Somebody here yesterday asked whether there were even any family members left to receive compensation for the US's wrongful drone strike on an innocent family in Kabul.
Afghan survivors of US drone strike: Sorry 'is not enough'
"Sorry is not enough for the Afghan survivors of an errant US drone strike that killed 10 members of their family, including seven children.
Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was killed on August 29, when the US hellfire missile struck his elder brother's car, told The Associated Presson Saturday that the family demands Washington investigate who fired the drone and punish the military personnel responsible for the strike."
“That is not enough for us to say sorry,” said Ahmadi. “The USA should find the person who did this."
"Ahmadi said the family is also seeking financial compensation for their losses and demanded that several members of the family be relocated to a third country, without specifying which country.
…
Even as evidence mounted to the contrary, Pentagon officials asserted that the strike had been conducted correctly, to protect the US troops remaining at Kabul's airport ahead of the final pullout the following day, on August 30.
…
Zemerai was the family's breadwinner had looked after his three brothers, including Emal, and their children."
"'Now I am the one who is responsible for all my family and I am jobless,' said Emal Ahmadi. The situation “is not good”, said Ahmadi of life under the Taliban. International aid groups and the United Nations have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis that could drive most Afghans below the poverty level.
…
Ahmadi wondered how the family's home could have been mistaken for an Islamic State hideout."
“The USA can see from everywhere," he said of US drone capabilities. “They can see that there were innocent children near the car and in the car. Whoever did this should be punished.”
Couple of items of interest on Afghanistan reported on Aljazeera tv news:
“Taliban leaders have turned the Kabul building that housed Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the offices for the religious police, an ominous portent for women’s rights.”
And, according to Aljaz tv reporting, the Taliban have announced that all BOYS should return to their secondary schools from today. Creating fears that girls are not going to be permitted to attend secondary schools.
Aljaz further reports that co-ed schools in Afghanistan (or it might just be Kabul) have been strictly segregated, & the Taliban have previously recently said that young women may return to Universities (but in segregated classes, & to bectaught only by women – which several female academics there have said will end up being impractical & unaffordable for many, so that it’s likely a tactic to ultimately achieve the goal of sending women back into their homes, while initially avoiding world condemnation). So this has created general confusion.
PS: The Taliban leadership has apparently just said it will be making an announcement about when girls can return to secondary schools at some point soon.
I’m losing count of the number of Auckland L4 lockdown breachers being arrested by the police all over the motu. Some folk up there are starting to go stir-crazy, it seems.
Although I noticed that masks and social distance had suddenly become quite universal around Queenstown locals, including a couple of gentlemen who were prominent at the howl a month or so back. The sense of security from isolation, 'covid's just in South Auckland, none down here', gone and replaced by a quiet concern.
Pleasing to see but last week very few were masking or distancing, and if you did you got shit. Retail staff were scared and very thankful to those that were masking. Retailers Assn has done a lot of good work educating employers and staff of the requirements and reasons for masking and staff feel vulnerable. It's pleasing to see some responsibility from the public, even if it is motivated by personal fear.
Yes, I'm in Welly. Just got back from my supermarket shopping. Everyone's masked up, including yours truly, & shoppers are all trying to keep a reasonable amount of distance from other shoppers at Level 2.
I get a bit hacked off with the mask fogging up me specs, but until we get everyone possible vaccinated, I'm quite happy to keep wearing a mask when out in public.
I find I can prevent my glasses fogging with stillsuit breathing (if you know Herbert's Dune); in through the mouth, and out through the nose. Though it does take a couple of minutes to switch back to more regular patterns when the mask comes off. Also, the bridge of the glasses helps hold the mask on too – but I am using washable cloth ones rather than wired disposables.
I bought 3 cloth masks, made in India, sold to me off my Dentist’s counter. He & his missus are both Kiwi Indians with still-strong connections to whanau back in the old country which, until Covid, they visit regularly. They’re both practising Christians & were selling them for an orphanage charity in India that they support.
The only thing is they seemed to be a single layer cloth – but nope, I’ve just gone & checked them carefully & they’re lined: 2 layers.
I’ve got a biggish box of surgical masks, so I’m using a few of them up first. They’re supposed to be one-use-only, but I go out from my home base relatively infrequently & often for only about 30 mins or so, so most the time I take it off in the car & re-use it a few times in Level 2, where there’s less risk of Covid being in the air & getting on the mask.
In Level 4 lockdowns – when Welly’s had cases in the community – they get trashed after one use.
I notice on Aljazeera tv-shown Press Conferences that the Taliban & the Iranian leadership have the same problem, McFlock. 😀 I’ve just got a mo. Not so much of a problem.
Good to see the 'evil doers' taking their civic responsibilities seriously.
It seems that these terrible inhuman monsters, that we have to slaughter hundreds of innocent civilians. just to get to one of them, shares some very human frailties with the rest of us.
Nearly 90 Percent Of People Killed In Recent Drone Strikes Were Not The Target
U.S. drone strikes have killed scores of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
However it's a sunny, quite warm day today & I noticed when trying on my mask outside, there wasn't that much of a problem today.
It may well diminish or disappear as the weather gets warmer – though no doubt we'll get a real "Polar Blast" barreling up the whole country sometime before the end of September. Happens every year.
Went for a bush walk here on Auckland's North Shore yesterday. Close to our home about 2km away. A bit hesistant as the track narrows in a lot of places and it was a nice day – but stuck our masks on and assumed others would too. Only about 20% masked – people puffing their way back uphill unmasked and right past others who were also unmasked and taking a breather. Completed our walk – albeit with a fair bit of backing into the bushes and keeping clear of others when we hit the beach at the bottom. Regretted the decision to go. Looked a bit like a case of "Covid's just in South Auckland, none up here…"
Mask compliance here in Whanganui is nearly universal. Late last week I saw a kuia bawling out a group of school kids over their not wearing masks in a crowded main street. The whole lot donned the masks they were carrying.
Good on her. From my observations, they allow a fair bit of latitude to young kids & don’t always bawl out their tamariki for misdemeanors. When they do, I bet the kidz listen up !
Nah they were escaping last time. Family on the Coromandel commented on how many Aucklanders were flying in by helicopter during lock down and/or arriving in the middle of the night.
I think it is more that people have lost tolerance for the behaviour this time.
Here’s an even scarier statement, from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s strategies during crisis standards of care:
“Universal DNR Order: Adult patients hospitalized during a public health emergency, when crisis standards of care have been declared, should receive aggressive interventions; however, they should receive NO attempts at resuscitation (compressions, shocks or intubation if not yet intubated) in the event of cardiac arrest. The likelihood of survival after a cardiac arrest is extremely low for adult patients. As well, resuscitation poses significant risk to healthcare workers due to aerosolization of body fluids and uses large quantities of scarce resources such as staff time, personal protective equipment, and lifesaving medications, with minimal opportunity for benefit.”
