Why Sanders is very unlikely to be the nominee – the Des Moines Register boils it down to two sentences:
While Elizabeth Warren and Sanders are in lockstep on many positions, concerns about Warren's potential for divisiveness are magnified with Sanders. As a self-identified democratic socialist, someone who has set himself apart from the Democratic Party during his congressional career, let alone breaking bread with Republicans, could he build the consensus needed to govern?
Indeed. As CNN's Chris Cillizza goes on to observe:
Here's the most curious thing about all of this: Sanders' hardcore supporters like the idea that he isn't a going-along-to-get-along guy. They like that he isn't friends with a bunch of Washington establishment types — the sort of people who have failed to deliver progressive solutions for decades. And he won't be that sort of president either. Which is a good thing, not a bad thing in their eyes.
Yes, 2016 showed the middle finger voter segment is a surprisingly large minority. But the turd tornado currently besplattering the walls of the Oval Office has that voter segment pretty well locked down. No-one can deny he's delivering the chaos and vandalism so cherished by the middle finger voters.
So it seems a bit counterproductive to pander to the tantrums of those middle finger voters in the hopes of flipping a small sliver of them when doing so very likely alienates a much larger wedge of voters that want to see actual progress.
My reckons are the Fifth Avenue Fraud has a core of about 25ish% support from those who will only vote for whatever has an (R) next to its name, even when it's the 3 weeks gone mouldering corpse of a dead brothel-owner. Then there's another 10ish% support of middle finger voters quite happy with the way he's trashing DC and the rest of government. Then he's got another 10ish% that aren't hard-core but willing to hold their noses as long as their core priorities of tax cuts, reactionary judges, and gratuitous cruelty to minorities are satisfied while not actually trashing the government so far that the services they like get cut off.
If you look at his approval rating, for the first year it dipped down into the upper 30s, which I interpret as that non-hardcore group thinking "this putz can't even get through simple tax cuts even with a House and Senate majority". Then the next time his approval rating dropped below the noise band was the government shutdown at the start of 2019. But Bernie isn't going to pull from that group since he won't be appointing reactionary judges or offering tax cuts.
So while there's a lot of noise about potential Trump to Bernie flippers, I suspect they're a miniscule portion of the electorate.
not a bad assessment IMO….as much as Id like to see Bernie as Pres I cant see it happening, and the other Dem options dont inspire confidence either…but you never know. maybe 4+ Rep Senators may cross and Trump may end up impeached
Don Drumpfeone is already impeached. That happened in the House.
It will take at least four Repug senators to vote to hear testimony from more witnesses. Given the leaks from Bolton's upcoming book over the weekend, it seems there's at least a fighting chance that might happen.
It will take at least 20 Repug senators to join all 47 Dems and vote for conviction and removal to successfully excise America's prolapsed rectum from the Oval Office. I reckon my chances in tomorrow's Powerball are quite a lot higher. Although if McTurtle announced it's going to be a secret ballot, I might revise those odds.
K…yes already impeached, my mistake….meant convicted.
And if 4 + do join in requiring witnesses then anything may happen…not the show trial and exoneration predicted…whether enough to get 20 Rep to cross maybe not (and I cant see Trump doing a Nixon and resigning) but it may have more influence on the election outcome
Wow worst argument ever. Obviously not interested in policy. People actually want substance and change – not waffle and pc crap.
But worst of all, it's just the same bullshit peddled by the people who went on to lose to trump. trump a blowhard tv personality, and this centrist, I know best, elitist crap is what gave him the victory – not some rump of imagined middle fingers.
Mind you once again we are left with people who think the 'left' is identity politics – and not economics, and policy. The longer Sanders leads the polls the attacks are just going to get worse I suppose.
But anyone who rejects your St Bernie schtick is an elitist, centrist, I know best neo-liberal shill playing at identity politics and they're directly responsible for tRump's victory.
Rogan is on record as supporting LGBT rights, universal health care, the right to access reproductive Heath services and a UBI. Whilst he probably has a lot of views that I don't agree with, it is unfair to lump him in with Peterson, Milo and Lehmann.
Rogan regularly provides a platform for the hateful rhetoric of people like Yiannopoulos, Peterson, Molyneux, Alex Jones, James Damore and Steven Crowder.
Deplatforming people for holding offensive opinions is a case of the "cure" being worse than the disease. The elitist media loves to push identity politics instead of substantive change for the working class. And you've fallen for it
Yeah Joe Rogan believes in free speech – so that means even giving a platform to people you don't like.
Rogan is friends with Alex Jones, and is worried about Alex. I would be to if I knew someone who slavishly repeats conspiracy theories, and repeats all sorts of nasty woke comments coming off twitter.
Rogan also had on Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. He had on radical leftists and moderates like Bill Maher.
Scientist, musicians and fighters. Rogan interviews a wide range of people.
The problem is people who pull this whole holier than thou thing – when their not holy, virtuous or offering real opinion. Just slavish PC identity politics crap. Looking for somthing negative so you can bring people down.
Did you miss why so many people hate the left – this is it. The bullshit attacks on people for not being perfect.
It probably wouldn't be a bad thing for Biden to win the nomination. For a start, if Trump wins again, the DNC cannot blame the party for moving too far to the left.
But Mallard was merely outing a sexual harasser in parliament. Your previous comments show very little sympathy for such men but in this case you defend him.
