Daily review 02/06/2022

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, June 2nd, 2022 - 87 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

87 comments on “Daily review 02/06/2022 ”

  1. SPC 1

    While two actors who play fictional characters were involved in a real life court room drama, two real life human beings (played by Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi) have researched and reprised the lives of two other human beings (a pirate and his intern – and added extras for seasoning.

    Our Flag Means Death's gentle sensibility doesn't quite strike comedic gold

    https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/our_flag_means_death/s01

    It seems they tried to make the relationship work and neglected their piracy.

    OUR FLAG MEANS (unto) DEATH (an at sea remake of 4 weddings and a funeral)

    https://twitter.com/hbomax/status/1532044303538827264

    • joe90 1.1

      I found the first three or four episodes distinctly unfunny. Then Waititi turned up and while I'm still not a huge fan, it does get funnier by the episode.

      However, some absolutely adore it so perhaps I'm not the target audience.

      So when I realized that Our Flag Means Death is actually telling the queer story it felt like it’s telling—fully, and tenderly—it was like the world cracked open in the best way.

      It’s mindblowing, dizzying really. Many queer fans of Our Flag Means Death finished the show in a state of shock that most of us haven’t yet left. It feels deeply cathartic and genuinely freeing. There’s this sense of astonished relief, of unfamiliar energy, from not having to bend over backwards for fucking once.

      https://www.tor.com/2022/04/25/act-of-grace-masculinity-monstrosity-and-queer-catharsis-in-our-flag-means-death/

  2. weka 2

    Omicron continues to circulate in the community and open borders will bring new COVID-19 variants, flu, and other infectious illnesses, putting additional pressure on the entire health system including GP practices, pharmacies, community health clinics, emergency ambulances as well as emergency departments.

    https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/kiwis-urged-look-after-themselves-and-alleviate-pressure-health-system-winter

    Being honest about it all is useful I guess. Shall we hope that the whole country has peaked with Omicron and recovered enough before the borders open?

    • Poission 2.1

      Most hospitals going to code black( suspended operations) lots of staff off with Covid,3 variants of Omicron in circulation,2 types of Influenza,RV,and a very high excess death rate.

      https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/excess-mortality-p-scores-average-baseline?country=NZL~AUS

      • weka 2.1.1

        hospitals are already at code black, or that is what will happen over winter once the borders open?

        • Poission 2.1.1.1

          Hospitals are limited with staff shortages now,and overloaded AE.One was reporting they had 200 off per day.Winter who knows?

    • aj 2.2

      https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1522687804832194562?cxt=HHwWhIC97bWf1qEqAAAA

      Also this (after approx 2mins 38s) I won’t link to it but insert this into twitter . .
      questCNN/status/1530280196166787074

    • joe90 2.3

      There's an awful lot of people not taking it seriously.

      Lab employee told me about someone who turned up sniffing and snuffling having bull-shited their way through the entry interview and ditched the mask they'ed been given to wear. They admitted that they thought it was a good time to get bloods done while they were off work with covid.

      My brother's had obviously ill staff turn up to work because they were bored at home. Mate working on an orchard packed up and went home because his employer was encouraging staff to turn up ill or not.

      A long-time friend is 60, un-vaccinated, seriously over weight, likely pre-diabetic, and he’s decided that it's just a flu and runs around without a care in the world.

      People are getting ill, not bothering to report it and sweating it out and anecdotally, reinfections are occurring, too.

      • pat 2.3.1

        What are you supposed to do Joe?..i had all the classic symptoms of covid and took 2 days off work…did RAT tests every day and tested negative so went back to work….mind you most of the listed covid symptoms Ive had for years.

        • joe90 2.3.1.1

          What are you supposed to do Joe?.

          Don't knowingly risk infecting your workmates?

          • pat 2.3.1.1.1

            Knowingly is a loaded term….I have the symptoms but test negative, and we know that the tests are unreliable and that there are asymptomatic cases, does everyone place their lives on hold on the off chance?

            • joe90 2.3.1.1.1.1

              You can be symptomatic and return a negative test. You can be symptomatic and you may not be infectious but close contact with others when you're symptomatic is punting with other people's health.

              https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/status/1472024457640394756

              • pat

                All very interesting but dosnt answer the question

                • joe90

                  An off chance that you might knowingly or otherwise infect someone with a potentially fatal disease is a pretty damn good reason to place your life on hold for long enough to ensure that you're not infectious.

