"This level of immune evasion means that Omicron poses a major, imminent threat to public health."
Can we start off with asking some basic questions as to why this is an imminent threat, like what is the omegacron fatality rate? They admit in the article even that the data is poor.
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH is a dizzying thing. In the week to December 8th Britain saw 536 new cases of covid-19 ascribed to the Omicron variant, less than 0.5% of the number caused by the dominant Delta variant. But the week before there had been only 32 cases of Omicron—and by December 14th the case number was over 10,000. Omicron looks set to become the country’s dominant strain in terms of cases before advent calendars run out of windows.
Cases lag behind infections. On December 13th Britain’s health minister, Sajid Javid, said that there were estimated to have been 200,000 infections in the country that day, most of them Omicron. Three more doublings and the total number of infections a day will be more than 1m.
[…]
The degree to which the variant can infect the previously infected may also make things look rosier than they really are. Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University, points out that Omicron’s success at reinfecting people may give the impression a smaller fraction gets severely ill just by inflating the denominator. It could thus seem more benign even if, among those contracting covid for the first time, it were just as dangerous as Delta (see chart).
Can we start off with asking some basic questions as to why this is an imminent threat
Dr Michael Ryan on Covid – speed trumps perfection
The emergency response will know this. If you need to be right before you move, You will never win. Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management speed trumps perfection. And the problem in society, we have, at the moment is everyone is afraid of making a mistake? Everyone is afraid of the consequence of error, But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure. And I think that's the single biggest lesson I've learnt in Ebola responses in the past.
You suggest that an "Abundance of caution" is the best stance 'till we know more.
That is of course an approach that advocates that we shouldn't do anything until we are quite certain of the best thing to do. It was the approach we have followed to date in that we didn't order any vaccines till very late in the piece. We didn't go ahead and get additional ICU beds in the hospitals. We didn't admit health care workers into the country by getting our immigration services into action.
Instead we simply locked everything down and did nothing to prepare for the virus getting into the country except to say that if we gave a lot of vaccination jabs everyone would be protected and we would all be free and we would have nothing else to worry about.
That was of course what this commenter was warning about. He says
"But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure"
We are now paralysed. We haven't even got enough vaccination doses to give everyone a third dose have we? We only really have enough to finish of the two-jab procedure and we certainly don't have enough to give everyone a third. We don't have more ICU beds. We don't have increased medical personnel. We should have all these things already. They shouldn't just go on with the recital that everything is just peachy. Do something NOW is the thesis being proposed. It isn't arguing for an "abundance of caution".
Rubbish. Finding out the facts before a decision is sensible. Nobody said "Stand still" That is your position taken as a rebuttal, putting words in my mouth. Stop repeating the lie about the vaccine roll out.
The point is that when delta first appeared in this country the government placed the country in level 4 lockdown. they didn't wait around to figure out the "best" measure to to take, but put in place a measure known to to be good..
The original lockdown was vey sensible and the right thing to do. We were an isolated country and it would work.
You will remember of course that it was an all-party decision and not something the Labour did by themselves. It was something that was strongly promoted by both National and New Zealand First wasn't it? Or do you choose to forget them?
Indeed there were rumours that Labour had to be forced to take action. At the time there were rumours that Bloomfield had threatened to resign unless the Labour led Government cancelled the Memorial gathering in Christchurch and the Pasifica festival. I have no idea whether there was anything in those rumours but at least they were finally scrapped at the last moment.
Unfortunately that was the last thing that was done properly. Since then they simply frozen up like possums in a spotlight. It was a pity they cut Winston out of the action in the latter part of their term.
It was what went on after the original lockdown that was badly handled and you will see that it was those things that I have been talking about.
There was something unreal about it all when that first national lockdown happened. I went out early one morning for a walk and there was still lots of traffic around.
Going thru my gifs I was surprised to find I'd made one of that walk
Yep. I seem to remember they were all over the place on lockdowns & financial support measures initially, before finally deciding to support the PM. (The polls were clear that the great majority of NZers supported lockdown.)
Alwynger Still pushing the John Key lie, as Pfizer pointed out We could not get our vaccines any earlier.Europe and the US banned exports until they had enough for themselves and considering 100's and 1,000's were dying in the US and the EU it would have been very selfish of us.
But you represent the selfish alwyn.
by repeating the lie you think people will believe your pathetic trumpist bs.
We are in a much better position by vaccinating later because of waning immunity Giving us better immunity than countries who have rolled out early combined with our high rates 90% plus .
That has saved 10's of thousands of lives.
Like 2.44 million doses ready for boosting with more arriving.Thats from your link. Maybe you should read your own links before you make a complete idiot of yourself. Where is the lack of booster doses thats a straight up lie.alwynger.
Half way through November you made claims we wouldn't get to 90% another of your lies.
I don't see anything I said about the vaccine rollout that was a lie
But full of your opinion which repeats RW talking points. Mickysavage reported on Matt Nippert's objective assessment …
is extraordinarily good and manages to capture the essence of what has been an extraordinarily complex project well. And it exposes that National’s continuous attacks are lies should be treated with the same amount of respect as Tobacco Lobbyist claims that smoking does not cause cancer.
I watched a bit of Al Jazeera tv news late last night (1st time in quite a few weeks). They showed a hospital in Scotland where the ICU nurses are pleading for people to get vaxed & observe social distancing & mask wearing because the nursing staff are physically & mentally exhausted caring for critical-care Covid-19 patients.
And they can’t get any more trained nursing staff from anywhere. Right around the world there’s an acute shortage of nursing staff; because of Covid, every hospital everywhere is trying to recruit more & can’t get them.
Even if Immigration NZ was allowing hospitals to recruit overseas, I’m not sure how many we could actually. The biggest drawcard until Delta got here was that we’d successfully kept Covid out. It sure wasn’t our nurses pay rates, or cheap housing or rentals here.
Getting visas through INZ is not that hard, the issue is then getting them MIQ spots. I gather Minister Little has intervened, but why it took this long to make that happen is a mystery to me.
Concerns not just from that side but also from opposing sides. It is staggering that the ordinary person not in "the tent" is so easily lied to or fed with confusing statements.
Culture vultures have something to pick at & dine on here:
early 1999, and people were freaking out about the future. A new millennium was on the way, carrying with it the promise – or threat – of massive change. Would the next century guide us toward a tech-enabled utopia? Or, as some feared, would it plunge the world into a full-on apocalypse? These were strange days, marked by equal parts anxiety and anticipation. Which made it the perfect moment for a sleek, cerebral movie called The Matrix.
Created by a pair of mostly unknown filmmakers (Lana and Lilly Wachowski), and headlined by a commercially iffy star (Keanu Reeves), the $60m cyber-thriller became an instant hit.