He said that the man was “a danger” and said “we're talking about serious sexual assault, well that for me, that's rape. That's the impression I got from the report, yes."
There is nothing to substantiate those comments about the man.
Actually they weren’t “dismissed” they came back as not established which is quite different.
Regardless- the guy mallard made comment on isn’t a rapist and clearly was not a danger to women on the grounds. The assault (which he was to use your words) was “dismissed” and mallard new this when he called him a rapist and a danger and had him removed from his job.
No I don't, because there is zero difference. You defend one 'rapist' but attack another 'rapist' solely based on the perceived political affiliation of the participants in the case.
This is just one example of your extraordinary hypocrisy.
China releases its data once per day,they have become more open with release as testing becomes better (too big to hide)Other overeseas releases are made by various countries health body.
The Chinese are doing that, because essentially they're faced with first-degree transmission.
If NZ shut the borders now, it would have to be for everyone, because who knows if in the previous two weeks someone bumped into someone who bumped into someone who bumped into someone who had the strain? All those airports, train stations, streets, stores…
So if we closed off the borders now, it would be everything. The economic impact would kill more people than coronavirus seems to, by far.
Besides, incubation period is just one measure in the R0 – long incubation with low transmission still means a manageable R0.
Yes, because I suspect that as soon as a single undetected patient is walking around for a couple of weeks, with this one the main transmission will be local. Two weeks of asymptomatic contagiousness would make contact tracing incredibly difficult if they're not in a highly structured environment.
edit: so they might only infect 2 or 3 other people, but those people will be sprinkled out over those two weeks.
Unlike something that might infect ten people, but it’s only in the group you encountered since monday so you’ll have a much higher chance of tracking them all down without needlessly worrying uninfected people.
Health authorities said that the German man caught the infection from a Chinese person who had visited his company.
That covers a multitude of sins, from simply shaking hands all the way to an extended tour of facility, three hour negotiation meeting, then getting on the piss with them that night.
Well, the Chinese guy the German met isn't "patient zero" by any stretch, and company visits being what they are I suspect everyone who needed to find him got his number from the German guy's contact list.
That "two week contagious" and "R0 ~2-3" means it's more like an STD than measles – you're likely to remember the person who was most likely to give it to you 🙂
The importance is that the german had not been to Wuhan ,wuhan cov came to him.
Same as Japan it is not the travellers it is the cohorts.
BREAKING: Japan is reporting its first case of an individual who has not been to Wuhan, China, but has contracted the novel coronavirus. The case is one of two new infections reported Tuesday.
"Cohorts"? Not familiar with that word in this context.
Diseases spread as a function of duration and nature/closeness of contact. What would be scary is if it started popping up around the globe with no known contacts.
The first one to have it in a country is not the first one to ever get it.
Semantics aside, what did I say about how disease spreads? You sit in a room with someone for half a day, that boosts your chances of catching it. In tertiary education it's called "fresher flu". Happens every year. But for a notifiable disease, we know exactly who was exposed for that duration.
Same as this workshop – the attendees' families are at risk. They might be quarantined for a couple of weeks off school etc. But the worry isn't the 40 people in the workshop. The worry is the 300 people who shared a plane with that passenger. They all need to be tracked down and tested. But then some of them might have already had it anyway.
it would make sense at this stage to screen people coming from the Wuhan area more closely than others though. I have no idea how many people that would be though.
Aren't they already restricted and screened by the Chinese?
I haven't looked to closely, but I gather that the screening in NZ is mostly specific questions about origin and basic health checks, but screening only works when it is symptomatic. And screening questions are only so useful when everyone sits around in the same transit lounge. Which will be a tiny minority of infected people when they finally get here (air crew don't want to be exposed to it, either).
Again, with other illnesses there's a much more narrow window between infection, infectiousness, and symptoms.
My local uni is getting ready for students to come in. They're already sending emails about what to look out for and reasonable levels of caution. But they're not anticipating cancelling lectures at this stage.
The outbreak is still in the exponential phase, but it's sequenced and testing has been developed to be pretty quick, apparently. SARS in the early 2000s took several months to be sequenced.
We're still in the phase where people were saying "if these trends continue" when ebola broke out in 2014, and it'll probably be significantly more widespread than ebola, but the main centre of impact will be China.
They imposed quarantine on cities because people were doing the people thing and "gtf-ing out of Dodge" – literal millions of people fleeing the infected towns. Most of them, like in any country, wouldn't have the paperwork or cash to leave the country, they'll have gone to relatives in other cities. Many of them would have had unknown infections.
The fear, and the economic impact, will cause inflation and instability within China. This is their cataclysmic bushfire. But in NZ, the 1918 flu will still be the big one. We will get some cases, but I'm not buying a mask just yet. Other people genuinely need them.
"But imagine a deadly virus that was contagious for 2 weeks before any symptoms showed in the carrier… We would all be dead."
Unlikely. Viruses are generally adept at not wiping out the whole population, otherwise the virus wouldn't survive. Human immune response adapts over time too.
We're very used to this idea that a virus is the sole factor in the illness, but the health and immune response of the person exposed is also a factor. Not everyone exposed becomes ill for this reason.
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Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
Clear requirements for ensuring customers are treated fairly by banks, insurers and other financial service providers are included in new financial conduct legislation that passed its first reading today. “The recent reviews, by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, into the conduct of banks and ...
