On the 24th I posted in open mike, following some commentary about non mask wearers.
UncookedSelachimorpha, You took issue with my position and supporting links
“”Coupla misinterpreted technical articles and the actual conclusions from a link to an unreviewed article (published on a conspiracy "news" site) written by a sacked physicist with no particular expertise in the field – although he does have a background in climate change denial.
Why bother.
There are plenty of reputable peer reviewed articles from reputable sources that prove masks work against covid transmission in the real world (which is the proof of the pudding). Here is one that gives background on how masks work as well.
“”
Due to farm life and intermittent internet, the can be some gaps between posting here so rather than post as a reply in an old thread, I am posting it here.
Firstly could you please get specific with your issues with my post.
I did a follow up on the link you provided to support your position that masks are effective against covid
First up is a quote from the article you cited, the most relevent section was
"4.3 Cases studies on protection effective of masks"
Mask effectiveness has been demonstrated in prevention of influenza and some other infectious diseases. Van der Sande et al. (2008) showed that the use of any type of ordinary mask may reduce the risk of exposure to viruses and infections.Some observational results confirmed that frequently usingmasks in a community can prevent spread of infection from sick and infectious people (Jensen et al., 2005; Rockwood & O’Donoghue, 1960; Srinivasan et al., 2004; Weaver, 1919). As a non-pharmaceutical intervention to control virus transmission during the influenza pandemic, persistent use of masks significantly reduced the risk of influenza-like-illness-associated infection (Cowling et al., 2008; Maclntyre et al., 2009). Masks were shown to have protective efficacies in excess of 80% against clinical influenza-like-illness (Macintyre et al., 2008). “
Bold mine
I followed up on the links in order, and below I list them with either my brief comment and/or a quote selected from the cited paper.
Van der Sande et al. (2008) “may reduce” enough said…looking for evidence it DOES reduce
Jensen et al., 2005; Paywalled. could only see the astract.
“presented recommendations for TB infection control based on a risk assessment process that classified health-care facilities according to categories of TB risk, “
Rockwood & O’Donoghue, 1960; looking at the history of masks, but paywalled
Srinivasan et al., 2004; Not on if masks worked or not…. just how prepared for SARS medical facilities were, and what their procedures were.
“Results . Overall, 456 members (53%) responded. Although only 138 (30%) reported that their hospital or medical center had cared for ⩾1 patient who met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition for a suspect or probable case of SARS, 410 respondents (90%) indicated that their facility had plans in place to address SARS “
“The aim of this study was to determine the presence and typing of DEN-Vs in hospitalized patients in western region of Saudi Arabia. “
So the article you put forward that masks work, stated that the studies cited showed masks worked, but if you look at the studies, they find they don't.
You thoughts?
Regards Hamish
P.S. It is ironic that at the start, I was in the minority wearing masks in the supermarket etc, and bitching to my local MP that the health care worker doing treating my 84yr old father at home was not wearing a mask and refused to wear the new one provided…
I started to look on line to get backing to complain harder, and look where I ended up…..
Not much research on all year round viruses, because the most problematic ones are seasonal I presume…
The thrust of the post was to show that a person here who is certain masks worked cited a paper, and the paper claimed that the studies found they worked, but when I read them, well look back above
And some of them find no difference between surgical masks and N95's
As far as I have found, once you look down at actual studies, there is not much evidence they work, and a fair bit they don't
The twitter thread seemed to be just opinions without any references to research papers, cant see much of use. Any pointers to what I am missing?
I like this paper, because it is based around standard surgical masks in a very controlled setup with known machine generated aerosols, was not susceptible to the variabilities of how good people are at wearing mask, and looks at the physics of how and why the aerosols behave in tightly controlled lab experiments.
In their results "did not exhibit any significant level of resistance against penetration of virus under our experimental conditions (i.e., 0% filtration efficiency). "
Yes, I have mentioned my experience seeing ute after ute of scowling 30-50 year old males with their signs or flags in the first convoy to Wellington. Some of this demographic seems particularly triggered by seeing a successful woman in charge. That's my view. My partner's view is these huge ute/SUV drivers are buying to make up for a lack in the male appendage…..this from a male with a PhD. He has been annoyed about this for a while especially when the spare car in those days – heavy, diesel and unwieldy had to be used by wives./partners doing the school run in paean to the males appendage concern. No querying of the logic please.
No problem for using them for work purposes or for accessing the back country..
Short story about a workmate who took his brand new 4WD into the first service that he had to pay for after the 4WD came out of warranty. In Wellington. When he came to collect it they said 'no charge' Jack said 'But, but I am out of warranty and I pay from now on'. 'No you don't the boss says you're the first owner to come in for a week or more with a 4WD that has been out and about as it is designed for, and we've given it a complimentary oil change and clean'.
I agree about the misogyny. It never ceases to amaze me though…..I am often pulled up short by a misogynistic comment or joke from someone I expected better of.
The National Bank of the Ukraine allows you to donate to the Ukrainian military – I made a donation based on what I thought would be enough money to buy a Kalasnikov and ammunition.
I won't directly link to the bank's website because I know giving money to a country at war to directly buy weapons (rather than, say, donating to the red cross or something) could be regarded as a bit militant but it is easy enough to find.
Don't be a pussie – get over there and put your arse on the line rather than indulge in a pathetic no risk show of misguided conscience. When you go to sleep tonight, it is hoped you will visualize a Russian weapon in the hands of a Ukrainian kid with Rambo aspirations being gunned down as a threat to an older kid in a Russian uniform.
Obviously you didn't bother to view the clip that Adrian Thornton linked to.
Get over there? The ship leaving Wellington in the weekend is booked out. All those Freedom fighters whose antecedents embarked from the same place all those years ago to fight for freedom.
Don't push Sanctuary any further … you have no idea what he suffered in 'Nam nor what he's capable of.
After 'Nam he became a troubled and misunderstood Vet (specialising in small animal surgery) who came to rely on his combat and survival skills to make his way in an increasingly uncaring & alienating modern world.
Push him too far & you'll trigger flashbacks of his time as a POW in Son Tay on the outskirts of Hanoi … and when an ex-Green Beret & recipient of the Medal of Honor like Sanc gets angry … trust me, you really don't want to be around.
He’s an expert at guerrilla warfare on Twitter and wilderness survival in the dark, depraved depths of the Blogosphere.
Why no one here wants to actively defend the Ukrainian people, and instead just wants to slavishly follow the line of our government to do nothing, can only be answered by the high likelihood that they have no historical memory of what the international left used to believe and do.
Still, I'm sure tonight Kyiev residents huddled in train stations appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
My highly articulate, if somewhat cheap, outburst of First Blood-inspired sarcasm should not be taken as indicating in any way my views on Ukraine.
Suggesting Sanc is a Vietnam Vet & former POW who has come to rely on his combat and survival skills to make his way in an increasingly uncaring & alienating modern world, while specialising in small animal surgery … isn't quite the same as insisting we should just "slavishly follow the line of our government to do nothing" on Ukraine.
Nor, for that matter, that Chamberlain should have so easily given up the Sudetenland.
Good grief so your happy to contribute to the bloodshed are you sanc ??Wonder how many landmines for example your donation might buy ?Would you still be happy if that was what your "donation " was gonna purchase ? Way to go good luck sleeping !!
With that attitude it is highly unlikely you are a citizen of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, or Moldova, or indeed Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, or Finland.
When the left are afraid of the sight of blood they have forgotten the fight to get here.
I've never done such a thing before although my German girlfriend at the time (quite a red firebrand she was) almost talked me into joining her to go off and defend the Sandinista revolution from the Contras in the mid-1980s.
I am not sure if it was the right thing to do, I am aware that I am helping to enable violence but what choice do the Ukrainians have? If there was a just war, it is their resistance to this act of aggression. But then again I remembered that my grandfather on my mothers side was a mate of Fred Robertson and knew Tom Spiller so I'd like to think I come from at least a tradition of standing up for peoples right to be free.
Anyway, Ukraine needs arms not alms and sometimes the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who sit on the fence.
Sanctuary you have just done a whole lot more than our government is.
With the United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Australia and more all sending weapons so that the Ukrainians have a chance to defend themselves at great risk to their lives, and all of them are generating independent sanctions against Russia since Russia is Chairing the UN Security Council at the moment, Ardern's government is looking just pathetic.
When Ardern announced that she was going to Europe she said:
“When we look back in 20 years’ time at this period in our country’s history, I don’t want people to just see Covid. I want them to see an economy and country that was fundamentally repositioned to become more sustainable and resilient and taking on the challenges of poverty, inequality, climate change and mental health, problems the world is grappling with."