In other words, whether we’ve signed a “do not resuscitate” directive or not, everyone single one of us is now under a DNR directive in Idaho because we’ve reached crisis standards of care due to a deadly and overwhelming surge of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in our hospitals.
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
Conventional triaging and medical ethics is built around events out of the control of those injured. But what we've got coming at us is very much foreseeable, and there is a very safe, very effective, and free precaution (almost) all of us can take against being a part of the coming problem (that unfortunately isn't quite 100% effective). However, some will refuse to do their very minimal bit for their community and help themselves at the same time.
Responding to this problem is a society-wide values and ethics and resource-allocation issue, not a conventional medical ethics and triaging situation. Therefore conventional medical ethicists are not the right people for setting the response guidelines.
Our government needs to be the ones to step up and give the hard word.
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
You could sell tickets – the morally superior vaccinated people could come and watch the spectacle of the 'filth' choking to death. Seems it would be popular.
But I would set up another tent in a different corner of the carpark as a vaccination centre. So those that need the shock of seeing how nasty it is to nudge them into protecting themselves can get it done then and there.
We won't discuss the morality of kids needing care after a car accident, for example, not getting admitted to hospital, because it is full of idiots who didn't get vaccinated, when it is easily available.
Already happening in New York State, from a first hand description.
US hospitals ration care amid shortages and Covid-19 surge
Surges in coronavirus cases in several US states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages, are exacting a mounting toll on hospitals and their workers, leading to warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed.
…
In Alaska, the influx is so heavy the state's largest hospital is no longer able to provide life-saving care to every patient who needs it due to the influx of Covid-19 hospitalisations, according to an open letter from the medical executive committee of Providence Alaska Medical Centre this week.
"If you or your loved one need speciality care at Providence, such as a cardiologist, trauma surgeon, or a neurosurgeon, we sadly may not have room now," the letter read. "There are no more staffed beds left."
Yes Gezza, apparently therre was a protest on women's suffrage day in Dunedin calling for trans rights. I am informed the protesters countering the women's celebrations seem to have no idea what women's suffrage was about. That women had to fight hard for their right to cast a vote.
Was there Anker? I haven't heard anything about that myself (but then the last time I bothered marching in protest was against the TPPA, so people know better than to ask me along), and I am familiar with a few takatāpui kaiwhakahē o Ōtepoti. Do you have a link?
This is the closest I could find (from yesterday), but then again – I don't use Twitter or suchlike:
Local feminists are marching for their rights in Wellington and Dunedin on New Zealand Suffrage Day, this Sunday, in protest against two bills before Parliament that the women say will erode their rights; the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill and the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill…
The Wellington protest will take place on Sunday, 19 September, at 12.00pm, at Te Aro Park, and a rally will be held at the Octagon in Dunedin from 11 am.
Sufferage became universal for males for all males in 1879 (as opposed to male land owners only being able to vote)
In 1867 the Maori seats were established so Maori males could vote.
Then women got the vote in 1893, the first country in the world that allowed women to vote. Women fought hard for this in NZ and in other countries. In some countries like Switzerland women didn't get the vote till the 1970's.
Voting rights were restricted biological sex. That's why suffrage is celebrated by women.
Women have always celebrated suffrage on our day 19th September. It was then that we were included. We are remembering how hard our sisters fought to be included.
The protests were against SUFW hijacking the Suffrage Day celebration (there were posters saying the Octagon even was organised by the SUFW to oppose self ID thing), not against the Suffrage Movement.
Afaik, it wasn't SUFW, it was Women's Liberation Aotearoa and Mana Wāhine Kōrero. And they didn't hijack a Suffrage Day celebration, they organised it. They have a FB page if you want to look it up.
The universal in "universal suffrage" refers more to the right to both; vote for, and stand for, elected office. Universal suffrage in NZ was deemed to have been achieved even before women and Māori got the right to vote. Māori votes were problematic from 1867 (when they were worth about a quarter as much as Pākehā by population, and weren't permitted to use secret ballots, or electoral rolls) all the way up until 1992 with the adoption of MMP that finally gave (those who chose to risk discrimination for identifying as) Māori a proportionate voice in parliament.
However, I would argue that we have not yet reached true universal suffrage due to age restrictions (particularly in the 16-17 age group; which I think is currently before the courts based on the HRA, but even younger might be feasible through proxy). Also the removal of voting rights for prisoners, and preventing those convicted of a crime punishable for more than 2 years imprisonment (even if the actual sentence is less than that). Plus NZ citizens losing the right to vote if they have been out of the country for too long (3 years, I think – that's going to be an live issue come 2023).
Exclusive: The government is bracing itself for supplies of beer, fizzy drinks and meat to be hit by a severe shortage of CO2, with supermarkets and restaurants expected to be affected in the coming days.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was warned on Thursday that shortages of CO2, caused by the closure this week of two major fertilizer plants, would affect manufacturers across food and drink industry, PoliticsHome understands.
[…]
The CO2 shortage is set to compound ongoing disruption to food and drink supplies caused by chronic shortages of lorry drivers, processors, and other workers in the UK's supply chains.
The labour shortages, which have been exacerbated by the coronavirus and Brexit, have resulted in household names like McDonald's, Gregg's, and the Co-op running out of certain items in recent weeks, with the disruption expected to worsen in the coming weeks in the run-up to Christmas.
The final outcome of Brexit is uncertain. In my view the EU is a bloated bureaucratic that has long ago lost it's way. The sooner it returns to a simple trade pact the better.
"but their labour laws only caught up on them now… because brexit."
On the contrary. The article states "Decades of anti-union legislation has tilted what was always an unequal relationship between workers and capital even further in the latter’s favour. "
"Some people would rather rule over peasants in muck than live in a developed and equitable society."
On the back of 300mil quid a week, and other bullshit.
The basic problem with that article is that unionisation wouldn't stop EU drivers making cross-channel deliveries. So unions or not, crashing out of the EU was still a predictably stupid thing to do.
So the "nuanced" view is that if Brexit hadn't happened, there'd still be the same shortages now?
Because it seems to me that if they had enough drivers before Brexit, and not enough drivers after, then maybe that's an issue they should have fucking considered and solved before crashing out of the EU.
That article was written in 2019, and includes this "This article demonstrates why the NHS is currently suffering from a staffing crisis…". So the staffing crisis existed BEFORE Brexit came into effect.
From that link "London still has a towering lead over rivals Frankfurt, Milan and Paris when it comes to trading stocks, currencies and derivatives and playing host to asset managers." You're quoting from an article written less than 2 months after Brexit came into effect, that is extolling London's virtues! Look I can give you more.