Applications are now open for the fifth round of the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson announced today. “I am delighted to open this year’s fund which has some $7 million available to support performing arts venues, galleries, museums and whare ...
The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta today congratulated Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu on her appointment as the next President of the Law Commission. “Amokura Kawharu will be a standout in her new role, leading in an innovative and forward looking approach to the law reform process. She will ...
Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed as the next President of the Law Commission, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. “I would like to congratulate Associate Professor Kawharu on her appointment,” Andrew ...
A programme for employers to help them engage effectively with younger employees was launched today by Minister of Employment, Willie Jackson. The Youth Ready Employer Programme contains a range of on-line templates that employers can easily access to help with employing and retaining young people in their businesses. The programme ...
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday 14 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “This year’s Budget will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also preparing the economy for the future. “Those challenges and opportunities cannot be resolved in one budget, ...
I move, That this House place on record its appreciation and thanks for the devoted and distinguished service to New Zealand by the late Rt Hon Michael Kenneth Moore, member of the Order of New Zealand, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an Honorary Member of the ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Northland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support ...
The Minister of Police says an operation to smash a trans national drug smuggling ring today will make a significant impact on the methamphetamine trade fuelling harm in our communities. Police have announced 10 arrests and the seizure of up to five million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs after an ...
The Government’s books are in a strong position to withstand global headwinds, with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the six months to December. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above ...
Race courses can improve safety with this year’s second round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced the second funding round of 2019/20 is open with $347,875 available for distribution. “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of ...
The Government is committing $300,000 to fund research to update behavioural information to make sure HIV and STI prevention services are targeted appropriately in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson made the announcement at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland. “There is much talk about ...
The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has announced work will begin on a business case to assess the viability of forming a new public media entity. “The Government must ensure New Zealanders have a strong independent public media service for decades to come, which means ensuring public ...
Minister of Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare announced today that the Government will contribute $100,000 to the Southland regional Mayoral Relief Fund, to support communities impacted by the recent flooding in Southland. Mr Henare says this week’s flooding has caused significant disruption to communities in the lower South Island. ...
Heritage buildings throughout New Zealand will benefit from the $1.1 million in Heritage EQUIP funding grants announced today. “These grants for seismic strengthening projects help private building owners get the advice they need to start building work or to get the work completed,” Grant Robertson says. “Timaru’s Grosvenor Hotel has ...
A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according ...
Te Tii, the lower marae at Waitangi, is among more than 70 marae now connected to broadband internet thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund’s marae connectivity scheme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. In February 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) allocated $21 million to connect rural towns ...
The West Coast has had a funding injection of over $1.2 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika today. The PGF projects announced are: $800,000 to Development West Coast for a Grey District Regional Digital Hub ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has declared an adverse event for the Southland and Otago regions, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “Widespread flooding has resulted in severe disruption, with many people evacuated from their homes and many farms being affected by flood waters. It’s putting pressure on our farmers, ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fresh developments around in the political donations saga, the Chinese ambassador speaks out, and some troubling poll numbers for advocates of cannabis law reform.The Serious Fraud Office is formally investigating the operations of the NZ First Foundation. The confirmation came in ...
ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias interviews Dr Gwendoline Smith about how terrible it is to think too much.Certainly I overthink things, in the sense that I worry and fret and angst, but not in the sense that I actually think very deeply or intelligently. It’s more ...
A major report by the Auditor-General on how New Zealand's drinking, storm and waste waters are managed finds a conflicting, disorganised and stagnant system ill-prepared for climate change. Dileepa Fonseka reports. ...
Manchester City and the Houston Astros are latest inductees into the sports hall of shame. Dirty, rotten cheats. Calculated, cynical, premeditated, habitual, recidivist, despicable cheats. Committed cheats. Add Manchester City and the Houston Astros to a gallery of shame occupied for all eternity by Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, ...
The 10-year-old girl from Tawa who cherished a cricket bat signed by her 2000 World Cup heroes, now wants to spur a new crop of cricketers through her own swashbuckling deeds. In a recent column looking ahead to the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this week, Sophie Devine wrote that she “hoped to inspire ...
Transforming diseases into foes and therapies into battles isn’t the best way to face contagion. Annemarie Jutel asks: When did panic and catastrophe help anyone organise anything? Public anxiety and nations’ responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) have been shaped by the hyperbolic metaphors surrounding its discussion. Even the usually sedate and measured ...
Overworked and stressed teachers, overcrowded classrooms and substandard nutrition have ECE at crisis point. ECE teacher Susan Bates explains why everyone should care. If you want to know what NZ society might look like in the future, look into the eyes of the young children in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself ...
The pressures on the state budget of a rapidly ageing population must be acknowledged, and treated holistically and with nuance, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale The latest three-yearly 2019 Retirement Incomes Review takes a refreshingly holistic view of retirement policy and is welcomed by the Retirement Policy and ...
The dreaded pea weevil is no more in the Wairarapa, after a successful eradication effort. So why does this matter? OK, what on earth is a pea weevil?It’s a type of leaf beetle, so not actually a weevil after all, but the name is the name. Basically it gets into pea ...