Unfortunately the Queen of Mt Albert doesn't get to write the future.
She will now be asked by the EU leaders she meets there: how did you help defend us? Why should you get a free trade deal for that?
The left proudly defended others in Spain in the 1930s, and in New Zealand formed cross-Parliament Cabinets to unify their whole government. Where is the leader of Socialist Youth now?
Unfortunately we have a Prime Minister who is so brittle she can't cope with a few protesters on the front lawn, so we can't expect her to have the fortitude to deal with an actual war.
I think it was Napoleon who said the flaw in his opponents was that they saw everything; He only saw one thing, his opponents main force and he went after that.
Too many on the left suffer a similar failing – they see everything, when sometimes you just need to see the main thing.
Oh dear Ad. What did Jacinda do to upset you so much. Did she ignore your advice or something?
Jacinda Ardern has proven she has "fortitude". Twice. The ChCh massacre, and the determination to lock down NZ when just about everyone else did not have the fortitude to do so. It proved to be the right decision despite all the brickbats thrown at her and her government at the time.
I don't blame Jacinda for the protesters on the front lawn. It is not her place – nor anyone else's – to interfere in police operational matters.
The PM (whoever it may be) should never meet with a bunch of deluded, irrational idiots whose mode of operation is to lie, cheat, break the laws, bully and intimidate others and generally cause mayhem. Meeting with them is to give them oxygen they don't deserve.
With the exception of the opportunistic Seymour, I note neither Luxon, Shaw and Davidson have met with them either and no doubt for the same reason as Ardern.
The PM (whoever it may be) should never meet with a bunch of deluded, irrational idiots whose mode of operation is to lie, cheat, break the laws, bully and intimidate others and generally cause mayhem.
Yes but she argues it is her job to meet and subsidize that bunch from Big Travel,and so she alone can fly to the US and Europe to save the world,and all in 60 minutes including ad breaks.
In a thread in open mike? A few days ago the was some discussion about freedom.
I and my family are basically vaccinated for everything except covid.
I am quite libertarian leaning, and heavily support the idea that individual rights are the most important.
So much data from government sources is inconsistent, or poorly organized or presented. Just look at the Scotland data (which they have stopped publishing) which seemed to show that double vaxxed were more than twice as likely to catch covid as the unvaxed and also more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaxed
[citation needed]
Pinning down a number for the risk of death by vax is even worse…
Nzmedasfe vax data (19 Feb to Nov 30), all causes death rate in 21 days from shot are HALF of “expected” but most notably in the 20 to 29 bracket for shot 2 , only 1/8 of the death rate…They say “one reason for the number of deaths in the vaccinated group appearing lower could be that the healthcare professionals of extremely frail patients give advice not to get vaccinated”
[citation needed]
(Say what ? Don't vax the vulnerable ???)
The way they are analyzing the data it is almost as if they do not want to find anything.
Other data indicate most of deaths from vax occure 5 days after the shot. Looking only at the 21 day 'average' helps hide any signal. Other countries looked at it by looking at days after shot to death, and a hump is visible, peaking at day 3-4 and back to close to normal after 7 days.
The above analysis issue is beyond bad, and these are the same people who are telling me the vax is safe…
Hell no will I trust them with the above sample of their work
Regarding the coercive vaccination program of 5 to 11 yr olds
And about 85% of the deaths were in those with a pre existing comorbidity.
An act newsletter using the CDC data worked out that if all 5 to 11 yr olds in NZ caught covid, 0.16 healthy children will die
[is this online, please have a look and link]
In NZ on average 6 children are killed by drunk drivers each year.
So Jacinda is forcing a vaccine with uncertain risk of death, no long term safety data ( how can there be as there has not been time for it ) for a disease that they are at very low risk of dying from.
And then there is the obesity issue. 80% of all hospitalizations, deaths are in people who are obese.
[citation needed]
The risks for the obese from covid could be reduced by about the same margin as the vaccine achieves if they lost enough weight to get out of the danger zone.
The main reason for the mandates is to keep the death rate and hospitalization down, so in effect Jacinda is forcing healthy people to take an uncertain risk death by vax rather than forcing the fat to lose weight to achieve the same result.
And think of the health benefits to the ex obese, and the cost savings for the hospital system and us poor taxpayers
How about alcohol.
Because of those selfish people that want the freedom to drink, putting their hedonistic desire above community good, 6 children ( and many more adults) are killed each year in car car crashes, and cost the taxpayers millions for the cost of the injuries that also result.
So where should the balance be ?
Regards Hamish
[please provide the above links. You are now in premod until this is done, which means none of your other comments will appear until this is resolved. We have a robust debate ethic here, and this requires a high level of evidence for claims of fact on controversial matters. I’ve given you the guidelines in your post above, the onus is on you to do the work. Read the site Policy if you haven’t already – weka]
Just look at the Scotland data (which they have stopped publishing) which seemed to show that double vaxxed were more than twice as likely to catch covid as the unvaxed and also more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaxed
A deliberate misinterpretation!
Of course there are going to be more vaxxed people catching Covid than unvaxxed people you twat. Take New Zealand for example. 95% of the population are double vaxxed and only 5% unvaxxed. Get the picture?
The vaccine has never been sold as being able to prevent people catching Covid. But you are going to get a mild version of the disease with no long term consequences. A factor you choose to ignore.
From what I understand world-wide… the most serious cases resulting in death are almost always among the unvaxxed so… if you choose to take that risk then be it on yourself if you end up in hospital gravely ill.
I'm not sure you are worthy of this response but it just might ring a bell.
My reason for mentioning the Scottish data was not as trying to show vax was inefective, but of how even the health system has problems with their data and interpretations of what it means.
I have a problem with people claiming certainty where the data is so ' all over the place'
That table is screaming very loudly your assumptions or data are seriously messed up, and you have a lot of work to just figure out where you are going wrong
On phone with low data so going from memory, but in one of the tables, the unvaxed population jumps by 900,000
Unless it was in a previous report…
Any way they postulate that the unceryainty over the unvaxed population is the cause, but at a quick glance they would have to be out by 1 million un vaxedto make the vax look good, in a population of 5 million.
All was can be certain of is that they have no real idea of what is going on…
There are a lot of scientists who have the skill and time to interrogate the data and extrapolate findings from that data. Their job is to pick out the important information and provide advice on that. Overwhelmingly they appear to support vaccination.
This is not meant to be a dig but I just don't think you have the capacity when working a farm and having limited internet connection to apply as much effort and experience to this data. For that reason I would be far more inclined to accept the advice of the experts in that field than the expert in your field.
National Party leader Judith Collins drew controversy when she described Wiles as a “big, fat hypocrite” during a virtual conversation with a Pasifika group aligned with the party.
The light blue font indicates it is a link. When you wand over the quote it indicates it is a link. Click on the text and you will be taken to the source.
Thanks for amplifying – so Gypsy bile (“anger, bitterness, or irritability“) it is. Wiles' pandemic advice inspired action on my part, but making “the science and pandemic clear and understandable” doesn't suit all agendas.
Wiles had joined forces with Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris and worked to make the science and pandemic clear and understandable.
“Her work provided support, strength and clarity across New Zealand and beyond, representing our country on a world stage and helping to keep us safe.”
The citation for the award said Wiles had faced considerable criticism, “on her authority, on her appearance, on her gender”.
“Siouxsie’s continued to respond to one of the greatest challenges of our time with empathy, innovation and courage, and her work has been seen by millions and even used by governments and organisations as part of their official pandemic communications.”
Wiles was named supreme winner at the 2020 Stuff-Westpac Women of Influence Awards for her accessible and evidence-led commentary about staying safe during the pandemic.
The context of Dr Wiles' NZer of the Year award is the pandemic – if you can't bring yourself to acknowledge "her accessible and evidence-led commentary about staying safe during the pandemic", and prefer to espouse your shallow 'concerns' about 'wokeness', the floor is yours.
Have an image of another earlier one but cant see how to get it into here and the url is broken.
It covered the peak where weekly cases were much higher, and had a unvaxed case rate of 958 per 100 k and double vaxed cases 1361 per 100 k for boosted
And no I am not making a basic mistake, that is the rate per 100k
unvaxed cases 9105 unvaxed population 988033 "ages standardised rate per 100,000" 958
The crude rate is 921on those numbers, so whatever they do to age standardise bumps it up to 958. Could be that young more likely to be unvaxed?
There are certainly wierd data being displayed as the unvaxed population in the PDF the link goes to has unvaxed population in the various tables
Hamish, a Scottish name; noun, from Old Scot for Hamster, from old Scot legend, dumb as a hamster, hamster; Small Scotland based rodent, found in unsanitary conditions living in its own shit surrounded by others of the same ilk, to be avoided at all cost as a strong vector for disease and contagious stupidity.
