Went in for our ‘flu jabs today. A lady going to the Phillippines was having a measles jab as there have been 300 people* aprox die of it over there, and millions more are at risk.
But, but, patricia bremner freedom of speech in all its forms is far more important. People are entitled to surf the internet and read all manner of crackpot assertions like measle vaccine causes autism and any number of other conspiratorial pseudo scientific claptrap because that is their right. If children/people die because of their claims then well… that’s just unfortunate. (sarc)
In all seriousness, I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with these dumb bunnies of both sexes who have wielded so much power and caused such irreparable harm. I refer as well to the anti-fluoride gang and the CC deniers.
I take it then that you are one of those who have fallen for the conspiratorial pseudo science so beloved of anti vaxxers and CC deniers etc? Perhaps you also don’t comprehend a little bit of tongue in cheek language.
Whatever… I was replying to patricia bremner and fully agreeing with her inferred premise.
Time you made an effort to curb your catty remarks Rosemary McDonald.
No, I’m not an avid anti -vaxxer, although I do very much understand where concern about MMR comes from after the the Urabe scandal/cover up of the late eighties/early nineties. You will of course remember that..there was scientific parers written about it and everything…much of the story was revealed only after OIA type requests.
And you see that’s just it…the government deliberately ignored warnings from overseas jurisdictions about the Urabe strain of mumps virus and put children’s lives at risk. Complete honesty and transparency from Our Leaders would go a long way towards inspiring trust.
“Unfortunately, the crisis that we are dealing with now is based on results from clinical trials backed up by autopsies linking some deaths to Dengvaxia [6]. These findings may serve as proof against vaccine safety and might have a negative impact on other vaccination programs. With the news being widely circulated through media, this would not just affect Philippines but also other parts of the world.”
Some of us Anne choose to do our own research rather than blindly accept establishment approved ‘Science’. Keeping one’s mind open just a crack…let the light in?
“In all seriousness, I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with these dumb bunnies of both sexes who have wielded so much power and caused such irreparable harm. I refer as well to the anti-fluoride gang and the CC deniers.”
I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with these dumb bunnies of both sexes who have wielded so much power and caused such irreparable harm.
And you respond with a Meow? Strange bit of cognition there.
And btw, I will always support the officially recognised scientific experts over any pseudo scientists who roam the internet spreading misinformation. Not surprising given my former career was in one of the sciences.
“…any pseudo scientists who roam the internet spreading misinformation.”
So, the problem with Dengvaxia is pseudo science?
So the wording of the article describing the effect the deaths from Dengvaxia have had on vaccine uptake does not concern you?
““Unfortunately, the crisis that we are dealing with now is based on results from clinical trials backed up by autopsies linking some deaths to Dengvaxia [6]. These findings may serve as proof against vaccine safety and might have a negative impact on other vaccination programs. With the news being widely circulated through media, this would not just affect Philippines but also other parts of the world.””
Seems to be implying that the greatest misfortune is not the proven deaths from Dengvaxia, but the fact that they were widely publicised.
And it is just that attitude that increases mistrust.
So, the ‘dumb bunnies’ in the Dengvaxia fiasco are? The media for reporting the deaths caused by the vaccine? The scientists for linking the deaths with the vaccine? The media accurately reporting that the scientists had found a link between the deaths and the vaccine? Members of the public who become less trusting of the drug company products because the media accurately reported that the drug company’s product caused people harm?
See, it’s a little more complicated than just ‘pro’ or ‘anti’. It is highly disrespectful to condemn people as being ‘dumb’ because they don’t happen to agree with one’s own views.
Bear in mind that despite what you perceive as an anti-vax propaganda epidemic on the internet….the vast majority of people are following state proscribed vaccination programmes….in most case more than enough folk are vaccinating to achieve the desired herd immunity.
There are small pockets of those who refuse vaccines…these will be your anti-vaxxers…. but they are not the major cause of low uptake in in particular communities, according to someone who should know…
“Auckland University Immunisation Advisory Centre head Nikki Turner said said there was no need for a separate public health campaign against anti-vaxxers.
“I don’t think we should ignore the anti-vaccination lobby but I think we should put it into context.
“It is a very small percentage of the New Zealand population.
“We need to understand it and respond to it, and definitely put more resources and thinking into it, but it is a very small part of why we are not getting high immunisation coverage rates.”
Dr Turner said there were other problems with delivering immunisations, beyond what she called vaccine hesitancy, and New Zealand would be better off dealing with those.
“We need to systematically know which children are missing out and offer them services.
“And then respond appropriately in those localised communities that have got myth and rumour and social media stories rife within them.
“That’s where we need extra support.”
The Health Ministry said immunisation rates, which had been rising, reached a plateau and then began to fall in early 2017.
It meant immunisation coverage went from 93 percent on average at eight months, and 91 percent for Māori children, to 91 percent and 86 percent respectively.”
It is far too easy to blame a slight fall in immunisation coverage on those you refer to as ‘dumb bunny anti vaxxers’ Anne. As always, as a scientist should know, there are often multiple factors.
And btw, I will always support the officially recognised scientific experts over any pseudo scientists who roam the internet spreading misinformation
Anne, as I have previously stated…you are woefully underinformed and misinformed on this subject, that you are incapable of developing a rational opinion…it is not possible to achieve with such an inadequate data set…
There is a plethora of reports, studies and other ‘evidence’, including from the very same ‘officially recognized experts/establishments’ which illustrate the severe problems with the ‘industry/reglators’…that you’re obviously not aware of…
That only severe congnitive dissonance coud lead you to making such logically flawed statements…
Not a single one in the current CDC schedule of FDA licensed vaccines was tested against an inert placebo control group in pre-licensure testing…
Once a licence is approved it becomes legally unethical for a control group to ever be used…
Can you understand the gravitas of what that means…
Those who post comments and dissmissive insults, such as you have repeatedly done…from a position of total ignorance…
…Are discriminating against every biological being that has been injured, damaged and killed by the ‘one size fits all’ industry which you explicitly and repeatedly endorse…
When confronted with counter information and commentary…you continue the same insulting, dismissive and discriminatory tactics…
Your comments are extremely discriminatory, they are deeply mysogenistic, they are flawed and without factual basis…
MMR vaccine is a measles + mumps vaccine + rubella vaccine it contains live attenuated virus which while providing an immune response does not cause the disease in healthy individuals.