Controversial Australian philosopher Peter Singer is coming to New Zealand in June. While he believes in reducing suffering for all humans and animals, his views on disability have sparked widespread alarm and condemnation.Utilitarian and moral philosopher Peter Singer is best known by many for the parable of the drowning child, ...
Sharon Brettkelly gets a rare look at the internal workings of Immigration New Zealand - and we look at what's holding up visa applications. Immigration New Zealand's Henderson office is like any other, with rows of workers at their computers. But in this workplace the lives of tens of thousands ...
Alex Casey delivers her seventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where a group of intruders have herniated the competition’s intestines forever. Click here for previous instalments. Welcome back to The Bachelorette NZ, where everything is made up and every man is suddenly named Mike. Intruders! Five of them! A whole ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Solicitor-General Jose Calida asked the Supreme Court today to issue a gag order against ABS-CBN, claiming the Philippines’ largest television network was engaging in “propaganda” to sway the justices in the quo warranto case seeking to void its franchise. Calida filed the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen R Fisher, Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for young children with disability is not equal across Australia. Where you live can hinder access to information about disability support, assistance to apply for ...
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations applauds the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act released by the government yesterday but does not believe that they go far enough to improving the rights of renters. The power imbalance in the current ...
The Prime Minister will take no action against Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, after confirmation of a Serious Fraud Office investigation. ...
Eamonn Marra’s debut novel makes a study of the mundane: sanding a fence, heating baked beans, three pizzas for $29.99 delivered. Alie Benge reckons it belongs somewhere between Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante. It was about page three of 2000ft Above Worry Level. A feeling burst inside me: the joy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzie Gibson, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt University The gothic developed as a European architectural phenomenon in 12th-century France, where awe-inspiring cathedrals reflected a world drenched in religious piety and superstition. Its veneration was revisited in 18th-century English literature, when ...
Financial services company Heartland Bank has reported a solid lift in its first-half profit driven by increased lending despite a squeeze on margins and rising costs. ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, e-bikes are now just a tap away! Josie Adams reviews the latest disruption in transport culture.When Lime launched in 2018, New Zealand’s transport culture got the electric shock it needed. For too long we’d ...
Ministers love to bray about the seizing of illegal drugs. Customs statistics on seizures last year – albeit “preliminary” statistics – therefore were irresistible to Customs Minister Jenny Salesa. They gave her a platform to remind us of her existence as a Minister while acknowledging the work of her officials. ...
The rise of ‘plant-based’ diets seems like a win for those who decry eating meat. But some vegan groups claim the halfway step of vegetarianism is ineffectual if you really care about animal cruelty, climate change, or your own personal health.An article in the Guardian last year asked “Why do ...
FIRST Union General Secretary Dennis Maga says that this morning’s comments from National Party Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith that the party would consider scrapping the Government’s proposed minimum wage increases if elected ...
The State Housing Action Network (SHAN) is deeply disappointed that the Government’s recently announced Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan fails to provide for increases in the state housing stock which are essential for addressing the homelessness crisis. ...
Electricity retailers will no longer be able to entice former customers with steep and exclusive discounts, the Electricity Authority has announced. ...
The National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that the Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says it came as a surprise to him that a Serious Fraud Office prosecution relates to two $100,000 donations to the party. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne The federal court’s rejection of the ABC case against the Australian Federal Police raid on its Sydney headquarters in June 2019 reveals two issues of great importance to ...
Zero waste campaigners are petitioning the Government to take a more active stance in tackling Aotearoa New Zealand’s waste crisis, with a comprehensive ban on single-use disposable plastic food and drink serviceware, and a phasing in of accessible, reusable ...
“Callaghan Innovation’s $440,000 grant for an electric ferry design is pure corporate welfare,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “If EV Maritime’s ferries present such good value, then why didn’t it get private ...
President Rodrigo Duterte takes legal action to shut down the biggest broadcaster in the Philippines in what is being described as the most severe attack on media freedom in the country. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch More than 500 journalists have gathered to protest threats to the survival ...
Pacific Media Centre Papua New Guinea’s Minister for State Enterprises Sasindran Muthuvel has reassured the nation that Air Niugini is taking all necessary steps to protect the country against the spread of coronavirus, reports EMTV News. “The airline has instituted a wide range of measures to minimise the risk ...
Our writers celebrate the best performances you can watch right now on NEON. Basically? They’re iconic.We all love a good story, and a great plot twist can turn a mediocre TV show into addictive weekly viewing. But what really keeps us coming back are the characters, and seeing actors at ...
National finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith has refused to give details on the party's planned tax cut policy announced in a speech by leader Simon Bridges yesterday. ...
The owners of three properties in Twizel will have to sell-up after they failed to seek consent from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO). Vanessa Horne, Group Manager for the OIO, says a group of overseas investors bought the three properties, which ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNZ First donations scandal Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton (RNZ): NZ First Foundation trustee was lobbying for donor Bryce ...
A Southland school has been criticised for requiring girls to see a counsellor before opting to wear shorts as their uniform. It’s merely a symptom of a bigger problem, Madeleine Chapman writes.On Sunday, Stuff reported that James Hargest College in Southland would soon allow girls to wear shorts or pants ...
The Manawatu Tenants’ Union’ (MTU) celebrates yesterday’s release of the Residential Tenancies Act Reform Bill, but challenges the Minister to stil go further to improving tenancy rights. The Bill would remove the ability for landlords to terminate a tenancy ...