[don’t personally abuse commenters. If you don’t have an actual political point, then stop commenting. Count this as a warning – weka]
…..rodent living in its own shit surrounded by others of the same ilk, to be avoided at all cost as a strong vector for disease and contagious stupidity.
Bingo. This must be today’s current winner for the greatest number of dehumanising buzz words and phrases in a single sentence.
From Wiki -linked above:
"Dehumanisation is viewed as a central component to intergroup violence because it is frequently the most important precursor to moral exclusion, the process by which stigmatized groups are placed outside the boundary in which moral values, rules, and considerations of fairness apply."[18]
If we are the sheep, how come the idiots in Welly, Picton, Chch and Auckland are the ones sleeping on the grass?
P,s, and eating hay by the look of it!.
Hamish, you must be in a fantasy world if you think people are going to read your ramblings. Most people in the real world prefer to listen to a range of qualified scientists and medical experts.
As NZ's wave of Omicron cases continues to surge, BAU agitators were in full 'socialise the risks' cry this morning.
National Party wants all travellers allowed into NZ now
[RNZ Morning Report, 1 March 2022] Get out there and spend that money. – Bishop
…
But what gives you the confidence to take that risk? … Reconnect NZ to the world, open those borders and allow tourists to come home and get on with things.
"Allow tourists to come home" now eh, when no one knows how far off the Omicron peak is, and with some challenging days ahead for our public health service.
Once Omicron has passed, and/or the relative risk of domestic versus tourist COVID changes, will the Nats change their tune? Don't bet on it.
Nats, advocating risk – during the worst phase of the pandemic in NZ so far – nuts! Most prospective tourists have more sense.
Covid-19: Dropping self-isolation for international arrivals will have minimal effect – Skegg[1 March] We do need to, I think, prepare for some difficult days in the next month.
… There still is time for many people, and most people haven't yet got infected, so anyone listening to this programme who hasn't had their booster, I would strongly urge them to get it today.
… The message should have got though to people, that if they want to protect themselves they need that third dose.
And as we hit peak covid and the availability of staff for hospitality, food supply, and supply chains reaches crisis point; causing places across the country to put up "closed" signs – great time to invite tourists.
Ah – but if tourists with Covid need to go into our (already stretched) hospitals we can make them pay. It's a revenue opportunity that could be privatised by say, persuading tourists to buy private Covid-specific health insurance that will cover any hospital costs in NZ. And why stop there? You could offer the same coverage to non-citizen, non-resident foreign students – maybe with extra high premiums if they stay in university halls of residence but lower premiums if they stay in private rentals owned by the same people offering the insurance?
Your mistake Macro is to view the world as a place where people need to live lives of meaning and purpose, not as one endless carnival of opportunities for private gain.
Your mistake Macro is to view the world as a place where people need to live lives of meaning and purpose, not as one endless carnival of opportunities for private gain.
Australia opened up to tourists a week ago, but I've only seen 2 so far on my wanderings and they might have been a couple of backpackers stuck here over the Covid period. All the tourist operators dependent on international tourism continue to wail but the weather here has done more damage than the nasty virus the last week, with half of the east coast under water. Think you would have to be very brave to be a tourist atm.
My drive to town is a 50 km round trip which happens a couple of times a week but on the last one I noticed hitchikers for the first time in a few years but be warned, they looked like refugees from Wellington, in the manner of dress and appearance and a bit haggard. I know this sounds alarmist and conspirational but they are more likely to be crook with covid than most others one would see out and about, so think twice about sharing your car for a long trip.
Kathryn McPhillips, a clinical psychologist and the executive director of sexual abuse support organisation HELP Auckland, said adults giving evidence in sexual violence trials could access support through NGOs, which received government funding, but there was not adequate support available for children facing the courtroom.
"If adults need that support, children and young people need that even more," she said.
Her comments come after RNZ reported that a child who was indecently assaulted by his firefighter father vomited for a week after being cross-examined in court. His abuser's lawyer had repeatedly asked him if he was lying.
The research was released last year by the office of the Chief Victim's Advisor Dr Kim McGregor. That's A Lie! found children in New Zealand courts were frequently asked leading questions, accused of lying, and subjected to myths about sexual assault to challenge the plausibility of their evidence.
Dr McGregor said in 13 out of the 15 trial transcripts analysed, the children were accused of lying.
Similarly, in the following excerpt a six-year-old complainant is asked why she continued to return to the bach of her offending grandfather if she did not like the regular abuse that he inflicted.
Q. Did you like Poppa putting his finger in your [vagina]?
A. No. THECOURTADDRESSES [DEFENCE]- QUESTION NOT ALLOWED CROSS-EXAMINATION CONTINUES: [DEFENCE]
Q. If you did not like Poppa putting his finger in your [vagina] in the bach why did you keep going back to the bach?
A. 'Cos he buys lollies and chewing gum and noodles.
This questioning may overestimate a child’s power, agency, and understanding in the context of abuse, and discounts the likely impact of grooming and the perpetrator being in a caregiving relationship on a child victim’s behaviour.
There's multiple transcripts in the report that will demonstrate the bullying nature of questioning.
It's clear that court guidelines for lawyers cross-examining children needs to be updated to avoid unnecessary and/or further harm.
Conclusion
The way in which young complainants of sexual violence are questioned during cross-examination is characterised by use of sexual violence misconceptions, questioning the character of the complainant and/or their family, accusations of lying and leading styles of questioning. Young complainants report cross-examination to be highly distressing and this distress is likely to be largely due to the tactics of cross-examination highlighted in this paper. This distress seems in many cases to be needless and avoidable, and certainly not conducive to quality of evidence. There have been longstanding concerns with the way in which Aotearoa’s court system fails to accommodate the needs of young complainants, particularly in sexual violence trials. However, tangible change has been slow. The findings of this study highlight a pressing need for action if Aotearoa’s justice system no longer wishes to be an additional source of harm to young victims of sexual abuse.
What a pity the complainant can't sue (once the offender is convicted) for the trauma inflicted by the accused choosing to go to trial and engaging in aggressive and intimidating cross-examination.
With both the offender (who authorized the abuse) and the lawyer (who inflicted it) liable.
Yes, I have mentioned my experience seeing ute after ute of scowling 30-50 year old males with their signs or flags in the first convoy to Wellington. Some of this demographic seems particularly triggered by seeing a successful woman in charge. That's my view. My partner's view is these huge ute/SUV drivers are buying to make up for a lack in the male appendage…..this from a male with a PhD. He has been annoyed about this for a while especially when the spare car in those days – heavy, diesel and unwieldy had to be used by wives./partners doing the school run in paean to the males appendage concern. No querying of the logic please.
No problem for using them for work purposes or for accessing the back country..
Short story about a workmate who took his brand new 4WD into the first service that he had to pay for after the 4WD came out of warranty. In Wellington. When he came to collect it they said 'no charge' Jack said 'But, but I am out of warranty and I pay from now on'. 'No you don't the boss says you're the first owner to come in for a week or more with a 4WD that has been out and about as it is designed for, and we've given it a complimentary oil change and clean'.
Earlier this month, two-term mayor and former Labour Party leader Phil Goff confirmed he would not seek re-election. Goff did not endorse Collins, but said he met the definition of a new generation of leadership.
It was his wish that a younger person would take on the role.
Collins has been a councillor, representing Manukau, since 2016.
Labour wanted a mayor who would tow their line, which is why they encouraged Richard Hills to stand. I'm sure they expected Efeso to bow out quietly, but he stared them down, knowing Labour would be splitting their vote if they endorsed someone else.
Richard Hills would have been Jacinda’s puppet, and would have been a disaster for Auckland. Collins, not so much.
Possibly, except for the disturbing lack of common sense apparent to anyone familiar with the trajectory of the Labour Party since the end of WWII.
I suspect this deity has been working quietly behind the scenes, deep within the subconscious of Labour minds:
ANANKE was the primordial goddess (protogenos) of necessity, compulsion and inevitability. In the Orphic cosmogony she emerged self-formed at the dawn of creation–an incorporeal, serpentine being whose outstretched arms encompassed the breadth of the cosmos.
Ananke and her mate Khronos (Chronos) (Time), their serpentine coils entwined, crushed the primal egg of creation splitting it into its constituent parts of earth, heaven and sea to form the ordered universe.
Hey thanks for the link. His claim that labour 'begged' Shearer to reconsider is an interesting one…just shows how desperate they were.