The people of the UK overwhelmingly backed pro-Brexit policies of the Conservatives in the last election. They will have a far better country as a result.
Well, the kingdom wasn't quite united on that one.
But it's funny how the driver shortages really hit home when they can't just get some Baltic drivers in at the last minute, innit. Pure coincidence, according to the nuanced view?
More the energy crunch due to large increases in natural gas prices.
With the large fertilizer manufacturers shutting production of Nitrogen and ammonia urea,there will be large increases in food costs,and the cost of building materials such as waste pipes,guttering etc.
Electricity has also (like NZ) skyrocketed in Europe.
Meamwhile Collins and co are trying to find a way of saying we should, open up immediately, and accept however many deaths and disabilities, as well as the economic loss to businesses and workers, that were largely able to carry on business as usual, due to the success of comprehensive but short lockdowns, without actually saying it.
Oh dear, we have a Plan B parrot that tripped over a few logical fallacies and fell in a rabbit hole. Please enlighten us, in your own words, as to why you claim that lockdowns in NZ are not working.
Cases are constant as are the mystery numbers. Shows covid is in the community and getting aroind
I never said plan B. I said level 3 with more mandatory restrictions to enjoy it. Open up just enough to give Aucklanders some relief but keep it safe.
You didn’t have to, it was crystal clear; in fact, no link required or desired, this time, as it would show you as the Plan B parrot that you are.
Shows covid is in the community and getting aroind [sic]
That comment shows a profound misunderstanding of lockdown, which is exactly because of spread in the community. In all reality, the peak has passed, but the tail is long (and hard), and most if not all news cases are linked to existing clusters within 24 hours and occur in households of known positive cases. Lockdown is definitely working, even against the much tougher Delta variant.
I hope you enjoyed the briefing at 4 pm by Ardern and Bloomfield and found it informative and educational. Lockdowns do work indeed!
In fact, it works so well that they have decided to use it again:
For the Mangatangi community to the east of Maramarua and the southeast of Miranda on the firth of Thames, a section 70 order has been put in place extending the road boundary currently around Auckland.
This area, under the advice of the Director-General of Health Doctor Ashley Bloomfield, is in a "bespoke Level 4'' arrangement for five days.
That means getting tested, staying home, and monitoring symptoms until that deadline is up.
It's tough, but it is working. Sydney and Melbourne show that if you ease off this sucker even a little bit, Auckland will be counting deaths by the day. Maybe when damned near everyone is double-jabbed, but not before.
I'd like to see some analysis on how onward transmission is still occurring at L4. The inference given at the 1PM today was that it isn't through the consumption of essential services, i.e. it's not unrelated people using the same dairy, laundromat, etc. Rather it's due to inter-household contact, either due to outright bubble-breaking, or to special circumstances where someone from one household has to provide support to another household. And if that's the case, I don't see how you stop it without tightening controls even further and/or throwing more resources and people at it.
For the most part many of the activities of people infectious in the community, are essential visits.
They haven't tended to see cases spin-off from locations of interest such as pharmacies and supermarkets. They're seeing transmission within households.
The weasel wording of "for the most part" and "haven't tended" suggests to me that some is indeed happening. Which would have an easy solution: instead of them having to go out on their essential trips, deliver their essential supplies instead. The government can easily stump up the delivery fee.
Most if not all new cases can be linked to known existing cases within 24 hours.
Most if not all transmission takes place within households.
Most of the activities of people who are deemed infectious in the community are (for) essential visits.
One possibility is to provide extra assistance to those identified households, e.g., using some kind of personalised chaperone system with experienced health care professionals from within the local community. This might help break the so-called long hard tail of this Delta outbreak in Auckland and allow the rules to be somewhat relaxed for the rest of the greater Auckland region that is in lockdown and the rest of the whole country sooner rather than later. In other words, more tailored and targeted measures with more flexibility and nuance reflecting the specific and local circumstances rather than the current crude blanket measures that seem to obey the rule (mantra) that one size fits all. How hard can that be?
Yes, maybe something new needs to be done, even if it is hard. Throwing 'wrap-around' care at households where someone is identified as a close contact – so they literally don't go anywhere until negative Day12 tests are returned, or into MIQ if tests are positive. Low numbers of such households presumably make it feasible.
But I guess everyone is scared of scenes like we saw in the early days in Wuhan with full PPE-wearing cops positioned outside people's front doors and physically shoving them back inside.
Yes, it would have its own set of difficulties and would indeed require some finesse for want of a better word.
I was thinking of allowing members of those households to continue to go about their ways under lockdown rather than give them full house arrest and without extra limitations and restrictions that could stigmatise them in their (local) communities.
A fully vaccinated professional could show them the do’s & don’ts, including mask-wearing and hand-washing, for example, and also chaperone them safely from a discrete distance without looking like a bodyguard in full armour, so to speak. Maybe appoint one member of the household as gatekeeper and observer of QC and adherence to good practice, but this may not gel well with certain socio-cultural norms within those households.
Things need to be tailored or they won’t work at all and possibly even backfire; intra-household wedges are not desired outcomes.
We need more lateral thinking and solutions after more than 18 months of dealing with this pandemic. We also need boldness combined with kind firmness.
I had a friend in Wuhan Province during their initial lock-down. They used a lot of workers to man intersections and then building entrances – eventually taking orders for shopping and delivering them for residents. It minimised contact between households and enabled a successful and orderly lockdown. there may have been police involved, and they were quick to use full body covering including masks. I did not hear of any widespread unrest; most of the population readily complied with requests. Whether that would have worked here is a moot point; they have a much higher density of population in cities than we do – and China is one of the few countries that has better Covid statistics then we do.
… provide extra assistance to those identified households, e.g., using some kind of personalised chaperone system with experienced health care professionals from within the local community. This might help break the so-called long hard tail of this Delta outbreak in Auckland and allow the rules to be somewhat relaxed for the rest of the greater Auckland region…
Its a no-brainer. Lets be honest for once about the problem in Auckland:
This outbreak appears pretty much confined to one ethnicity and in large part is caused by too many people in one household and the tendency to socially meet in large numbers eg. church functions. Setting aside the reason for this scenario which I know is not entirely their fault, it would be absurd if the whole of the Auckland region should continue to suffer the consequences of a L4 lockdown.
It was pertinent to the recovery process up until now, but any continuation would be harmful to Auckland and the rest of the country. Instead concentrate resources into the group who are currently topping the 'cases chart' and assist them to overcome the plight so many are currently in.