The Government is putting together an $11 million package to offset the fallout from coronavirus and attract tourists from countries other than China. ...
Friends of Sherwood are asking that the following question be put to all voters: “ Should New Zealand stop using all cruel and inhumane poisons, such as 1080, brodifacoum, and PAPP, to kill wildlife because these toxic substances inflict intense and prolonged, ...
Organise Aotearoa will be joining rallies for abortion law reform, scheduled today in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. The National Day of Action is hosted by Fem Force - Feminist Action Aotearoa. “Nobody should be pressured to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By S. Anna Florin, PhD candidate, The University of Queensland Australia’s first people ate a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and other plant foods, many of which would have taken considerable time and knowledge to prepare, according to our analysis of charred ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Biddle, Associate Professor, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Last month, the Australian National University contracted with the Social Research Centre (SRC) to survey more than 3,000 Australian adults about their experiences and attitudes related to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan Davis, Professor of Law, UNSW In his Closing the Gap speech to parliament last week, the prime minister injected some order and transparency back into the constitutional recognition process. The PM anchored his government’s work on the co-design of a Voice ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Woods, Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney Heavily subsidised aged care services used to be seen as a right and entitlement for all older Australians. But as aged care demand grows and costs rise, it’s becoming increasingly clear the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carla Liuzzo, Sessional Lecturer, School of Business, Queensland University of Technology As a parent, I find it so frustrating to take my children shopping, reusable bags in hand, only to be offered plastic toys at the checkout. It’s an incredibly confusing message ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology The jingle used to tell us we loved “football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars”. These days we love Japanese utes and small Toyotas, Hyundais and Mazdas more. Monday’s announcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donna Mazza, Senior Lecturer in Creative Arts, Edith Cowan University Warning: this piece features frequent coarse language that may offend some readers. Since Adam Mansbuch’s 2011 bestseller, Go the Fuck to Sleep, book titles have been swearing profusely to grab audience attention. ...
Simon Bridges says National would cut taxes and invest much more than Labour in infrastructure, and with less waste. But he's holding back the detail, and got a key figure wrong. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Creative accounting around the ETS explored, Ardern goes to ground on Peters, and ACT criticised for keeping donation from extremist.Often when reporting on technical and thorny pieces of legislation, it helps to have a specialist reporter looking into it. Stuff’s Charlie Mitchell ...
Planners and hazard experts talk to Newsroom’s Eloise Gibson about how climate change will impact Auckland, and how good planning can help the city adapt. ...
No matter how you measure it, science remains systematically biased against women – and ethnically diverse women even more so, writes Dr Hinemoa Elder.Women and girls in science, this is a public health announcement. You are entering unfriendly territory.Kia mataara, be vigilant. Keep your wits about you.There is irrefutable data ...
When it signed onto the Paris Climate Agreement, New Zealand pledged to increase its net greenhouse gas emissions by 10% across the 25 years to 2030. The latest government report shows with current policy settings it is on track to increase them by more than 20%. The challenge is acute ...
How are the children and grandchildren of Asian immigrants treading the line between immersion in a kiwi culture, and holding on to family traditions? ...
The $11 million tourism package announced after today’s Cabinet is a positive response. Auckland Business Chamber head Michael Barnett said possibly more important in the Prime Minister’s announcement was that further support was possible, as ...
By Joenner Paulo L. Enriquez and Ma. Alena O. Castillo in Manila Thomasian Jesuit priests Fr Albert Alejo and Fr Flaviano Villanueva have posted P10,000 (NZ$310) bail each after a judge issued a warrant of arrest in connection with their sedition case. “Nag-piyansa na kami Fr Flavie at sumama ...
Daily review 28/01/2020 
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...2 hours ago
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...16 hours ago
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...19 hours ago
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...2 days ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...2 days ago
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre. (Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...4 days ago
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...7 days ago
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Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...2 weeks ago
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics. Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...2 weeks ago
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit: Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ... 2 weeks ago
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...2 weeks ago
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...2 weeks ago
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...16 hours ago
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...5 days ago
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...16 hours ago
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fresh developments around in the political donations saga, the Chinese ambassador speaks out, and some troubling poll numbers for advocates of cannabis law reform.The Serious Fraud Office is formally investigating the operations of the NZ First Foundation. The confirmation came in ...58 mins ago
ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias interviews Dr Gwendoline Smith about how terrible it is to think too much. Certainly I overthink things, in the sense that I worry and fret and angst, but not in the sense that I actually think very deeply or intelligently. It’s more ...2 hours ago
The government is investing in projects for up to 110 new electric vehicle chargers and 50 electric ride-sharing vehicles around the country. ...2 hours ago
A major report by the Auditor-General on how New Zealand's drinking, storm and waste waters are managed finds a conflicting, disorganised and stagnant system ill-prepared for climate change. Dileepa Fonseka reports. ...2 hours ago
Manchester City and the Houston Astros are latest inductees into the sports hall of shame. Dirty, rotten cheats. Calculated, cynical, premeditated, habitual, recidivist, despicable cheats. Committed cheats. Add Manchester City and the Houston Astros to a gallery of shame occupied for all eternity by Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, ...2 hours ago
The 10-year-old girl from Tawa who cherished a cricket bat signed by her 2000 World Cup heroes, now wants to spur a new crop of cricketers through her own swashbuckling deeds. In a recent column looking ahead to the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this week, Sophie Devine wrote that she “hoped to inspire ...2 hours ago
Transforming diseases into foes and therapies into battles isn’t the best way to face contagion. Annemarie Jutel asks: When did panic and catastrophe help anyone organise anything? Public anxiety and nations’ responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) have been shaped by the hyperbolic metaphors surrounding its discussion. Even the usually sedate and measured ...2 hours ago
Overworked and stressed teachers, overcrowded classrooms and substandard nutrition have ECE at crisis point. ECE teacher Susan Bates explains why everyone should care. If you want to know what NZ society might look like in the future, look into the eyes of the young children in your neighbourhood. Ask yourself ...2 hours ago
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Just wow, the mainstream media and woke left are just a bit truly nutty.
