@Les
The comment does look at alcohol providers being made to take notice and accept some cost of their externalities. Alcohol dependence which gets called ‘hospitality’ fuels the bars profitability – they are more alcohol peddlers than anything else, and mainly useful when they are live music venue for our musicians. Alcohol sellers are so immersed in their own addiction to squeezing out maximum money from the live bodies they are hosting that ordering them to shut before 4 a.m. is greeted angrily
Police have been active in pointing out the rise in incidents in the late night/early morning fuelled by alcohol. From their point of view they are being used as street cleaners, trying to keep order and prevent self-harm or harm to others by people under drug influence who are not open to reason. So tazers seem a reasonable option to them in the circumstances. In a table of control methods I looked at on google, tazers cause far less injuries than dogs for instance. What would be better than suggesting liquor sellers pay half of the tazer cost, is to suggest government show some guts, backbone and integrity and enact laws to nationally close bars earlier, and require application to local councils for special licences to hold Oktoberfest type events, despite all the moans and groans of the hosps.
Add to that a closing module requiring bars etc. to shut their doors to new customers an hour before closing (with exceptions to allow individuals or couples to join friends in the first 20 minutes) plus to announce the closing hour to their patrons, stop serving alcoholic liquor then and advise them real hospitality will be offered for the next hour, at half normal price. They would then only serve coffee or tea – not fruit juice or water which could be the cover for vodka and other mixes, and sandwiches or savouries. And further, have some live music or play NZ music cds, including classical and concert music. (This is very effective in helping people decide to leave. I have seen it used, it works to clear people in a less excited, more rational way.) In that hour they would disperse in dribs and drabs and in better more relaxed mood. This should be a model imposed on all liquor sellers, who would have to put up and shut up.
The entire alcohol system that we have in NZ is, IMO, built around the fact that most people don’t have the requisite self-control. Just look at the noise the alcohol industry makes when limiting opening hours is mentioned.
People with self-control simply plan around the opening hours and enjoy themselves anyway. The rest just go out and get trashed because they can keep buying and buying.
So, should the alcohol industry pay for the damage caused by alcohol? Damn right they should because they’re the ones profiting from it.
Your an example confused.
User pays why should non drinkers subsidize an industry that kills 600 people a year and does $6 billion worth of damage to the economy every year wastes up to 75% of police time 1/2 our prison population is estimàted to be their because of Alcohol related crime.
Infused.
That is an interesting idea. I guess the main advantage of that vs excise tax is the financial incentive to reduce harm of alcohol. However, reducing alcohol harm does mean reducing consumption, so they may figure they are better off paying the hospital bill and decide to do nothing.
[lprent: Why? You have no point to your abuse. You know what the rules are. Pointless abuse is unwelcome. If it is a persistent behaviour we assume you don’t want to comment here. Read the policy again. ]
“Young, drunk and violent people account for more than half of all suspects dealt with by police force, including Tasers, police figures show.”
What they don’t say there is it’s often the same people that the Police are dealing with. Alcohol itself isn’t the problem IMO, it’s more that some people shouldn’t drink.
I’d wager that if they started recording the names of those causing aggravation when they’re pissed they’ll find it’s a small percentage of assholes who can’t handle the drink that ruin it for the rest of us. We’re not all violent drunks.
Rather than ban or restrict booze I think they’d be better off starting to ban certain people from drinking. That wouldn’t completely stop alcohol-fueled offences but I’m sure it would drastically reduce them.
Listening to Tim Grosser this morning and the snake oil flowing off his slippery silver tongue. Trying to credit the falling over of the TPPA signing down to his hard line stance
on dairy access. I call bulshit to that, he is milking it for all it’s worth. None of the automotive big players could agree, and our position was relatively insignificant. It is astounding the media can’t smell a rat and call him out.
Kathryn Ryan’s fawning fan-girl interview with Jerome Kaino:
Yet another opportunity wasted
Radio NZ National, Monday 3 August 2015, 10:10 a.m.
Today’s “feature interview” was a rather dismal showcase of Kathryn Ryan at her worst. Interviews with sports people are rarely very deep or enlightening, but this one was particularly bad, with the nadir being reached as she chuckled indulgently about the way Kaino had described Graham Henry as “a man who communicates with his eyebrows”. Of course she resolutely avoided anything controversial. We have already had a look at Jerome Kaino’s ability to talk bullshit… http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16072015/#comment-1045606
I flicked the following email to Kathryn Ryan. Keep listening, fellas—she might read it out!…..
Why did you not ask Jerome Kaino the hard question?
Dear Kathryn,
I am disappointed you chose not to confront Jerome Kaino with the evidence that he and his colleagues in the All Black forward pack cynically cheated throughout that farcical 2011 RWC final.
You could also have asked him what he thought of the performance, or non-performance, of South African Craig Joubert, the referee of that match.
They really aren’t. Nobody owing allegiance to NZ is killing, wounding or doing GBH to the Queen. Nobody is levying war against NZ or assisting an armed force to invade the country or is using force to overthow the government of New Zealand.
I agree with you, the TPP is a bad idea – particularly ISDS – and secret negotiations are not in the best interests of NZ. I much more favour a network of bilateral agreements, but hyperbole doesn’t help the cause.
“A conspiracy usually involves a group entering into a secret agreement to achieve some illicit or harmful objective.”
Actually they are levying war against the 11 countries involved in the conspiracy.
The 0.01% is a waging which is commonly known as a currency war against every country on this planet. They are doing so by using fraudulent financial instruments and printing money out of thin air repayable with interest. They did so with Greece, They are doing so with the Ukraine and they are doing it with us. John Key loaded us up with $ 100 billion in debt and more than $112 Billion (2012 and counting) in Derivatives. It may not kill people with weapons but it kills people never the less.
The TPPA is just the icing on the cake. It is a conspiracy to commit treason no matter how you look at it!
He explains land is scarce in China, with a lot of it being owned by the government, so people are looking for alternative ways to invest their savings.
He says Chinese people have opted to buy property abroad, rather than invest in the stock market, as it seems like a safer option with a greater guaranteed return.
“When you have one of them here, 10 of them will come; when you have 10 of them here, 100 will come, and then the price [of property] will keep going up, and it’ll almost never come down.
“They come in bunches… and it’s almost impossible to argue they’ll stop coming unless there’s some restriction in terms of how many Chinese can buy in this country, otherwise there’s no stopping them.”
+100 Jim in Tokyo…agreed!…. this will be a major Election issue…and this is how they do it….and this is where Labour and NZF should look to put the restrictions on:
“They come in bunches… When you have one of them here, 10 of them will come; when you have 10 of them here, 100 will come…”
hahaha that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard today. One is just a person, but don’t be fooled, they is sneaky. Two of them? That’s “Chinese”. But ten, that’s a bunch. I can totally believe that guy’s a professor.
I saw two of “them” at the bus stop this morning. They’ve probably attracted or “subdivided” into several thousand units, by now. We are doomed. DOOOOMED!
The kind of growth described is a reflection of how Chinese tend to associate and do business via extended networks of “guan xi.” Once a few Chinese business people find a deal, their networks will start to become active and much more interest will come.
There are new housing developments in Albany where almost all the property owners are Chinese. Whole streets where every site is owned or being built on by a Chinese owner. No integration at all.
That’s very bad for all concerned. I just read on Zero Hedge…what happens when super keen ‘buyers at any price’ transform into desperate ‘sellers at any price.’