As an aside, to be really effective, public health measures need to be taken and tailored to the people who need it, i.e., know your audience. This means great(er) involvement of local community medical centres and GPs. This is one major reason why I’m quite wary of the abolishing of the DHBs, which are indeed a shambles, and replacing them with a more centralised structure and system. Public health happens at grassroots and patient level, not in boardrooms on top floors of tall buildings by managers in suits with bonus payments based on meeting KPIs. Same could be said about many societal issues, for that matter.
I think most community health centres and GPs are involved now. What I suspect happened is the government did not have sufficient vaccine to go too hard out and that is why they delayed bringing in the bulk of the medical clinics. Whether that was an error of judgement or they were constrained by sticking to one brand or for some other reason I don't know. Whatever, the situation has now changed.
We'll have to wait and see the fine print re-the proposed new Health Boards but there is little argument the country has way too many DHBs. I trust Andrew Little to set them up in such a way they will not turn into big corporate-type conglomerates. We had a good health system prior to neoliberalism. In fact it was regarded as one of the best in the world.
'A prisoner who arrived at an Auckland jail attended court on Friday when no technology was available for him to appear remotely, and he later tested positive for Covid-19.
More than a dozen people are regarded as contacts and Manukau District Court, a nearby custody unit and police vehicles had to be deep-cleaned.
But legal sources including one who was at the court on Friday say even more staff who were present now have to isolate, and some were not alerted to the situation until today.
After Herald enquiries, police and the Ministry of Justice confirmed the man attended Manukau District Court in person.
The Herald understands the defendant was in Courtroom 4 from 12.05 to 12.21pm.
Officials have said four police officers, five Corrections staff and six prisoners were being treated as contacts.'
the irony there is that no-one on the left with a job they care about would dare satirise the impact of individiualising pronouns on people's jobs. Or the English language.
Or how contradictory gender identity theory is,
"Because gender is a social construct, and I was born this way."
At 34 days NZ's and VIC's graphs are identical. If it's L4 keeping us there, any lifting of it will see our graph follow VIC's.
I can tell you now, Auckland isn't happy. Five more weeks at L4 to try suppress that graph when just a few people are not following the rules and ruining it for everyone else is going to result in some serious social division.
It used to be that naming and shaming rule breakers worked a treat. The government seems to have gone gun-shy yet again…
Taiwan and Vietnam do not tolerate such antisocial behaviour.
What are you trying to say there? That NZ does “tolerate” such behaviour and/or that NZ should become more like those countries and change the law to hand out tougher penalties and punishments? It sounds like a comment that could have come from a dog-whistling virtue-signalling two-faced politician talking from both sides of their mouth, if you asked me.
The moment Russiagate took the person I love most by Serena Sopwith-Fotherington, Daisycutter Sports News, Dec. 18, 2021
[deleted]
[I have no idea what the hell that was, but deleted because at least some of it was a cut and paste from a BBC website. Morrissey, you haveto make clear what are your words, and what are someone else’s and you have to do so in a manner that other people, including the mods, can understand. Use the blockquote tag, or some other way of making it clear – weka]
I will not utter profanities, but 🤬. And leave any other reactive comments to myself and go online and order a bottle of Whisky or 2. By the time they are finished Auckland maybe at level 3 🙁
Forgot to get a 4 pack of Tip Top Boysenberry Trumpets when I shopped at the supermarket today. No treats in the house at all today. I blame the guvermint.
(It’s not their fault, I just often blame all guvermints so I can move on from my trauma.)
ISRAEL CAPTURES LAST TWO PRISONERS WHO TUNNELLED OUT OF HIGH SECURITY PRISON
Aljazeera tv is reporting that Israeli police have just recaptured the remaining two Palestinian escapees from an Israeli high security prison.
The Israelis might now be able to stand down the thousands of police, security & other IDF personnel who have been deployed in the Palestinian occupied territories during the hunt for the fugitives, fearful that they might have been planning to stage attacks in Israel.
A Palestinian Rights Group says the Israelis have arrested over 100 Palestinians since those 6 prisoners escaped a few weeks ago. Their troops, a female Palestinian representative of the Group says, have also been roughing up & harassing & detaining hundreds of Palestinians while searching for the escapees.
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As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
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 ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
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Somebody here yesterday asked whether there were even any family members left to receive compensation for the US's wrongful drone strike on an innocent family in Kabul.
Afghan survivors of US drone strike: Sorry 'is not enough'
"Sorry is not enough for the Afghan survivors of an errant US drone strike that killed 10 members of their family, including seven children.
Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was killed on August 29, when the US hellfire missile struck his elder brother's car, told The Associated Presson Saturday that the family demands Washington investigate who fired the drone and punish the military personnel responsible for the strike."
“That is not enough for us to say sorry,” said Ahmadi. “The USA should find the person who did this."
"Ahmadi said the family is also seeking financial compensation for their losses and demanded that several members of the family be relocated to a third country, without specifying which country.
…
Even as evidence mounted to the contrary, Pentagon officials asserted that the strike had been conducted correctly, to protect the US troops remaining at Kabul's airport ahead of the final pullout the following day, on August 30.
…
Zemerai was the family's breadwinner had looked after his three brothers, including Emal, and their children."
"'Now I am the one who is responsible for all my family and I am jobless,' said Emal Ahmadi. The situation “is not good”, said Ahmadi of life under the Taliban. International aid groups and the United Nations have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis that could drive most Afghans below the poverty level.
…
Ahmadi wondered how the family's home could have been mistaken for an Islamic State hideout."
“The USA can see from everywhere," he said of US drone capabilities. “They can see that there were innocent children near the car and in the car. Whoever did this should be punished.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300410616/afghan-survivors-of-us-drone-strike-sorry-is-not-enough
Couple of items of interest on Afghanistan reported on Aljazeera tv news:
“Taliban leaders have turned the Kabul building that housed Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the offices for the religious police, an ominous portent for women’s rights.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/world/asia/taliban-women-ministry-religious-police.html
And, according to Aljaz tv reporting, the Taliban have announced that all BOYS should return to their secondary schools from today. Creating fears that girls are not going to be permitted to attend secondary schools.
Aljaz further reports that co-ed schools in Afghanistan (or it might just be Kabul) have been strictly segregated, & the Taliban have previously recently said that young women may return to Universities (but in segregated classes, & to bectaught only by women – which several female academics there have said will end up being impractical & unaffordable for many, so that it’s likely a tactic to ultimately achieve the goal of sending women back into their homes, while initially avoiding world condemnation). So this has created general confusion.
PS: The Taliban leadership has apparently just said it will be making an announcement about when girls can return to secondary schools at some point soon.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300410641/covid19-pair-arrested-in-wellington-after-allegedly-travelling-from-auckland
I’m losing count of the number of Auckland L4 lockdown breachers being arrested by the police all over the motu. Some folk up there are starting to go stir-crazy, it seems.
They have been released on bail to travel back to a court appearance in Auckland.