Why Sanders is very unlikely to be the nominee – the Des Moines Register boils it down to two sentences:
While Elizabeth Warren and Sanders are in lockstep on many positions, concerns about Warren's potential for divisiveness are magnified with Sanders. As a self-identified democratic socialist, someone who has set himself apart from the Democratic Party during his congressional career, let alone breaking bread with Republicans, could he build the consensus needed to govern?
Indeed. As CNN's Chris Cillizza goes on to observe:
Here's the most curious thing about all of this: Sanders' hardcore supporters like the idea that he isn't a going-along-to-get-along guy. They like that he isn't friends with a bunch of Washington establishment types — the sort of people who have failed to deliver progressive solutions for decades. And he won't be that sort of president either. Which is a good thing, not a bad thing in their eyes.
Yes, 2016 showed the middle finger voter segment is a surprisingly large minority. But the turd tornado currently besplattering the walls of the Oval Office has that voter segment pretty well locked down. No-one can deny he's delivering the chaos and vandalism so cherished by the middle finger voters.
So it seems a bit counterproductive to pander to the tantrums of those middle finger voters in the hopes of flipping a small sliver of them when doing so very likely alienates a much larger wedge of voters that want to see actual progress.
Do you think that he would eat into Trump's core supporters more than any other Democrat nominee?
No.
My reckons are the Fifth Avenue Fraud has a core of about 25ish% support from those who will only vote for whatever has an (R) next to its name, even when it's the 3 weeks gone mouldering corpse of a dead brothel-owner. Then there's another 10ish% support of middle finger voters quite happy with the way he's trashing DC and the rest of government. Then he's got another 10ish% that aren't hard-core but willing to hold their noses as long as their core priorities of tax cuts, reactionary judges, and gratuitous cruelty to minorities are satisfied while not actually trashing the government so far that the services they like get cut off.
If you look at his approval rating, for the first year it dipped down into the upper 30s, which I interpret as that non-hardcore group thinking "this putz can't even get through simple tax cuts even with a House and Senate majority". Then the next time his approval rating dropped below the noise band was the government shutdown at the start of 2019. But Bernie isn't going to pull from that group since he won't be appointing reactionary judges or offering tax cuts.
So while there's a lot of noise about potential Trump to Bernie flippers, I suspect they're a miniscule portion of the electorate.
not a bad assessment IMO….as much as Id like to see Bernie as Pres I cant see it happening, and the other Dem options dont inspire confidence either…but you never know. maybe 4+ Rep Senators may cross and Trump may end up impeached
Pedant alert:
Don Drumpfeone is already impeached. That happened in the House.
It will take at least four Repug senators to vote to hear testimony from more witnesses. Given the leaks from Bolton's upcoming book over the weekend, it seems there's at least a fighting chance that might happen.
It will take at least 20 Repug senators to join all 47 Dems and vote for conviction and removal to successfully excise America's prolapsed rectum from the Oval Office. I reckon my chances in tomorrow's Powerball are quite a lot higher. Although if McTurtle announced it's going to be a secret ballot, I might revise those odds.
K…yes already impeached, my mistake….meant convicted.
And if 4 + do join in requiring witnesses then anything may happen…not the show trial and exoneration predicted…whether enough to get 20 Rep to cross maybe not (and I cant see Trump doing a Nixon and resigning) but it may have more influence on the election outcome
Needs a lot more than four to cross, doesn't it? Hasn't it got to be a two-thirds majority?
needs 4 to allow witnesses to be called…as Andre noted it needs 2/3 to convict, hence my comments
Wow worst argument ever. Obviously not interested in policy. People actually want substance and change – not waffle and pc crap.
But worst of all, it's just the same bullshit peddled by the people who went on to lose to trump. trump a blowhard tv personality, and this centrist, I know best, elitist crap is what gave him the victory – not some rump of imagined middle fingers.
Mind you once again we are left with people who think the 'left' is identity politics – and not economics, and policy. The longer Sanders leads the polls the attacks are just going to get worse I suppose.
So it's okay for Bernie to betray everyone he claims to fight for by cuddling racist, sexist, transphobic bigot Joe Rogan because sharing a big tent requires including those who do not share every one of our beliefs, while always making clear that we will never compromise our values.
But anyone who rejects your St Bernie schtick is an elitist, centrist, I know best neo-liberal shill playing at identity politics and they're directly responsible for tRump's victory.