A circa-’99 glimpse of the notorious fan-site Ain’t It Cool News hints at some of the questions moviegoers were asking at the time: “Are we being controlled by our computers?” “If the Matrix is real, what can you do about it?”
Yeah, that's the question still. The one in the movie was likely intended as dramatisation of the one in real life. We emerge from birth into a family matrix, some of us into a tribal matrix, and adolescence shifts us into a broader socio-cultural matrix. Then politics imposes a political matrix (the democracy prison, for us).
Some of us become adept at transcending each matrix to live as global citizens. Others grow old & die in mental worlds confined by their matrix. Life on autopilot is easy for many.
When Elon Musk implored his millions of Twitter followers to “Take the red pill” last year, it prompted a response from both Ivanka Trump (“Taken!”) and Lilly Wachowski herself (“Fuck both of you”).
The fact that “red-pilling” has taken on such dopily spiteful connotations is, for Matrixfans, a bummer: after all, one of the joys of the Wachowskis’ original films was its open-minded vision of society.
Neo and his partner, Trinity (played by Carrie-Anne Moss), treat each other with a level of mutual respect that’s rarely seen in male-female big-screen relationships, even to this day. And they work alongside a multi-gender, multi-racial team of rebels. For all of its grim shoot-’em-up scenes and killer machines, The Matrixis a deeply hopeful film: one that pushes the value of caring for one another, and the freedom that comes from defining who you really are (since its release, the filmhas been embraced as a trans allegory – a reading supported by none other than Lana Wachowski).
Still, the ultimate sign of The Matrix’s ongoing importance, as well as its predictive powers, is the fact that, more than two decades after its release, it’s becoming harder to tell if we’re living with The Matrix, or within it.
Best to be pragmatic rather than paranoid. The control system can be viewed as an historical product of social evolution rather than something deliberately created to exploit the masses. It's actually both, but the ruling cabal thesis (Illuminati) is too theoretical in comparison to the plethora of actual orgs dedicated to operating social control systems. Realpolitik informs us that the overall matrix is multidimensional.
Ice-free Arctic late in ’23, resulting in rapid heating of the earth.
Massive (and I mean MASSIVE) climate disruption in ’24, world-wide famine, world-wide deaths, world-wide migration, world-wide local conflicts. Plus 400+ unattended, un-decommissioned nuclear power plants around the world.
Gosh, I'd like to be that optimistic but when I recall how many times I've already lived through imminent global system crashes, then been bemused by the system's resilient survival, I just can't help being cautiously pessimistic…
I guess that you are like me and can remember Al Gore proposing in 2009 that
"Some of the models suggest that there is a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during some of the summer months, could be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years."
Whatever did happen to Al Gore anyway? Has he settled down to enjoy his millions.
Gore also said he was hopeful about recent actions by business groups such as the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, a group of investors with $43 trillion in assets that have joined a push to limit greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050.
He criticized announcements by U.S. energy company Chevron about expanding capacity of renewable natural gas (RNG), or gas captured at landfills and from agricultural waste. "That's ridiculous. There is no such thing," Gore said about so-called renewable natural gas.
One is to say thank you for telling me this. After all I did ask.
The second is to think "I wish he hadn't" I had rather hoped that he was by now gone and forgotten. I imagine he still turns up in a gas guzzling private jet to lecture us mere plebs on how bad we are.
Another measure the Govt could introduce to cool down the property market.
Stamp duties on valuations.
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
'ABSD rate, however, will be raised to 17% for SCs second residential purchase, 25% on their third and subsequent purchases.
For SPRs, the rate will be raised to 25% on their second purchase, and 30% on their third and subsequent purchases.
Rate will also be raised to 30% for foreigners purchasing any residential property; and 35% for entities purchasing any residential property and developers purchasing any residential property.'
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
There are also several ways for foreign investors to get around the ban, said Shamubeel Eaqub, an economist at Sense Partners, a consultancy in Auckland. Because of pre-existing trade agreements, Australians, who make up the largest portion of foreign buyers in New Zealand, are exempt, as are citizens of Singapore. And the law doesn’t apply to new homes.
It's quite surprising the number of birds that do, Patricia.
I'm out there at the stream fence several times nearly every day, certainly every fine day. I'm often standing underneath a tree, surrounded by its foliage.
I feed the waterbirds and any other birds that like seeds or bread chunks. And I just calmly talk to them all in a soft voice, using the same phrases, which most seem to learn.
I think I just become part of the scenery for them. They know I'm no threat and I don't try and pat them (well, I have tried, but I don't persist if they hop away, which they pretty much all do).
I could put half a dozen wheat grains into the palm of my hand for Ivan, when he perched on the fence like that, and hold it out to him. He just hoovered them up from my palm and waited for more.
We had a parrot to look after once. He was a handsome green Alexandrine parakeet. He talked. (We were in Caloundra.)
"Joe likes apple APPLE." "Joe is a handsome boy, hop up on Mummy's shoulder. Don't bite Mummy!" He used to copy Dale's call to Molly the dog who was then taking a pill wrapped in cheese. "Molly here Molly Cheeese!!" Molly knew the difference though. When I would clean his cage he would hang by one leg and comment "Been a mucky boy Joe" Really a laugh, as he would look directly at you with a beady black eye, head cocked to the side. He was twenty and they live 40 years, so entertaining. He had his wing feathers clipped, so when they let him out he would walk round with their 3 little dogs. They never bothered him and tolerated him walking around on the tiled floor with them.
Demolition of the sole source of Uighur genocide manufactured data may constitute sympathising in yours and wikipaedias books but for others, getting at the lies that buttress US and Western great power competition are more important. Adrien Zenz is an idiot fundamentalist christian who is on record stating both that he is on a mission from god to destroy China and that armageddon is a precondition for gods intervention in this world. With magical fairies. Highlighting this and his crass manipulation of data, supported by another rapture enthusiast, Mike Pompeo, was a job well done by the grayzone. But it sure made them enemies in high places.
Well I guess thats a start. At least you admit there is room for debate. Accusations of genocide by idiot extreme religionists dont deserve to be taken seriously. By the same token we dont take much notice of proclamations by Wahhabi mullahs, who also claim to be on the path of destroying nations, led by god. The ETIM, a Uighur terrorist group, affiliated to Al Qaeda, which was funded by the US to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then went on to fight in Syria, returned home and turned their anti communist obsessions against the Chinese state. This is real verifiable news. Many people were killed in Xinjiang. I supplied a link above but you can read about it here from Vijay Prashad if you prefer. A common theme with religious nut jobs is their anti communist bent and they seem quite happy to join forces I guess safe in the knowledge that their god being the only god only they will be saved.
Your claim that Adrian Zenz is the sole source of information on this matter is patently silly and easily discredited. Pointless getting into a link battle with you on it though – anyone can use a search engine and make up their own minds if they're interested.