Should have been held until they have shown no covid infection
Although I noticed that masks and social distance had suddenly become quite universal around Queenstown locals, including a couple of gentlemen who were prominent at the howl a month or so back. The sense of security from isolation, 'covid's just in South Auckland, none down here', gone and replaced by a quiet concern.
Pleasing to see but last week very few were masking or distancing, and if you did you got shit. Retail staff were scared and very thankful to those that were masking. Retailers Assn has done a lot of good work educating employers and staff of the requirements and reasons for masking and staff feel vulnerable. It's pleasing to see some responsibility from the public, even if it is motivated by personal fear.
Yes, I'm in Welly. Just got back from my supermarket shopping. Everyone's masked up, including yours truly, & shoppers are all trying to keep a reasonable amount of distance from other shoppers at Level 2.
I get a bit hacked off with the mask fogging up me specs, but until we get everyone possible vaccinated, I'm quite happy to keep wearing a mask when out in public.
There is a two-sided 'body" tape that chemists sell that give a better air seal around the nose than the wire used in some masks.
Thanks Ed, might check that out when next in the chemists.
I’ve got a couple of rolls of 1/2 inch micropore tape at home. Might experiment with that.
I find I can prevent my glasses fogging with stillsuit breathing (if you know Herbert's Dune); in through the mouth, and out through the nose. Though it does take a couple of minutes to switch back to more regular patterns when the mask comes off. Also, the bridge of the glasses helps hold the mask on too – but I am using washable cloth ones rather than wired disposables.
I bought 3 cloth masks, made in India, sold to me off my Dentist’s counter. He & his missus are both Kiwi Indians with still-strong connections to whanau back in the old country which, until Covid, they visit regularly. They’re both practising Christians & were selling them for an orphanage charity in India that they support.
The only thing is they seemed to be a single layer cloth – but nope, I’ve just gone & checked them carefully & they’re lined: 2 layers.
I’ve got a biggish box of surgical masks, so I’m using a few of them up first. They’re supposed to be one-use-only, but I go out from my home base relatively infrequently & often for only about 30 mins or so, so most the time I take it off in the car & re-use it a few times in Level 2, where there’s less risk of Covid being in the air & getting on the mask.
In Level 4 lockdowns – when Welly’s had cases in the community – they get trashed after one use.
There's this dude making nose clips that allegedly help prevent fogging.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300410247/covid19-champions-one-mans-3d-printing-hobby-provides-solution-to-common-mask-problem
I just tend to wear my mask high, so that the glasses actualy hold the mask down on the bit by the nose that usually seems to be responsible.
In the process of making some extra large masks to stop me bristles poking out the bottom though.
I notice on Aljazeera tv-shown Press Conferences that the Taliban & the Iranian leadership have the same problem, McFlock. 😀 I’ve just got a mo. Not so much of a problem.
Good to see the 'evil doers' taking their civic responsibilities seriously.
It seems that these terrible inhuman monsters, that we have to slaughter hundreds of innocent civilians. just to get to one of them, shares some very human frailties with the rest of us.
Top US General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. said, 10 civilians, including children, killed in a drone strike was "a mistake"
Bull-Sh cough it
When you deploy a weapon that you know kills civilians 90% of the time, and it kills civilians, it is not a mistake.
There are lots of good video tips on line on how to fix this problem.
Kia ora for this, Jenny
She actually doesn't have much success!
However it's a sunny, quite warm day today & I noticed when trying on my mask outside, there wasn't that much of a problem today.
It may well diminish or disappear as the weather gets warmer – though no doubt we'll get a real "Polar Blast" barreling up the whole country sometime before the end of September. Happens every year.
"Covid's just in South Auckland, none down here…"
Went for a bush walk here on Auckland's North Shore yesterday. Close to our home about 2km away. A bit hesistant as the track narrows in a lot of places and it was a nice day – but stuck our masks on and assumed others would too. Only about 20% masked – people puffing their way back uphill unmasked and right past others who were also unmasked and taking a breather. Completed our walk – albeit with a fair bit of backing into the bushes and keeping clear of others when we hit the beach at the bottom. Regretted the decision to go. Looked a bit like a case of "Covid's just in South Auckland, none up here…"
Mask compliance here in Whanganui is nearly universal. Late last week I saw a kuia bawling out a group of school kids over their not wearing masks in a crowded main street. The whole lot donned the masks they were carrying.
Retailers have been excellent, too.
Good on her. From my observations, they allow a fair bit of latitude to young kids & don’t always bawl out their tamariki for misdemeanors. When they do, I bet the kidz listen up !
Nah they were escaping last time. Family on the Coromandel commented on how many Aucklanders were flying in by helicopter during lock down and/or arriving in the middle of the night.
I think it is more that people have lost tolerance for the behaviour this time.
But it's my body, my choice….fucking filth
St. Luke’s reported that 92-94% of its COVID-19 patients in the past week have been unvaccinated. And 95-98% of its COVID-19 patients taking up ICU beds were unvaccinated.
Here’s an even scarier statement, from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s strategies during crisis standards of care:
“Universal DNR Order: Adult patients hospitalized during a public health emergency, when crisis standards of care have been declared, should receive aggressive interventions; however, they should receive NO attempts at resuscitation (compressions, shocks or intubation if not yet intubated) in the event of cardiac arrest. The likelihood of survival after a cardiac arrest is extremely low for adult patients. As well, resuscitation poses significant risk to healthcare workers due to aerosolization of body fluids and uses large quantities of scarce resources such as staff time, personal protective equipment, and lifesaving medications, with minimal opportunity for benefit.”
In other words, whether we’ve signed a “do not resuscitate” directive or not, everyone single one of us is now under a DNR directive in Idaho because we’ve reached crisis standards of care due to a deadly and overwhelming surge of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in our hospitals.
And it’s all entirely preventable.
https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/editorials/article254287998.html
(my bold)
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
Conventional triaging and medical ethics is built around events out of the control of those injured. But what we've got coming at us is very much foreseeable, and there is a very safe, very effective, and free precaution (almost) all of us can take against being a part of the coming problem (that unfortunately isn't quite 100% effective). However, some will refuse to do their very minimal bit for their community and help themselves at the same time.
Responding to this problem is a society-wide values and ethics and resource-allocation issue, not a conventional medical ethics and triaging situation. Therefore conventional medical ethicists are not the right people for setting the response guidelines.
Our government needs to be the ones to step up and give the hard word.
A solution that doesn't require vaccination.
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1438913472385912848
That way works, but it creates a lot of collateral damage among the staff and among patients that haven't chosen to be the problem.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/healthcare-workers-feeling-burnout-vaccine-deniers_l_6132806ce4b0aac9c016f0b9
Indeed. The anxiety of one of my sister's kid's over the safety of their mother working in CCU is becoming problematic.