                  • pat

                    How long is long enough Joe?…a week? a month?….as said the symptoms are ubiquitous and the test unreliable.

                    • weka

                      would you go to work while you have symptoms if work didn't need you to and you could financially afford not to?

                    • joe90

                      I read it as you're likely infectious a couple of days before symptom onset to between 3 and 10 days after symptom onset. So when you're no longer symptomatic is the obvious answer.

                      Or in an ideal world, a clear PCR test prior to returning to work.

                  • pat

                    COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Most infected people will develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalization.

                    Most common symptoms:

                    fever

                    cough

                    tiredness

                    loss of taste or smell

                    Less common symptoms:

                    sore throat

                    headache

                    aches and pains

                    diarrhoea

                    a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes

                    red or irritated eyes

                    https://covid19.govt.nz/prepare-and-stay-safe/about-covid-19/covid-19-symptoms/#covid-19-symptoms

            • weka 2.3.1.1.1.2

              we should by now be moving to a place where no-one has to go to work if they have respiratory symptoms. I'm talking concept and cultural practice rather than perfection. That people have to work when unwell is not a good thing, without even thinking about covid.

              • Belladonna

                That's true. And, if you work in an environment where you have the capacity to work from home, then it's achievable.
                [Our workplace does. And this is required, not optional – your manager will send you home, if you turn up to work obviously sick]

                But. And it's a big But. Lots of workplaces simply don't have this option of remote working. You either have to take sick or annual leave – and people run through that darn quickly (especially if they also have kids who are not able to attend school with even the most minor of sniffles); or you have to work through (taking symptom suppressant medication, and trying to stay under the H&S radar).

                Note that this particularly impacts on women – who by and large (and yes there are exceptions) are the ones taking sick leave to look after family members.

                Companies are also looking at employee productivity. And someone with a history of taking a lot of sick leave, won't be the one getting the pay rise or promotion (unless they have unique skills to compensate).

                • weka

                  yes, we need to change the culture and policy/law so that people don't have to go to work sick. Start with the easy workplaces and work from there. I'd go with universities etc soon too, we already have much of the infrastructure in place but it could be improved.

                  • Incognito

                    Last year Government increased the minimum sick leave entitlement from 5 to 10 days.

                    I don’t get your comment re. universities though.

                    • weka

                      Unis etc are good places to make the cultural change. Set up the tech of learning so that people don't have to come in and sit in a lecture theatre and infect others if they are sick. By tech I mean ICT but also the cultural tech of learning. How to make it effective and fun.

                    • Incognito []

                      Yup, almost everything at uni is online too, but whether it is fun … Flu shots are free for staff.

                    • weka

                      Ten days. How many people who get covid this year will need more than that for all sicknesses?

                    • Incognito []

                      10 days is the minimum entitlement and employees can carry over leave (to a point), AFAIK.

                      Indeed, 10 days doesn’t go far if one has Covid-19; self-isolation is yet a whole other issue, but at least there is some support for that: https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/leave-support-scheme/index.html

                    • weka

                      and better ventilation. All the things.

                      I've spent a lot of time online at home on my own due to disability. There are ways to make that enjoyable and ways to make it boring or frustration. People might have to learn some new skills.

                    • Incognito []

                      I hear you. I became a house mouse and the cat loved it! At least one of us enjoyed the working-from-home crap.

                    • Belladonna

                      "It’s a bit more than recorded lectures. Tutorials and group work also went on-line. Was it effective? I wouldn’t know …"

                      According to the uni students I know (pretty big cross-section of different disciplines) – it was a total disaster.

                      Effective group work online requires a shared culture and trust model – which needs to be established first.
                      It basically doesn't work unless you already have a shared group identity (e.g. a work-based team). You can transition a new person into an existing group, but it's darn hard to establish a remote group who've never worked/met in person.

                      Uni tutorials are the opposite of this (they've never worked together, and are expected to form online working groups for each lecture/subject they study). Not going to happen.

                      Uni-students said that during Covid lockdowns basically no one said anything, people showed up for roll call (to get the credit) then switched off, or (at most) there was one eager-beaver who talked to the tutor.

                    • Incognito []

                      Yeah, I know …

                      A few have dropped out altogether and probably won’t return.