Rogan is on record as supporting LGBT rights, universal health care, the right to access reproductive Heath services and a UBI. Whilst he probably has a lot of views that I don't agree with, it is unfair to lump him in with Peterson, Milo and Lehmann.
Rogan regularly provides a platform for the hateful rhetoric of people like Yiannopoulos, Peterson, Molyneux, Alex Jones, James Damore and Steven Crowder.
And Rogan fan gurl Lehmann reckons he's the Walter Cronkite of our era.
Deplatforming people for holding offensive opinions is a case of the "cure" being worse than the disease. The elitist media loves to push identity politics instead of substantive change for the working class. And you've fallen for it
Yeah Joe Rogan believes in free speech – so that means even giving a platform to people you don't like.
Rogan is friends with Alex Jones, and is worried about Alex. I would be to if I knew someone who slavishly repeats conspiracy theories, and repeats all sorts of nasty woke comments coming off twitter.
Rogan also had on Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. He had on radical leftists and moderates like Bill Maher.
Scientist, musicians and fighters. Rogan interviews a wide range of people.
The problem is people who pull this whole holier than thou thing – when their not holy, virtuous or offering real opinion. Just slavish PC identity politics crap. Looking for somthing negative so you can bring people down.
Did you miss why so many people hate the left – this is it. The bullshit attacks on people for not being perfect.
It's rank low shit.
And EVERY Dem candidate tried to get on his show.
Will Klobuchar and Warren dismiss the NYT endorsement because they cheerlead the Iraq war? I doubt it.
But identity politics is what the left do best
It probably wouldn't be a bad thing for Biden to win the nomination. For a start, if Trump wins again, the DNC cannot blame the party for moving too far to the left.
A sanders nomination is the best trump could want for.
like Corbyn he is unelectable.
Spoken like a true hard right troll. 🙂
I said the same about Corbyn and was proven right.
you don’t need to be “hard right” – just not blinded by ideology.
as you, James, are somewhat undelectable.
Corbyn got more votes in 2019 than Labour did in 2005 2010 2015. He nailed it in 2017. Brexit did for him.
Yes BG you are right – he’s done an amazing job.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/01/speaker-trevor-mallard-sued-for-defamation-over-claims-a-rapist-worked-at-parliament.html
trevor mallard brings sued. Well deserved imho based on evidence in the public arena.
But Mallard was merely outing a sexual harasser in parliament. Your previous comments show very little sympathy for such men but in this case you defend him.
That is inconsistent.
He said that the man was “a danger” and said “we're talking about serious sexual assault, well that for me, that's rape. That's the impression I got from the report, yes."
There is nothing to substantiate those comments about the man.
That wasn't your position on the case of the Labour staffer who has had all accusations against him dismissed.
You were quite clear that it was all true.
Actually they weren’t “dismissed” they came back as not established which is quite different.
Regardless- the guy mallard made comment on isn’t a rapist and clearly was not a danger to women on the grounds. The assault (which he was to use your words) was “dismissed” and mallard new this when he called him a rapist and a danger and had him removed from his job.
see the difference mutts ?
No I don't, because there is zero difference. You defend one 'rapist' but attack another 'rapist' solely based on the perceived political affiliation of the participants in the case.
This is just one example of your extraordinary hypocrisy.
Show me one bit of evidence that the person mallard (and you) called a rapist in fact raped anybody.
bet you can’t.
I guess it's the use of your favourite word, "rape" which is causing you anxiety on this.
This clown is pretty brave. The lawsuit must see his identity revealed at some point, surely.
So you are ok with people being called a rapist if there is zero evidence that they have and in fact evidence they did not ?
Do we know the name of this man?
How can one be defamed if one isn't known?
Plenty do.
Anyone here have an idea of the death per number infected, of the current corona outbreak?
I understand the toll is @ 80. How many have been infected?
Some light relief:
John Hopkins has a geographical map showing the regions and distribution.
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
4474 confirmed cases,106 deaths.Increased testing and reporting will show an exponential curve for a week or so before slowing to a cubic increase.
Left hand side shows the PRC figures with other locations below,expect the bottom (yellow) to follow upwards as well.
The progressions suggest that the caseloads ie infected will exceed that of sars within a few days but it has a lower mortality.
Thank you my fishy friend.
Akin to Sars, Mers.
Beware yr chums with a 'summer' cold.
Where are Johns Hopkins getting their data from?
I wouldn't imagine an authoritarian regime like China would be too keen on releasing that kind of information.
China releases its data once per day,they have become more open with release as testing becomes better (too big to hide)Other overeseas releases are made by various countries health body.
Mapping the coronavirus.
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov/
https://systems.jhu.edu/
My serious question, which I put last night with no response, is:
One can catch the virus, become infectious to others, yet it can be 14 days before one shows any symptoms and gets quarantined.
If this is true, we must assume that all new arrivals may already have been infected, and quarantine them 14 days before letting them go public.
But nobody is doing that.
If the 14 days infectious before symptoms show story is true, we have absolutely no chance of stopping this virus from going everywhere.
We just have to hope that it is a mild virus, and that those who succumb can rapidly recover. That is how it looks to me.
But imagine a deadly virus that was contagious for 2 weeks before any symptoms showed in the carrier… We would all be dead.
The Chinese are doing that, because essentially they're faced with first-degree transmission.