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
You could sell tickets – the morally superior vaccinated people could come and watch the spectacle of the 'filth' choking to death. Seems it would be popular.
Nah.
But I would set up another tent in a different corner of the carpark as a vaccination centre. So those that need the shock of seeing how nasty it is to nudge them into protecting themselves can get it done then and there.
We won't discuss the morality of kids needing care after a car accident, for example, not getting admitted to hospital, because it is full of idiots who didn't get vaccinated, when it is easily available.
Already happening in New York State, from a first hand description.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/451823/us-hospitals-ration-care-amid-shortages-and-covid-19-surge
And isn't 'Rationing of Care' the canard deployed against socialised healthcare in the US?
When do we get a non binary suffrage day?
Quite likely that somebody’s already beavering away trying to organise that.
Yes Gezza, apparently therre was a protest on women's suffrage day in Dunedin calling for trans rights. I am informed the protesters countering the women's celebrations seem to have no idea what women's suffrage was about. That women had to fight hard for their right to cast a vote.
Was there Anker? I haven't heard anything about that myself (but then the last time I bothered marching in protest was against the TPPA, so people know better than to ask me along), and I am familiar with a few takatāpui kaiwhakahē o Ōtepoti. Do you have a link?
This is the closest I could find (from yesterday), but then again – I don't use Twitter or suchlike:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2109/S00093/wellington-and-dunedin-feminists-rally-for-disappearing-rights.htm
Didn't realize it was a protest by women about the bills.
It makes more sense as to why others would counter protest. I don't have a link.
I agree about prisoners being able to vote.
Mixed feelings about kids below the age of 18.
Duke Ell you are joking right?
Sufferage became universal for males for all males in 1879 (as opposed to male land owners only being able to vote)
In 1867 the Maori seats were established so Maori males could vote.
Then women got the vote in 1893, the first country in the world that allowed women to vote. Women fought hard for this in NZ and in other countries. In some countries like Switzerland women didn't get the vote till the 1970's.
Voting rights were restricted biological sex. That's why suffrage is celebrated by women.
Suffrage celebrations need to be more inclusive then to avoid problems.
Universal perhaps….
No I think it is good as it is DukeEll.
Women have always celebrated suffrage on our day 19th September. It was then that we were included. We are remembering how hard our sisters fought to be included.
The protests were against SUFW hijacking the Suffrage Day celebration (there were posters saying the Octagon even was organised by the SUFW to oppose self ID thing), not against the Suffrage Movement.
Oh I think describing it as a high jijacking is a bit extreme.
We are women. Its our day, we can use it to highlight issues some of us are concerned about.
Afaik, it wasn't SUFW, it was Women's Liberation Aotearoa and Mana Wāhine Kōrero. And they didn't hijack a Suffrage Day celebration, they organised it. They have a FB page if you want to look it up.
https://twitter.com/wlaotearoa/status/1438511995184025606?s=20
The universal in "universal suffrage" refers more to the right to both; vote for, and stand for, elected office. Universal suffrage in NZ was deemed to have been achieved even before women and Māori got the right to vote. Māori votes were problematic from 1867 (when they were worth about a quarter as much as Pākehā by population, and weren't permitted to use secret ballots, or electoral rolls) all the way up until 1992 with the adoption of MMP that finally gave (those who chose to risk discrimination for identifying as) Māori a proportionate voice in parliament.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/maori-and-the-vote/twentieth-century
However, I would argue that we have not yet reached true universal suffrage due to age restrictions (particularly in the 16-17 age group; which I think is currently before the courts based on the HRA, but even younger might be feasible through proxy). Also the removal of voting rights for prisoners, and preventing those convicted of a crime punishable for more than 2 years imprisonment (even if the actual sentence is less than that). Plus NZ citizens losing the right to vote if they have been out of the country for too long (3 years, I think – that's going to be an live issue come 2023).
"Suffrage celebrations need to be more inclusive then to avoid problems."
What problems?
The Brexit shambles continues.
Exclusive: The government is bracing itself for supplies of beer, fizzy drinks and meat to be hit by a severe shortage of CO2, with supermarkets and restaurants expected to be affected in the coming days.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was warned on Thursday that shortages of CO2, caused by the closure this week of two major fertilizer plants, would affect manufacturers across food and drink industry, PoliticsHome understands.
[…]
The CO2 shortage is set to compound ongoing disruption to food and drink supplies caused by chronic shortages of lorry drivers, processors, and other workers in the UK's supply chains.
The labour shortages, which have been exacerbated by the coronavirus and Brexit, have resulted in household names like McDonald's, Gregg's, and the Co-op running out of certain items in recent weeks, with the disruption expected to worsen in the coming weeks in the run-up to Christmas.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/beer-and-fizzy-drink-supplies-at-risk-from-co2-shortages
But there is still adequate food.
And surely the NHS is going gangbusters from getting the 350 million quid a week that used to go to the EU.
"The Brexit shambles continues."
Or you could look to a slightly more nuanced response.
The final outcome of Brexit is uncertain. In my view the EU is a bloated bureaucratic that has long ago lost it's way. The sooner it returns to a simple trade pact the better.
And beer drinkers' response to any shortages of their favourite tipple will be slightly nuanced, too.
Well if some of those beer drinkers want to become lorry drivers, they can be part of the solution.
Gotcha. UK was doing fine for fizzy drinks, but their labour laws only caught up on them now… because brexit.
Bojo basically crashed out of the EU, and none of the predicted failures were mitigated in any way.
Some people would rather rule over peasants in muck than live in a developed and equitable society.
"but their labour laws only caught up on them now… because brexit."
On the contrary. The article states "Decades of anti-union legislation has tilted what was always an unequal relationship between workers and capital even further in the latter’s favour. "
"Some people would rather rule over peasants in muck than live in a developed and equitable society."
Well based on voting trends at the last election, those peasants must be voting for muck. In the 2019 British election, the Conservatives won more working class votes than labour. "Boris Johnson's party out-polled Labour by double-digit figures among both manual workers and households with incomes below £20,000".
On the back of 300mil quid a week, and other bullshit.
The basic problem with that article is that unionisation wouldn't stop EU drivers making cross-channel deliveries. So unions or not, crashing out of the EU was still a predictably stupid thing to do.
"The basic problem with that article is that unionisation wouldn't stop EU drivers making cross-channel deliveries."
There is a shortage of lorry drivers. To deliver product INSIDE the UK.
Brexit was the best thing to happen to the UK in decades. The working class have well and truly spoken.
So the "nuanced" view is that if Brexit hadn't happened, there'd still be the same shortages now?
Because it seems to me that if they had enough drivers before Brexit, and not enough drivers after, then maybe that's an issue they should have fucking considered and solved before crashing out of the EU.
