US war in Africa
But wait, there’s more…
It’s not just the US that is trying to grab all of the remaining resources of the world for themselves.
And people still think that we don’t need a defence force.
100% Draco I lived there in Africa for a year and you are right on there.
As I witnessed then there is a real power play of ‘international’ corporates as they scramble for Africa’s resources as you show there is again now.
People might want to check out this article (https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/01/02/the-10-dumbest-rightblogger-writings-of-2017/) – a review of the 10 most ridiculous set of excuses and obsfucations used by far right commentators when trying to spin dumb comments and decisions from Trump. It’s informative and entertaining and there are lot of links.
It’s not the 10 worst comments or decisions (that would be a hard list to compile – imagine having to decide what to leave out), the focus is more on how media commentators, bloggers, spin docs etc aligned with Trump try to find or manufacture some sense in what he’s saying and doing.
There are no political solutions. When people can lie to themselves, and other with this sort of ease.
Thoroughly depressing reading. No wonder right wingers are happy, with this level of self delusion.
The “Italian Job” is a great English movie that Fintan O’Toole sees as a metaphor for their Brexit mess.
“Which brings us to The English Job of 2018. The British government is currently like Croker’s gang – immobilised by an impossible choice while their grand project teeters over the abyss. They can keep moving towards the fool’s gold of hard Brexit, but if they do their economy will go over the cliff. Or they can keep the bus from falling by moving away from their dreams towards the far end.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-brexit-was-only-supposed-to-blow-the-bloody-doors-off-1.3342337
Smart writing!
You mean the O’Toole piece? It seems to be a question of how many times you can use one movie reference in a single opinion piece.
I suspect ‘hard Brexit’ (what ever that means) will be about as terrible for the UK economy as Brexit was in fact. Remind me wasn’t a Brexit outcome going to cause the UK economy to enter recession?
The supporters of Brexit I suspect didnt want it. They were hoping that there was a no vote so they could have the continued luxury of moaning about the EU without having to do anything. Now they have to back their words up with actions and they have no idea what to do except bumble along. They are probably waiting for someone to say, “let’s not do this’.
That is my theory anyway.
2017, The 4th year of super mergers.
Just thought of a slogan to keep repeating each time that Gnational gnashes it’s teeth again at the Labour coalition.
Think RATIONAL
Not National
Support LABOUR>>>
1000%
Think rational – direct action – take it back.
4th Year?
Mega-mergers have been happening since the 1980s when deregulation set in – and we’ve been told of the consequences for poorer services, higher prices and other forms of monopoly powers since.
I reckon it’s been quite some time since either has seen his own button in the flesh.
That must be his most irresponsible tweet yet.
America …decline and fall.
He’s watching the box.
https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/948358498462650369
That is very scary.
President watches Fox News and repeats their lines.
For a second I thought you said ‘his most irresistible tweet ‘. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. I do hope the North Korean leader has a sense of humour. Good luck to possible talks that the North and South might have which I heard about on RadioNZ today.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSlMHArVMAARO3A.jpg
Health warning should have been attached.
Auuughhhh!!!@! My eyes!!!!!
Remind me to never click on one of your links ever again.
There is a crash coming.
And it will be bigger than 2008.
‘Global instability appears to be the big risk for NZ economy
This year could see a geopolitical crisis on the scale of the financial crash a decade ago, a New York-based political risk consultancy is warning.
Citing “daunting” global political challenges, Eurasia Group said that “if we had to pick one year for a big unexpected crisis – the geopolitical equivalent of the 2008 financial meltdown – it feels like 2018”.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/world/100298745/2018-feels-ripe-for-a-big-unexpected-crisis-eurasia-says
They are just guessing, they had a sweep at work on whether there will be a crash and most thought it would be in a year with 8 in it.
No wonder New Zealand has a problem with alcoholism.
The consumption of this class B drug is glorified.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11968990
New Zealanders told to conserve water.
Meanwhile, rich foreign corporations takes money for free and make mega bucks.
Why is New Zealand so stupid?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MPD_NZ/status/947972622804848640
We are likely to be in Dire Straits paying for not enough water for us with all this Money for Nothing. Just a bunch of yo-yos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcFFqGjz0_c
Now look at them yo-yos, that’s the way you do it
You play the [odds on the casino see]
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain’t dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb
Agriculture is killing us.
And the article doesn’t mention the damage agriculture does to our environment.