                  • Belladonna

                    "Unis etc are good places to make the cultural change. Set up the tech of learning so that people don't have to come in and sit in a lecture theatre and infect others if they are sick. By tech I mean ICT but also the cultural tech of learning. How to make it effective and fun."

                    Having several friends with uni-age-and-attending kids during the last couple of years, I can tell you that the online university is a resounding failure in comparison with the in-person experience.

                    Students hated it (apart from those who found it a heaven-sent opportunity to cheat).

                    A large (and crucial) part of a tertiary education is the opportunity to bounce ideas of contemporaries and lecturers – and this simply doesn't work in an online environment. Learning is a gestalt. Not an isolated experience.

                    However, if all you're talking about is the ability to have a lecture recorded, so a sick student can watch it remotely – it's easy to do. The equivalent of borrowing a friend's lecture notes.

                    I doubt it will make much difference. Most students aren't sufficiently motivated to drag themselves off their sick beds, just to go to a lecture. And there are already plenty of accommodations for aegrotat passes if you're truly sick during exams.

                    • Incognito

                      It’s a bit more than recorded lectures. Tutorials and group work also went on-line. Was it effective? I wouldn’t know …

                  • Belladonna

                    Sorry, running into a problem with the nested replies

                    Ten days. How many people who get covid this year will need more than that for all sicknesses?

                    I can tell you now, that almost all mothers will need significantly more than that.

                    If I didn't have the capacity to work from home, then I would have already exceeded this, in caring for a sick child, this year alone. And we haven't even had Covid! Or got into the winter cold/flu season.

                    Now that schools won't allow kids to come with even a minor sniffle, I've had to take 2 periods of 1 week away from the office – just for two bouts of an ordinary cold (teen sick, not me). In both cases, according to my eagle-eyed parental mode – he was well enough to learn after the first 2 days, but not allowed to go back to school while still 'snotty'.

                    I have no idea how parents who don't have the WFH option manage. But suspect there are a lot of kids 'home alone' or with grandparents (not ideal from the cross-infection perspective).

                    At work, we have several staff members who are on their 3rd or 4th Covid isolation (large, extended families) as a household contact. At this point, they're just about desperate to actually catch Covid – which means they don't have to isolate for the next 3-4 months, even if they're a household contact.

                    • pat

                      Catching covid does not preclude being reinfected nor does it preclude the necessity to isolate (in some peoples view)

                    • Incognito []

                      If you have had COVID-19 in the past 3 months, you do not need to isolate again.

                      https://covid19.govt.nz/testing-and-tracing/contact-tracing/household-contacts/

                    • pat

                      @ Incognito…perhaps you should explain that to Weka and Joe….and the guy at my place of employment on his second isolation with covid inside 3 months, first case mild second not.

                    • Incognito []

                      Getting Covid-19 twice, especially within a 90-day window is rare, but it can happen.

                      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/covid-19/468169/covid-19-reinfections-not-being-tracked-in-nz-as-examples-tipped-to-rise

                    • pat

                      Rare and increasing by all appearances

                    • pat

                      And none of which addresses the problem of expecting isolation in the presence of exceedingly common symptoms of indeterminate cause.

                    • Incognito []

                      If you have symptoms of a contagious (infectious) respiratory disease you stay home. That’s nothing new, but for Covid we now have several lovely test kits to prove it other than going to the GP who looks at you and diagnoses you as having x, y, or z (aka a ‘cold’ or the ‘flu’).

                      If you’re a household contact of a positive Covid case it depends on whether it has been 90 days (3 months) since you had it yourself.

                      This is the current information, subject to change.

                    • pat

                      "If you have symptoms of a contagious (infectious) respiratory disease you stay home."

                      Again….look at the list of symptoms.

                    • Incognito []

                      I tick one, all the time:

                      Tiredness

                    • pat

                      I hope you are isolating

                    • Belladonna

                      If you’re a household contact of a positive Covid case it depends on whether it has been 90 days (3 months) since you had it yourself.

                      Yes indeed. The problem is when you are (repeatedly) a household contact, but haven't caught Covid. Of course, you may have had an asymptomatic case, which was missed by the RATs – but that doesn't count.

                      If you have not had Covid in the last 3 months, and are a household contact for someone who has got Covid, you have to isolate. Repeatedly in many cases. As I said, we have staff who are on their 3rd or 4th round of Covid-household-contact isolation – in the last 6 months.