Severely immunocompromised persons (undergoing treatment for cancer for example or with immune disorders) are at small risk of catching the attenuated virus from people immunised for a few days until the attenuated virus is cleared from the person immunised. This risk and severity of illness is far lower than if the immunocompromised individual was to come into contact with a person suffering from measles, mumps, chickenpox etc.
The flu vaccine is very effective against those strains which it is manufactured from – you can’t catch the flu from from the flu vaccine.
You either have not read…or failed to understand the issues around vaccine actual shedding and vaccine failure…including in highly vaccinated populations…proven to be responsible for communicating the disease…
The flu vaccine comment is equally uninformed…
10% ‘effective’…is highly innefective…useless…untested…year in year out…
At first I was all “zouch that’s a zinger!”, but now I am genuinely curious as to whether vegans spit or swallow after fellating someone to completion.
Well I went to your first link and read it and then went to the source of that doc – “Source:Weston A. Price Foundation” crew – read a wee bit on them and then found the counter position on them and this is what it said,
“Since I started writing for Science-Based Medicine almost 8 years ago, I have visited many, many websites offering questionable information about health. In my opinion, the Weston A. Price Foundation is one of the worst. It is full of misinformation and dangerous advice. It might be useful in reverse: if you read it on WAPF, it is probably wrong.”
What did I get wrong…again…according to you marty?
Go ahead…ignore my comments…again…twist them…again…
But at least explain with some details about why I’m wrong IYO…and why you’ve failed to say why you posted to Gorski…it was the first returned search eh…closely followed by the Offit site..
No surprise marty…I’ve got your number every time…you’re so full of it…
Are you going to abuse me…and then apologise again…?
What I wrote was in response to your comment which essentially said you had previously not vaccinated your kids…but because of comments I had posted…you’d changed your mind and stated getting the shots the following week…this exchange was approx 3 weeks ago no more than 4wks…easily searchable…
What I then wrote was you were attemping to outsource your parental decision making onto my comments and that it was nothing to do with me…completely your choice to make…
I did ask you to post the certs as evidence you are true to your words…given you had made it my business … you did that…
You’ve failed to post the certs or admit you were and are utterly full of hot air…
Additionally since that time you’ve been abusive at my comments issuing at least two apologies as a result…
But still no courage to own up to what you did…or admit that you did not follow up and vaccinate your kids…
Didn’t you state that you absolved yourself of any responsibility regarding anything i do with vaccinations and my children?
If yes – it’s none of your fucken business.
That’s what I said
What I then wrote was you were attemping to outsource your parental decision making onto my comments and that it was nothing to do with me…completely your choice to make…
That’s what you said.
so it’s none of your fucken business anymore is it numbnuts – it’s nothing to do with you as YOU YOURSELF state so fuck off. Do I need to get the crayons out?
Marty, your comment indicates that you’ve outsourced your parental responsibility, by using blog site commentary as a ‘rationale’ for changing your current perspective on a medical procedure…
Listen very carfully to my next comment…
Take responsibility for your own choices, and that of your children…
Don’t ever…ever seek to offload your medical choices to my handle, or anyone else…blog site, face to face…it doesn’t matter the interaction…
Own the choices..they are yours…and yours alone…
If you are actually serious…for the record I take no position, and bare no accountability for, or against your decision…nor could I be accountable for any possible outcome, positive, negative or otherwise resulting from your decisions…choices you make, marty…
I hope I’ve made that suitably clear…
It would be appropriate for you to respond saying you have received that messaging…
Should you choose to go ahead with the procedure…then post the dated scripts…and backup your comments with proof of YOUR actions resulting from YOUR choices..
jlr has nothing to lose and simon has everything to lose……
“Jami-Lee Ross has made further allegations against Simon Bridges by implying he was involved in the Chinese community’s attempts to have a Chinese minister appointed.”
That’s a direct allusion to neonazi cult novel The Turner Diaries, and a commonly heard threat from contemporary white nationalists and neonazis.
In the Turner Diaries, the day of the rope is when “race traitors” are executed en masse, including journalists. It’s a threat often made now to journalists — people have made it to me, and many other reporters who work in this area
The threat was made after the anonymous recipient criticized Blair Cottrell’s United Patriot Front. A home grown mass murderer/terrorist defending an Australian neonazi. This is an Australian problem
According to the story Victoria police told the recipient to block the man who would later massacre 50 innocent people
You can follow @cog_ink who wrote this story
This is the transnational problem that Congress allowed Candace Owens to mislead them about today
It’s days like these that I honestly feel like I feel like I am in some kind of dissociative state. When you see clear evidence of the problem juxtaposed with the totally unserious response to it
Ugh it’s affecting my sentence structure now, you know what I am saying
As a kid ‘the bad guys’ were the East who held people hostage in embassies, built walls, ran massive state propaganda through media & mass spy programs on their citizens.
Now who is doing that?
Luke Harding
He’s got to earn his Integrity Initiative money somehow after the embarrassment of “Collusion”
sign the DIEM petition and donate if you can
You’ve been fulsome in your support of a regime that routinely tortures, humiliates and sexually abuses women, break the women, and you break the family, as a strategy but my language offends your sensibilities.
Joe 90
Let it out, you are saying it for lots of us. Thanks that will be the end they will cherish though. Poor things get their kicks from acting the wise schoolmaster with a cane.
You can see why there is so much popularity for the supermarket style hardware store. The simple-minded can
wander round dragging their knuckles in their own time.
Just for those who like the stories of people who are difficult and hard to read their minds – here is Marty Feldmann from the old days with a great sketch.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPouuA0KMO4
I may be wrong but I think that’s “sarc”
In fact Assange was yelling out statements, not screaming, but the tough guys round here like to demean Assange, and the worst thing they can think of apparently is likening him to a “girl”
I thought McFlock was on the “Assange can do no right” side. Thay’re the one who use “the rapey one” and “Saint Julian” mockery.
To be fair, McFlock probably didn’t employ those terms on this site (just as I haven’t stated “Assange can do no wrong”), but we’re all entitled to our reckons.