That kind of financial volatility is what we are opening NZ up to.
Mass Migrant flows into countries ( or buy ups by foreigners) are not the wishes of the countries concerned or their peoples…but caused and manipulated by capitalist corporate political oligarchies…. and particularly their wars
‘Migrant flow to Europe is result of US, EU military ops in Middle East – Czech president’
“The flow of immigrants to Europe stems from the Western states’ military interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria, which have contributed to the emergence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, Czech President Milosh Zeman told local media.
“The current wave of migration [to Europe] is rooted in the crazy [US] idea to launch an intervention in Iraq, which allegedly had weapons of mass destruction, but nothing was found,” Zeman said in a video interview with the Czech Repubic’s Blesk newspaper published on Sunday….
A non-clinical staff member has been sacked over refusing to have a flu jab, and other staff members have been bullied into having the vaccine against their will. This is contrary to the patient-centred healthcare that DHBs should be modelling, and is a breach of human rights. What’s more, this bullying is likely to increase absences through stress-induced illness.
”The worker had seen unvaccinated staff being made to wear masks, even though they were sitting in a back office writing up notes, at least 20m from the nearest patient room. Signs had also been put up around Waikato Hospital stating workers wearing masks were not vaccinated, they said.” http://m.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11490970
Some workplaces that encourage staff to get the jab use the down time (when patients have to linger in the clinic for a while in case of an adverse reaction) for a team meeting. That’s potentially a neat way of marginalising colleagues who dare to exercise their right to make independent healthcare decisions – they miss out on the meeting/collegiality.
This is what I suspected when we were talking about this the other day. It’s about bullying.
The head dude quoted the Health and Disability Act, so let me say this, if I were in that hospital, I would invoke my rights to good care and effective communication and insist that the person attending me removed their mask 😉
Yes the reason they want staff who interact with patients to be immunised or wear masks is all about bullying not about anything else……. give me strength.
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
Basically you appear to have argued that the DHB is right in what it is doing (coercion etc) because seasonal flu vaccination takes precedent over all other considerations. I think you are wrong, and that coercion and bullying will create an unhealthy workplace and that this will undermine patient care. FFS, we know this stuff already, it’s not new. It is sad to see these considerations being lost.
btw, here’s the list of professional organisations objecting to how the DHB is handling this,
This is being challenged by unions – APEX, the Resident Doctors Association and the New Zealand Medical Laboratory Workers have served the DHB with claims, while a fourth is expected from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
Hardly a bunch of rapid anti-science/anti-vaxxers.
I have a doctor friend who refuses to have her children vaccinated and advised m.y partner at the time not to allow her daughter to aswell. We were horrified to hear that the percentage of deaths was quite high for a vaccine.
I know someone who does neuroscience research at Otago University. A number of the chemicals used to affect various brain tissue qualities in the lab animals are identical or at least very similar to the ones used in a number of NZ vaccinations.
While you’re at it get them to tell you which of them are still used in vaccines at at what concentrations compared to their use in neuroscience.
Oh and if they can name one or two then ask them whether one would likely to be exposed to many hundreds of times higher quantities of the same chemical on a yearly basis through foodstuffs and the like than several hundred lifetimes of vaccinations.
Well, I was thinking critically about the complete lack of information on which chemicals are used at which concentrations for which desired effect (preservatives, maybe?).
But no, let’s all go “oooo, that means some chemicals in vaccines will affect my braaiiin” like good little reflexive paranoiacs.
maybe McFlock jabs himself all the time?…i guess some people could like getting injections and/or giving others injections …lol..never thought of that before
Perhaps mcFlock does… probably preferable to your own peccadillo of clubbing yourself in the head and then typing drivel on the internet while stupefied.
yeah, but you know I don’t fall into either camp and from where I stand you each look as bad as the other in terms of prejudicial thinking and lack of critique.
The main problem I have with the scienceheads is the arrogance that they are always right (when patently they’re not), and that the concerns of lay people should be dismissed on the basis that they don’t have a science degree.
That would be because I can’t be bothered putting my own position out there when the debate is so mired in going nowhere. It’s there for people to read between the lines if they really want to get to it.
I don’t know who Mercutio is, but did you just insult me?
last time I was scared into having a flu vaccination I felt awful and vomited throughout the night…my partner kindly suggested this was because I had low immunity and needed the vaccine and the flu would have been a lot worse…he takes the flu vaccine and doesnt have a reaction..however he also gets flus that I dont get …. and generally a lot worse than me when I do get them…I also have a nephew who doesn’t take vaccinations because once as a child he had a serious adverse reaction
imo the flu vaccines are worse than the flu …but each to their own…people should certainly not be forced to be vaccinated…or sacked for refusing
That may be your opinion Chooky but there is no evidence that influenza vaccine is worse than influenza in fact there is quite considerable evidence to the contrary with several hundred thousand deaths annually world wide directly attributable to influenza.
Once again no one is being forced to be vaccinated…
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
Your implication was that because Chooky was technically wrong her point was invalid. But if we look at the adverse reaction data on the flu vaccine data sheet we can see the symptoms that Chooky describes. That she technically had an adverse reaction rather than contracting influenza virus isn’t actually better.
This is one of the problems with the sciencehead approach. A lay person doesn’t get the theory right, and their basic argument gets written off. But Chooky is right. For her, the reactions to the vaccine were worse than the flu. That’s her lived experience, which of course is a big no no for some people, but in terms of her individual health and healthcare it’s completely relevant.
You read her post and respond by pointing out she is wrong. I read her post and think, fair enough. The loss of the subjective from healthcare is a real problem.
Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective.
Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu”
I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary. If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more mendacious I find you.
“Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective”
And you’d be completely wrong. I look at the arguments being made and go from there. It is true that in this forum I tend to argue against the scienceheads, but I’ve been relatively open about my antipathy for the shortcomings of the anti-vax lobby as well. Some of the anti-vax arguments and actions internationally make me cringe and I think they’ve done a lot of damage (but probably for different reasons than you do).
Vaccination is complex. Some of the concerns that people have about vaccination are valid. Chooky’s comment about her reaction to the flu vaccine is one example. I notice you don’t actually address the points I made about that, so it’s hard to go anywhere useful after that, which is what happens with a lot of these discussions. I’m not interested in absolutes, I am interested in the underlying beliefs behind various people’s positions (all sides), and how that affects health care in its broader sense.
I can also make arguments for vaccination. You seem to want me to be pro or anti, but I’m neither (or I’m both).
“If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more ”
I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.
“Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu” I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary.”
That’s not all she said though, and as I’ve already pointed out we both listened to what she said and heard different things. I’m more interested in that than pedantic arguments about one aspect of a comment someone made. The differences in what gets heard is a core aspect of health care and why there is such a division between the people who believe science is the be all and end all and the people who have experiences that don’t fit into that. Thankfully we still have some rights in this country that allow for the blurry lines that that entails, both as patients and as workers.
“I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.”
Autospelling on smartphones is less than useful unfortunately. Regarding lying no you don’t take any position that allows for an outright lie or truth.
Anyways not sure whether there is much point continuing the discussion in preference to having dinner.
… and on a side note the safety, efficacy and mechanism of vaccination for influenza vaccination is far more settled that the science around anthropogenic global climate change and i would regard anyone who would suggest we don nothing about the man made causes of climate change to as irresponsible as those who would suggest we don’t offer to vaccinate our vulnerable populations against a potentially dangerous illness such as influenza.