Just like the fisheries, just like the NHS workforce, just like the NI problem, just like their role as a European financial centre.
Even if the destination is worthwile (doubtful), the incompetent way they left is beyond Thatcher.
"Because it seems to me that if they had enough drivers before Brexit,"
But they didn't. The point of the article is that the shortages have been building up for years.
"just like the NHS workforce"
That article was written in 2019, and includes this "This article demonstrates why the NHS is currently suffering from a staffing crisis…". So the staffing crisis existed BEFORE Brexit came into effect.
" like their role as a European financial centre."
From that link "London still has a towering lead over rivals Frankfurt, Milan and Paris when it comes to trading stocks, currencies and derivatives and playing host to asset managers." You're quoting from an article written less than 2 months after Brexit came into effect, that is extolling London's virtues! Look I can give you more.
The people of the UK overwhelmingly backed pro-Brexit policies of the Conservatives in the last election. They will have a far better country as a result.
Well, the kingdom wasn't quite united on that one.
But it's funny how the driver shortages really hit home when they can't just get some Baltic drivers in at the last minute, innit. Pure coincidence, according to the nuanced view?
"But it's funny how the driver shortages really hit home when they can't just get some Baltic drivers in at the last minute, innit. "
The driver shortage has been 'decades in the making'. Not months. Oh and as for those Baltic drivers…
"Recruiters are now finding their new cheap HGV drivers not in Poland, Hungary or Romania, but in the former Soviet Central Asian states of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan."
They have had shortages of carbonated beverages in the UK for decades?
The Brexit shambles continues.
More the energy crunch due to large increases in natural gas prices.
With the large fertilizer manufacturers shutting production of Nitrogen and ammonia urea,there will be large increases in food costs,and the cost of building materials such as waste pipes,guttering etc.
Electricity has also (like NZ) skyrocketed in Europe.
https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1438772827755253761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1438776189343211520%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FJavierBlas2Fstatus2F1438776189343211520widget%3DTweet
24.
No Kentucky Fried for several more weeks.
Well now, that sucks great hairy months-unwashed balls.
When do we admit that lockdowns aren’t working?
why not move to level 3 and make mask wearing mandatory outside of the house at all times. We have to open up at some point
Working fine for everyone outside of Auckland.
My guess is with the NZHerald at 90% double-hit before reopening.
So never, if we listen to the experts in the same publication.
can’t keep the most concentrated part of the country and economy cooped up for ever
Not forever, no. Everyone in the country agrees with that.
It may be that more aggressive measures are required.
Great clip Stuart!
They are flat out on the 9th floor of the Beehive trying to come up with a story that lets them scrap the lockdowns without either
1. Saying that the original estimates of the deaths expected were greatly exaggerated or
2. having to say that there will be some deaths from Covid 19.
That sounds quite a feat.
Meamwhile Collins and co are trying to find a way of saying we should, open up immediately, and accept however many deaths and disabilities, as well as the economic loss to businesses and workers, that were largely able to carry on business as usual, due to the success of comprehensive but short lockdowns, without actually saying it.
without giving a firm number on how many dead they'll exchange for a latte.
Oh dear, we have a Plan B parrot that tripped over a few logical fallacies and fell in a rabbit hole. Please enlighten us, in your own words, as to why you claim that lockdowns in NZ are not working.
Cases are constant as are the mystery numbers. Shows covid is in the community and getting aroind
I never said plan B. I said level 3 with more mandatory restrictions to enjoy it. Open up just enough to give Aucklanders some relief but keep it safe.
You didn’t have to, it was crystal clear; in fact, no link required or desired, this time, as it would show you as the Plan B parrot that you are.
That comment shows a profound misunderstanding of lockdown, which is exactly because of spread in the community. In all reality, the peak has passed, but the tail is long (and hard), and most if not all news cases are linked to existing clusters within 24 hours and occur in households of known positive cases. Lockdown is definitely working, even against the much tougher Delta variant.
So how’s your profound misunderstanding of lockdown and the level system going?
Very well, thanks.
I hope you enjoyed the briefing at 4 pm by Ardern and Bloomfield and found it informative and educational. Lockdowns do work indeed!
In fact, it works so well that they have decided to use it again:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/relief-for-auckland-more-rules-for-mangatangi
It's tough, but it is working. Sydney and Melbourne show that if you ease off this sucker even a little bit, Auckland will be counting deaths by the day. Maybe when damned near everyone is double-jabbed, but not before.
I'd like to see some analysis on how onward transmission is still occurring at L4. The inference given at the 1PM today was that it isn't through the consumption of essential services, i.e. it's not unrelated people using the same dairy, laundromat, etc. Rather it's due to inter-household contact, either due to outright bubble-breaking, or to special circumstances where someone from one household has to provide support to another household. And if that's the case, I don't see how you stop it without tightening controls even further and/or throwing more resources and people at it.
From the live feed at about 1:21 pm today: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300410256/covid19-nz-live-24-new-cases-discovered-all-in-auckland
The weasel wording of "for the most part" and "haven't tended" suggests to me that some is indeed happening. Which would have an easy solution: instead of them having to go out on their essential trips, deliver their essential supplies instead. The government can easily stump up the delivery fee.
Most if not all new cases can be linked to known existing cases within 24 hours.
Most if not all transmission takes place within households.
Most of the activities of people who are deemed infectious in the community are (for) essential visits.
One possibility is to provide extra assistance to those identified households, e.g., using some kind of personalised chaperone system with experienced health care professionals from within the local community. This might help break the so-called long hard tail of this Delta outbreak in Auckland and allow the rules to be somewhat relaxed for the rest of the greater Auckland region that is in lockdown and the rest of the whole country sooner rather than later. In other words, more tailored and targeted measures with more flexibility and nuance reflecting the specific and local circumstances rather than the current crude blanket measures that seem to obey the rule (mantra) that one size fits all. How hard can that be?
Yes, maybe something new needs to be done, even if it is hard. Throwing 'wrap-around' care at households where someone is identified as a close contact – so they literally don't go anywhere until negative Day12 tests are returned, or into MIQ if tests are positive. Low numbers of such households presumably make it feasible.
But I guess everyone is scared of scenes like we saw in the early days in Wuhan with full PPE-wearing cops positioned outside people's front doors and physically shoving them back inside.
Thanks for being constructive, much appreciated.
Yes, it would have its own set of difficulties and would indeed require some finesse for want of a better word.
I was thinking of allowing members of those households to continue to go about their ways under lockdown rather than give them full house arrest and without extra limitations and restrictions that could stigmatise them in their (local) communities.