I did think that one-line description of Assange’s arrest was belittling, but apologise for using “Like a girl”, with its obvious negative connotations; maybe “Like an infant” would have served, or maybe nothing at all, but it was a belittling description. We’ll have wait and see what sort of treatment he receives from the MSM and at the hands of UK justice.
That is the most insane shit I’ve ever heard. Seriously.
I frikken cried for days when I heard that Russia had decriminalised domestic abuse and made it ok to choke your wife, give her black eyes, cuts, bruises etc in the name of “restoring family values”.
Nobody gives a fuck about the fact that every year 3 million girls have their genitals mutilated with a dirty razor or that for women in Kyrgyzstan the first time they meet their husband is when he kidnaps her.
And repeatedly I’m told we women should be grateful for having it so much better than women did 50 years ago.
Fuck that. I won’t be happy until all women get the same freedoms and responsibilities as men, period.
“The bill would ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy and would criminalize women who have abortions and the physicians who perform them, even in cases of rape, human trafficking or incest. The bill directly conflicts with the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which outlawed criminalizing abortion.”
So, in the US, if you get raped, not only will you be ripped to pieces in the legal system but you could be denied an abortion and then, just to finish as they started, they’ll offer the rapist a chance to exercise his parental rights.
fact is you will get charged with 2 homicide if you kill a pregnant women and even if you do so accidentally in a car accident.
there are so many heartbeat / live begins at ejaculation into a vagina amendments that really we could come to the conclusion that Us American women are nothing more then pre-pregnant sentient incubators.
this bill is not the first time it was sent for votes, and it will not be the last time.
If abortion is murder, then the women seeking the abortion is a killer. And homicide in many states of the US is met with the death penalty.
On the 19th of March, ACT announced they would be running candidates in this year’s local government elections. Accompanying that call for “common-sense kiwis” was an anti-woke essay typifying the views they expect their candidates to hold. I have included that part of their mailer, Free Press, in its entirety. ...
Even when the darkest clouds are in the skyYou mustn't sigh and you mustn't crySpread a little happiness as you go byPlease tryWhat's the use of worrying and feeling blue?When days are long keep on smiling throughSpread a little happiness 'til dreams come trueSongwriters: Vivian Ellis / Clifford Grey / ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
ACT up the game on division politicsEmmerson’s take on David Seymour’s claim Jesus would have supported ACTACT’s announcement it is moving into local politics is a logical next step for a party that is waging its battle on picking up the aggrieved.It’s a numbers game, and as long as the ...
1. What will be the slogan of the next butter ad campaign?a. You’re worth itb.Once it hits $20, we can do something about the riversc. I can’t believe it’s the price of butter d. None of the above Read more ...
It is said that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. That may be an exaggeration but an even better response is to point out economists do know the difference. They did not at first. Classical economics thought that the price of something reflected the objective ...
Political fighting in Taiwan is delaying some of an increase in defence spending and creating an appearance of lack of national resolve that can only damage the island’s relationship with the Trump administration. The main ...
The unclassified version of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review (IIR) was released today. It’s a welcome and worthy sequel to its 2017 predecessor, with an ambitious set of recommendations for enhancements to Australia’s national intelligence ...
Yesterday outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier published a report, Reflections on the Official Information Act, on his way out the door. The report repeated his favoured mantra that the Act was "fundamentally sound", all problems were issues of culture, and that no legislative change was needed (and especially no changes to ...
The United States government is considering replacing USAID with a new agency, the US Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance (USIHA), according to documents published by POLITICO. Under the proposed design, the agency will fail its ...
Hi,Journalism was never the original plan. Back in the 90s, there was no career advisor in Bethlehem, New Zealand — just a computer that would ask you 50 questions before spitting out career options. Yes, I am in this photo. No, I was not good at basketball.The top three careers ...
Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Professional investors who are paid a lot of money to be careful about lending to the New Zealand Government think it is wonderful place to put their money. Yet the Government itself is so afraid of borrowing more that it is happy to kill its own ...
As space becomes more contested, Australia should play a key role with its partners in the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) initiative to safeguard the space domain. Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States signed the ...
Ooh you're a cool catComing on strong with all the chit chatOoh you're alrightHanging out and stealing all the limelightOoh messing with the beat of my heart yeah!Songwriters: Freddie Mercury / John Deacon.It would be a tad ironic; I can see it now. “Yeah, I didn’t unsubscribe when he said ...
The PSA are calling the Prime Minister a hypocrite for committing to increase defence spending while hundreds of more civilian New Zealand Defence Force jobs are set to be cut as part of a major restructure. The number of companies being investigated for people trafficking in New Zealand has skyrocketed ...
Another Friday, hope everyone’s enjoyed their week as we head toward the autumn equinox. Here’s another roundup of stories that caught our eye on the subject of cities and what makes them even better. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Connor took a look at how Auckland ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking with special guest author Michael Wolff, who has just published his fourth book about Donald Trump: ‘All or Nothing’.Here’s Peter’s writeup of the interview.The Kākā by Bernard Hickey Hoon: Trumpism ...
Wolff, who describes Trump as truly a ‘one of a kind’, at a book launch in Spain. Photo: GettyImagesIt may be a bumpy ride for the world but the era of Donald J. Trump will die with him if we can wait him out says the author of four best-sellers ...
Australia needs to radically reorganise its reserves system to create a latent military force that is much larger, better trained and equipped and deployable within days—not decades. Our current reserve system is not fit for ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
I have argued before that one ought to be careful in retrospectively allocating texts into genres. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) only looks like science-fiction because a science-fiction genre subsequently developed. Without H.G. Wells, would Frankenstein be considered science-fiction? No, it probably wouldn’t. Viewed in the context of its time, Frankenstein ...
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...
Speilmeister:Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest:Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...
Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of "Climate Fresk" and at a guess, this will also be the case for many of you. I stumbled upon it in the self-service training catalog for employees at the company I work at in Germany where it was announced ...
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the OPC’s decision to issue a code of practice for biometric processing. Our view is that the draft code currently being consulted on is stronger and will be more effective than the exposure code released in early 2024. We are pleased that some of the revisions ...
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system.Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by theHigh Court ruling that the ...