And on your side note – if the science is wrong on climate change, you are still more likely to effect good outcomes by having taken care of the environment.
Get the science wrong on flu vaccines and the personal and societal costs are immense.
northshoredoc – I infer from you not deigning to reply to the question that this study doesn’t fit with your view so you disregard it without being able to say why.
I guess you can’t fall back on the weight of evidence line given there isn’t a body of evidence for multi-year effects.
So in the absence of evidence you infer that a medical professional is ignoring research that doesn’t fit their worldview.
Funny thing, perspective. I merely inferred that nsd saw a comment that took a narrow, albeit interesting, effect where vaccine efficacy appears to be reduced when recipients have regularly received similar vaccines for variants of that virus in the past and extrapolated that to a generalised statement about the entire immune system and a massive claim about ethics resulting from a further generalisation based on that statement, and nsd simply inferred that any response would be insufficient to address the preconceptions behind that comment.
I infer from your inference that (if my initial inference was accurate) nsd’s inference was probably pretty accurate.
I asked ‘what does the study say’?; I didn’t ask ‘what implications for public health/ethics/medical protocols/patient safety/research’?.
Given nsd declared that it ‘does not say what you think it does’ it’s not unreasonable to draw a subjective inference from their lack of further response.
Nope you haven’t followed the thread – that’s not the comment whose lack of response I queried.
I didn’t ask NSD to comment on my interpretation of the study; I asked what the study said to them.
As you indicated we all draw inferences, and that’s why I’m not sure why you think this worthy of comment. I daresay NSD couldn’t care less what inference I drew. If they did they’re more than capable of fighting their own corner.
I’m merely pointing out that your inference (of an example of the medical establishment ignoring discussions and research that do not fit with the conventional worldview) is a pretty reasonable example of why someone might not be bothered to answer in the first place, and is easily predictable from the way you misinterpreted your linked article.
I think it’s worthy of comment because I think your inference simply feeds the anti-vax mythos, and that (like global warming) we should all do our part to save lives overall.
I’m still amazed that pro-vaxxers consider all vaccinations under the same umbrella.
Vaccinations are an extremely heterogenous set of drug treatments with widely differing levels of risks, benefits and unknowns, and under no circumstances should be considered as a single category which is “all good” or “all bad.”
To do so would be to fall into the realms of irrationality and “mythos.”
As for saving lives. A simple response to you McFlock. Save them in the areas where they are being lost. Not in the areas they are not.
Kinda misses the point to say ‘I’m saving lives’ so being a prat is OK. Remember what started the thread – Waikato DHB leveraging the patients’ rights code to coerce staff by citing patient safety.
Health unions and others have rightly taken the board to task on that. It’s evidently a point lost on you and, incidentally, the writer of the Herald’s leader today: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11491364
As to the WDHB thing, I suspect the complaints have not so much to do with vaccination as such, more the managerial sickness that seems to be afflicting DHBs across the country as the belts tighten into garrotes. Patient safety might be a plausible justification, but a key motivation for the board’s manner of imposing the policy would be the reduction in staff sick leave.
But how a thread starts and how it ends are frequently some distance from one another.
You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.
Cost is a factor in all healthcare management decisions in DHBs.
What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.
Although, I’m not clear what you meant by ‘complaints’; the likelihood is that these workers are upset by the coercion element, not because it’s arisen from a management cost saving drive.
“You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.”
Really? I thought I was more suggesting that the environment attracts a certain style of management.
“What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.”
The measure is fine. The application seems to be not so much.
Effectiveness is clearly demonstrated in sick leave, less clearly in the patient health area.
You say “coercion element”. I reserve judgement on that.
Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?
I’m not sure how else to describe the risk of losing one’s job other than coercion. Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.
You seem to be using weasel phrases to avoid saying where you stand – why reserve judgement?
What’s less than ideal with the application? Is there a more sensitive manner in which the DHB could have told staff they had to have the vaccine or wear the mask?
“Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?”
No idea. It’s perfectly possible that nz dhbs will not have the results demostrated repeatedly if you google scholar “influenza immunisation sick leave”, but I have no reason to assume that they’re particularly exceptional.
“Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.”
In a hospital? Interesting concept. Hell, my GP wears a mask if the patient has a sniffle, without exception.
I have, however, seen managers implement new policies in different ways. Regardless of the merits of a policy. a bullying “my way or the high way” interaction is sometimes used rather than actualy taking the time to make sure everyone knows why and understands the reasons for it. So that’s why I withhold judgement. I don’t care about masks any more than any other protective equipment, but if the managers are dicks, then coercion might be involved.
If you say so, but the flu vaccine is a vaccine against influenza, not the common cold that NZers insist on calling “the flu.” Unless you’re meaning your partner has suffered weeks-long, life-threatening bouts of influenza multiple times without infecting you, in which case I apologise for the implication.
An opinion on whether the practitioner in question has valid reasons for not vaccinating – surely you wouldn’t want to form an opinion on their decision without knowing the rationale for that decision.
I can only go off the ones I know/have known and I am satisfied with their rationales. These are people who have a foot in both camps so to speak and their decisions are generally well informed.
Perhaps your GP told you not to get a flu vaccination because you didn’t need one ?
Perhaps your GP advises some of their other patients to get flu vaccination because they do.
Or are you telling me that you know of GPs that advise against vaccinations for everyone ? If that is the case I’d be interested in why they have that view and how that could be considered well informed.
as I said the GPs I know have valid reasons for their decisions (as did my GP in her advice). I haven’t suggested that they oppose vaccinations for everyone. I don’t think you could practice if you did, it would be unethical. You’re the one that’s gone down that track, not me.
agreed weka…I know doctors that dont vaccinate their children for everything( they have researched the risks for some vaccines ….and also they dont think it likely their children need that vaccine)….and I know one doctor that is against most vaccinations
….people should shop around for a good doctor who can think for themselves …provide education….and leave the clients free to make their own risk assessments and make up their own minds
Apparently 1 in 100,000 die was a reasonable reason, when you only have one child and not likely to have another because of her age, we figured not to roll the dice.
Funny enough before each winter my employer gets the reject call when they offer me a jab. I always sight it is unhealthy and prefer garlic, lemon and honey. Each year I always ensure 5 days sick leave is taken during winter ( 2 last week lol) with the excuse I have a cold. All up 7 weeks leave per year counting 5 days bereavement leave too.
This is mind numbingly stupid. I’m assuming you’re now talking about childhood vaccinations as children are not usually vaccinated for influenza.
For a start adverse reactions causing death are far rarer than 1/100,000 and the likelihood of contracting the offending disease and having serious harm from it considerably more common.
For a start adverse reactions causing death are far rarer than 1/100,000
Infant death rates in NZ are about 5 per 1,000 births as a comparison. You’re suggesting that vaccination death rates are hundreds or thousands of times lower than that.
Hmmmm with a death rate that low how can you be sure that it is being measured correctly and being recorded in a disciplined reliable fashion here in NZ?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Assuming all that, which categories of infant mortality do you think could be misdiagnosed and are actually vaccine-related?
There are two main methods of detection of adverse reactions: individual reporting of suspected adverse reaction, and following cohorts of recipients for any variation against the general population.
On top of that NZ has about four separate mortality review committees that investigate every death in a few different areas (perioperative, child & youth, perinatal, etc). They’re pretty good at figuring out what caused a death, like traffic accidents or cancer or indeed anaphylaxis within a few minutes of receiving an injection.