What is much less contentious is however the long and bitter record of communist oppression towards all religions it suspects of competing with it.
What is indisputable about all forms of extreme religion is that they preach salvation through destruction. Exyreme Christianity removes everything that Jesus said and places armageddon between the individual and salvation. Followers like Zenz and Pompeo then do gods work by promoting conditions most likely to bring on conflagration.
Our findings of a comparable or lower than expected YLL [Years lost] in Taiwan, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and South Korea underscore the importance of successful viral suppression and elimination policies, including targeted and population based public health policy interventions.[i.e. lockdowns!]
Tbh Cricklewood, I find pretty much everything that is published on Stuff disturbing.
And I know I'm the slow learner down the back of the class on this, but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed.
I am seriously beginning to wonder if the Pfizer Product has negatively affected some folks' cognitive function.
It's not an issue that perplexes me. I understand why the "unjabbed" pose a risk to the "double jabbed".
How about you, Sabine?
Have you a good understanding of why that is?
Your comment: “they pose a threat to the underfunded, understaffed, and under resourced Hospitals in our fair land.” goes part-way to explaining that risk and is fair, in my opinion.
but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed.
I think this is willful on your part. But, fwiw,
people who are double vaxed have a period of time where they are significantly less likely to get covid than people who are unvaxed
this lessens the numbers of people at any given time with covid
this protects people from getting covid (simple numbers game)
and it protects the health system
Quick reference,
According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, the AstraZeneca vaccine is 67 per cent effective against infection with Delta, while the Pfizer jab is 80 per cent effective.
Other preliminary research suggests there isn't much difference between the two, and that they both reduce the risk of infection by 80 per cent.
Estimates for vaccine effectiveness against infection vary considerably from country to country, and depend on the type of vaccine, the prevailing Covid-19 variant, and the time elapsed since the second vaccine.
Estimates vary from around 55 to 80 per cent, with most hovering around the 60-70 per cent mark.
What don't you understand about that? Less people with covid means less people get covid. Unvaxxed people are protected thus too.
It's also true that the more people are vaccinated the less the unvaccinated become a risk, statistically.
I suspect that some people fail to appreciate the collective nature of the public health response and are thinking more about individuals. Classic socialist vs libertarian.
but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed
Well, according to Jaccinda recently, the traffic lights with all the exclusion were to protect the unvaccinated from the vaccinated (I kid you not)
Though, it could be about an indirect threat to a vaccinated persons health if they were unable to get into a hospital because a virus with a fatality rate of 0.05% in the under 70 age group had landed a person without a vaccination in hospital with Covid. In the likely event they wind up in hospital for any other reason, then of course, they pose no threat.
I'm listening, but your explanations simply do not make much sense.
The Pfizer Product only works as a vaccine to prevent infection, transmission and serious illness and death if the vaccinated person only associates with other vaccinated persons.
Because only unvaccinated people can carry and transmit Te Virus and they can infect those who have been vaccinated with a product that claims to dramatically lower the risk of infection and dramatically lower the risk of serious illness and death but only if those vaccinated are kept separate from the unvaccinated…
I'm guessing they would justify it as having public interest, but seems a stretch to me. The article clearly explains that his role has little to do with public contact or spaces, and that he is attending meetings via zoom. That leaves staff, but there's no mandate on that organisation, so what's the point of the article other than to ostracise?
As the GM of HR (among other things), it's his department running the consultation on the proposed vaccine mandate policy. Probably still doubts over the advisability or legality of publishing a private citizen's vaccination status, but there would be at least a perceived conflict of interest internally.
Given councils have public facilities in terms of the Covid Protection Framework and those facilities require vaccine passes, it's a bit strange for the GM of facilities to not be vaccinated (his areas are "human resources; IT; facilities, property and planning; procurement; financial management and the Smart Christchurch programme").
On the question, I've heard rumours along those lines.
That is a wonderful number but would be almost too good to be true. Whatever, these relatively low numbers are a great way to start the last week before xmas. Has to be the effect of both widespread vaccination and many people still taking measures such as masks and social distancing seriously.
Weka, thank you for that great, simple and clear explanation of the collective nature of public health measures required to keep numbers down. I plead for people to think about the clear logic for what we are doing, and set to one side all the other noise around our country.
I'm referring to T V's comment "39 new cases today!" Patricia, not the life expectancy improvement @ 11:22am which I believe only covers the nations that have provided that number (can't find the reference sorry)
Died of Covid? according to Gezza's stuff article, diagnosed with Covid after they had died..? So, withcovid or with detected traces of the covid virus might be a better descriptor?
Yup. And I know the parents of one 9 year old have been told that unless injected, she can't do her drama classes next term.
Given that no children without serious co-morbidities have died from Covid…that even the BBC reported the chances of a child dying from Covid were 1 in 2 million alongside the NYT stating the risk was so low as to be incalculable….
Back to Tony’s statement re today’s numbers – The update today on the MoH Āwhina app tells us that the numbers are not a full 24 hours as they have changed from midnight to midnight rather than from 9am to 9am. I have tried to link it but my phone is not being obliging.
Rosemary, the fact that you are unvaccinated makes you many times more likely to catch covid, especially Omicron at 5.6 R + ,and your age means you are hundreds of times more likely to be hospitalised and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors. I have seen it in my wife who had wished to retire or drastically reduce her work load two years ago, but as a life-long dedicated nurse felt she could not let down patients when her skills ( ventilator specialist ) which take at least 4 to 5 years to acquire were going to be desperately needed. She feels it every day when she leaves the house, “ Will I get back here, will I see my children again? Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. Please get vaccinated.
….and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors.
Don't worry Adrian. I won't be adding to that load. I'm not up for being the Fucking Filth clogging up ICU, robbing the deserving of the healthcare they need.
Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. I understand it does not compare with the load your wife carries, but one of the reasons I am not prepared to risk the Pfizer Product is that if the worst happens and I have a bad reaction (and I have pre- existing issues that makes that more likely) my man, who is a C4/5 tetraplegic would be up the proverbial as I am his 24/7 sole carer. He too has issues that in all probability would be exacerbated by the Pfizer Product so has also opted for no shot. It is a very finely balanced life we lead, my man and I.
To assume I am selfish, unthinking of others… what a narrow minded view and clearly straight out of the anti anti-vaxxers handbook.
Rosemary…surely if your partner is a tetraplegic that is a reason to have the vaccine isn't it? You would not want your partner left alone I assume.
[But I don’t have details of your pre-existing condition in saying this-has this been diagnosed by professionals as a significant extra risk when having the vaccine?]
Clare Conboy of campaign group Stop Killer Robots said the outcome was one that "keeps the minority of militarised states investing in developing these weapons very happy".