If NZ shut the borders now, it would have to be for everyone, because who knows if in the previous two weeks someone bumped into someone who bumped into someone who bumped into someone who had the strain? All those airports, train stations, streets, stores…
So if we closed off the borders now, it would be everything. The economic impact would kill more people than coronavirus seems to, by far.
Besides, incubation period is just one measure in the R0 – long incubation with low transmission still means a manageable R0.
that assumes trying to get zero cases in NZ rather than trying to limit the number.
Yes, because I suspect that as soon as a single undetected patient is walking around for a couple of weeks, with this one the main transmission will be local. Two weeks of asymptomatic contagiousness would make contact tracing incredibly difficult if they're not in a highly structured environment.
edit: so they might only infect 2 or 3 other people, but those people will be sprinkled out over those two weeks.
Unlike something that might infect ten people, but it’s only in the group you encountered since monday so you’ll have a much higher chance of tracking them all down without needlessly worrying uninfected people.
In Germany the first case is problematic.
The Bavarian case is the first known example of the infection spreading outside of China between people who are not closely related.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-confirms-first-case-of-coronavirus/a-52169007
Maybe not:
That covers a multitude of sins, from simply shaking hands all the way to an extended tour of facility, three hour negotiation meeting, then getting on the piss with them that night.
and where is patient zero now?
Well, the Chinese guy the German met isn't "patient zero" by any stretch, and company visits being what they are I suspect everyone who needed to find him got his number from the German guy's contact list.
That "two week contagious" and "R0 ~2-3" means it's more like an STD than measles – you're likely to remember the person who was most likely to give it to you 🙂
The importance is that the german had not been to Wuhan ,wuhan cov came to him.
Same as Japan it is not the travellers it is the cohorts.
"Cohorts"? Not familiar with that word in this context.
Diseases spread as a function of duration and nature/closeness of contact. What would be scary is if it started popping up around the globe with no known contacts.
As more information comes,it seems the initial spreader originally from wuhan was asymtomatic and did not develop cv until she returned to china.
She seems to have infected 4 colleagues or 10% of the people who attended the workshop.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-confirms-three-further-cases-of-coronavirus/a-52181064
maybe a superspreader.
Well, the Chinese guy the German met isn't "patient zero" by any stretch,
Except she seems to be.
https://static3.stuff.co.nz/file-20200128-81416-e7ut2m-8c976d97.jpeg
The first one to have it in a country is not the first one to ever get it.
Semantics aside, what did I say about how disease spreads? You sit in a room with someone for half a day, that boosts your chances of catching it. In tertiary education it's called "fresher flu". Happens every year. But for a notifiable disease, we know exactly who was exposed for that duration.
Same as this workshop – the attendees' families are at risk. They might be quarantined for a couple of weeks off school etc. But the worry isn't the 40 people in the workshop. The worry is the 300 people who shared a plane with that passenger. They all need to be tracked down and tested. But then some of them might have already had it anyway.
it would make sense at this stage to screen people coming from the Wuhan area more closely than others though. I have no idea how many people that would be though.
Aren't they already restricted and screened by the Chinese?
I haven't looked to closely, but I gather that the screening in NZ is mostly specific questions about origin and basic health checks, but screening only works when it is symptomatic. And screening questions are only so useful when everyone sits around in the same transit lounge. Which will be a tiny minority of infected people when they finally get here (air crew don't want to be exposed to it, either).
Again, with other illnesses there's a much more narrow window between infection, infectiousness, and symptoms.
My local uni is getting ready for students to come in. They're already sending emails about what to look out for and reasonable levels of caution. But they're not anticipating cancelling lectures at this stage.
The outbreak is still in the exponential phase, but it's sequenced and testing has been developed to be pretty quick, apparently. SARS in the early 2000s took several months to be sequenced.
We're still in the phase where people were saying "if these trends continue" when ebola broke out in 2014, and it'll probably be significantly more widespread than ebola, but the main centre of impact will be China.
They imposed quarantine on cities because people were doing the people thing and "gtf-ing out of Dodge" – literal millions of people fleeing the infected towns. Most of them, like in any country, wouldn't have the paperwork or cash to leave the country, they'll have gone to relatives in other cities. Many of them would have had unknown infections.
The fear, and the economic impact, will cause inflation and instability within China. This is their cataclysmic bushfire. But in NZ, the 1918 flu will still be the big one. We will get some cases, but I'm not buying a mask just yet. Other people genuinely need them.
"But imagine a deadly virus that was contagious for 2 weeks before any symptoms showed in the carrier… We would all be dead."
Unlikely. Viruses are generally adept at not wiping out the whole population, otherwise the virus wouldn't survive. Human immune response adapts over time too.
We're very used to this idea that a virus is the sole factor in the illness, but the health and immune response of the person exposed is also a factor. Not everyone exposed becomes ill for this reason.
Ah, she should have taken the call and politely explained to Morrison that he'd caught her in the middle of a press conference.
That would have given no ammunition to right wing journalist, Claire Trevett.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12304070
yes, i laughed out loud. did.
but this is epic trolling.
Incredible. Brought a tear to my eye.
I can imagine what a ball Victor Borge would have had with Donald Trump.
Irish PM taunts British Brexit gammons by calling Britain a "small country". Bloated, angry, pink pockmarked faces come to mind.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/119109025/ireland-pm-taunts-small-country-britain-over-looming-brexit-trade-talks