But of course none of them can read the matrix like you can.
Wow that sounds incredibly thorough. So when did the last vaccination caused death in NZ occur, according to this very comprehensive system you outlined?
northshoredoc: I would greatly welcome additional government money, public sector time and university resources being poured into supporting, monitoring and providing additional data on chiropractic practice in NZ.
mate, we’re a very small profession which has never ever received any appreciable ongoing funding from the MoH directly or indirectly. If you want us to have additional official oversight, support and monitoring, then that will be a must.
Well, there’s a chiropractic council and an association.
Let’s start with the basics: if a client walks in and they are treated, then leaves in a wheelchair or ambulance, who does the chiropractor mandatorily (for membership and registration) report that to?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Pretend entities are all any you listed, function as.
If you had/have watched the c-span link, you could have identified that two of the co-authors of study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754936# , Coleen Boyle and Frank Stephano are employed by the CDC.
They are accused of shredding documents related to the outcomes of the study.
Gotta be pretty fucken thick, or have an agenda to not see the writing on the wall.
The pharmaceutical industry see’s it coming, which is why they are sponsoring legislation such as SB277 in California.
Thing is, those same companies are now going to under the microscope, along with the endemic corruption, which is a far more sinister threat than any manufactured virus ‘pandemic’.
That’s the cold hard stare of exposure, arrowing the way of every medical professional who’ve spent their career preaching the benevolence of an industry, which directly kills millions of the people every single year.
To be fair, it’s only mind-numbingly stupid if you refuse to accept that garlic, lemon, honey and taking sick leave when not sick are effective prophylactics against infectious disease. Yes, OK, it’s mind-numbingly stupid.
@ Skinny …In the public service i always used to throw sickies at the hint of a sniffle….and ironically enough the more stoic and committed and dedicated public servants who never threw sickies ….always came down with the worst crash and flus lasting weeks ….and on the final count had much more sick leave taken than the sickie throwers…proof it doesn pay to be a Calvinist stoic
+1
It is not acceptable for people who have a cold to front up at work and sprend it, staff know this and do us all a favour as did I last week when slightly off colour. Burnt it off pretty quick 🙂
August 1st is a day that may make the history books in Puerto Rico. This Saturday (technically Monday, since the deadline is on a weekend) Puerto Rico has a major debt payment due in the amount of $58 million that it’s not going to pay. For the first time in its history, Puerto Rico will default.
Puerto Rico has been threatening default since the beginning of time, which has led most creditors to believe its administrators are, yet again, crying wolf. This time will likely be different. Throughout the week, the Governor of Puerto Rico, through his Chief of Staff, has continuously confirmed that Puerto Rico will be unable to make the full payment required by COB Monday. Sources have told me that Puerto Rico has transferred finances to its debt paying authority in an amount that is short its total bill. After years of threats, it’s finally going to happen.
My final confirmation comes from the fact that the island’s top leaders have all left Puerto Rico. Governor Garcia-Padilla is attending a conference of Governors in Colorado, and will be on vacation when Doomsday rolls around. The Secretary of State (second in command) has also left, while President of the Senate and the Speaker of its House of Representatives have all hightailed it out of town, leaving but the little known Secretary of Justice in charge of the government. “Default and flee?” as one analyst quipped on Twitter.
———————————————————————————————————————-
hattip Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/02/1408174/-The-largest-muni-bond-default-in-U-S-history-is-happening
Quote:
Mr Key said: “It’s quite clear from the statements they’ve been making that Australia is looking to reduce … the level at which you have to pay GST from $1000 down to $20 and maybe, potentially, to zero.”
He said Government had not yet discussed what New Zealand’s new limit could be, but it would definitely have to be lowered.
“Otherwise the gap is too large,” he said.
“The balancing act for us is always between the Government trying to have a level playing field and not massive inconvenience for the consumer.”
Asked whether New Zealand’s tax threshold would be similar to Australia’s, he said: “Yes, potentially. I can’t see why there would be a dramatic difference.
“If Australia can get to a point where they can adequately complete the test of being fair but not dramatically inconveniencing consumers then we should be able to do the same.”
End Quote.
If NZ can harmonise with Australia re GST on off-shore online goods, why can’t they do the same re basic foods which are GST-exempt in Australia? Would be good if ordinary consumers got cheaper healthy foods as a spin-off from raising more GST form off-shore online purchases.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
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TPPA? NoNZense!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/70752347/majority-of-people-in-combat-situations-with-cops-have-been-drinking-taser-report-shows
very stupid suggestion.
@Les
The comment does look at alcohol providers being made to take notice and accept some cost of their externalities. Alcohol dependence which gets called ‘hospitality’ fuels the bars profitability – they are more alcohol peddlers than anything else, and mainly useful when they are live music venue for our musicians. Alcohol sellers are so immersed in their own addiction to squeezing out maximum money from the live bodies they are hosting that ordering them to shut before 4 a.m. is greeted angrily
Police have been active in pointing out the rise in incidents in the late night/early morning fuelled by alcohol. From their point of view they are being used as street cleaners, trying to keep order and prevent self-harm or harm to others by people under drug influence who are not open to reason. So tazers seem a reasonable option to them in the circumstances. In a table of control methods I looked at on google, tazers cause far less injuries than dogs for instance. What would be better than suggesting liquor sellers pay half of the tazer cost, is to suggest government show some guts, backbone and integrity and enact laws to nationally close bars earlier, and require application to local councils for special licences to hold Oktoberfest type events, despite all the moans and groans of the hosps.
Add to that a closing module requiring bars etc. to shut their doors to new customers an hour before closing (with exceptions to allow individuals or couples to join friends in the first 20 minutes) plus to announce the closing hour to their patrons, stop serving alcoholic liquor then and advise them real hospitality will be offered for the next hour, at half normal price. They would then only serve coffee or tea – not fruit juice or water which could be the cover for vodka and other mixes, and sandwiches or savouries. And further, have some live music or play NZ music cds, including classical and concert music. (This is very effective in helping people decide to leave. I have seen it used, it works to clear people in a less excited, more rational way.) In that hour they would disperse in dribs and drabs and in better more relaxed mood. This should be a model imposed on all liquor sellers, who would have to put up and shut up.
And I bet hardly any of it is caused by bars…
They are too expensive. It’s young guys (and gals) drinking before they go out. I know, as I did it as a teen. We drunk at a bar once in a blue moon.
The biggest issue is supermarkets.
I know.
Put the price up.
At least that will stop the poor from drinking.
The alcohol industry should be charged of the cost of all alcohol related admissions to hospital.
Why? Because some idiot has no self control?
The entire alcohol system that we have in NZ is, IMO, built around the fact that most people don’t have the requisite self-control. Just look at the noise the alcohol industry makes when limiting opening hours is mentioned.
People with self-control simply plan around the opening hours and enjoy themselves anyway. The rest just go out and get trashed because they can keep buying and buying.
So, should the alcohol industry pay for the damage caused by alcohol? Damn right they should because they’re the ones profiting from it.
Your an example confused.
User pays why should non drinkers subsidize an industry that kills 600 people a year and does $6 billion worth of damage to the economy every year wastes up to 75% of police time 1/2 our prison population is estimàted to be their because of Alcohol related crime.
Infused.
We could just direct income from the alcohol excise tax to the health sector.
There needs to be a price signal to the alcohol industry, that there is a cost.