Watch episode 1 last night of The Age of Nature – Restoring the Earth. The rehabilitation of the land in China was inspiring as was seeing the demise of the fishing grounds in northern Norway and what happened in an attempt to restore the fishing stocks. There are some great inspiring things happening out there.
“Luxon lists off the groups he thinks the Government has failed: small business owners, farmers and other voters.”
That is the very people that the government has spent billions of dollars on. Propping up small business and jobs throughout the pandemic. For that reason alone, Labour will still capture a chunk of votes.
When he starts on about government debt, it’ll be those voters National would have thrown under the bus.
Dunno about the farmers? I haven’t paid attention to what Robertson’s done for them.
Luxon is just reeling off vague typical National platitudes. Until he comes out with competing policies & puts his money on the table he’s just making typical opposition white noise that likely isn’t going to persuade anyone who’s not already a committed National voter that he’s got a high-performing, experience, cohesive team who would do a better job of running NZ.
That said, a good many lacklustre Labour Ministers need to pull finger next year & start getting their depts to produce actual improved outcomes, instead of just trumpeting how much money they’re throwing at problems that aren’t getting any better in spite of the extra funding.
Carmel Sepuloni needs to sort out MSD on a number of issues, the main one getting lots of attention from the 1ewes at 6 crew being stopping W&I from cutting benefits where parents don’t show up for job interviews or Court appearances. This is hitting their kids far too hard. They need to stop this practice immediately & have a re-think.
Poto Williams needs to urgently get more police officers. And get the cop hierarchy to have a rethink about reintroducing Community Constables, imo.
The current situation with emergency housing of gang-affiliated or associated ratbags in inner city hotels & motels needs sorting out too. As does not moving on violent & threatening tenants in Kainga Ora housing.
No Kris Faafoi is making progress in stopping usury. He also has the unhappy task of trying to manage flows of returnees, people leaving for work reasons etc.. Not a pleasant job in a pandemic. Many who feel hard done by have the ear of the Press.
Every now & then when bored with other blogs I take a quick look at that grumpy old bigoted bugger Sir Bob Jones’ website.
It’s not often, but every now & then I find myself agreeing with him. As I do on this case:
Why was Dawei Zhuang charged in a Palmerston North court with “careless driving causing death” (of a motor-cyclist)? Obviously it’s been a traumatic two and a half years for Zhuang facing a prison sentence as he awaited his trial.
Yet the undisputed and overwhelming evidence clearly showed the motor-cyclist was solely responsible for his demise and the Judge quickly threw the case out.
So I ask again, why was Zhuang made to endure the emotional consequences of this charge for two and a half years hanging over him? This was an appalling misjudgment by the Police in pursuing this matter to trial.
Sir Bob’s unfortunately got deep pockets & can afford the best lawyers. He’s a force to be reckoned with & not to be legally pursued lightly; even the constabulary & Crown Law obviously think so.
What specific offence(s) do you think he should’ve been convicted & incarcerated for?
Jones’ reputation with his tenants was diminished by Lee’s article, Reed said, and the financial adviser had previously published an incorrect article claiming Jones had been prosecuted for insider trading, for which he subsequently apologised.
TALES OF AN ANTI-VAXXER — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the country. So it came as a surprise when an invitation to a holiday party at his home in California last week urged attendees to be tested or vaccinated beforehand, two people familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman.
When we called up Kennedy for comment, he pinned it on his better half, actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame. Kennedy said the party was for her entertainment industry friends and cast members, and he was unaware of what the e-vite invitation said before the day of the party.
“I guess I’m not always the boss at my own house,” Kennedy told Lippman. There was also no effort to verify vaccination or testing status of the attendees before entering, he said. (Hines didn't respond to a request for comment.)
"This week, ice scientists meeting in New Orleans warned that something even more alarming was brewing on the West Antarctic ice sheet – a vast basin of ice on the Antarctic peninsula. Years of research by teams of British and American researchers showed that great cracks and fissures had opened up both on top of and underneath the Thwaites glacier, one of the biggest in the world, and it was feared that parts of it, too, may fracture and collapse possibly within five years or less."
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…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
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Imperial college released a report today showing high immune escape, rapid growth and no evidence that omicron was milder than delta.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/232698/modelling-suggests-rapid-spread-omicron-england/
Not good. Thanks aj for the link.
From the article:
"This level of immune evasion means that Omicron poses a major, imminent threat to public health."
Can we start off with asking some basic questions as to why this is an imminent threat, like what is the omegacron fatality rate? They admit in the article even that the data is poor.
Will anyone care if this get legs.
https://twitter.com/covidbaseau/status/1471964131284566020
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH is a dizzying thing. In the week to December 8th Britain saw 536 new cases of covid-19 ascribed to the Omicron variant, less than 0.5% of the number caused by the dominant Delta variant. But the week before there had been only 32 cases of Omicron—and by December 14th the case number was over 10,000. Omicron looks set to become the country’s dominant strain in terms of cases before advent calendars run out of windows.
Cases lag behind infections. On December 13th Britain’s health minister, Sajid Javid, said that there were estimated to have been 200,000 infections in the country that day, most of them Omicron. Three more doublings and the total number of infections a day will be more than 1m.
[…]
The degree to which the variant can infect the previously infected may also make things look rosier than they really are. Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University, points out that Omicron’s success at reinfecting people may give the impression a smaller fraction gets severely ill just by inflating the denominator. It could thus seem more benign even if, among those contracting covid for the first time, it were just as dangerous as Delta (see chart).
https://archive.li/MR8gH (the economist)
Dr Michael Ryan on Covid – speed trumps perfection
https://youtu.be/UeEPmCcPxi4?t=57
Thanks for that info aj, concerning, and Jacinda's "Abundance of caution" is the best stance 'till we know more.
You suggest that an "Abundance of caution" is the best stance 'till we know more.
That is of course an approach that advocates that we shouldn't do anything until we are quite certain of the best thing to do. It was the approach we have followed to date in that we didn't order any vaccines till very late in the piece. We didn't go ahead and get additional ICU beds in the hospitals. We didn't admit health care workers into the country by getting our immigration services into action.
Instead we simply locked everything down and did nothing to prepare for the virus getting into the country except to say that if we gave a lot of vaccination jabs everyone would be protected and we would all be free and we would have nothing else to worry about.
That was of course what this commenter was warning about. He says
"But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure"
We are now paralysed. We haven't even got enough vaccination doses to give everyone a third dose have we? We only really have enough to finish of the two-jab procedure and we certainly don't have enough to give everyone a third. We don't have more ICU beds. We don't have increased medical personnel. We should have all these things already. They shouldn't just go on with the recital that everything is just peachy. Do something NOW is the thesis being proposed. It isn't arguing for an "abundance of caution".