Who forced labour into it? Their own hubris. They thought they had a ready made and compliant candidate in Hills. Collins blindsided them and then refused to play ball. All power to him, although I'd rather central government parties kept their sticky beaks out of local government politics.
Women's Declaration International (WDI) Feminist Question Time is our weekly online webinars. It is attended by a global feminist and activist audience of between 200-300. The main focus is how gender ideology is harming the rights of women and girls. You can see recordings of previous panels on our YouTube Channel.
Around 7:52 a mother of one of the female swimmers relates the support offered by the ACLU:
'Let me tell you a certainty, the ACLU will never offer support to cis women against women.'
Biological sex matters.
Women are considered an adjunct ((un)necessary evil) to their own sex category by the American Civil Liberties Union.
I have refrained from pointing this out when people say the parliament protesters are idiots for their weird beliefs. Thought the temperature was a little high on this topic so held back. But yes as GC or pro reality, it has occured to me those banging on about nutty ideas seem to accept the idea that women can have penises, which is up there with some of what these protesters believe imo
Apparently loss a smell and taste is not a common symptom of Omicron but is of previous strains according to Doctor Ashley at 1pm. Bugger I might have had it last week! Thought I only had a snotty.
FFS why was Ashley left out to front todays meeting on his own, 1st 1:00 pm bad news and no one from the government ? So on the 25/1 we were informed of our PCR testing capacity . Now on the 1st March we are now told this was not the case 5 WEEKS !!!!, and that only last week Ashley realised this. Yet on the 19/2 this delay was being reported.
Our personnel experience at home, after testing and being txted that as priority 1 results will be within 72 hours as there was already a confirmed household case. 6 Days later still no txted. The MoH and government had warning that the wave of 50,000 daily cases, was to hit during Waitangi weekend. What have they been doing with the time that we as a country have brought to prepare ?
I do think highly of how Ashley as conducted himself – He just keeps on fronting up. I hope sometime in the near future he can go where ever he and his family have a dream to visit, experience and remove himself from all the goings of the world and relax and enjoy himself (Also many of his team same comment) for an extended vacation. He is a vessel for the politicians to use unfortunately.
It certainly seems as though the capacity of the system to cope with the PCR tests has been wildly overestimated.
Verrell should carry a lot of the blame for this one. As a specialist in this area, she should have known what questions to ask, and how to interpret the answers.
As recently as the 25th of January she was confidently touting the ability to cope with sustained testing at 58 thousand, with surge capacity to 77 thousand.
Increased our PCR testing capacity from a maximum of 39,000 tests a day to a baseline of 58,000 tests. Surge capacity is now 77,600 tests, which can be sustained for 7 days
Poots nuke announcement got me thinking about nuclear songs. Two Suns, Two Tribes and 99 Luftballoons came to mind but after some googling I realised just how many songs about nukes there are.
"The Russian army has always been bad at setting up and sustaining supply lines. Gen. Omar Bradley once said about different types of military officers, “Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.”* In that sense, Russians are amateurs. This is well known. It is why Ukrainian soldiers explicitly attacked the Russian supply lines. It’s why so many tanks and other vehicles have been spotted stuck on the side of a road.''
I do feel sorry for the young, poorly trained, Russian soldiers who are poorly motivated, don't know why they are there, and, in some cases, don't even know where they are.
"'There is a larger factor here: The Russian army is composed, by and large, of one-year conscripts, who are poorly trained (even within the confines of Russian military training), badly treated, and uninspired by ideology or any other motivating spirit. Hence the stories of captured Russian troops who had no idea why they were in Ukraine. At least a few didn’t even know that they were in Ukraine—they thought they were still doing exercises in Belarus. Others have reportedly been found knocking on village doors for food or, in one case, asking a local police station for fuel.''
“This is … the first day of your new life.” “Here pain makes you stronger, scars are a daily occurrence … without an enemy there is no battle, and without a battle there is no victory. But in reality, the main enemy … is you, the you from yesterday.”
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 ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming? Waste heat’s contribution to global warming is a small fraction of ...
Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...
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-$, The Economist-$ ...
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets.He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...
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. ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Willis, PhD Candidate, Classics and Ancient History, University of Newcastle djkett/Shutterstock You wake up at night sensing a weight on your legs that you thought was your pet dog – only to remember they died years ago. Or perhaps you ...
New Zealand is officially out of recession, but the chaos of Trump’s tariff policy remains a threat to medium-term growth, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.We’re officially out of recession You might not have known it ...
The ship is thought to be carrying "furnace oil", described as dark thick, and when spilled, pernicious - but the government has rejected advice to carry out a survey. ...
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith reports from a public meeting held in Upper Hutt on the state of healthcare in a city where residents worry they could die before seeing a GP.An eight-week wait time to see a GP, closed books, no local hospital, primary birthing unit or after-hours care facility and ...
Tomorrow night, the unmistakable scent of petrol and mud will hang in the air at Western Springs Speedway for the last time. The floodlights will beam, the engines will roar and fans will gather for one final night of high-speed spectacle. For 96 years, Western Springs has been the ...
A high country station’s battle to retain a block of land reserved for national park purposes more than a century ago has hit the Court of Appeal.In 2021, the Commissioner of Crown Lands decided to renew Mt White Station’s 40,000ha pastoral lease, but excluded a 1000ha block, known as Riversdale ...
Good things keep on happening out in Penrose in the crater of the Rarotonga volcano.Mt Smart – or Go Media Stadium – a place with deep physical, cultural and sporting heritage in Auckland, is in a sweet spot for fans, professional teams and its owners.It’s now the country’s busiest stadium, ...
NONFICTION1 Hastings: A Boy’s Own Adventure by Dick Frizzell (Massey University Press, $37)Probably the most illustrious and attractive pairing at the Auckland Writers Festival in May is the event where I chair Dick Frizzell for an hour at the Aotea Centre. I’ll attempt to interrogate his childhood memories – the ...
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have captured the world’s attention for their drawn-out drama on the International Space Station.Back on earth after nine months, their bodies and minds will continue to be under scrutiny by scientists including New Zealand space medicine researchers looking for ways to fight cancer and ...
The fishing arm of South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu has blown the whistle on the state of the Bluff oyster fishery and cancelled its harvest – but some in the industry claim it’s shaping up to be the best season in years.The Bluff oyster/tio season traditionally runs from March 1 to August ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bonny Parkinson, Associate Professor, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University The United States pharmaceutical lobby has complained to US President Donald Trump that Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is damaging their profits and has urged Trump to put tariffs ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist The parties involved in talks aimed at resolving an impasse over Bougainville’s push for independence are planning to meet several more times before a deadline in June. The leaders of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville have been meeting all week in Port Moresby, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Scott, Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Talks of a trade dispute between the United States and Australia over the cost of medicines have no doubt left many Australians scratching ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the Trump age, how the next government, whether Labor or Coalition, will handle foreign affairs, defence and trade is shaping as crucially important. It’s a weird time when your friends become almost as ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Today I attended a demonstration outside both Aotearoa New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Israeli Embassy in Wellington. The day before, the Israelis had blown apart 174 children in Gaza in a surprise attack that announced the next phase of the genocide. ...
Analysis - Most New Zealanders support the country meeting its international climate targets, according to a poll commissioned for the environment ministry. ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – Pacific Media WatchEarthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths of Plains FM96.9 radio talk to Dr David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report, about heightened global fears of nuclear war as tensions have mounted since US President Donald Trump has ...
“New Zealanders want sanctions on Israel for genocide but Mr Peters refuses to say anything, let alone impose any form of sanction at all. That is appeasement,” Minto says. ...
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https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/gloriavale-teenager-wants-justice-unpaid-under-age-workers
A young Man. And Courage…. an apt name !
Onya matey. Absolutely wish you all the best !
Slavery financial abuse when is gloriavale getting closed down.
A slippery slope that one.
Some rather disturbing analysis on the Ukraine crisis from Professor Richard Sawka….
Effectivness of masks
On the 24th I posted in open mike, following some commentary about non mask wearers.
UncookedSelachimorpha, You took issue with my position and supporting links
“”Coupla misinterpreted technical articles and the actual conclusions from a link to an unreviewed article (published on a conspiracy "news" site) written by a sacked physicist with no particular expertise in the field – although he does have a background in climate change denial.
Why bother.
There are plenty of reputable peer reviewed articles from reputable sources that prove masks work against covid transmission in the real world (which is the proof of the pudding). Here is one that gives background on how masks work as well.
“”
Due to farm life and intermittent internet, the can be some gaps between posting here so rather than post as a reply in an old thread, I am posting it here.
Firstly could you please get specific with your issues with my post.