Can you elaborate. I don’t understand your point.
10 people are admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol issues –
Cost 100k.
Say happens 50 times year. Thus cost is 5million
Bill sent to alcohol industry.
The say look that is costing too much we need to do something to reduce it.
(Note numbers made up)
That is an interesting idea. I guess the main advantage of that vs excise tax is the financial incentive to reduce harm of alcohol. However, reducing alcohol harm does mean reducing consumption, so they may figure they are better off paying the hospital bill and decide to do nothing.
PS thanks for the positive comment.
What a stupid fucking comment
[lprent: Why? You have no point to your abuse. You know what the rules are. Pointless abuse is unwelcome. If it is a persistent behaviour we assume you don’t want to comment here. Read the policy again. ]
Why not the drunks arrested?
They usually are. But it’s an electrified ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
Why not you arrested? For not being in reasonable control of your comments. Do you ever have anything of a positive and individual nature to suggest?
“Young, drunk and violent people account for more than half of all suspects dealt with by police force, including Tasers, police figures show.”
What they don’t say there is it’s often the same people that the Police are dealing with. Alcohol itself isn’t the problem IMO, it’s more that some people shouldn’t drink.
I’d wager that if they started recording the names of those causing aggravation when they’re pissed they’ll find it’s a small percentage of assholes who can’t handle the drink that ruin it for the rest of us. We’re not all violent drunks.
Rather than ban or restrict booze I think they’d be better off starting to ban certain people from drinking. That wouldn’t completely stop alcohol-fueled offences but I’m sure it would drastically reduce them.
Listening to Tim Grosser this morning and the snake oil flowing off his slippery silver tongue. Trying to credit the falling over of the TPPA signing down to his hard line stance
on dairy access. I call bulshit to that, he is milking it for all it’s worth. None of the automotive big players could agree, and our position was relatively insignificant. It is astounding the media can’t smell a rat and call him out.
Kathryn Ryan’s fawning fan-girl interview with Jerome Kaino:
Yet another opportunity wasted
Radio NZ National, Monday 3 August 2015, 10:10 a.m.
Today’s “feature interview” was a rather dismal showcase of Kathryn Ryan at her worst. Interviews with sports people are rarely very deep or enlightening, but this one was particularly bad, with the nadir being reached as she chuckled indulgently about the way Kaino had described Graham Henry as “a man who communicates with his eyebrows”. Of course she resolutely avoided anything controversial. We have already had a look at Jerome Kaino’s ability to talk bullshit…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16072015/#comment-1045606
I flicked the following email to Kathryn Ryan. Keep listening, fellas—she might read it out!…..
Why did you not ask Jerome Kaino the hard question?
Dear Kathryn,
I am disappointed you chose not to confront Jerome Kaino with the evidence that he and his colleagues in the All Black forward pack cynically cheated throughout that farcical 2011 RWC final.
You could also have asked him what he thought of the performance, or non-performance, of South African Craig Joubert, the referee of that match.
Yours in disappointment,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
More on Jerome Kaino….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22052013/#comment-636506
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15122011/#comment-417760
RWC Final – 23rd Oct 2011 – Refereeing discussion from The Breakdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBqetaCfgo
Let’s Call The TPPA “Negotiations” What They Really Are: A Conspiracy To Commit Treason!
They really aren’t. Nobody owing allegiance to NZ is killing, wounding or doing GBH to the Queen. Nobody is levying war against NZ or assisting an armed force to invade the country or is using force to overthow the government of New Zealand.
I agree with you, the TPP is a bad idea – particularly ISDS – and secret negotiations are not in the best interests of NZ. I much more favour a network of bilateral agreements, but hyperbole doesn’t help the cause.
wow… someone with some sense here.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/traitor
“A conspiracy usually involves a group entering into a secret agreement to achieve some illicit or harmful objective.”
Actually they are levying war against the 11 countries involved in the conspiracy.
The 0.01% is a waging which is commonly known as a currency war against every country on this planet. They are doing so by using fraudulent financial instruments and printing money out of thin air repayable with interest. They did so with Greece, They are doing so with the Ukraine and they are doing it with us. John Key loaded us up with $ 100 billion in debt and more than $112 Billion (2012 and counting) in Derivatives. It may not kill people with weapons but it kills people never the less.
The TPPA is just the icing on the cake. It is a conspiracy to commit treason no matter how you look at it!
Over @ Interest.co.nz there’s an interview with Victoria University academic Professor Siah Hwee Ang on Property investment through a Chinese lens
A few snippets:
+100 Jim in Tokyo…agreed!…. this will be a major Election issue…and this is how they do it….and this is where Labour and NZF should look to put the restrictions on:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/wall-of-chinese-capital-buying-up-australian-properties-20150628-ghztdf.html
“They come in bunches… When you have one of them here, 10 of them will come; when you have 10 of them here, 100 will come…”
hahaha that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard today. One is just a person, but don’t be fooled, they is sneaky. Two of them? That’s “Chinese”. But ten, that’s a bunch. I can totally believe that guy’s a professor.
I saw two of “them” at the bus stop this morning. They’ve probably attracted or “subdivided” into several thousand units, by now. We are doomed. DOOOOMED!
The kind of growth described is a reflection of how Chinese tend to associate and do business via extended networks of “guan xi.” Once a few Chinese business people find a deal, their networks will start to become active and much more interest will come.
There are new housing developments in Albany where almost all the property owners are Chinese. Whole streets where every site is owned or being built on by a Chinese owner. No integration at all.
That’s very bad for all concerned. I just read on Zero Hedge…what happens when super keen ‘buyers at any price’ transform into desperate ‘sellers at any price.’
That kind of financial volatility is what we are opening NZ up to.
Mass Migrant flows into countries ( or buy ups by foreigners) are not the wishes of the countries concerned or their peoples…but caused and manipulated by capitalist corporate political oligarchies…. and particularly their wars
‘Migrant flow to Europe is result of US, EU military ops in Middle East – Czech president’
http://www.rt.com/news/311407-migrant-crisis-eu-policy/
“The flow of immigrants to Europe stems from the Western states’ military interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria, which have contributed to the emergence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, Czech President Milosh Zeman told local media.
“The current wave of migration [to Europe] is rooted in the crazy [US] idea to launch an intervention in Iraq, which allegedly had weapons of mass destruction, but nothing was found,” Zeman said in a video interview with the Czech Repubic’s Blesk newspaper published on Sunday….
On the good news front.
Players, fans, the AFL, and the media stand up to the racial B.S. in Australia. Great video – people showing their support to Adam Goodes.
http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-08-02/were-with-adam-players-fans-back-goodes
I’m starting to see why the senior docs’ union vociferously opposed Nigel Murray’s appointment at Waikato DHB: http://www.asms.org.nz/news/asms-news/2014/06/12/waikato-dhb-should-keep-looking-for-chief-executive/
A non-clinical staff member has been sacked over refusing to have a flu jab, and other staff members have been bullied into having the vaccine against their will. This is contrary to the patient-centred healthcare that DHBs should be modelling, and is a breach of human rights. What’s more, this bullying is likely to increase absences through stress-induced illness.
”The worker had seen unvaccinated staff being made to wear masks, even though they were sitting in a back office writing up notes, at least 20m from the nearest patient room. Signs had also been put up around Waikato Hospital stating workers wearing masks were not vaccinated, they said.”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11490970
A good Union would knock that over for it’s members that refuse.