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/458094/omicron-experts-advise-speeding-up-vaccine-booster-doses-after-variant-detected-in-miq
Rubbish. Finding out the facts before a decision is sensible. Nobody said "Stand still" That is your position taken as a rebuttal, putting words in my mouth. Stop repeating the lie about the vaccine roll out.
I don't see anything I said about the vaccine rollout that was a lie.
We ordered the vaccines a great deal later than most equivalent countries.
We were later than most equivalent countries in administering them in large quantities.
We don't have nearly enough to provide a third dose at the moment.
ergo We were very late to the party.
The point is that when delta first appeared in this country the government placed the country in level 4 lockdown. they didn't wait around to figure out the "best" measure to to take, but put in place a measure known to to be good..
The original lockdown was vey sensible and the right thing to do. We were an isolated country and it would work.
You will remember of course that it was an all-party decision and not something the Labour did by themselves. It was something that was strongly promoted by both National and New Zealand First wasn't it? Or do you choose to forget them?
Indeed there were rumours that Labour had to be forced to take action. At the time there were rumours that Bloomfield had threatened to resign unless the Labour led Government cancelled the Memorial gathering in Christchurch and the Pasifica festival. I have no idea whether there was anything in those rumours but at least they were finally scrapped at the last moment.
Unfortunately that was the last thing that was done properly. Since then they simply frozen up like possums in a spotlight. It was a pity they cut Winston out of the action in the latter part of their term.
It was what went on after the original lockdown that was badly handled and you will see that it was those things that I have been talking about.
There was something unreal about it all when that first national lockdown happened. I went out early one morning for a walk and there was still lots of traffic around.
Going thru my gifs I was surprised to find I'd made one of that walk
https://i.imgur.com/VbHJTbR.gif
Oh bull. National had a different idea every week.
Lucky for them, National voters can't remember what they said last week.
And like them, you think constantly repeating lies, like the one about the vaccine rollout, makes them true.
Yep. I seem to remember they were all over the place on lockdowns & financial support measures initially, before finally deciding to support the PM. (The polls were clear that the great majority of NZers supported lockdown.)
Alwynger Still pushing the John Key lie, as Pfizer pointed out We could not get our vaccines any earlier.Europe and the US banned exports until they had enough for themselves and considering 100's and 1,000's were dying in the US and the EU it would have been very selfish of us.
But you represent the selfish alwyn.
by repeating the lie you think people will believe your pathetic trumpist bs.
We are in a much better position by vaccinating later because of waning immunity Giving us better immunity than countries who have rolled out early combined with our high rates 90% plus .
That has saved 10's of thousands of lives.
Like 2.44 million doses ready for boosting with more arriving.Thats from your link. Maybe you should read your own links before you make a complete idiot of yourself. Where is the lack of booster doses thats a straight up lie.alwynger.
Half way through November you made claims we wouldn't get to 90% another of your lies.
Please provide a quote from me where I said we would never get to 90%.
But you won't because you never provide any evidence for any of your claims do you? Mr Spray and walk away is who you are.
Alwyn ,the of November 2021 your denigrating comments on open Mike.
Infer it will never happen as we now are heading to 96% first dose. 90% plus second.
3 Rd dose of course you will regurgitate that we don't have enough doses for boosters. 2.44 million plus more coming.
The 17th of Nov open Mike. Irony as 90% of your posts are false claims
I made 3 comments on Open Mike on 17/11/2021
Two of them related to the Pike River affair.
The third was to Gezza suggesting an approach to getting a better proof reader.
None of the thee mentioned in any way Covid 19, vaccinations of vaccination rates at any DHB or overall.
You do spout a lot of B*s don't you? You really are a schmuck.
But full of your opinion which repeats RW talking points. Mickysavage reported on Matt Nippert's objective assessment …
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-covid-vaccine-rollout/
I watched a bit of Al Jazeera tv news late last night (1st time in quite a few weeks). They showed a hospital in Scotland where the ICU nurses are pleading for people to get vaxed & observe social distancing & mask wearing because the nursing staff are physically & mentally exhausted caring for critical-care Covid-19 patients.
And they can’t get any more trained nursing staff from anywhere. Right around the world there’s an acute shortage of nursing staff; because of Covid, every hospital everywhere is trying to recruit more & can’t get them.
Even if Immigration NZ was allowing hospitals to recruit overseas, I’m not sure how many we could actually. The biggest drawcard until Delta got here was that we’d successfully kept Covid out. It sure wasn’t our nurses pay rates, or cheap housing or rentals here.
🙄 *actually get.
Getting visas through INZ is not that hard, the issue is then getting them MIQ spots. I gather Minister Little has intervened, but why it took this long to make that happen is a mystery to me.
Concerns not just from that side but also from opposing sides. It is staggering that the ordinary person not in "the tent" is so easily lied to or fed with confusing statements.
https://youtu.be/Qag8-f_frnw
Culture vultures have something to pick at & dine on here:
Yeah, that's the question still. The one in the movie was likely intended as dramatisation of the one in real life. We emerge from birth into a family matrix, some of us into a tribal matrix, and adolescence shifts us into a broader socio-cultural matrix. Then politics imposes a political matrix (the democracy prison, for us).
Some of us become adept at transcending each matrix to live as global citizens. Others grow old & die in mental worlds confined by their matrix. Life on autopilot is easy for many.
Best to be pragmatic rather than paranoid. The control system can be viewed as an historical product of social evolution rather than something deliberately created to exploit the masses. It's actually both, but the ruling cabal thesis (Illuminati) is too theoretical in comparison to the plethora of actual orgs dedicated to operating social control systems. Realpolitik informs us that the overall matrix is multidimensional.
I shouldn’t worry about it too much Dennis.
Ice-free Arctic late in ’23, resulting in rapid heating of the earth.
Massive (and I mean MASSIVE) climate disruption in ’24, world-wide famine, world-wide deaths, world-wide migration, world-wide local conflicts. Plus 400+ unattended, un-decommissioned nuclear power plants around the world.
All gone by late ’25 or early ’26.
That soon?
I think he means the 23rd century, then the 24th century and so on. He just misread the timescale.
I wouldnt dismiss it out of hand…..an overly complicated interdependent system could collapse very quickly
Gosh, I'd like to be that optimistic but when I recall how many times I've already lived through imminent global system crashes, then been bemused by the system's resilient survival, I just can't help being cautiously pessimistic…
I guess that you are like me and can remember Al Gore proposing in 2009 that
"Some of the models suggest that there is a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during some of the summer months, could be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years."
Whatever did happen to Al Gore anyway? Has he settled down to enjoy his millions.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/02/facebook-posts/fact-checking-claims-al-gore-said-all-arctic-ice-w/
Whatever did happen to Al Gore anyway?
Still mouthing off:
I am of two minds.
One is to say thank you for telling me this. After all I did ask.