                    • Incognito []

                      Although that seems an excessively high number I agree that it would be enormously disruptive. Unfortunately, the signs are the pandemic will have a long fat tail in NZ and plus all the other winter illnesses it will make for a season of more disruption and upheaval. I guess we have to become more resilient, individually and collectively, more tolerant and ‘learn to live with it’.

              • pat

                We have acute staffing shortages as it is…shortages that are causing harm…and you wish to have anyone with respiratory symptoms avoid work?

                Dont worry about climate change….if everyone who has (indeternimate) symptoms ceases work the whole shebang will collapse tomorrow

                And were going to transition to a society that provides all needs without
                the benefit of the multiplying effect of fossil energy?

                Think about it.

                • weka

                  that would be a boon for climate action.

                  But it's not what I meant. I meant that we could be building on our covid experience to develop a culture where people don't have to go to work sick. That's a financial and economic change, but also how we do work. As I just said to Belladonna, start with the easy workplaces and work from there.

                  Also said, it doesn't have to be perfect, to don't let that be the enemy of the good.

                  • pat

                    It may not have to be perfect, but it sure as hell has to be functional

                  • pat

                    We havnt had a 40 hour work week for decades….you havnt addressed either point

                    • weka

                      I did.

                      We have acute staffing shortages as it is…shortages that are causing harm…and you wish to have anyone with respiratory symptoms avoid work?

                      I said quite clearly that I want us to change work culture so that sick people don't have to go do work. And it doesn't have to be perfect. Nothing about doing that now while we have staff shortages.

                      Dont worry about climate change….if everyone who has (indeternimate) symptoms ceases work the whole shebang will collapse tomorrow

                      Like I said, nothing about doing it today or tomorrow. Maybe you should think about what I am actually saying.

                      And were going to transition to a society that provides all needs without
                      the benefit of the multiplying effect of fossil energy?

                      Supporting people to be healthy will increase our ability to function in a post-carbon world, not decrease it.

                    • weka

                      because you seem an a rather literal frame of mind. Obviously a truck driver with the end of a cold who feels otherwise fine can go to work and not infect anyone else (wear a mask in the office, wash your hands, etc).

                      These are not hard things to imagine.

                    • pat

                      "I said quite clearly that I want us to change work culture so that sick people don't have to go do work. And it doesn't have to be perfect. Nothing about doing that now while we have staff shortages."

                      You havnt defined sick…have a look at the list of covid symptoms…half the people I know permanently have at least 2 or 3 of them.

                      "Like I said, nothing about doing it today or tomorrow. Maybe you should think about what I am actually saying."

                      Thats the problem…youre not actually saying anything

                      "Like I said, nothing about doing it today or tomorrow. Maybe you should think about what I am actually saying."

                      Again you say nothing…we are unable to meet our labour requirements (even pre covid) and the demands on labour will only grow as energy declines.

                    • weka

                      You havnt defined sick…have a look at the list of covid symptoms…half the people I know permanently have at least 2 or 3 of them.

                      Oh, so you mean too many people don't know how to make that judgement call? My understanding is that viral infections' contagious period is shorter than symptoms.

                      Also, if people have allergies or whatever, there are ways to pay attention and figure this out. A lot of people are already doing this.

                      As I said, it doesn't have to be perfect. Start with the people who have full blown symptoms.

                      "Like I said, nothing about doing it today or tomorrow. Maybe you should think about what I am actually saying."

                      Thats the problem…youre not actually saying anything

                      "Like I said, nothing about doing it today or tomorrow. Maybe you should think about what I am actually saying."

                      Again you say nothing…we are unable to meet our labour requirements (even pre covid) and the demands on labour will only grow as energy declines.

                      You're being so vague that I can't be more specific. I gave you the truck driver examples, and Uni students. You appear to have a believe that these things cannot be solved, whereas I'm more interested in exploring solutions.

                      Lots of jobs will disappear with the climate crisis so I'm not as convinced as you that there will be a shortage of workers. Nevertheless, keeping people healthy will be more important than making people go to work and harming their immune systems. Again, doesn't have to be perfect, I'm talking a cultural change.

                      I think about worker shortages in sectors like fruit picking. There's not an actual shortage of workers though, there's a mistmatch around wages, employment conditions, and the people willing and able to do the work. So unless you say something more than asserting bad things, it's hard to know what you are thinking about.