I did a follow up on the link you provided to support your position that masks are effective against covid
First up is a quote from the article you cited, the most relevent section was
"4.3 Cases studies on protection effective of masks"
Mask effectiveness has been demonstrated in prevention of influenza and some other infectious diseases. Van der Sande et al. (2008) showed that the use of any type of ordinary mask may reduce the risk of exposure to viruses and infections.Some observational results confirmed that frequently using masks in a community can prevent spread of infection from sick and infectious people (Jensen et al., 2005; Rockwood & O’Donoghue, 1960; Srinivasan et al., 2004; Weaver, 1919). As a non-pharmaceutical intervention to control virus transmission during the influenza pandemic, persistent use of masks significantly reduced the risk of influenza-like-illness-associated infection (Cowling et al., 2008; Maclntyre et al., 2009). Masks were shown to have protective efficacies in excess of 80% against clinical influenza-like-illness (Macintyre et al., 2008). “
Bold mine
I followed up on the links in order, and below I list them with either my brief comment and/or a quote selected from the cited paper.
Van der Sande et al. (2008) “may reduce” enough said…looking for evidence it DOES reduce
Jensen et al., 2005; Paywalled. could only see the astract.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16382216/
“presented recommendations for TB infection control based on a risk assessment process that classified health-care facilities according to categories of TB risk, “
Rockwood & O’Donoghue, 1960; looking at the history of masks, but paywalled
Srinivasan et al., 2004; Not on if masks worked or not…. just how prepared for SARS medical facilities were, and what their procedures were.
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/39/2/272/328718?login=false
“Results . Overall, 456 members (53%) responded. Although only 138 (30%) reported that their hospital or medical center had cared for ⩾1 patient who met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition for a suspect or probable case of SARS, 410 respondents (90%) indicated that their facility had plans in place to address SARS “
Weaver, 1919 a bit old… and paywalled !
Cowling 2008 Practical experiment to see if masks were effective, answer was no.
los.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002101
"randomized to 1) control or 2) surgical face masks or 3) hand hygiene." ( the arms)
"The laboratory-based or clinical secondary attack ratios did not significantly differ across the intervention arms."
Maclntyre et al., 2009). Practical experiment to see if masks were effective, answer was no.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/2/08-1167_article
“”
“with no significant differences noted among the 3 arms. “
“our study suggests that community use of face masks is unlikely to be an effective control policy for seasonal respiratory diseases “
Maclntyre et al., 2008 The link goes to an article with nothing about masks.
https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(08)01010-2/fulltext
“The aim of this study was to determine the presence and typing of DEN-Vs in hospitalized patients in western region of Saudi Arabia. “
So the article you put forward that masks work, stated that the studies cited showed masks worked, but if you look at the studies, they find they don't.
You thoughts?
Regards Hamish
P.S. It is ironic that at the start, I was in the minority wearing masks in the supermarket etc, and bitching to my local MP that the health care worker doing treating my 84yr old father at home was not wearing a mask and refused to wear the new one provided…
I started to look on line to get backing to complain harder, and look where I ended up…..
please provide a link to the OM post, put a full stop at the start of the URL or it will revert to the post URL rather than the comment.
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-02-2022/#comment-1868202
Initial post 2.2.2
The coronavirus is not seasonal, it's 12 months a year
And for another point of view – where quality masks are used (N95).
https://twitter.com/wallacelchapman/status/1498100402604044288
Not much research on all year round viruses, because the most problematic ones are seasonal I presume…
The thrust of the post was to show that a person here who is certain masks worked cited a paper, and the paper claimed that the studies found they worked, but when I read them, well look back above
https://www.sott.net/article/434796-The-Science-is-Conclusive-Masks-and-Respirators-do-NOT-Prevent-Transmission-of-Viruses
In the article there are a number of links.
And some of them find no difference between surgical masks and N95's
As far as I have found, once you look down at actual studies, there is not much evidence they work, and a fair bit they don't
The twitter thread seemed to be just opinions without any references to research papers, cant see much of use. Any pointers to what I am missing?
I like this paper, because it is based around standard surgical masks in a very controlled setup with known machine generated aerosols, was not susceptible to the variabilities of how good people are at wearing mask, and looks at the physics of how and why the aerosols behave in tightly controlled lab experiments.
In their results "did not exhibit any significant level of resistance against penetration of virus under our experimental conditions (i.e., 0% filtration efficiency). "
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/462171/fonterra-lifts-forecast-farmgate-milk-price-to-record-midpoint-of-9-point-60-per-kg-milk-solids
Hmmm I wonder if this will quiet the groundswell whine….or give the low paid Dairy Farm slave…EMPLOYEES a pay rise ?
Yea right.
More money to buy a new ute to drive in the next protest to complain about the government destroying farming, their way of life and them.
Oh and how evil Ardern is.
Yes, I have mentioned my experience seeing ute after ute of scowling 30-50 year old males with their signs or flags in the first convoy to Wellington. Some of this demographic seems particularly triggered by seeing a successful woman in charge. That's my view. My partner's view is these huge ute/SUV drivers are buying to make up for a lack in the male appendage…..this from a male with a PhD. He has been annoyed about this for a while especially when the spare car in those days – heavy, diesel and unwieldy had to be used by wives./partners doing the school run in paean to the males appendage concern. No querying of the logic please.
No problem for using them for work purposes or for accessing the back country..
Short story about a workmate who took his brand new 4WD into the first service that he had to pay for after the 4WD came out of warranty. In Wellington. When he came to collect it they said 'no charge' Jack said 'But, but I am out of warranty and I pay from now on'. 'No you don't the boss says you're the first owner to come in for a week or more with a 4WD that has been out and about as it is designed for, and we've given it a complimentary oil change and clean'.
I don't think the 'ordinary' New Zealander realises how deep misogyny percolates through the veins of males in this country.
Personally, from my experience of a lifetime, I think NZ has been better governed by women than men (though Shipley gives me pause for thought!)
I agree about the misogyny. It never ceases to amaze me though…..I am often pulled up short by a misogynistic comment or joke from someone I expected better of.
'freedom' in the West…
'Denounce Putin or lose your job: Russian conductor Valery Gergiev given public ultimatum'
Denounce Putin or lose your job: Russian conductor Valery Gergiev given public ultimatum | Valery Gergiev | The Guardian
He's probably fearful of what happened to Alexander Litvinenko.
I'd take loosing my job.
The National Bank of the Ukraine allows you to donate to the Ukrainian military – I made a donation based on what I thought would be enough money to buy a Kalasnikov and ammunition.
I won't directly link to the bank's website because I know giving money to a country at war to directly buy weapons (rather than, say, donating to the red cross or something) could be regarded as a bit militant but it is easy enough to find.
Don't be a pussie – get over there and put your arse on the line rather than indulge in a pathetic no risk show of misguided conscience. When you go to sleep tonight, it is hoped you will visualize a Russian weapon in the hands of a Ukrainian kid with Rambo aspirations being gunned down as a threat to an older kid in a Russian uniform.
Obviously you didn't bother to view the clip that Adrian Thornton linked to.
Get over there? The ship leaving Wellington in the weekend is booked out. All those Freedom fighters whose antecedents embarked from the same place all those years ago to fight for freedom.
The freedom to complain about freedom.
.
Don't push Sanctuary any further … you have no idea what he suffered in 'Nam nor what he's capable of.
After 'Nam he became a troubled and misunderstood Vet (specialising in small animal surgery) who came to rely on his combat and survival skills to make his way in an increasingly uncaring & alienating modern world.
Push him too far & you'll trigger flashbacks of his time as a POW in Son Tay on the outskirts of Hanoi … and when an ex-Green Beret & recipient of the Medal of Honor like Sanc gets angry … trust me, you really don't want to be around.
He’s an expert at guerrilla warfare on Twitter and wilderness survival in the dark, depraved depths of the Blogosphere.
If pushed, Sanc will unleash Hell on this site.
Why no one here wants to actively defend the Ukrainian people, and instead just wants to slavishly follow the line of our government to do nothing, can only be answered by the high likelihood that they have no historical memory of what the international left used to believe and do.
Still, I'm sure tonight Kyiev residents huddled in train stations appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
.
My highly articulate, if somewhat cheap, outburst of First Blood-inspired sarcasm should not be taken as indicating in any way my views on Ukraine.
Suggesting Sanc is a Vietnam Vet & former POW who has come to rely on his combat and survival skills to make his way in an increasingly uncaring & alienating modern world, while specialising in small animal surgery … isn't quite the same as insisting we should just "slavishly follow the line of our government to do nothing" on Ukraine.