In what has become regular news, the quarterly ETS auction has failed, with nobody even bothering to bid. The immediate reason is that the carbon price has fallen to around $60, below the auction minimum of $68. And the cause of that is a government which has basically given up ...
US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump announced that his reciprocal tariffs—matching other countries’ tariffs on American goods—will go into effect on 2 April, ...
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...
Mōrena. Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, ...
US President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt ...
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have reiterated their call for Government to protect workers by banning engineered stone in a submission on MBIE’s silica dust consultation. “If Brooke van Velden is genuine when she calls for an evidence-based approach to this issue, then she must support a full ban on ...
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...
It’s one thing for military personnel to hone skills with first-person view (FPV) drones in racing competitions. It’s quite another for them to transition to the complexities of the battlefield. Drone racing has become a ...
Seymour says there will be no other exemptions granted to schools wanting to opt out of the Compass contract. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest:David Seymour has denied a request from a Christchurch school and any other schools to be exempted from the Compass school lunch programme, saying the contract ...
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ...
Edit: The original story said “Palette Cleanser” in both the story, and the headline. I am never, ever going to live this down. Chain me up, throw me into the pit.Hi,With the world burning — literally and figuratively — I felt like Webworm needed a little palate cleanser at the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler(Image credit: Antonio Huerta) Growing up in suburban Ohio, I was used to seeing farmland and woods disappear to make room for new subdivisions, strip malls, and big box stores. I didn’t usually welcome the changes, but I assumed others ...
Myanmar was a key global site for criminal activity well before the 2021 military coup. Today, illicit industry, especially heroin and methamphetamine production, still defines much of the economy. Nowhere, not even the leafiest districts ...
What've I gotta do to make you love me?What've I gotta do to make you care?What do I do when lightning strikes me?And I wake up and find that you're not thereWhat've I gotta do to make you want me?Mmm hmm, what've I gotta do to be heard?What do I ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...
Whenever Christopher Luxon drops a classically fatuous clanger or whenever the government has a bad poll – i.e. every week – the talk resumes that he is about to be rolled. This is unlikely for several reasons. For starters, there is no successor. Nicola Willis? Chris Bishop? Simeon Brown? Mark ...
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...
As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy:Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 9, 2025 thru Sat, March 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
By Leah Lowonbu, Stefan Armbruster and Harlyne Joku of BenarNews The Pacific’s peak diplomatic bodies have signalled they are ready to engage with Papua New Guinea’s Autonomous Government of Bougainville as mediation begins on the delayed ratification of its successful 2019 independence referendum. PNG and Bougainville’s leaders met in the ...
MONDAYThe party of honoured New Zealanders were shown an old fort. “Awesome,” said Mr Luxon.He wore a gold turban, a white linen jacket, a peacock-illustrated waistcoat sewn with exquisite rubies, a white dhoti crafted from finest polyester with 1 1/2″ gold jari border, and a $625 pair of Christian Kimber ...
Christopher Luxon's trip to India included the restart of trade talks, the tightening of defence ties, and more than a spot of cricket - RNZ's deputy political editor takes us behind the scenes. ...
Leon Pritchard used to be absolutely ripped, back in the day. He exercised his muscles one by one at the gym, so that each formed its ultimate shape and could be easily seen by passing females, even at a glance. He worked hardest on his upper body and put the ...
Six months after Vincent Dix and his son Nikau stumbled across remains of an ocean-voyaging waka while searching for driftwood on their property in Rēkohu/ Chatham Islands, the community is still buzzing over the discoveries.The big question locals want an answer to: where did the waka come, from and who ...
Never heard of Acotar? Unsure what makes fairies sexy? Nervous of romantasy? Bemused by the term Medievalcore? Herewith is all you need to know about the hottest publishing trend of the age.What is fairy smut?Fairy smut is a genre of fantasy romance (romantasy) that includes both fairies and ...
The local star of Prime Video’s fantasy epic takes us through her life in television, including the trauma of 2000s drink driving ads and the Tribe spinoff that time forgot. Local actor Zoë Robins is one of the many, many New Zealanders who have infiltrated huge budget behemoth television shows ...
Court documents suggest Kim Dotcom spent $1,000,000 on Grammy winners, ad campaigns and the best studio in the country. So why was his much-derided album such a disaster? This story was first published in 2015 in Barkers’ 1972 magazine, and is republished here with permission.Read Chris Schulz’s interview with ...
Most people would look at our house and decide painting it was a job for professionals. My mum and dad decided it was a job for their kids.I grew up in a house that was always being renovated. That’s not hyperbole, it was literally always being renovated. Just one ...
Asia Pacific Report A joint operation between the Fiji Police Force, Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF), Territorial Force Brigade, Fiji Navy and National Fire Authority was staged this week to “modernise” responses to emergencies. Called “Exercise Genesis”, the joint operation is believed to be the first of its kind ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications, University of Sydney As the United States recalibrates its trade policies to combat what the Trump administration sees as “unfair” treatment by other countries, two significant industries have complained to US regulators about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand Since the return to power of US President Donald Trump, tariffs have barely left the front pages. While the on-off-on tariff sagas have dominated the headlines, a paper released this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Baka, Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University In a surprisingly emphatic result, 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe’s Sport Minister, ...
More than 12,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater a day could be discharged directly into the Shotover River in the country’s premiere tourist resort, according to a whistle-blowing councillor. That’s almost enough liquid to fill five Olympic-sized swimming pools.The plan, prompted by Queenstown’s failing sewage treatment plant, would use emergency ...
Winston Peters has repeatedly failed to express any concern for the Palestinians killed by Israel since Israel ended the ceasefire and condemn Israel for this industrial-scale carnage, which the International Court of Justice found more than a year ago to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology Daria Nipot/Shutterstock Australia’s supermarket sector has endured a long, uncomfortable moment in the spotlight. There have been six comprehensive inquiries into its conduct, pricing practices, and specifically claims of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Wilson, Adjunct Associate Professor, Office of the PVC (Academic Innovation), Southern Cross University Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock In 2023, an academic journal, the Annals of Operations Research, retracted an entire special isssue because the peer review process for it was compromised. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Breen, Professor of Psychology, Curtin University Photo by Daria Kruchkova/Pexels Grief can hit us in powerful and unanticipated ways. You might expect to grieve a person, a pet or even a former version of yourself – but many people are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan B. Williams, Professor of Marine Robotics, Australian Centre for Robotics, University of Sydney Armada 7805, similar to the 7806 vessel that will support the new MH370 search.Ocean Infinity More than 11 years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) A Hunger Games prequel starring young Haymitch, ...