Accepting the flu vaccination is the new mark of corporate conformity. Maybe the unsanctified – I mean unvaccinated – should wear arm bands as well.
Some workplaces that encourage staff to get the jab use the down time (when patients have to linger in the clinic for a while in case of an adverse reaction) for a team meeting. That’s potentially a neat way of marginalising colleagues who dare to exercise their right to make independent healthcare decisions – they miss out on the meeting/collegiality.
Yep. And this is a new way for employers to bully and control staff.
This is what I suspected when we were talking about this the other day. It’s about bullying.
The head dude quoted the Health and Disability Act, so let me say this, if I were in that hospital, I would invoke my rights to good care and effective communication and insist that the person attending me removed their mask 😉
Yes the reason they want staff who interact with patients to be immunised or wear masks is all about bullying not about anything else……. give me strength.
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
Basically you appear to have argued that the DHB is right in what it is doing (coercion etc) because seasonal flu vaccination takes precedent over all other considerations. I think you are wrong, and that coercion and bullying will create an unhealthy workplace and that this will undermine patient care. FFS, we know this stuff already, it’s not new. It is sad to see these considerations being lost.
btw, here’s the list of professional organisations objecting to how the DHB is handling this,
This is being challenged by unions – APEX, the Resident Doctors Association and the New Zealand Medical Laboratory Workers have served the DHB with claims, while a fourth is expected from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
Hardly a bunch of rapid anti-science/anti-vaxxers.
I have a doctor friend who refuses to have her children vaccinated and advised m.y partner at the time not to allow her daughter to aswell. We were horrified to hear that the percentage of deaths was quite high for a vaccine.
I know someone who does neuroscience research at Otago University. A number of the chemicals used to affect various brain tissue qualities in the lab animals are identical or at least very similar to the ones used in a number of NZ vaccinations.
Really ? which ones are those ?
Righto Doc what is the skinny on flu vaccines and deaths in mainly children I presume?
C’mon buddy you’re telling the story, you tell me.
Not sure. I’ll ask them and see if I can find out.
While you’re at it get them to tell you which of them are still used in vaccines at at what concentrations compared to their use in neuroscience.
Oh and if they can name one or two then ask them whether one would likely to be exposed to many hundreds of times higher quantities of the same chemical on a yearly basis through foodstuffs and the like than several hundred lifetimes of vaccinations.
🙄
I even heard that some vaccines contain dihydrogen monoxide, which kills around a hundred NZers a year.
The irony there is that that hoax was supposed to encourage critical thinking. But apparently that only works one way.
Well, I was thinking critically about the complete lack of information on which chemicals are used at which concentrations for which desired effect (preservatives, maybe?).
But no, let’s all go “oooo, that means some chemicals in vaccines will affect my braaiiin” like good little reflexive paranoiacs.
as I’ve mentioned before McFlock, get jabbed with whatever to your hearts content, I ain’t stopping you.
Not with that bullshit, you’re not.
maybe McFlock jabs himself all the time?…i guess some people could like getting injections and/or giving others injections …lol..never thought of that before
🙄
Perhaps mcFlock does… probably preferable to your own peccadillo of clubbing yourself in the head and then typing drivel on the internet while stupefied.
yeah, but you know I don’t fall into either camp and from where I stand you each look as bad as the other in terms of prejudicial thinking and lack of critique.
The main problem I have with the scienceheads is the arrogance that they are always right (when patently they’re not), and that the concerns of lay people should be dismissed on the basis that they don’t have a science degree.
I have no idea where you actually stand.
It’s all very well to play Mercutio, but he only existed as a foil to advance the plot twice with some undetermined motivations and characterisation.
“I have no idea where you actually stand.”
That would be because I can’t be bothered putting my own position out there when the debate is so mired in going nowhere. It’s there for people to read between the lines if they really want to get to it.
I don’t know who Mercutio is, but did you just insult me?
Romeo & Juliet. The guy who said “a plague on both your houses” or similar.
Not an insult as such, more a description of your position from my perspective.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4546421/rep-bill-posey-calling-investigation-cdcs-mmr-reasearch-fraud
Don’t imagine this got widespread recognition by the MSM
The flu vaccine is a fraud and a health risk, and those who endorse it should be struck off for negligence
you do realise that the mmr vaccine has nothing to do with the flu, right?
of course he/she does ….there are side effects to them all….some relatively harmless but for some… deadly
dah dah ….DAH !
derrrh
Undoubtedly.
last time I was scared into having a flu vaccination I felt awful and vomited throughout the night…my partner kindly suggested this was because I had low immunity and needed the vaccine and the flu would have been a lot worse…he takes the flu vaccine and doesnt have a reaction..however he also gets flus that I dont get …. and generally a lot worse than me when I do get them…I also have a nephew who doesn’t take vaccinations because once as a child he had a serious adverse reaction
imo the flu vaccines are worse than the flu …but each to their own…people should certainly not be forced to be vaccinated…or sacked for refusing
That may be your opinion Chooky but there is no evidence that influenza vaccine is worse than influenza in fact there is quite considerable evidence to the contrary with several hundred thousand deaths annually world wide directly attributable to influenza.
Once again no one is being forced to be vaccinated…
You also can’t claim that any individual hasn’t had an idiosyncratic reaction to any vaccine (or drug, or anything for that matter).
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
😆 I couldn’t resist.
Your implication was that because Chooky was technically wrong her point was invalid. But if we look at the adverse reaction data on the flu vaccine data sheet we can see the symptoms that Chooky describes. That she technically had an adverse reaction rather than contracting influenza virus isn’t actually better.
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/datasheet/f/Fluvaxinj.pdf
This is one of the problems with the sciencehead approach. A lay person doesn’t get the theory right, and their basic argument gets written off. But Chooky is right. For her, the reactions to the vaccine were worse than the flu. That’s her lived experience, which of course is a big no no for some people, but in terms of her individual health and healthcare it’s completely relevant.
You read her post and respond by pointing out she is wrong. I read her post and think, fair enough. The loss of the subjective from healthcare is a real problem.
Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective.
Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu”
I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary. If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more mendacious I find you.
“Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective”
And you’d be completely wrong. I look at the arguments being made and go from there. It is true that in this forum I tend to argue against the scienceheads, but I’ve been relatively open about my antipathy for the shortcomings of the anti-vax lobby as well. Some of the anti-vax arguments and actions internationally make me cringe and I think they’ve done a lot of damage (but probably for different reasons than you do).
Vaccination is complex. Some of the concerns that people have about vaccination are valid. Chooky’s comment about her reaction to the flu vaccine is one example. I notice you don’t actually address the points I made about that, so it’s hard to go anywhere useful after that, which is what happens with a lot of these discussions. I’m not interested in absolutes, I am interested in the underlying beliefs behind various people’s positions (all sides), and how that affects health care in its broader sense.
I can also make arguments for vaccination. You seem to want me to be pro or anti, but I’m neither (or I’m both).
“If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more ”
I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.
“Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu” I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary.”
That’s not all she said though, and as I’ve already pointed out we both listened to what she said and heard different things. I’m more interested in that than pedantic arguments about one aspect of a comment someone made. The differences in what gets heard is a core aspect of health care and why there is such a division between the people who believe science is the be all and end all and the people who have experiences that don’t fit into that. Thankfully we still have some rights in this country that allow for the blurry lines that that entails, both as patients and as workers.
“I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.”