The second is to think "I wish he hadn't" I had rather hoped that he was by now gone and forgotten. I imagine he still turns up in a gas guzzling private jet to lecture us mere plebs on how bad we are.
Alwyn,I say Alwyn..Al Gore is a multiple winner of the 'Always be sincere ..even if you ..don't really..mean ..it' award.
My prediction is the fourth Matrix movie is likely to suck big time
Hope I'm wrong
Another measure the Govt could introduce to cool down the property market.
Stamp duties on valuations.
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
'ABSD rate, however, will be raised to 17% for SCs second residential purchase, 25% on their third and subsequent purchases.
For SPRs, the rate will be raised to 25% on their second purchase, and 30% on their third and subsequent purchases.
Rate will also be raised to 30% for foreigners purchasing any residential property; and 35% for entities purchasing any residential property and developers purchasing any residential property.'
Gov’t unveils 3 new property cooling measures (msn.com)
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
So are Ozzers. I didn't realise that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/realestate/new-zealand-locks-the-doors-from-the-inside.html
(Peter Thiel gets a mention…)
At the very least ,the NZ Govt should respond in 'kind'…30% levy on Singapore buyers.
They won't of course.
The reality is Singapore has hardly any land!NZ has plenty.
https://i.imgur.com/UrgFVGe.gif
https://i.imgur.com/gpMDSKT.gif
He really trusts you Gezza.
It's quite surprising the number of birds that do, Patricia.
I'm out there at the stream fence several times nearly every day, certainly every fine day. I'm often standing underneath a tree, surrounded by its foliage.
I feed the waterbirds and any other birds that like seeds or bread chunks. And I just calmly talk to them all in a soft voice, using the same phrases, which most seem to learn.
I think I just become part of the scenery for them. They know I'm no threat and I don't try and pat them (well, I have tried, but I don't persist if they hop away, which they pretty much all do).
I could put half a dozen wheat grains into the palm of my hand for Ivan, when he perched on the fence like that, and hold it out to him. He just hoovered them up from my palm and waited for more.
We had a parrot to look after once. He was a handsome green Alexandrine parakeet. He talked. (We were in Caloundra.)
"Joe likes apple APPLE." "Joe is a handsome boy, hop up on Mummy's shoulder. Don't bite Mummy!" He used to copy Dale's call to Molly the dog who was then taking a pill wrapped in cheese. "Molly here Molly Cheeese!!" Molly knew the difference though. When I would clean his cage he would hang by one leg and comment "Been a mucky boy Joe" Really a laugh, as he would look directly at you with a beady black eye, head cocked to the side. He was twenty and they live 40 years, so entertaining. He had his wing feathers clipped, so when they let him out he would walk round with their 3 little dogs. They never bothered him and tolerated him walking around on the tiled floor with them.
Must be something in the water.
https://archive.li/CLf8O
https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-066768
Lock-downs ain't in the water…
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/12/03/flattening-curve-global-poor-covid-lockdowns-human-rights-vulnerable/
Not sure if we should trust anything from the Grayzone Bill:
From Wikipedia:
"The Grayzone website's news content is known for its sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes and in its denial of the Uyghur genocide."
Demolition of the sole source of Uighur genocide manufactured data may constitute sympathising in yours and wikipaedias books but for others, getting at the lies that buttress US and Western great power competition are more important. Adrien Zenz is an idiot fundamentalist christian who is on record stating both that he is on a mission from god to destroy China and that armageddon is a precondition for gods intervention in this world. With magical fairies. Highlighting this and his crass manipulation of data, supported by another rapture enthusiast, Mike Pompeo, was a job well done by the grayzone. But it sure made them enemies in high places.
Non grayzone references
There is but one simple means to establish the truth about Xinjiang – open, unconstrained investigation.
Just like was done after the Wuhan lab debacle. Oh wait …
https://i.imgur.com/hb3FBCx.gif
Well I guess thats a start. At least you admit there is room for debate. Accusations of genocide by idiot extreme religionists dont deserve to be taken seriously. By the same token we dont take much notice of proclamations by Wahhabi mullahs, who also claim to be on the path of destroying nations, led by god. The ETIM, a Uighur terrorist group, affiliated to Al Qaeda, which was funded by the US to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then went on to fight in Syria, returned home and turned their anti communist obsessions against the Chinese state. This is real verifiable news. Many people were killed in Xinjiang. I supplied a link above but you can read about it here from Vijay Prashad if you prefer. A common theme with religious nut jobs is their anti communist bent and they seem quite happy to join forces I guess safe in the knowledge that their god being the only god only they will be saved.
Your claim that Adrian Zenz is the sole source of information on this matter is patently silly and easily discredited. Pointless getting into a link battle with you on it though – anyone can use a search engine and make up their own minds if they're interested.
What is much less contentious is however the long and bitter record of communist oppression towards all religions it suspects of competing with it.
What is indisputable about all forms of extreme religion is that they preach salvation through destruction. Exyreme Christianity removes everything that Jesus said and places armageddon between the individual and salvation. Followers like Zenz and Pompeo then do gods work by promoting conditions most likely to bring on conflagration.
Well that's a watertight self-justification if I ever saw one.
Lockdowns only have one purpose which is to prevent the health system from rationing who gets treated and who does not.
Omicron is serious as when the health workers fall sick or are exhausted hospitals will not function.
Will people scream about human rights then?
Good post Joe…I am sure Chris Bishop will find way to whinge about these numbers…I put it on fb.
From the article:
Alwyn…. We are ok!!!
Looks like the further to the right a countries govt is the higher the covid death toll.
Anyone else find it disturbing that Stuff have taken to outing the vaccine status of private citizens?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127320798/covid19-senior-general-manager-at-christchurch-council-is-unvaccinated
Tbh Cricklewood, I find pretty much everything that is published on Stuff disturbing.
And I know I'm the slow learner down the back of the class on this, but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed.
I am seriously beginning to wonder if the Pfizer Product has negatively affected some folks' cognitive function.
The 'vaccine' only works if everyone has had it…?
they don't pose a threat to the vaccinated,
they pose a threat to the underfunded, understaffed, and under resourced Hospitals in our fair land.
" I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed."
Have you put the question here, Rosemary, and read closely the replies?
Have you?
It's not an issue that perplexes me. I understand why the "unjabbed" pose a risk to the "double jabbed".
How about you, Sabine?
Have you a good understanding of why that is?
Your comment: “they pose a threat to the underfunded, understaffed, and under resourced Hospitals in our fair land.” goes part-way to explaining that risk and is fair, in my opinion.
I think this is willful on your part. But, fwiw,
Quick reference,
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/452283/how-do-covid-vaccines-change-your-risk-of-infection-and-are-you-less-likely-to-pass-it-on
What don't you understand about that? Less people with covid means less people get covid. Unvaxxed people are protected thus too.