Nor, for that matter, that Chamberlain should have so easily given up the Sudetenland.
Sanc is old but not that old.
I managed to pull my Achilles running the dog this morning 🙁
You barely make sense these days.
Good grief so your happy to contribute to the bloodshed are you sanc ??Wonder how many landmines for example your donation might buy ?Would you still be happy if that was what your "donation " was gonna purchase ? Way to go good luck sleeping !!
With that attitude it is highly unlikely you are a citizen of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, or Moldova, or indeed Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, or Finland.
When the left are afraid of the sight of blood they have forgotten the fight to get here.
I've never done such a thing before although my German girlfriend at the time (quite a red firebrand she was) almost talked me into joining her to go off and defend the Sandinista revolution from the Contras in the mid-1980s.
I am not sure if it was the right thing to do, I am aware that I am helping to enable violence but what choice do the Ukrainians have? If there was a just war, it is their resistance to this act of aggression. But then again I remembered that my grandfather on my mothers side was a mate of Fred Robertson and knew Tom Spiller so I'd like to think I come from at least a tradition of standing up for peoples right to be free.
Anyway, Ukraine needs arms not alms and sometimes the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who sit on the fence.
Sanctuary you have just done a whole lot more than our government is.
With the United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Australia and more all sending weapons so that the Ukrainians have a chance to defend themselves at great risk to their lives, and all of them are generating independent sanctions against Russia since Russia is Chairing the UN Security Council at the moment, Ardern's government is looking just pathetic.
When Ardern announced that she was going to Europe she said:
“When we look back in 20 years’ time at this period in our country’s history, I don’t want people to just see Covid. I want them to see an economy and country that was fundamentally repositioned to become more sustainable and resilient and taking on the challenges of poverty, inequality, climate change and mental health, problems the world is grappling with."
Ardern to lead trade visits in 2022 to Australia, Asia, US and Europe (1news.co.nz)
Unfortunately the Queen of Mt Albert doesn't get to write the future.
She will now be asked by the EU leaders she meets there: how did you help defend us? Why should you get a free trade deal for that?
The left proudly defended others in Spain in the 1930s, and in New Zealand formed cross-Parliament Cabinets to unify their whole government. Where is the leader of Socialist Youth now?
Unfortunately we have a Prime Minister who is so brittle she can't cope with a few protesters on the front lawn, so we can't expect her to have the fortitude to deal with an actual war.
Anything NZ did would only be tokenism anyway….and she would then be criticised for…that.
How tiresome the argument is that "We're so tiny so we don't matter ."
Any of your people serve? Can you wear a medal to ANZAC Day parades?
Yes some of 'my' people did serve.
What does that prove?
Brave soldiers sent to die in Gallipoli with an ill thought out invasion of…Turkey.R.I.P
This conflict could easily have been avoided and the West is certainly not blameless.
It proves that being a small country doesn't let you off the hook from military action when it's needed.
Where Britain goes ,the sheep follow,while the ruling classes divvy up…the spoils.
Here's a putty medal for you…soldier boy.
Ad nothing stopping you from donating or going to Defend Ukraine.
Leaders lead by example and one thing Jacinda Ardern isn't is a whinger like you Ad.
That's not an argument that the Left want to hear when it comes to Climate Change.
I think it was Napoleon who said the flaw in his opponents was that they saw everything; He only saw one thing, his opponents main force and he went after that.
Too many on the left suffer a similar failing – they see everything, when sometimes you just need to see the main thing.
Oh dear Ad. What did Jacinda do to upset you so much. Did she ignore your advice or something?
Jacinda Ardern has proven she has "fortitude". Twice. The ChCh massacre, and the determination to lock down NZ when just about everyone else did not have the fortitude to do so. It proved to be the right decision despite all the brickbats thrown at her and her government at the time.
I don't blame Jacinda for the protesters on the front lawn. It is not her place – nor anyone else's – to interfere in police operational matters.
Direct your concern to the NZ police.
She was quite happy to get involved in the Police operational matters you mention.
Even the Mayor of Wellington met them, without drama.
The PM (whoever it may be) should never meet with a bunch of deluded, irrational idiots whose mode of operation is to lie, cheat, break the laws, bully and intimidate others and generally cause mayhem. Meeting with them is to give them oxygen they don't deserve.
With the exception of the opportunistic Seymour, I note neither Luxon, Shaw and Davidson have met with them either and no doubt for the same reason as Ardern.
Yes but she argues it is her job to meet and subsidize that bunch from Big Travel,and so she alone can fly to the US and Europe to save the world,and all in 60 minutes including ad breaks.
In a thread in open mike? A few days ago the was some discussion about freedom.
I and my family are basically vaccinated for everything except covid.
I am quite libertarian leaning, and heavily support the idea that individual rights are the most important.
So much data from government sources is inconsistent, or poorly organized or presented. Just look at the Scotland data (which they have stopped publishing) which seemed to show that double vaxxed were more than twice as likely to catch covid as the unvaxed and also more likely to be hospitalized than the unvaxed
[citation needed]
Pinning down a number for the risk of death by vax is even worse…
Nzmedasfe vax data (19 Feb to Nov 30), all causes death rate in 21 days from shot are HALF of “expected” but most notably in the 20 to 29 bracket for shot 2 , only 1/8 of the death rate…They say “one reason for the number of deaths in the vaccinated group appearing lower could be that the healthcare professionals of extremely frail patients give advice not to get vaccinated”
[citation needed]
(Say what ? Don't vax the vulnerable ???)
The way they are analyzing the data it is almost as if they do not want to find anything.
Other data indicate most of deaths from vax occure 5 days after the shot. Looking only at the 21 day 'average' helps hide any signal. Other countries looked at it by looking at days after shot to death, and a hump is visible, peaking at day 3-4 and back to close to normal after 7 days.
The above analysis issue is beyond bad, and these are the same people who are telling me the vax is safe…
Hell no will I trust them with the above sample of their work
Regarding the coercive vaccination program of 5 to 11 yr olds
CDC's 5 to 11 yr old annual death data
EwiKsKb7qJ_2AhV2T2wGHUAsADYQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fvaccines%2Facip%2Fmeetings%2Fdownloads%2Fslides-2021-11-2-3%2F03-Covid-Jefferson-508.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3nV3iS0xPt3zmJepV8kU2H
[repost proper link please
Deaths in children 5 to 11 per 100,000
Accidents 3.4
Malignant neoplasims 1.8
Cogeninatal abnormalities 1.0
Homocide 0.7
Heart disease 0.4
Chronic respitory 0.4
Influenza 0.3
Suicide 0.2
COVID 0.2
Cerebrovascular diseases 0.2
Septicemia 0.2
And about 85% of the deaths were in those with a pre existing comorbidity.
An act newsletter using the CDC data worked out that if all 5 to 11 yr olds in NZ caught covid, 0.16 healthy children will die
[is this online, please have a look and link]
In NZ on average 6 children are killed by drunk drivers each year.
So Jacinda is forcing a vaccine with uncertain risk of death, no long term safety data ( how can there be as there has not been time for it ) for a disease that they are at very low risk of dying from.
And then there is the obesity issue. 80% of all hospitalizations, deaths are in people who are obese.
[citation needed]
The risks for the obese from covid could be reduced by about the same margin as the vaccine achieves if they lost enough weight to get out of the danger zone.
The main reason for the mandates is to keep the death rate and hospitalization down, so in effect Jacinda is forcing healthy people to take an uncertain risk death by vax rather than forcing the fat to lose weight to achieve the same result.
And think of the health benefits to the ex obese, and the cost savings for the hospital system and us poor taxpayers
How about alcohol.
Because of those selfish people that want the freedom to drink, putting their hedonistic desire above community good, 6 children ( and many more adults) are killed each year in car car crashes, and cost the taxpayers millions for the cost of the injuries that also result.
So where should the balance be ?
Regards Hamish
[please provide the above links. You are now in premod until this is done, which means none of your other comments will appear until this is resolved. We have a robust debate ethic here, and this requires a high level of evidence for claims of fact on controversial matters. I’ve given you the guidelines in your post above, the onus is on you to do the work. Read the site Policy if you haven’t already – weka]
yea……thems a long lot of reckons. With no links. I call BS
Misinformation, dis-information, BS.
Those darn conspiracy theorists strike again
A deliberate misinterpretation!
Of course there are going to be more vaxxed people catching Covid than unvaxxed people you twat. Take New Zealand for example. 95% of the population are double vaxxed and only 5% unvaxxed. Get the picture?
The vaccine has never been sold as being able to prevent people catching Covid. But you are going to get a mild version of the disease with no long term consequences. A factor you choose to ignore.