                    • pat

                      You carry on thinking Weka

                  • Belladonna

                    I truly think that the 'easy' workplaces (i.e. the predominantly white collar workers, who can transition in and out of working from home) are already working towards this 'norm'

                    Partly because it pays (spreading sickness across the workforce is counter-productive – when there is a WFH alternative). And partly because the workforce (at least in the current environment) has the power to ask for WFH as an option – and are highly motivated to want it (for at least some of the time)

                    The problem is, that these workplaces are a minority – and, worse, a predominantly white collar elite minority – to which the bureaucrats and decision-makers belong.

                    The majority of workplaces simply don't have a significant WFH component. How do you run a building site, shopping centre, or warehouse with WFH staff? You can't.

                    If you plan on increasing sick leave, so all workers can remain at home (paid) when they have a respiratory infection – then several things will have to happen. Staff numbers will have to increase (and these businesses are already struggling to find staff ATM); and costs of the goods and services will have to increase (to cover the additional staffing costs) – at a time when household budgets are already stretched.

                    I don't think that this is a 'real world' solution.

                    • pat

                      Tell the person who delivers your fuel, groceries, builds /repairs your home, fixes your car, drives your public transport, grows/processes your food, cs\ares for your ill or disabled etc to work from home.

                      Blinkered dosnt even begin to describe it.

                    • weka

                      Funnily enough, as someone with a disability, like many others I've been at the blunt end of workers getting covid and the system not coping. I support both my caregivers to take time off. I can afford this in the sense that I won't starve or not be able to shower or move, but it does impact on me in ways that make me lose ground I don't necessarily regain.

                      But I still support them to have time off. For bloody obvious reasons, but also for less obvious ones. I want them to be part of the pool of support available for the people that are highly dependent.

                      As it happens, one of the workers works for an org that has a higher standard than the government is proposing. They RAT test daily, and there is absolutely an expectation that they won't come to work if they have symptoms.

                      Not as blinkered as you assume Pat.

                    • weka

                      I think this misses the point Belladonna. As I said, it doesn't have to be perfect. I'm talking about a cultural change where people don't have to go to work when sick. There are people who can still go to work when sick, people who can work from home, and adjustments that can be made. I've just given the real life example to Pat of disability support workers. That won't be universal, but I suspect there is a lot to be learned from that sector on how to manage.

                      The main point here is that pre-covid, we had a culture that said you should work unless you are basically bed ridden. Go to school sick, go to work, work hard, don't take time off, and god forbid take time to convalesce. New Zealanders work very long hours. We don't have a culture of care for our health. That's the stuff I am pointing to. I'm betting there's some productively studies that show that if people can look after their health, they work better and need less time off.

                    • weka

                      I'm never impressed by TINA.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  …and you wish to have anyone with respiratory symptoms avoid work?

                  Staying home? If you have symptoms? During a pandemic? Madness!

                  Otoh, 'soldiering on' is no longer for me, and I don't expect it of others, but personal responsibility and commitment are complex variable traits.

                  Long Covid Campaign
                  Although duration and severity [of Long Covid] vary, there is no apparent link to pre-existing conditions or levels of fitness, but there is some indication that ‘soldiering on’ through a Covid infection makes Long Covid more likely.

                  Expert reaction to ‘living with COVID’ plan, as announced to MPs by the Prime Minister [UK; 21 February 2022]
                  We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water, and self-isolation remains an important way to protect ourselves and others, as we as we continue, cautiously, to put the past two years behind us and get on with our lives.

                  • pat

                    COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Most infected people will develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalization.

                    Most common symptoms:

                    fever

                    cough

                    tiredness

                    loss of taste or smell

                    Less common symptoms:

                    sore throat

                    headache

                    aches and pains

                    diarrhoea

                    a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes

                    red or irritated eyes

                    https://covid19.govt.nz/prepare-and-stay-safe/about-covid-19/covid-19-symptoms/#covid-19-symptoms

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      COVID-19 affects different people in different ways.

                      Yep, in different and unpredictable ways – caution is (still) warranted, imho. Fortunately there are simple things that symptomatic people can do to minimise the risks to themselves and others.