It's also true that the more people are vaccinated the less the unvaccinated become a risk, statistically.
I suspect that some people fail to appreciate the collective nature of the public health response and are thinking more about individuals. Classic socialist vs libertarian.
but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed
Well, according to Jaccinda recently, the traffic lights with all the exclusion were to protect the unvaccinated from the vaccinated (I kid you not)
Though, it could be about an indirect threat to a vaccinated persons health if they were unable to get into a hospital because a virus with a fatality rate of 0.05% in the under 70 age group had landed a person without a vaccination in hospital with Covid. In the likely event they wind up in hospital for any other reason, then of course, they pose no threat.
Then there's…"because!"
This has been patiently explained to you many times on this site now, with references!
It seems like Nationals incapability of understanding what traffic lights do.
It is simply a wilful refusal to listen.
When every other country decided to open up with few restrictions are Now putting restrictions back in place
We are moving caustiously forward .
Smart thinking we can see what's happening elsewhere why wouldn't you take advantage of what is happening elsewhere.
National are undermining this health initiative to please who Brian Tamaki,Billy tk. Bill and Rosemary.Alwyn.
It is simply a wilful refusal to listen.
I'm listening, but your explanations simply do not make much sense.
The Pfizer Product only works as a vaccine to prevent infection, transmission and serious illness and death if the vaccinated person only associates with other vaccinated persons.
Because only unvaccinated people can carry and transmit Te Virus and they can infect those who have been vaccinated with a product that claims to dramatically lower the risk of infection and dramatically lower the risk of serious illness and death but only if those vaccinated are kept separate from the unvaccinated…
The vaccine is working in New Zealand, to cut down spread.
If it wasn't we would have an exponential rise in COVID cases in Auckland, right now.
As they have in US States with low vaccination numbers.
That is fucking outrageous and steps right over the line.
This amateur run website has way more professional ethics than this.
I'm actually really fucked off about it, I'm wondering if there are grounds for a formal complaint tbh.
and they wonder why the cop abuse from protestors…
I'm guessing they would justify it as having public interest, but seems a stretch to me. The article clearly explains that his role has little to do with public contact or spaces, and that he is attending meetings via zoom. That leaves staff, but there's no mandate on that organisation, so what's the point of the article other than to ostracise?
As the GM of HR (among other things), it's his department running the consultation on the proposed vaccine mandate policy. Probably still doubts over the advisability or legality of publishing a private citizen's vaccination status, but there would be at least a perceived conflict of interest internally.
what's the conflict of interest? Is the assumption he is an anti-vaxer?
Given councils have public facilities in terms of the Covid Protection Framework and those facilities require vaccine passes, it's a bit strange for the GM of facilities to not be vaccinated (his areas are "human resources; IT; facilities, property and planning; procurement; financial management and the Smart Christchurch programme").
On the question, I've heard rumours along those lines.
Yes I have cancelled because of this.
39 new cases today! Eat that, Natz!
That is a wonderful number but would be almost too good to be true. Whatever, these relatively low numbers are a great way to start the last week before xmas. Has to be the effect of both widespread vaccination and many people still taking measures such as masks and social distancing seriously.
Weka, thank you for that great, simple and clear explanation of the collective nature of public health measures required to keep numbers down. I plead for people to think about the clear logic for what we are doing, and set to one side all the other noise around our country.
Aj, Australia? How are the Aussies doing? Not on that list… is "Scottie from Marketing" not telling?
I'm referring to T V's comment "39 new cases today!" Patricia, not the life expectancy improvement @ 11:22am which I believe only covers the nations that have provided that number (can't find the reference sorry)
Sorry this attached to the wrong comment. But you are probably correct, they did not divulge it.
An "under-10 year" old Maori boy has died today, of Covid?
I just heard this and don't know yet if it's true.
I suspect what you relates to this announcement. The child actually died earlier this week.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300481147/covid19-child-under-10-becomes-youngest-case-to-die
I haven’t seen another such case announced elsewhere today.
I suspect what you heard relates to this announcement. The child actually died earlier this week.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300481147/covid19-child-under-10-becomes-youngest-case-to-die
I haven’t seen another such case announced elsewhere today.
True, was reported on RNZ news early morning..
The child didn’t die today, Dennis. See above. He died earlier in the week. That he had been infected with Covid wasn’t known until after he died.
Oh, okay, I heard it on the breakfast news. Maybe they didn't specify that
Died of Covid? according to Gezza's stuff article, diagnosed with Covid after they had died..? So, with covid or with detected traces of the covid virus might be a better descriptor?
Will find out after his autopsy and inquest.
The headline didn't wait however.
Fairly disgusting to exploit a child's death for propaganda purposes, aye?
The headline clearly implies a Covid death, which dovetails rather nicely into mandating children 5 and up…
"Covid-19: Child under 10 becomes youngest case to die"
there is a 5 -12 year old vaccine programme due to begin in january
Yup. And I know the parents of one 9 year old have been told that unless injected, she can't do her drama classes next term.
Given that no children without serious co-morbidities have died from Covid…that even the BBC reported the chances of a child dying from Covid were 1 in 2 million alongside the NYT stating the risk was so low as to be incalculable….
Back to Tony’s statement re today’s numbers – The update today on the MoH Āwhina app tells us that the numbers are not a full 24 hours as they have changed from midnight to midnight rather than from 9am to 9am. I have tried to link it but my phone is not being obliging.
Oh shit, just heard on the news, that's for 15 hours, not 24!
Bugger!
Rosemary, the fact that you are unvaccinated makes you many times more likely to catch covid, especially Omicron at 5.6 R + ,and your age means you are hundreds of times more likely to be hospitalised and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors. I have seen it in my wife who had wished to retire or drastically reduce her work load two years ago, but as a life-long dedicated nurse felt she could not let down patients when her skills ( ventilator specialist ) which take at least 4 to 5 years to acquire were going to be desperately needed. She feels it every day when she leaves the house, “ Will I get back here, will I see my children again? Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. Please get vaccinated.
….and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors.
Don't worry Adrian. I won't be adding to that load. I'm not up for being the Fucking Filth clogging up ICU, robbing the deserving of the healthcare they need.
Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. I understand it does not compare with the load your wife carries, but one of the reasons I am not prepared to risk the Pfizer Product is that if the worst happens and I have a bad reaction (and I have pre- existing issues that makes that more likely) my man, who is a C4/5 tetraplegic would be up the proverbial as I am his 24/7 sole carer. He too has issues that in all probability would be exacerbated by the Pfizer Product so has also opted for no shot. It is a very finely balanced life we lead, my man and I.
To assume I am selfish, unthinking of others… what a narrow minded view and clearly straight out of the anti anti-vaxxers handbook.