Two poems from the new collection Clay Eaters by Gregory Kan, launched this week at Unity Books Wellington.(Editors note: The poems are untitled but can be found on pages 3 and 19 of Clay Eaters, published by Auckland University Press.)From Clay Eaters Satellite view of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Egger, Senior Biostatistician at the Daffodil Centre, Cancer Council NSW, University of Sydney Getty Images E-cigarette companies, including giants such as British American Tobacco, have actively lobbied governments in New Zealand and Australia to weaken existing vape regulations while preventing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Coleman, Post-doctoral Researcher in Plant Ecology, Macquarie University Jakub Maculewicz/Shutterstock More than 8,000 continental islands sit just off the coast of Australia, many of them uninhabited and unspoiled. For thousands of species, these patches of habitat offer refuge from the ...
By Alex Willemyns for Radio Free Asia The Trump administration might let hundreds of millions of dollars in aid pledged to Pacific island nations during former President Joe Biden’s time in office stand, says New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. The Biden administration pledged about $1 billion in aid to the Pacific ...
Delhi Diary Day 1Christopher Luxon walks down the stairs of the Airforce Boeing 757 at Palam Airbase towards the tarmac and greets the waiting Professor Singh Baghel, minister of state of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying. Luxon squints against the heat. Baghel keeps his aviators on; he’s done this before. The ...
Netflix’s new British crime drama asks the hard questions about growing up in a digital world. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here.Even before a single episode of Adolescence went up on Netflix, the five star reviews started rolling in. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Sergi, Professor in Criminology, University of Essex In June 1988, the Reagan administration launched the most important United States labour case of the past half century. The government alleged the Italian-American mafia – La Cosa Nostra – had effectively taken ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Danielle Puiri-Tuia who founded a South Auckland-based running and walking club.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.Runners High 09 is a free ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Kilah, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Tasmania Karynf/Shutterstock There is something special about sharing baked goods with family, friends and colleagues. But I’ll never forget the disappointment of serving my colleagues rhubarb muffins that had failed to rise. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Kaiser, PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania The South African National Antarctic Expedition research base, SANAE IV, at Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Dr Ross Hofmeyr/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA Earlier this week, reports emerged that a scientist at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders University Every generation thinks they had it tough, but evidence suggests young Australians today might have a case for saying they’ve drawn the short straw. Compared with young adults two or three decades ago, today’s 18–35-year-olds ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Visitor, School of History, Australian National University Fifty years ago, Liberal MPs chose Malcolm Fraser as their leader. Eight months later, he led them into power in extraordinary – some might say reprehensible – circumstances. He governed for seven and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy G Howe, Research Fellow (Entomology), University of the Sunshine Coast Andy Howe, CC BY Playgrounds can host a variety of natural wonders – and, of course, kids! Now some students are not just learning about insects and spiders at school ...
From mockery and snobbery to mainstream appeal – the University of Auckland Anime and Manga Club has seen it all. As one of Japan’s biggest exports, anime has taken over almost every corner of planet Earth. If you have ever watched an episode of Beyblade or Yu-Gi-Oh after school, you ...
Went in for our ‘flu jabs today. A lady going to the Phillippines was having a measles jab as there have been 300 people* aprox die of it over there, and millions more are at risk.
But, but, patricia bremner freedom of speech in all its forms is far more important. People are entitled to surf the internet and read all manner of crackpot assertions like measle vaccine causes autism and any number of other conspiratorial pseudo scientific claptrap because that is their right. If children/people die because of their claims then well… that’s just unfortunate. (sarc)
In all seriousness, I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with these dumb bunnies of both sexes who have wielded so much power and caused such irreparable harm. I refer as well to the anti-fluoride gang and the CC deniers.
I think you’ll find that vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines has more to do with the Dengavxia whoopsie rather than Wakefield inspired woo.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6214489/
https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/news-feature/2019/02/09/1892266/commentary-growing-challenge-vaccination-campaign-philippines
But carry on with your wee rant if it relieves the pressure.
Take heart Anne, the day is fast coming when your side will win and any opinion not strictly adhering to the accepted narrative will be banned.
Because everything the government says is true, is, right?
I take it then that you are one of those who have fallen for the conspiratorial pseudo science so beloved of anti vaxxers and CC deniers etc? Perhaps you also don’t comprehend a little bit of tongue in cheek language.
Whatever… I was replying to patricia bremner and fully agreeing with her inferred premise.
Time you made an effort to curb your catty remarks Rosemary McDonald.
No, I’m not an avid anti -vaxxer, although I do very much understand where concern about MMR comes from after the the Urabe scandal/cover up of the late eighties/early nineties. You will of course remember that..there was scientific parers written about it and everything…much of the story was revealed only after OIA type requests.
https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/165/6/704/63700
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1544592/Vaccine-officials-knew-about-MMR-risks.html
And you see that’s just it…the government deliberately ignored warnings from overseas jurisdictions about the Urabe strain of mumps virus and put children’s lives at risk. Complete honesty and transparency from Our Leaders would go a long way towards inspiring trust.
“Unfortunately, the crisis that we are dealing with now is based on results from clinical trials backed up by autopsies linking some deaths to Dengvaxia [6]. These findings may serve as proof against vaccine safety and might have a negative impact on other vaccination programs. With the news being widely circulated through media, this would not just affect Philippines but also other parts of the world.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6214489/
Some of us Anne choose to do our own research rather than blindly accept establishment approved ‘Science’. Keeping one’s mind open just a crack…let the light in?
“In all seriousness, I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with these dumb bunnies of both sexes who have wielded so much power and caused such irreparable harm. I refer as well to the anti-fluoride gang and the CC deniers.”
Meow.
I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with these dumb bunnies of both sexes who have wielded so much power and caused such irreparable harm.
And you respond with a Meow? Strange bit of cognition there.
And btw, I will always support the officially recognised scientific experts over any pseudo scientists who roam the internet spreading misinformation. Not surprising given my former career was in one of the sciences.