Autospelling on smartphones is less than useful unfortunately. Regarding lying no you don’t take any position that allows for an outright lie or truth.
Anyways not sure whether there is much point continuing the discussion in preference to having dinner.
So I’m telling covert lies? I’m happy to be really clear about what I mean if people ask. People rarely bother in these conversations.
There is evidence that the flu vaccine adversely affects immunity when taken year after year – http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/flu-vaccine-paradox-adds-to-public-health-debate-1.2912790
It’s unethical to push a vaccine whose safety, efficacy, and even mechanism are anything but settled.
That study does not say what you think it does.
… and on a side note the safety, efficacy and mechanism of vaccination for influenza vaccination is far more settled that the science around anthropogenic global climate change and i would regard anyone who would suggest we don nothing about the man made causes of climate change to as irresponsible as those who would suggest we don’t offer to vaccinate our vulnerable populations against a potentially dangerous illness such as influenza.
What does the study say?
And on your side note – if the science is wrong on climate change, you are still more likely to effect good outcomes by having taken care of the environment.
Get the science wrong on flu vaccines and the personal and societal costs are immense.
northshoredoc – I infer from you not deigning to reply to the question that this study doesn’t fit with your view so you disregard it without being able to say why.
I guess you can’t fall back on the weight of evidence line given there isn’t a body of evidence for multi-year effects.
So in the absence of evidence you infer that a medical professional is ignoring research that doesn’t fit their worldview.
Funny thing, perspective. I merely inferred that nsd saw a comment that took a narrow, albeit interesting, effect where vaccine efficacy appears to be reduced when recipients have regularly received similar vaccines for variants of that virus in the past and extrapolated that to a generalised statement about the entire immune system and a massive claim about ethics resulting from a further generalisation based on that statement, and nsd simply inferred that any response would be insufficient to address the preconceptions behind that comment.
I infer from your inference that (if my initial inference was accurate) nsd’s inference was probably pretty accurate.
I asked ‘what does the study say’?; I didn’t ask ‘what implications for public health/ethics/medical protocols/patient safety/research’?.
Given nsd declared that it ‘does not say what you think it does’ it’s not unreasonable to draw a subjective inference from their lack of further response.
You made a claim about what your link said, no? Or did you make a claim about immunity and just link randomly to an irrelevant article?
Then you made a ethical claim that was apparently related to your claim about the link.
NSD said the study did not say what you seemed to think it does.
You asked nsd to explain it for you. NSD couldn’t be bothered. From that, you drew one inference. I drew another.
Nope you haven’t followed the thread – that’s not the comment whose lack of response I queried.
I didn’t ask NSD to comment on my interpretation of the study; I asked what the study said to them.
As you indicated we all draw inferences, and that’s why I’m not sure why you think this worthy of comment. I daresay NSD couldn’t care less what inference I drew. If they did they’re more than capable of fighting their own corner.
Yes. They are. I am not fighting their corner.
I’m merely pointing out that your inference (of an example of the medical establishment ignoring discussions and research that do not fit with the conventional worldview) is a pretty reasonable example of why someone might not be bothered to answer in the first place, and is easily predictable from the way you misinterpreted your linked article.
I think it’s worthy of comment because I think your inference simply feeds the anti-vax mythos, and that (like global warming) we should all do our part to save lives overall.
I’m still amazed that pro-vaxxers consider all vaccinations under the same umbrella.
Vaccinations are an extremely heterogenous set of drug treatments with widely differing levels of risks, benefits and unknowns, and under no circumstances should be considered as a single category which is “all good” or “all bad.”
To do so would be to fall into the realms of irrationality and “mythos.”
As for saving lives. A simple response to you McFlock. Save them in the areas where they are being lost. Not in the areas they are not.
“Save them in the areas where they are being lost. Not in the areas they are not.”
Yeah, that’s the general philosophy behing the vaccination schedule.
Kinda misses the point to say ‘I’m saving lives’ so being a prat is OK. Remember what started the thread – Waikato DHB leveraging the patients’ rights code to coerce staff by citing patient safety.
Health unions and others have rightly taken the board to task on that. It’s evidently a point lost on you and, incidentally, the writer of the Herald’s leader today:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11491364
lucky that’s not what I said, then.
As to the WDHB thing, I suspect the complaints have not so much to do with vaccination as such, more the managerial sickness that seems to be afflicting DHBs across the country as the belts tighten into garrotes. Patient safety might be a plausible justification, but a key motivation for the board’s manner of imposing the policy would be the reduction in staff sick leave.
But how a thread starts and how it ends are frequently some distance from one another.
You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.
Cost is a factor in all healthcare management decisions in DHBs.
What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.
Although, I’m not clear what you meant by ‘complaints’; the likelihood is that these workers are upset by the coercion element, not because it’s arisen from a management cost saving drive.
“You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.”
Really? I thought I was more suggesting that the environment attracts a certain style of management.
“What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.”
The measure is fine. The application seems to be not so much.
Effectiveness is clearly demonstrated in sick leave, less clearly in the patient health area.
You say “coercion element”. I reserve judgement on that.
Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?
I’m not sure how else to describe the risk of losing one’s job other than coercion. Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.
You seem to be using weasel phrases to avoid saying where you stand – why reserve judgement?
What’s less than ideal with the application? Is there a more sensitive manner in which the DHB could have told staff they had to have the vaccine or wear the mask?
“Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?”
No idea. It’s perfectly possible that nz dhbs will not have the results demostrated repeatedly if you google scholar “influenza immunisation sick leave”, but I have no reason to assume that they’re particularly exceptional.
“Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.”
In a hospital? Interesting concept. Hell, my GP wears a mask if the patient has a sniffle, without exception.
I have, however, seen managers implement new policies in different ways. Regardless of the merits of a policy. a bullying “my way or the high way” interaction is sometimes used rather than actualy taking the time to make sure everyone knows why and understands the reasons for it. So that’s why I withhold judgement. I don’t care about masks any more than any other protective equipment, but if the managers are dicks, then coercion might be involved.
…however he also gets flus that I dont get …
If you say so, but the flu vaccine is a vaccine against influenza, not the common cold that NZers insist on calling “the flu.” Unless you’re meaning your partner has suffered weeks-long, life-threatening bouts of influenza multiple times without infecting you, in which case I apologise for the implication.
so the influenza virus doesn’t cause the common cold?
[headdesk]
A Dr who refuses to have her children vaccinated ?
Have you asked her why she refuses to have her children vaccinated ?
I also know doctors that don’t always vaccinate themselves or their kids. It’s not unheard of nsd.
Yes, but as you have often commented one would have to know the whole story to form an opinion.
an opinion about what? It’s a fact that some doctors don’t vaccinate.
An opinion on whether the practitioner in question has valid reasons for not vaccinating – surely you wouldn’t want to form an opinion on their decision without knowing the rationale for that decision.
I can only go off the ones I know/have known and I am satisfied with their rationales. These are people who have a foot in both camps so to speak and their decisions are generally well informed.
My own GP told me not to get a flu vaccination.
Perhaps your GP told you not to get a flu vaccination because you didn’t need one ?
Perhaps your GP advises some of their other patients to get flu vaccination because they do.