From what I understand world-wide… the most serious cases resulting in death are almost always among the unvaxxed so… if you choose to take that risk then be it on yourself if you end up in hospital gravely ill.
I'm not sure you are worthy of this response but it just might ring a bell.
Probably nothing
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/health/the-cdc-isnt-publishing-large-portions-of-the-covid-data-it-collects.html
Might have got the wording a bit off.
My reason for mentioning the Scottish data was not as trying to show vax was inefective, but of how even the health system has problems with their data and interpretations of what it means.
I have a problem with people claiming certainty where the data is so ' all over the place'
Like with the medsafe page table 7
That table is screaming very loudly your assumptions or data are seriously messed up, and you have a lot of work to just figure out where you are going wrong
Ps scottish report
On phone with low data so going from memory, but in one of the tables, the unvaxed population jumps by 900,000
Unless it was in a previous report…
Any way they postulate that the unceryainty over the unvaxed population is the cause, but at a quick glance they would have to be out by 1 million un vaxedto make the vax look good, in a population of 5 million.
All was can be certain of is that they have no real idea of what is going on…
Well. I can be pretty certain you slept through stats in your high school maths class.
You are not on your own however.
There are a lot of scientists who have the skill and time to interrogate the data and extrapolate findings from that data. Their job is to pick out the important information and provide advice on that. Overwhelmingly they appear to support vaccination.
This is not meant to be a dig but I just don't think you have the capacity when working a farm and having limited internet connection to apply as much effort and experience to this data. For that reason I would be far more inclined to accept the advice of the experts in that field than the expert in your field.
Don't 'cultivate' the troll, Drowsy.
I am not trying to miss represent anything in the scottish data.
They were publishing RATES PER 100,000 of each distince sub population.
Their earlier tables also had the total population of each sub group week by week.
You look like you assume i am making the mistake of thinking that since there are more vaxed in hospital the vax is innefective….
Send me your address and I'll post you a roll of aluminium foil.
Hamish….do you really think a serious scientist like Siouxsie Wiles (among many others) is spinning us a web of lies?
I try and avoid assigning malice where mistakes, faulty assumptions or bad data could explain things.
Hamish the irony of your post.
"Serious scientist like Siouxsie Wiles" ….that's a good one! Needed a good laugh this morning.
Oh come on. The good professor has expressed concern at the gender bias in Lego figures. Surely being woke qualifies her as serious?
Not a Professor (yet; give her time), but Wiles' 'wokeness' must surely be why she was New Zealander of the Year in 2021.
New Zealander of the Year (2021), an academic, and a woman to (put the) boot (into) – say no more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siouxsie_Wiles#Awards_and_recognition
Oh, the irony.
Wokeness is precisely why she would have been a shoe in for that award in the current political climate.
Just Gypsy bile, or are there no Kiwis more 'woke' than Wiles?
"The problem with wokeness is that it doesn’t inspire action; it freezes it. To be woke is first and foremost to put yourself on display. To make a problem seem massively intractable is to inspire separation — building a wall between you and the problem — not a solution."
Being that you haven't attributed this quote to anyone can we assume that it is one of your own deep musings?
The light blue font indicates it is a link. When you wand over the quote it indicates it is a link. Click on the text and you will be taken to the source.
Thanks for amplifying – so Gypsy bile (“anger, bitterness, or irritability“) it is. Wiles' pandemic advice inspired action on my part, but making “the science and pandemic clear and understandable” doesn't suit all agendas.
" so Gypsy bile (“anger, bitterness, or irritability“) it is. "
Clearly you didn't read the source, and therefore you haven't understood the context.
“Wiles’ pandemic advice inspired action on my part”
Which advice would that be? Her advice in January 2020 that “signs are – it’s not going to be as bad as SARS.” https://www.rnz.co.nz/summer-2020/unprecedented/news-makers/siouxsie-wiles/
The context of Dr Wiles' NZer of the Year award is the pandemic – if you can't bring yourself to acknowledge "her accessible and evidence-led commentary about staying safe during the pandemic", and prefer to espouse your shallow 'concerns' about 'wokeness', the floor is yours.
Wiles is a talking head. She is a 'trusted advisor' to the government, because for the most part she doesn't point out their shortcomings.
But as you asked:
"Curiously for a pair of prominent scientists, they responded to the professors’ assertion that, “Science is helping us battle worldwide crises such as Covid, global warming, carbon pollution, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation” with the baffling statement: “Putting science on a pedestal gets us no further in the solution of these crises.”
So this is a scientist who mused that Covid would not be as bad as SARS, and that we don't find solutions to issues such as Covid in science.
More Gypsy bile – she really has got your goat
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-03-2022/#comment-1870156
mod note, please respond before posting any other comments.
Did a reply to you with all the links but I don't see it yet.
lol, it appeared just after I posted this…
Scottish data
Have an image of another earlier one but cant see how to get it into here and the url is broken.
It covered the peak where weekly cases were much higher, and had a unvaxed case rate of 958 per 100 k and double vaxed cases 1361 per 100 k for boosted
And no I am not making a basic mistake, that is the rate per 100k
unvaxed cases 9105 unvaxed population 988033 "ages standardised rate per 100,000" 958
The crude rate is 921on those numbers, so whatever they do to age standardise bumps it up to 958. Could be that young more likely to be unvaxed?
There are certainly wierd data being displayed as the unvaxed population in the PDF the link goes to has unvaxed population in the various tables
cases table 962k
hospitalization table 780k
death table 1,500K
Medsafe
CDC 4-11 yr old death data
Act newsletter. I was sent the news letter by a friend. Looked at Act website and did not see where to find it. May only go out to members?
But I had got the same answer using the CDC data, and the NZ population of 5 to 11 yr olds. before I saw the act newsletter.
Drink driving
Obesity
Hamish, a Scottish name; noun, from Old Scot for Hamster, from old Scot legend, dumb as a hamster, hamster; Small Scotland based rodent, found in unsanitary conditions living in its own shit surrounded by others of the same ilk, to be avoided at all cost as a strong vector for disease and contagious stupidity.
[don’t personally abuse commenters. If you don’t have an actual political point, then stop commenting. Count this as a warning – weka]
They also have a propensity to crawl down rabbit holes.
And once their they get stuck on the conspiracy wheel they are to dumb to climb off.
Dehumanization – Wikipedia
Bingo. This must be today’s current winner for the greatest number of dehumanising buzz words and phrases in a single sentence.
From Wiki -linked above:
thanks JS. I had missed that comment, moderated now.
mod note.
If we are the sheep, how come the idiots in Welly, Picton, Chch and Auckland are the ones sleeping on the grass?
P,s, and eating hay by the look of it!.
Hamish, you must be in a fantasy world if you think people are going to read your ramblings. Most people in the real world prefer to listen to a range of qualified scientists and medical experts.
As NZ's wave of Omicron cases continues to surge, BAU agitators were in full 'socialise the risks' cry this morning.
"Allow tourists to come home" now eh, when no one knows how far off the Omicron peak is, and with some challenging days ahead for our public health service.
Once Omicron has passed, and/or the relative risk of domestic versus tourist COVID changes, will the Nats change their tune? Don't bet on it.
Nats, advocating risk – during the worst phase of the pandemic in NZ so far – nuts! Most prospective tourists have more sense.
And as we hit peak covid and the availability of staff for hospitality, food supply, and supply chains reaches crisis point; causing places across the country to put up "closed" signs – great time to invite tourists.
Ah – but if tourists with Covid need to go into our (already stretched) hospitals we can make them pay. It's a revenue opportunity that could be privatised by say, persuading tourists to buy private Covid-specific health insurance that will cover any hospital costs in NZ. And why stop there? You could offer the same coverage to non-citizen, non-resident foreign students – maybe with extra high premiums if they stay in university halls of residence but lower premiums if they stay in private rentals owned by the same people offering the insurance?
Your mistake Macro is to view the world as a place where people need to live lives of meaning and purpose, not as one endless carnival of opportunities for private gain.
You are so right! Why didn't I see this.
Australia opened up to tourists a week ago, but I've only seen 2 so far on my wanderings and they might have been a couple of backpackers stuck here over the Covid period. All the tourist operators dependent on international tourism continue to wail but the weather here has done more damage than the nasty virus the last week, with half of the east coast under water. Think you would have to be very brave to be a tourist atm.
Have not read this but anyone else who has caught Covid, I was wondering if you have noticed the same as with my household ?
When showering your fingers immediately get that wrinkled/pruney state like when you have been in a spa or swam in the sea for a long period.
Lordie I thought that was just age.
Maybe I have it!