“…any pseudo scientists who roam the internet spreading misinformation.”
So, the problem with Dengvaxia is pseudo science?
So the wording of the article describing the effect the deaths from Dengvaxia have had on vaccine uptake does not concern you?
““Unfortunately, the crisis that we are dealing with now is based on results from clinical trials backed up by autopsies linking some deaths to Dengvaxia [6]. These findings may serve as proof against vaccine safety and might have a negative impact on other vaccination programs. With the news being widely circulated through media, this would not just affect Philippines but also other parts of the world.””
Seems to be implying that the greatest misfortune is not the proven deaths from Dengvaxia, but the fact that they were widely publicised.
And it is just that attitude that increases mistrust.
So, the ‘dumb bunnies’ in the Dengvaxia fiasco are? The media for reporting the deaths caused by the vaccine? The scientists for linking the deaths with the vaccine? The media accurately reporting that the scientists had found a link between the deaths and the vaccine? Members of the public who become less trusting of the drug company products because the media accurately reported that the drug company’s product caused people harm?
See, it’s a little more complicated than just ‘pro’ or ‘anti’. It is highly disrespectful to condemn people as being ‘dumb’ because they don’t happen to agree with one’s own views.
Bear in mind that despite what you perceive as an anti-vax propaganda epidemic on the internet….the vast majority of people are following state proscribed vaccination programmes….in most case more than enough folk are vaccinating to achieve the desired herd immunity.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/immunisation/immunisation-coverage/national-and-dhb-immunisation-data
There are small pockets of those who refuse vaccines…these will be your anti-vaxxers…. but they are not the major cause of low uptake in in particular communities, according to someone who should know…
“Auckland University Immunisation Advisory Centre head Nikki Turner said said there was no need for a separate public health campaign against anti-vaxxers.
“I don’t think we should ignore the anti-vaccination lobby but I think we should put it into context.
“It is a very small percentage of the New Zealand population.
“We need to understand it and respond to it, and definitely put more resources and thinking into it, but it is a very small part of why we are not getting high immunisation coverage rates.”
Dr Turner said there were other problems with delivering immunisations, beyond what she called vaccine hesitancy, and New Zealand would be better off dealing with those.
“We need to systematically know which children are missing out and offer them services.
“And then respond appropriately in those localised communities that have got myth and rumour and social media stories rife within them.
“That’s where we need extra support.”
The Health Ministry said immunisation rates, which had been rising, reached a plateau and then began to fall in early 2017.
It meant immunisation coverage went from 93 percent on average at eight months, and 91 percent for Māori children, to 91 percent and 86 percent respectively.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384112/hospital-bosses-want-anti-anti-vax-campaign
It is far too easy to blame a slight fall in immunisation coverage on those you refer to as ‘dumb bunny anti vaxxers’ Anne. As always, as a scientist should know, there are often multiple factors.
And btw, I will always support the officially recognised scientific experts over any pseudo scientists who roam the internet spreading misinformation
Anne, as I have previously stated…you are woefully underinformed and misinformed on this subject, that you are incapable of developing a rational opinion…it is not possible to achieve with such an inadequate data set…
There is a plethora of reports, studies and other ‘evidence’, including from the very same ‘officially recognized experts/establishments’ which illustrate the severe problems with the ‘industry/reglators’…that you’re obviously not aware of…
That only severe congnitive dissonance coud lead you to making such logically flawed statements…
Not a single one in the current CDC schedule of FDA licensed vaccines was tested against an inert placebo control group in pre-licensure testing…
Once a licence is approved it becomes legally unethical for a control group to ever be used…
Can you understand the gravitas of what that means…
Clear off and stop harassing us. Next thing you’ll be tell us you’re Jesus.
You have it twisted, Anne…
Those who post comments and dissmissive insults, such as you have repeatedly done…from a position of total ignorance…
…Are discriminating against every biological being that has been injured, damaged and killed by the ‘one size fits all’ industry which you explicitly and repeatedly endorse…
When confronted with counter information and commentary…you continue the same insulting, dismissive and discriminatory tactics…
Your comments are extremely discriminatory, they are deeply mysogenistic, they are flawed and without factual basis…
You, Anne…are doing the harassing…
I hope the lady traveling to the Philippines has checked her TB immune status.
28,000 deaths from TB in the Philippines…http://www.wpro.who.int/philippines/areas/communicable_diseases/tb/story_continuation_tb_area_page/en/
Perhaps this years flu shot may even be 10% effective…that’s an exaggerated figure…it’s one of the least tested least effective vaccines of all…
There is no measles vaccine in NZ…only the MMR vaccine which also contains a live virus…getting on a plane should be avoided…
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2015/03/03/globe-newswire-public-health-officials-know-recently-vaccinated-individuals-spread-disease.html
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/philippines-says-to-charge-officials-of-sanofi-government-over-dengue-deaths/ar-BBUez2W
sigh…
MMR vaccine is a measles + mumps vaccine + rubella vaccine it contains live attenuated virus which while providing an immune response does not cause the disease in healthy individuals.
Severely immunocompromised persons (undergoing treatment for cancer for example or with immune disorders) are at small risk of catching the attenuated virus from people immunised for a few days until the attenuated virus is cleared from the person immunised. This risk and severity of illness is far lower than if the immunocompromised individual was to come into contact with a person suffering from measles, mumps, chickenpox etc.
The flu vaccine is very effective against those strains which it is manufactured from – you can’t catch the flu from from the flu vaccine.
You either have not read…or failed to understand the issues around vaccine actual shedding and vaccine failure…including in highly vaccinated populations…proven to be responsible for communicating the disease…
The flu vaccine comment is equally uninformed…
10% ‘effective’…is highly innefective…useless…untested…year in year out…
I’ll leave you to it…
Where did you get the 10% from? Ex anos uno-dos?
You admit to getting the flu shot…presumably you’ve done some reading into it before you went the first time…
If not…your choice…as you said…if it fails…no harm no foul…not that you could know…because it’s untested…
We had this same convo a few days ago…if you recall…
Are you in an ‘at risk group’?
Dear Phil please go and gob off one of your vegan dogs
At first I was all “zouch that’s a zinger!”, but now I am genuinely curious as to whether vegans spit or swallow after fellating someone to completion.