Or are you telling me that you know of GPs that advise against vaccinations for everyone ? If that is the case I’d be interested in why they have that view and how that could be considered well informed.
as I said the GPs I know have valid reasons for their decisions (as did my GP in her advice). I haven’t suggested that they oppose vaccinations for everyone. I don’t think you could practice if you did, it would be unethical. You’re the one that’s gone down that track, not me.
agreed weka…I know doctors that dont vaccinate their children for everything( they have researched the risks for some vaccines ….and also they dont think it likely their children need that vaccine)….and I know one doctor that is against most vaccinations
….people should shop around for a good doctor who can think for themselves …provide education….and leave the clients free to make their own risk assessments and make up their own minds
Apparently 1 in 100,000 die was a reasonable reason, when you only have one child and not likely to have another because of her age, we figured not to roll the dice.
Funny enough before each winter my employer gets the reject call when they offer me a jab. I always sight it is unhealthy and prefer garlic, lemon and honey. Each year I always ensure 5 days sick leave is taken during winter ( 2 last week lol) with the excuse I have a cold. All up 7 weeks leave per year counting 5 days bereavement leave too.
This is mind numbingly stupid. I’m assuming you’re now talking about childhood vaccinations as children are not usually vaccinated for influenza.
For a start adverse reactions causing death are far rarer than 1/100,000 and the likelihood of contracting the offending disease and having serious harm from it considerably more common.
No it was a flu jab at a private school. Your not a bush doctor are you?
Infant death rates in NZ are about 5 per 1,000 births as a comparison. You’re suggesting that vaccination death rates are hundreds or thousands of times lower than that.
Hmmmm with a death rate that low how can you be sure that it is being measured correctly and being recorded in a disciplined reliable fashion here in NZ?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Assuming all that, which categories of infant mortality do you think could be misdiagnosed and are actually vaccine-related?
love your faith.
Now, if vaccination deaths are so incredibly rare, how do practitioners even know what one looks like?
🙄
There are two main methods of detection of adverse reactions: individual reporting of suspected adverse reaction, and following cohorts of recipients for any variation against the general population.
On top of that NZ has about four separate mortality review committees that investigate every death in a few different areas (perioperative, child & youth, perinatal, etc). They’re pretty good at figuring out what caused a death, like traffic accidents or cancer or indeed anaphylaxis within a few minutes of receiving an injection.
But of course none of them can read the matrix like you can.
Come now McFlock you know that such committees are stacked with stooges who are in the pay of (insert relevant bogeyman).
Wow that sounds incredibly thorough. So when did the last vaccination caused death in NZ occur, according to this very comprehensive system you outlined?
Why don’t you search through the MARC minutes and tell everyone ?
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/MARC/Minutes.asp
Is there any type of similar oversight of chiropractors ?
northshoredoc: I would greatly welcome additional government money, public sector time and university resources being poured into supporting, monitoring and providing additional data on chiropractic practice in NZ.
That would be a “no”, then.
mate, we’re a very small profession which has never ever received any appreciable ongoing funding from the MoH directly or indirectly. If you want us to have additional official oversight, support and monitoring, then that will be a must.
Well, there’s a chiropractic council and an association.
Let’s start with the basics: if a client walks in and they are treated, then leaves in a wheelchair or ambulance, who does the chiropractor mandatorily (for membership and registration) report that to?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Pretend entities are all any you listed, function as.
If you had/have watched the c-span link, you could have identified that two of the co-authors of study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754936# , Coleen Boyle and Frank Stephano are employed by the CDC.
They are accused of shredding documents related to the outcomes of the study.
Gotta be pretty fucken thick, or have an agenda to not see the writing on the wall.
The pharmaceutical industry see’s it coming, which is why they are sponsoring legislation such as SB277 in California.
Thing is, those same companies are now going to under the microscope, along with the endemic corruption, which is a far more sinister threat than any manufactured virus ‘pandemic’.
Too many holes in the dyke , champion.
Not enough shills to stick their dicks in em.
Macbeth !
lol
That’s the cold hard stare of exposure, arrowing the way of every medical professional who’ve spent their career preaching the benevolence of an industry, which directly kills millions of the people every single year.
With 100% impunity…
Fucked if I’d want that on my conscience
OK. I’ll bite. What was the “statistically significant race effect”?
Bearing in mind that ethnicity’s always fun to quantify lol.
This is mind numbingly stupid.
To be fair, it’s only mind-numbingly stupid if you refuse to accept that garlic, lemon, honey and taking sick leave when not sick are effective prophylactics against infectious disease. Yes, OK, it’s mind-numbingly stupid.
@ Skinny …In the public service i always used to throw sickies at the hint of a sniffle….and ironically enough the more stoic and committed and dedicated public servants who never threw sickies ….always came down with the worst crash and flus lasting weeks ….and on the final count had much more sick leave taken than the sickie throwers…proof it doesn pay to be a Calvinist stoic
+1
It is not acceptable for people who have a cold to front up at work and sprend it, staff know this and do us all a favour as did I last week when slightly off colour. Burnt it off pretty quick 🙂
an Puerto Rico defaulted.
file this under shit happens?
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2015/07/31/opinion-default-is-best-thing-that-can-happen-to-puerto-rico-unfortunately/
August 1st is a day that may make the history books in Puerto Rico. This Saturday (technically Monday, since the deadline is on a weekend) Puerto Rico has a major debt payment due in the amount of $58 million that it’s not going to pay. For the first time in its history, Puerto Rico will default.
Puerto Rico has been threatening default since the beginning of time, which has led most creditors to believe its administrators are, yet again, crying wolf. This time will likely be different. Throughout the week, the Governor of Puerto Rico, through his Chief of Staff, has continuously confirmed that Puerto Rico will be unable to make the full payment required by COB Monday. Sources have told me that Puerto Rico has transferred finances to its debt paying authority in an amount that is short its total bill. After years of threats, it’s finally going to happen.
My final confirmation comes from the fact that the island’s top leaders have all left Puerto Rico. Governor Garcia-Padilla is attending a conference of Governors in Colorado, and will be on vacation when Doomsday rolls around. The Secretary of State (second in command) has also left, while President of the Senate and the Speaker of its House of Representatives have all hightailed it out of town, leaving but the little known Secretary of Justice in charge of the government. “Default and flee?” as one analyst quipped on Twitter.
———————————————————————————————————————-
hattip Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/02/1408174/-The-largest-muni-bond-default-in-U-S-history-is-happening
Two statements from crown law reported in the herald
A spokeswoman for Crown Law said Dotcom’s statements to Slashdot were “incorrect”.
“We do not discuss the content of without prejudice discussions.”
Can anyone else see why i have a problem reconciling these
GST threshold for online goods could be cut – PM
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11491354
Quote:
Mr Key said: “It’s quite clear from the statements they’ve been making that Australia is looking to reduce … the level at which you have to pay GST from $1000 down to $20 and maybe, potentially, to zero.”
He said Government had not yet discussed what New Zealand’s new limit could be, but it would definitely have to be lowered.
“Otherwise the gap is too large,” he said.
“The balancing act for us is always between the Government trying to have a level playing field and not massive inconvenience for the consumer.”
Asked whether New Zealand’s tax threshold would be similar to Australia’s, he said: “Yes, potentially. I can’t see why there would be a dramatic difference.
“If Australia can get to a point where they can adequately complete the test of being fair but not dramatically inconveniencing consumers then we should be able to do the same.”
End Quote.
If NZ can harmonise with Australia re GST on off-shore online goods, why can’t they do the same re basic foods which are GST-exempt in Australia? Would be good if ordinary consumers got cheaper healthy foods as a spin-off from raising more GST form off-shore online purchases.