                      For example, from the link you provided @10:45 pm:

                      While you have symptoms:

                      • Stay home. Do not go to work or school. Do not socialise.
                    • pat

                      Ok…I'll tell my employer on monday I wont be back until im symptom free, and i'll give you as a reference to WINZ….going on history I expect I'll be completely symptom free sometime around when im dead.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      Best of luck using me as your reference smiley
                      I’m (still) plumping for common sense – better for us all, imho.

                    • pat

                      Ah, so im allowed to use common sense now….make up your mind

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      Ah, so im allowed to use common sense now…

                      Of course, although I hope you don’t think you need my permission.

                      I made up my mind a few years ago, and every day since.

                    • pat

                      On that at least you are correct…i dont.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      On that at least we're both correct – nice to find common ground.

                • pat

                  Labour is going to be in ever increasing demand….but not necessarily labour in the way some appear to understand it.

              • Rosemary McDonald

                Forgive the intrusion…city living whanau, all double vaxxed, all have had symptoms over the past few weeks.

                One of them works for an organization with a rule that even if you're 'symptomatic' you must have a positive test before you get the time off work. One employee's wife had tested positive…but he had to go to work as he tested negative. Snoughed his way through the working day… and to everyone's relief he tested positive upon returning home. This is an essential service associated with exports and they simply can't afford to have folks taking sickies. Hmmm….

                Another whanau member, also double vaxxed has had symptoms that saw the medical center send them to the hospital for extra tests. (All clear and sent home) RAT tests up the wazoo for three days and all negative. This morning unable to get out of bed with crushing exhaustion and cold sweats. Exact same symptoms as my man had back in March…and he tested positive. Their workplace was very understanding, but my young friend still felt obliged to try and work from home so as not to let their boss down. Mortgages and the like…fear of losing job, then home, is very real.

                Ardern has made a couple of accurate statements over the past two and a bit years. One was… ' …behave as if we all have the virus.' and the other was '…this is a tricky virus.'.

                • weka

                  tricky would be laconic Kiwi understatement. I think we are just getting started in understanding this, despite humans having built a large body of knowledge in the past two years.

                  I'm still waiting for the TCM stuff to land from China in the English speaking worlds. But nek minit, monkey pox. We're bloody thick sometimes.

            • Gabby 2.3.1.1.1.3

              If you didn't have covid you had something else right?

      • SPC 2.3.2

        If workplaces provided flu vaccine to workers that would help.

        • Belladonna 2.3.2.1

          Ours offers this.
          With the majority of our customers having a financial year ending 30 June – and pressure to spend their budgets by that date- it pays $$$ in reducing staff illness at a critical time of year.

          An example of a bottom-line driven decision, which also benefits employees.

    • SPC 2.4

      South Africa has just had another omicron wave go through.

      Apparently 98% have antibodies – only 11% from vaccine without infection.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/south-africa-was-hit-by-wave-of-infections-despite-most-having-antibodies/26VLJFZFJGO65HYKFTYFIVRA3E/

  3. joe90 3

    Cracking job strengthening NATO and the EU, Vova.

    https://twitter.com/BreakingF24/status/1532096037849993217

  4. joe90 4

    At the same rate, 150K suffering debilitating, long term health problems. Half that would overwhelm our health system so don't get sick and WTF you do, don't get old.

    Two million people in UK living with long Covid, find studies

    ONS figures show that one in five people with long Covid had the infection two years ago

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/01/two-million-people-in-uk-living-with-long-covid-say-studies

  5. joe90 5

    Israeli forces shot Palestinian journalist Ghufran Warasneh. She was denied medical aid and left to bleed to death. The IDF then attacked her funeral procession.

    https://twitter.com/The_NewArab/status/1531942534053871617

  6. Incognito 7

    Game on!

    “It will also ensure public ownership is a bottom line for this Government, and the Bill contains strong protections against privatisation that will ensure this essential infrastructure is safeguarded for future generations.

    “The Bill also incorporates the recommendations of the Working Group on Representation, Governance and Accountability. It secures community ownership of the water entities, protects against privatisation, and ensures a stronger community voice in the new entities.

    “It ensures the collective ownership of the entities by local government on behalf of their communities through a shareholding allocated on the basis of population, as recommended by the Working Group.

    “The Bill contains robust mechanisms to provide for iwi/Māori rights and interests in our three waters system but makes clear these rights and interests do not include ownership.

    https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-legislation-improve-water-services-and-protect-community-ownership

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  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    1 hour ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 hour ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
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