Good questions.
That’ll be a good question for when
Paul Ed Jinxfinds a way back onsite.Unsurprisingly you find that a ‘good question’ Andre…
Didn’t take you long to turn up here…so very predictable…
Almost a full turn out of the angry little man group…
It’s not the size of the man that counts, it’s when he decides to stand up.
Almost a full turn out of the angry little man group…
Who’s missing?
Well, milt…you’re here…
I don’t include you in there though…
Not presently…Andre was scouting for recruits in the black hole thread…
You keen?
Well I went to your first link and read it and then went to the source of that doc – “Source:Weston A. Price Foundation” crew – read a wee bit on them and then found the counter position on them and this is what it said,
“Since I started writing for Science-Based Medicine almost 8 years ago, I have visited many, many websites offering questionable information about health. In my opinion, the Weston A. Price Foundation is one of the worst. It is full of misinformation and dangerous advice. It might be useful in reverse: if you read it on WAPF, it is probably wrong.”
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/sbm-weston-prices-appalling-legacy/
I didn’t bother reading the other one one two – bit disappointed though with the quality of that link I have to say.
Marty I posted that link because it’s a mainstream news site referring to John Hopkins School of Medicine advice…
And if you don’t know or care about the denghi vaccine failures in Philippines…so be it…
But you’ve posted to David Gorski’s site…and then criticise the link I posted…ironic really…
Especially as you like to express how you stand up for human beings…
Spend some time reading Orac Gorskis site…get a feel for the…vibe…
Read…don’t read…your choice…
Post the vaccine certs…mouthy…
So you got it wrong again? I thought that was the case. Ta.
What did I get wrong…again…according to you marty?
Go ahead…ignore my comments…again…twist them…again…
But at least explain with some details about why I’m wrong IYO…and why you’ve failed to say why you posted to Gorski…it was the first returned search eh…closely followed by the Offit site..
No surprise marty…I’ve got your number every time…you’re so full of it…
Are you going to abuse me…and then apologise again…?
Maybe just the abuse this time…
Post your kids vaccine certs…
Didn’t you state that you absolved yourself of any responsibility regarding anything i do with vaccinations and my children?
If yes – it’s none of your fucken business.
If no – you’re a fucken liar.
simple enough for you bigfartbrain?
smarten up junior.
What I wrote was in response to your comment which essentially said you had previously not vaccinated your kids…but because of comments I had posted…you’d changed your mind and stated getting the shots the following week…this exchange was approx 3 weeks ago no more than 4wks…easily searchable…
What I then wrote was you were attemping to outsource your parental decision making onto my comments and that it was nothing to do with me…completely your choice to make…
I did ask you to post the certs as evidence you are true to your words…given you had made it my business … you did that…
You’ve failed to post the certs or admit you were and are utterly full of hot air…
Additionally since that time you’ve been abusive at my comments issuing at least two apologies as a result…
But still no courage to own up to what you did…or admit that you did not follow up and vaccinate your kids…
Yeah…but I’m the ‘liar’…
Liar and liar again – you’re a fucken piece of shit and a fucken coward. Oh and you’re a liar did I mention that.
A liar outed as a liar and a sad sack of nothing lol one two you are too fucken easy you useless arsehole haha
Where and how is my version of events…incorrect?
That’s what I said
That’s what you said.
so it’s none of your fucken business anymore is it numbnuts – it’s nothing to do with you as YOU YOURSELF state so fuck off. Do I need to get the crayons out?
14 March 2019 at 10:29 pm
Marty, your comment indicates that you’ve outsourced your parental responsibility, by using blog site commentary as a ‘rationale’ for changing your current perspective on a medical procedure…
Listen very carfully to my next comment…
Take responsibility for your own choices, and that of your children…
Don’t ever…ever seek to offload your medical choices to my handle, or anyone else…blog site, face to face…it doesn’t matter the interaction…
Own the choices..they are yours…and yours alone…
If you are actually serious…for the record I take no position, and bare no accountability for, or against your decision…nor could I be accountable for any possible outcome, positive, negative or otherwise resulting from your decisions…choices you make, marty…
I hope I’ve made that suitably clear…
It would be appropriate for you to respond saying you have received that messaging…
Should you choose to go ahead with the procedure…then post the dated scripts…and backup your comments with proof of YOUR actions resulting from YOUR choices..
He’s bats mm. I’ve told him as much.
Best to leave him now with his fantasies.
thanks Anne yep you’re right – it’s my birthday so I’ve certainly got better things to do lol.
Birthday wishes marty mars. The sun has come out after our storm. Peace and sunshine and laughter to you.
How very phillurian…
…
jlr has nothing to lose and simon has everything to lose……
“Jami-Lee Ross has made further allegations against Simon Bridges by implying he was involved in the Chinese community’s attempts to have a Chinese minister appointed.”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/04/jami-lee-ross-brings-more-allegations-against-national-s-simon-bridges.html
Of course Cotterell is in the mix.
https://twitter.com/jason_a_w/status/1115721859939459075
That’s a direct allusion to neonazi cult novel The Turner Diaries, and a commonly heard threat from contemporary white nationalists and neonazis.
In the Turner Diaries, the day of the rope is when “race traitors” are executed en masse, including journalists. It’s a threat often made now to journalists — people have made it to me, and many other reporters who work in this area
The threat was made after the anonymous recipient criticized Blair Cottrell’s United Patriot Front. A home grown mass murderer/terrorist defending an Australian neonazi. This is an Australian problem
According to the story Victoria police told the recipient to block the man who would later massacre 50 innocent people
You can follow @cog_ink who wrote this story
This is the transnational problem that Congress allowed Candace Owens to mislead them about today
It’s days like these that I honestly feel like I feel like I am in some kind of dissociative state. When you see clear evidence of the problem juxtaposed with the totally unserious response to it
Ugh it’s affecting my sentence structure now, you know what I am saying
https://tttthreads.com/thread/1115721859939459075.html
Israel Folau has been given the arse.
Yes. https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/386868/israel-folau-to-be-sacked-by-rugby-australia
Heh! God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform 😉
Assange given the arse and arrested in London
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47891737
Worst houseguest ever.