Best wishes to you both Rosemary. That is a rock and a hard place. Life is not simple.
Thanks Patricia, and all the best to you too.
Rosemary…surely if your partner is a tetraplegic that is a reason to have the vaccine isn't it? You would not want your partner left alone I assume.
[But I don’t have details of your pre-existing condition in saying this-has this been diagnosed by professionals as a significant extra risk when having the vaccine?]
Stop Killer Robots? 🤖
Hmm, dunno about that, let's weigh the pros & cons awhile…
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/technology/2021/12/un-talks-adjourn-without-deal-to-regulate-killer-robots-nz-in-support.html
Watch episode 1 last night of The Age of Nature – Restoring the Earth. The rehabilitation of the land in China was inspiring as was seeing the demise of the fishing grounds in northern Norway and what happened in an attempt to restore the fishing stocks. There are some great inspiring things happening out there.
https://hdclump.com/restoring-the-earth-the-age-of-nature-episode-1/
“Luxon lists off the groups he thinks the Government has failed: small business owners, farmers and other voters.”
That is the very people that the government has spent billions of dollars on. Propping up small business and jobs throughout the pandemic. For that reason alone, Labour will still capture a chunk of votes.
When he starts on about government debt, it’ll be those voters National would have thrown under the bus.
Good luck getting their vote.
Dunno about the farmers? I haven’t paid attention to what Robertson’s done for them.
Luxon is just reeling off vague typical National platitudes. Until he comes out with competing policies & puts his money on the table he’s just making typical opposition white noise that likely isn’t going to persuade anyone who’s not already a committed National voter that he’s got a high-performing, experience, cohesive team who would do a better job of running NZ.
That said, a good many lacklustre Labour Ministers need to pull finger next year & start getting their depts to produce actual improved outcomes, instead of just trumpeting how much money they’re throwing at problems that aren’t getting any better in spite of the extra funding.
If you discount the media noise, you might find Labour ministers aren’t doing all that bad. The only really weak link is Kris Faafoi.
Carmel Sepuloni needs to sort out MSD on a number of issues, the main one getting lots of attention from the 1ewes at 6 crew being stopping W&I from cutting benefits where parents don’t show up for job interviews or Court appearances. This is hitting their kids far too hard. They need to stop this practice immediately & have a re-think.
Poto Williams needs to urgently get more police officers. And get the cop hierarchy to have a rethink about reintroducing Community Constables, imo.
The current situation with emergency housing of gang-affiliated or associated ratbags in inner city hotels & motels needs sorting out too. As does not moving on violent & threatening tenants in Kainga Ora housing.
No Kris Faafoi is making progress in stopping usury. He also has the unhappy task of trying to manage flows of returnees, people leaving for work reasons etc.. Not a pleasant job in a pandemic. Many who feel hard done by have the ear of the Press.
'other voters'!
That's one of Christopher7's fundamental strengths…he is always very…precise.
Yep. Sarcasm noted. He’s so bland & vague that immediately after he’s spoken it feels like he hasn’t. 😕
I expect that when he walks into a room it feels like he’s just left. 😎
Every now & then when bored with other blogs I take a quick look at that grumpy old bigoted bugger Sir Bob Jones’ website.
It’s not often, but every now & then I find myself agreeing with him. As I do on this case:
Why was Dawei Zhuang charged in a Palmerston North court with “careless driving causing death” (of a motor-cyclist)? Obviously it’s been a traumatic two and a half years for Zhuang facing a prison sentence as he awaited his trial.
Yet the undisputed and overwhelming evidence clearly showed the motor-cyclist was solely responsible for his demise and the Judge quickly threw the case out.
So I ask again, why was Zhuang made to endure the emotional consequences of this charge for two and a half years hanging over him? This was an appalling misjudgment by the Police in pursuing this matter to trial.
https://nopunchespulled.com/2021/12/17/bad-police-judgement/#more-3176
I had to Google Zhuang’s name to find a Stuff article about the case:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/300475878/driver-exonerated-for-role-in-fatal-palmerston-north-crash
Jones should have been jailed…years ..ago.
Sir Bob’s unfortunately got deep pockets & can afford the best lawyers. He’s a force to be reckoned with & not to be legally pursued lightly; even the constabulary & Crown Law obviously think so.
What specific offence(s) do you think he should’ve been convicted & incarcerated for?
He's a bald-necked vulture, wall-eyed and snarky.
🙂
Insider trading.
Hmm. Given Sir Bob’s litigiousness, a Mod might need to take a look at that one 🤔
Go ahead and look at it…he got off with a slap on the wrist.
'Don't sell…..until I've unloaded all…of mine'.
Very interesting.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/get-inside-the-trading-game/4YYLL7UIKIL5UWAX2CJ5TVRXWY/
Yes a veritable rogues gallery,notable for all the knights of the realm involved-wonderful world…beautiful ..people.
So's this:
https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=25101
and this:
https://twitter.com/justin_lester/status/1277452426799271936
Insider trading is a lovely earner for the wealthy and powerful.
In the U.S they have the Stock Act to deter congress reps from trading with insider knowledge.
Congress is always meeting with corporations regarding their business activities.
The fine is $200,but no one has ever been …caught.
Someone like Nancy Pelosi who earns 220k a year is (with hubby)worth around 45million…which is about 200 years salary.
She maintains everything is fine and dandy…because its a 'free market'!
Here in Australia ASIC is decently effective at policing these matters. They won't be perfect, but their presence is both visible and highly active.
He’s actually vaccinated and the anti-vax stuff is a scam to maintain the lifestyle he reckons he deserves?
TALES OF AN ANTI-VAXXER — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the country. So it came as a surprise when an invitation to a holiday party at his home in California last week urged attendees to be tested or vaccinated beforehand, two people familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman.
When we called up Kennedy for comment, he pinned it on his better half, actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame. Kennedy said the party was for her entertainment industry friends and cast members, and he was unaware of what the e-vite invitation said before the day of the party.
“I guess I’m not always the boss at my own house,” Kennedy told Lippman. There was also no effort to verify vaccination or testing status of the attendees before entering, he said. (Hines didn't respond to a request for comment.)
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/12/17/this-is-a-real-f-ing-problem-495509
"This week, ice scientists meeting in New Orleans warned that something even more alarming was brewing on the West Antarctic ice sheet – a vast basin of ice on the Antarctic peninsula. Years of research by teams of British and American researchers showed that great cracks and fissures had opened up both on top of and underneath the Thwaites glacier, one of the biggest in the world, and it was feared that parts of it, too, may fracture and collapse possibly within five years or less."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/18/scientists-watch-giant-doomsday-glacier-in-antarctica-with-concern
…five years or less.
No. They are not stupid.
https://twitter.com/MariaWNorris/status/1471877604814770182