‘Agriculture remains New Zealand’s most dangerous industry to work in, according to WorkSafe New Zealand.
As of November 2017, nine people lost their lives working in the industry last year – with three of those people dying as a result of quad bike accidents.
With a total of 124 deaths in the past six years, the sector is New Zealand’s deadliest. ’
https://t.co/Jrt6A6kQcv?amp=1
Thank you. Links appreciated.
Great article.
‘Jamie-Lee Ross eventually had a very nice meal.’
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/01/03/2017-parting-shots-from-the-right-tantrums-bloated-entitlements-and-low-low-expectations-for-our-youth-toru/
And the statistic of the year is…
11737 – 2
That’s not a statistic.
Thanks for the link draco – I remember the table being tweeted – and good that the Royal Society of Statistics has chosen this (or rather the 69 lawnmower deaths per year) to be the most significant statistic of the year – and one that is on the increase.
Reminds me of the story about the guy who was driving home from work and saw someone cutting their hedge with a rotary mower. Wow that’s a great idea he thought! On his subsequent trip into the hospital with all his fingers chopped off – the doc in emergency says: “Don’t tell me – but you were driving home and saw this guy cutting his hedge with a rotary mower – right?
“Yeah! How did you know?
” because I’ve just treated him.”
President Trump is threatening to suspend the US$400 million a year it spends in the Palestine Authority areas, if the Palestinians don’t get to the peace negotiating table:
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22967.pdf
Kinda puts the Lorde thing in the shade.
You can guarantee Iran will be ready with the cash to substitute-out the (massive) US aid contribution.
Chinese might be interested, too
The owners of Fusion GPS, the outfit who commissioned Steele to investigate and report on Trump, have penned an op-ed saying Trump’s operation is nothing more than a money laundering front.
Explains today’s twitter outburst.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/opinion/republicans-investigation-fusion-gps.html
A very interesting piece – thanks for the link Joe. Pretty much confirms what I have been thinking and saying for the past year. Interestingly Steele chose on his own bat to go to the FBI with the results of his investigation, independently of who had commissioned him, it was that serious. This confirmed with the FBI what they had been hearing from different sources.
The fact that Trump is shunned by every major bank in the US and has used Deutsche Bank for all his business activity, and that he has so many dealings with Russian Oligarchs (who are only oligarchs because of their intimate relationship with the Kremlin) it is hardly surprising that there was something fishy going on. And the twitter outburst today merely confirms it. “He doth protest too much”.
Interesting piece on how the oligarchs came to be.
(you’ll have to cough up an email address)
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/putin-oligarchs-children-by-anders-aslund-2017-06
yep! Public Private Partnerships have got nothing on these guys.
You mean Putin is a stinking capitalist, who would have thought…
Thanks for that joe90 @ 19
It is beyond my comprehension that so many nation’s leaders including Australia, Britain and maybe even NZ are prepared to do business with such a corrupt regime as the Trump administration. Link:
Why don’t Fusion GPS leak their own testimony then?
I guess such Testimony to Congress would be classified – and would be a breech of official information were it to be leaked.
Close, I reckon. The material would have legal privilege if released by the committee – but not if leaked by the submitters, who could then be arrested or sued for defamation etc by interested parties.
I suspected as much. But they could still release an ‘overview’ without revealing the actual content of the testimony. That should be enough to point people in the right direction and set a dialogue going.
Actually I think they have done that already in the piece that joe links to above. It’s pretty clear that the Testimony they gave would be along those lines that the Steele investigation revealed a great number of questionable relationships between Trump, his organisation, and the campaign, and Russians with links to the Kremlin. Trump has already been convicted via his casinos of money laundering.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/trump-taj-mahal/index.html
The deal wrt to Florida Mansion sale to a Russian Oligarch reeks of money laundering as well.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/why-did-a-russian-pay-95m-to-buy-trumps-palm-beach-mansion/
to name but two examples.
These people have Trump in their pocket.
We should deal with these tax dodgers.
‘Google has moved more than £14 billion ($26.8b) into a tax haven in a controversial bid to slash its bills.
The internet search giant funnelled the cash through low-tax European countries and then into Bermuda, in a switch thought to have saved it £2.7b ($5.1b) in 2016.
To reduce its bills, Google books most of its international advertising revenues – including those from the UK – in low-tax Ireland.
It then passes this on to a company in the Netherlands, where there are also generous tax laws, in a strategy known as “the Double Irish with Dutch Sandwich”.