Great. Only another three years of legal wrangling to go lol
Starfish?
Many readers of this site who share Mike Hoskings view of Assange will be delighted to hear that Ecuador has evicted Assange and he has been arrested by the UK police.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12220162
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/europe/julian-assange-wikileaks-ecuador-embassy.html
Knock yourselves out on the schadenfreude
So shameful.
As a kid ‘the bad guys’ were the East who held people hostage in embassies, built walls, ran massive state propaganda through media & mass spy programs on their citizens.
Now who is doing that?
The pre-written article is likely being dusted off for upload…
Whose the author, you reckon?
Luke Harding
He’s got to earn his Integrity Initiative money somehow after the embarrassment of “Collusion”
sign the DIEM petition and donate if you can
TRP may have set a site upload record…
TFW Assange is given a slap on the wrist for failing to surrender to the court and it dawns on him that he’s wasted seven years of his life.
Almost word for word Hoskings .
Not surprised
And TBF, you’re the one with a boner for the war criminal Assad and his murderous gangster mate.
I don’t get boners mate
You wannabe tough guys are so full of your toxic penis talk
Toxic penis talk – Great name for a boy band
You’ve been fulsome in your support of a regime that routinely tortures, humiliates and sexually abuses women, break the women, and you break the family, as a strategy but my language offends your sensibilities.
Fuck you.
And you’ve managed to perform most of those abuses through your comments…to a woman…
Doubling down …not a good policy at the best of times…
You’re scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel here…
Seriously Joe..you need to stop this…you went past offensive some time back…
Best you go fuck yourself, too.
Joe 90
Let it out, you are saying it for lots of us. Thanks that will be the end they will cherish though. Poor things get their kicks from acting the wise schoolmaster with a cane.
keep digging Joe
Using the the word ‘boner’, with intent…towards a handle with a womans name…highly probable to be a female…
Time out time.
‘boner’, with intent – Great name for generic viagra
”towards a handle’ reminded me of this
https://youtu.be/pV1IP4N9ajg
Thanks mm I needed that.
You can see why there is so much popularity for the supermarket style hardware store. The simple-minded can
wander round dragging their knuckles in their own time.
Just for those who like the stories of people who are difficult and hard to read their minds – here is Marty Feldmann from the old days with a great sketch.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPouuA0KMO4
Classic!
Ronnie Corbett nearly loses it at the “sore tips” point. Tips for saws lols.
It’s a classic alright.
+100000000000000000000
There is a vast swathe of the left that I’m quite sure would thrive under a “regime” or totalitarian dictatorship.
Can Assange use your reckons in his extradition defense? “LOL”
The majority response here to this news is unsettling. No surprise James is piling in.
[What a ‘girl‘!]
^^ What is ‘unsettling’ is your little add-on.
I may be wrong but I think that’s “sarc”
In fact Assange was yelling out statements, not screaming, but the tough guys round here like to demean Assange, and the worst thing they can think of apparently is likening him to a “girl”
“and the worst thing they can think of apparently is likening him to a “girl””
Yes. That was my point. I thought most intelligent men were over using sexist insults.
I thought Drowsy was on the “Assange can do no wrong” side. Thay’re the one who added the “like a girl” line.
I thought McFlock was on the “Assange can do no right” side. Thay’re the one who use “the rapey one” and “Saint Julian” mockery.
To be fair, McFlock probably didn’t employ those terms on this site (just as I haven’t stated “Assange can do no wrong”), but we’re all entitled to our reckons.
I did think that one-line description of Assange’s arrest was belittling, but apologise for using “Like a girl”, with its obvious negative connotations; maybe “Like an infant” would have served, or maybe nothing at all, but it was a belittling description. We’ll have wait and see what sort of treatment he receives from the MSM and at the hands of UK justice.
Been so long. Don’t recall calling him the rapey one. But then, it’s a fair description.
In general, wikileaks was a bloody good thing. But that doesn’t mean he should not face his sexual assault accusations.
You do the crime you do the time.
If found guilty he deserves everything he gets.
Well. Jacinda Ardern’s name has become a rallying cry for women the globe over. We really are now on the cusp of something special.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12221561
The right, so pro-life they’ll kill for it.
AUSTIN, Texas – State legislators stayed up well into the morning hearing emotional testimony about a proposed abortion ban.
House Bill 896 would criminalize abortion and classify it as a homicide. Women who have abortions could be sentenced to the death penalty.
http://www.fox5dc.com/news/texas-lawmakers-consider-the-death-penalty-for-abortion
That is the most insane shit I’ve ever heard. Seriously.
I frikken cried for days when I heard that Russia had decriminalised domestic abuse and made it ok to choke your wife, give her black eyes, cuts, bruises etc in the name of “restoring family values”.
Nobody gives a fuck about the fact that every year 3 million girls have their genitals mutilated with a dirty razor or that for women in Kyrgyzstan the first time they meet their husband is when he kidnaps her.
And repeatedly I’m told we women should be grateful for having it so much better than women did 50 years ago.
Fuck that. I won’t be happy until all women get the same freedoms and responsibilities as men, period.
“The bill would ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy and would criminalize women who have abortions and the physicians who perform them, even in cases of rape, human trafficking or incest. The bill directly conflicts with the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which outlawed criminalizing abortion.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/texas-lawmakers-consider-death-penalty-women-who-get-abortions-n993171
So, in the US, if you get raped, not only will you be ripped to pieces in the legal system but you could be denied an abortion and then, just to finish as they started, they’ll offer the rapist a chance to exercise his parental rights.
https://theestablishment.co/the-unique-hell-of-fighting-your-rapist-for-custody-8fbb1cff52b3/
it has been a long time coming.
fact is you will get charged with 2 homicide if you kill a pregnant women and even if you do so accidentally in a car accident.
there are so many heartbeat / live begins at ejaculation into a vagina amendments that really we could come to the conclusion that Us American women are nothing more then pre-pregnant sentient incubators.
this bill is not the first time it was sent for votes, and it will not be the last time.
If abortion is murder, then the women seeking the abortion is a killer. And homicide in many states of the US is met with the death penalty.
I mean clearly its a very pro-life action.
Well property is sacred joey, wouldn’t surprise me if rustlin was still a lynchin offense in Taxes.