Wrinkly fingers help you get a grip – something some of the commenters here could do with.
😅
My drive to town is a 50 km round trip which happens a couple of times a week but on the last one I noticed hitchikers for the first time in a few years but be warned, they looked like refugees from Wellington, in the manner of dress and appearance and a bit haggard. I know this sounds alarmist and conspirational but they are more likely to be crook with covid than most others one would see out and about, so think twice about sharing your car for a long trip.
The Herald has a follow up article to the one I posted yesterday.
Child sex abuse claimants need more support in court – experts
A copy of the report 'It's A Lie' can be found here. It makes for an interesting read.
There's multiple transcripts in the report that will demonstrate the bullying nature of questioning.
It's clear that court guidelines for lawyers cross-examining children needs to be updated to avoid unnecessary and/or further harm.
You would have thought that after the utter shambles of the Christchurch Civic Creche case the courts could sort this kind of thing out
Guess not
Not a priority, I guess. Bet it's on a list somewhere though.
What a pity the complainant can't sue (once the offender is convicted) for the trauma inflicted by the accused choosing to go to trial and engaging in aggressive and intimidating cross-examination.
With both the offender (who authorized the abuse) and the lawyer (who inflicted it) liable.
Yes, I have mentioned my experience seeing ute after ute of scowling 30-50 year old males with their signs or flags in the first convoy to Wellington. Some of this demographic seems particularly triggered by seeing a successful woman in charge. That's my view. My partner's view is these huge ute/SUV drivers are buying to make up for a lack in the male appendage…..this from a male with a PhD. He has been annoyed about this for a while especially when the spare car in those days – heavy, diesel and unwieldy had to be used by wives./partners doing the school run in paean to the males appendage concern. No querying of the logic please.
No problem for using them for work purposes or for accessing the back country..
Short story about a workmate who took his brand new 4WD into the first service that he had to pay for after the 4WD came out of warranty. In Wellington. When he came to collect it they said 'no charge' Jack said 'But, but I am out of warranty and I pay from now on'. 'No you don't the boss says you're the first owner to come in for a week or more with a 4WD that has been out and about as it is designed for, and we've given it a complimentary oil change and clean'.
Another Covid vaccine to choose from. Hopefully those who had an objection to the mRNA technology will be able to use this one
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/03/covid-19-vaccine-novavax-approved-for-use-in-new-zealand.html
https://www.immune.org.nz/vaccines/vaccine-development/types-vaccines
Kudos to Efeso Collins. It seems he stared Labour down and won.
Someone for me to vote for without reservation.
Really?
Labour wanted a mayor who would tow their line, which is why they encouraged Richard Hills to stand. I'm sure they expected Efeso to bow out quietly, but he stared them down, knowing Labour would be splitting their vote if they endorsed someone else.
Richard Hills would have been Jacinda’s puppet, and would have been a disaster for Auckland. Collins, not so much.
Bomber explains the saga here: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/03/01/oh-happy-day-auckland-establishment-left-forced-to-back-efeso-collins-as-mayor/
The one thing not clear to me, having read that, is who was the force actually with?? Who forced Labour into it? 🤔
It was probably that bloke Mr. Common Sense
Possibly, except for the disturbing lack of common sense apparent to anyone familiar with the trajectory of the Labour Party since the end of WWII.
I suspect this deity has been working quietly behind the scenes, deep within the subconscious of Labour minds:
You can see how her & her mate work together within Labour: it always takes time for them to figure out a necessity…
Hey thanks for the link. His claim that labour 'begged' Shearer to reconsider is an interesting one…just shows how desperate they were.
Who forced labour into it? Their own hubris. They thought they had a ready made and compliant candidate in Hills. Collins blindsided them and then refused to play ball. All power to him, although I'd rather central government parties kept their sticky beaks out of local government politics.
For those wanting to critique or support a podcast on Ivy League swimmer, Thomas.
Around 7:52 a mother of one of the female swimmers relates the support offered by the ACLU:
'Let me tell you a certainty, the ACLU will never offer support to cis women against women.'
Biological sex matters.
Women are considered an adjunct ((un)necessary evil) to their own sex category by the American Civil Liberties Union.
https://imgflip.com/i/5xxhew
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/doublespeak-nutty-ideas/
I have refrained from pointing this out when people say the parliament protesters are idiots for their weird beliefs. Thought the temperature was a little high on this topic so held back. But yes as GC or pro reality, it has occured to me those banging on about nutty ideas seem to accept the idea that women can have penises, which is up there with some of what these protesters believe imo
Apparently loss a smell and taste is not a common symptom of Omicron but is of previous strains according to Doctor Ashley at 1pm. Bugger I might have had it last week! Thought I only had a snotty.
FFS why was Ashley left out to front todays meeting on his own, 1st 1:00 pm bad news and no one from the government ? So on the 25/1 we were informed of our PCR testing capacity . Now on the 1st March we are now told this was not the case 5 WEEKS !!!!, and that only last week Ashley realised this. Yet on the 19/2 this delay was being reported.
Our personnel experience at home, after testing and being txted that as priority 1 results will be within 72 hours as there was already a confirmed household case. 6 Days later still no txted. The MoH and government had warning that the wave of 50,000 daily cases, was to hit during Waitangi weekend. What have they been doing with the time that we as a country have brought to prepare ?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/461845/covid-19-pcr-tests-auckland-results-taking-up-to-five-days-to-process
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/460181/covid-19-testing-capacity-increased-with-rapid-antigen-and-robots
"1st 1:00 pm bad news and no one from the government?"
Are you really so naive? When you put in the words "bad news" the "no one from the government" seems almost a certainty.
Haven't you ever heard that comment by JFK after the Bay of Pigs? "Victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan".
I like that JFK quote 👍🏾
I do think highly of how Ashley as conducted himself – He just keeps on fronting up. I hope sometime in the near future he can go where ever he and his family have a dream to visit, experience and remove himself from all the goings of the world and relax and enjoy himself (Also many of his team same comment) for an extended vacation. He is a vessel for the politicians to use unfortunately.
It certainly seems as though the capacity of the system to cope with the PCR tests has been wildly overestimated.
Verrell should carry a lot of the blame for this one. As a specialist in this area, she should have known what questions to ask, and how to interpret the answers.
As recently as the 25th of January she was confidently touting the ability to cope with sustained testing at 58 thousand, with surge capacity to 77 thousand.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/testing-improvements-see-new-zealand-well-prepared-omicron
She has absolutely opened the government up to accusations of misleading NZ.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/02/covid-19-government-accused-of-misleading-kiwis-over-testing-capacity-as-lab-worker-union-says-some-tests-won-t-be-processed.html
In these troubled times we could all do with some classic, timeless entertainment.
Good song, not quite light entertainment but still a good song
Poots nuke announcement got me thinking about nuclear songs. Two Suns, Two Tribes and 99 Luftballoons came to mind but after some googling I realised just how many songs about nukes there are.
It appears that claims that vaccine RNA would not enter the cell nucleus were false.
An accepted and published Swedish study demonstrates for the first time the presence of Pfizer-BionTech vaccine in liver cells.
https://techstartups.com/2022/02/26/new-swedish-study-shows-pfizer-vaccine-becomes-dna-liver-cells-fast-6-hours-vitro/
Dr Been discusses the risk of autoimmune hepatitis
Excellent. Permanent immunity!
An interesting article outlining why the Russian army is struggling in Ukraine:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/02/no-youre-not-imagining-it-russias-army-is-inept.html
"The Russian army has always been bad at setting up and sustaining supply lines. Gen. Omar Bradley once said about different types of military officers, “Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.”* In that sense, Russians are amateurs. This is well known. It is why Ukrainian soldiers explicitly attacked the Russian supply lines. It’s why so many tanks and other vehicles have been spotted stuck on the side of a road.''
I do feel sorry for the young, poorly trained, Russian soldiers who are poorly motivated, don't know why they are there, and, in some cases, don't even know where they are.
"'There is a larger factor here: The Russian army is composed, by and large, of one-year conscripts, who are poorly trained (even within the confines of Russian military training), badly treated, and uninspired by ideology or any other motivating spirit. Hence the stories of captured Russian troops who had no idea why they were in Ukraine. At least a few didn’t even know that they were in Ukraine—they thought they were still doing exercises in Belarus. Others have reportedly been found knocking on village doors for food or, in one case, asking a local police station for fuel.''
Whatever happened to these chaps?
“This is … the first day of your new life.” “Here pain makes you stronger, scars are a daily occurrence … without an enemy there is no battle, and without a battle there is no victory. But in reality, the main enemy … is you, the you from yesterday.”