From there the money is sent to Bermuda, where the corporate tax rate is zero.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11969108
Just a thought….
The Scarlet Pimpernel – Madame Guillotine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mJYrRYfre0
The Internal Revenue Service is demanding a whopping $7 billion or more in back taxes from the world’s most profitable hedge fund, whose boss’s wealth and cyber savvy helped Donald Trump pole-vault into the White House.
Suddenly, the government’s seven-year pursuit of Renaissance Technologies LLC is blanketed in political intrigue, now that the hedge fund’s reclusive, anti-establishment co-chief executive, Robert Mercer, has morphed into a political force who might be owed a big presidential favor.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article147454324.html
To add a different flavour to the discourse on paranoid money men JK Galbraith:
https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/2017/10/07/why-europe-needs-a-new-deal-not-breakup-op-ed-in-the-nation-with-james-k-galbraith/
Doesn’t that sound like the sort of thing we should be doing. It might save us big grief if we could batten down the hatches, borrow some money while it is still cheap and do something about our infrastructure. Alternatively we could continue on back to the glory days of previous laissez faire approaches and use child labour down mines, women naked to the waist etc. Men working in bare feet building roads. Old people in workhouses. The RW haven’t got any ideas about governing for the people, when push comes to shove it’s them at the front of the queue for any benefits, advantages to be handed out.
I’m sick of us paying pollies to drive the mammoth vehicle straight into a blinding disaster. They are trying to bring us back to where we should have been ten years ago. But now times are different and upskilling the problem solving to practical, rather than theory based would be good.
Talking about miserly sods who make mega bucks. This morning I was listening on RNZ to the back story of the Scandanavian flat pack empire Ikea. The guy who owns it has spent his life cost cutting, dodging tax and making it his life ambition to shave costs from the day of its inception. Now I have no truck with shaving costs, but to have all his well earned profit going into tax havens makes me feel a bit dirty as if I need a shower.
It must be a miserable existence to spend your entire life just wanting more and more and never giving a little to make life better for his employees and to support his country with the largesse of his good life – taxes to help the country to be a decent place to live. This skinflint is worth millions and is in the world’s top rich list. Good for him for being so successful but a really black score for being such a miserable shit. We have many more like him in this world and what a sorry state the world is in for it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04nmxy2
I put the arsehole Peter Thiel in the same bracket. Pops down to NZ. Ingratiates himself with wannabe billionaires like John Key. Spreads a bit of largesse around to make it look like he’s generous. Buys a swanky mansion down Queenstown way. Rumoured to have purchased other properties – probably for tax avoidance/evasion purposes. Finally signs a deal with the Key government… does the dirty on them and skives off with all the profits… fleecing the NZ taxpayers in the process.
And that’s just his NZ pursuits. What a skunk!
“It must be a miserable existence to spend your entire life just wanting more and more …”
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/dec/27/worlds-richest-500-see-increased-their-wealth-by-1tn-this-year?CMP=share_btn_tw
Pity RNZ can’t say the 2 words.
Climate change.
‘He said it was the worst conditions the area had seen in decades.
“This is my first year where I’ve had to make the decisions, which has been a baptism by fire. My father has been on the farm 44 years, running it, born and bred on the farm, he’s never seen anything like this.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/347422/storm-too-little-too-late-for-drought-ravaged-farms
Are you kidding me.
What the &*&^^%%^!!! this really gets my angry.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/100310666/alltime-low-28-barrels-of-oil-dumped-in-west-aucklands-waitkere-ranges
The muppets sandflys were at it again today were ever I go the sandflys are following me playing with them selves I see there moves and lol.
I have told stories about when I was young and I said when he tried to hit me I ran away some people have enterpered that as I was badly beaten well know I had fights with people a couple of years older than me but because cause of my grate grandmother Mana everyone treated me really well after she died it changed but not totally. I figure out that it was them knowing that my mama will and the money in my accounts you see at the time of the incident of taking me to the bank I did not know it was to draw out my money. It wasn’t until one of my favourite aunties asked what happened to the money and her will and that mama told her that she was leaving everything to me that I came to that conclusion of being used for the money my MAMA has a lot of Mana. My wife had a hard life when she was young what I don’t get is intelligent people around her when she was young would have known what was going on and chose to do nothing WTF.
Alcohol was used to destroy Maori Mana.
Alcohol and a deceit full society.
Ana to kai