A fully vaccinated professional could show them the do’s & don’ts, including mask-wearing and hand-washing, for example, and also chaperone them safely from a discrete distance without looking like a bodyguard in full armour, so to speak. Maybe appoint one member of the household as gatekeeper and observer of QC and adherence to good practice, but this may not gel well with certain socio-cultural norms within those households.
Things need to be tailored or they won’t work at all and possibly even backfire; intra-household wedges are not desired outcomes.
We need more lateral thinking and solutions after more than 18 months of dealing with this pandemic. We also need boldness combined with kind firmness.
Edit: give them kits for daily saliva testing
I had a friend in Wuhan Province during their initial lock-down. They used a lot of workers to man intersections and then building entrances – eventually taking orders for shopping and delivering them for residents. It minimised contact between households and enabled a successful and orderly lockdown. there may have been police involved, and they were quick to use full body covering including masks. I did not hear of any widespread unrest; most of the population readily complied with requests. Whether that would have worked here is a moot point; they have a much higher density of population in cities than we do – and China is one of the few countries that has better Covid statistics then we do.
I don’t follow your logic here.
Is that so? Is that a fact or your opinion?
Its a no-brainer. Lets be honest for once about the problem in Auckland:
This outbreak appears pretty much confined to one ethnicity and in large part is caused by too many people in one household and the tendency to socially meet in large numbers eg. church functions. Setting aside the reason for this scenario which I know is not entirely their fault, it would be absurd if the whole of the Auckland region should continue to suffer the consequences of a L4 lockdown.
It was pertinent to the recovery process up until now, but any continuation would be harmful to Auckland and the rest of the country. Instead concentrate resources into the group who are currently topping the 'cases chart' and assist them to overcome the plight so many are currently in.
As an aside, to be really effective, public health measures need to be taken and tailored to the people who need it, i.e., know your audience. This means great(er) involvement of local community medical centres and GPs. This is one major reason why I’m quite wary of the abolishing of the DHBs, which are indeed a shambles, and replacing them with a more centralised structure and system. Public health happens at grassroots and patient level, not in boardrooms on top floors of tall buildings by managers in suits with bonus payments based on meeting KPIs. Same could be said about many societal issues, for that matter.
I think most community health centres and GPs are involved now. What I suspect happened is the government did not have sufficient vaccine to go too hard out and that is why they delayed bringing in the bulk of the medical clinics. Whether that was an error of judgement or they were constrained by sticking to one brand or for some other reason I don't know. Whatever, the situation has now changed.
We'll have to wait and see the fine print re-the proposed new Health Boards but there is little argument the country has way too many DHBs. I trust Andrew Little to set them up in such a way they will not turn into big corporate-type conglomerates. We had a good health system prior to neoliberalism. In fact it was regarded as one of the best in the world.
I still think it will be KFC from Wednesday morning.
I am not sure.
This news is not encouraging.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/451839/auckland-prisoner-tests-positive-for-covid-19
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-prisoner-went-to-court-later-tested-positive-at-mt-eden-jail/L562FPDQROPFLTL6JF7F52LG7Q/
Yes and this too! Covid in Waikato!
Covid-19 live: Waikato cases linked to existing cluster, decision on alert levels today | Stuff.co.nz
https://twitter.com/thebabylonbee/status/1438238693869957122?s=21
Obviously The Onion for RWNJ's has a certain crossover value.
What's next, their lib owning anti-vaxx schtick?
the irony there is that no-one on the left with a job they care about would dare satirise the impact of individiualising pronouns on people's jobs. Or the English language.
Or how contradictory gender identity theory is,
This animation is just a weaker copy of another parody, from Abbott and Costello in 1945:
For those unaware of this kind of history, it’s called “Who’s On First?”
Easy to understand progress graphic of NZ, NSW and Victoria cases since first delta case in community.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/7264270/
https://twitter.com/Gary_Boyd_NZ/status/1439414896135847936?s=20
At 34 days NZ's and VIC's graphs are identical. If it's L4 keeping us there, any lifting of it will see our graph follow VIC's.
I can tell you now, Auckland isn't happy. Five more weeks at L4 to try suppress that graph when just a few people are not following the rules and ruining it for everyone else is going to result in some serious social division.
It used to be that naming and shaming rule breakers worked a treat. The government seems to have gone gun-shy yet again…
Putting ankle tags on some of the lockdown violators might help, especially the ones most likely to whine about it to the media.
Clear and transparent deterrents need to be imposed on rule breakers. These are serious criminal acts and must be treated as such.
Taiwan and Vietnam do not tolerate such antisocial behaviour.
What are you trying to say there? That NZ does “tolerate” such behaviour and/or that NZ should become more like those countries and change the law to hand out tougher penalties and punishments? It sounds like a comment that could have come from a dog-whistling virtue-signalling two-faced politician talking from both sides of their mouth, if you asked me.
Of course Vietnam excites him.
/
https://vietnamnet.vn/en/society/should-violators-who-illegally-take-covid-19-infected-people-into-vietnam-receive-the-death-penalty-666998.html
Clear and transparent deterrents
"Twenty years in the isocubes, creep." – Karl Urban is Dredd.
The moment Russiagate took the person I love most by Serena Sopwith-Fotherington, Daisycutter Sports News, Dec. 18, 2021
[deleted]
[I have no idea what the hell that was, but deleted because at least some of it was a cut and paste from a BBC website. Morrissey, you haveto make clear what are your words, and what are someone else’s and you have to do so in a manner that other people, including the mods, can understand. Use the blockquote tag, or some other way of making it clear – weka]
mod note.
I will not utter profanities, but 🤬. And leave any other reactive comments to myself and go online and order a bottle of Whisky or 2. By the time they are finished Auckland maybe at level 3 🙁
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/three-new-covid-cases-in-waikato-including-two-school-students/J5A3QM6T4QSFKCFL7IYUVJPZQA/
Bugger.
Forgot to get a 4 pack of Tip Top Boysenberry Trumpets when I shopped at the supermarket today. No treats in the house at all today. I blame the guvermint.
(It’s not their fault, I just often blame all guvermints so I can move on from my trauma.)
ISRAEL CAPTURES LAST TWO PRISONERS WHO TUNNELLED OUT OF HIGH SECURITY PRISON
Aljazeera tv is reporting that Israeli police have just recaptured the remaining two Palestinian escapees from an Israeli high security prison.
The Israelis might now be able to stand down the thousands of police, security & other IDF personnel who have been deployed in the Palestinian occupied territories during the hunt for the fugitives, fearful that they might have been planning to stage attacks in Israel.
A Palestinian Rights Group says the Israelis have arrested over 100 Palestinians since those 6 prisoners escaped a few weeks ago. Their troops, a female Palestinian representative of the Group says, have also been roughing up & harassing & detaining hundreds of Palestinians while searching for the escapees.