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.”
It was sometime in the late 1990s that I first interviewed Alan Webster about New Zealand’s part in a global Values Study. It’s a fascinating snapshot of values in countries all over the world and I still remember seeing America grouped with many developing countries on a spectrum that had ...
Today marks Matariki, the first “new” New Zealand public holiday since Waitangi Day was added in 1974. Officially the start of the Maori New Year, this is one of those moveable beasties – much like Easter, the dates will vary from year to year, anywhere from mid-June to ...
The takeaways from the just released data are:1. Any estimate of GDP is subject to error.2. The 0.2 percent decrease in the March 2022 quarter is not precise and will be revised, with the mild likelihood that it will eventually be higher.3. New Zealand has no ‘official' definition of a ...
Guided By The Stars? This gift of Matariki, then, what will be made of it? Can a people spiritually unconnected to anything other than their digital devices truly appreciate the relentless progress of gods and heroes across the heavens? The elders of Maoridom must wonder. Can Te Ao Māori be ...
The internet is a wonderful thing sometimes. Yesterday, I ran across an AI program that generates images via prompt: https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini So I have been doing the logical thing with it. Getting it to generate Silmarillion characters in bizarre situations. Morgoth playing golf, and so forth. But one thing I ...
Stashing renewable energy Do a little internet sleuthing on renewable energy via your favorite search engine and you'll find some honest critique and much more dishonest misinformation (aka disinformation) to the effect that photovoltaic and wind generation are fickle energy supplies, over-abundant in some periods and absent in others. There's ...
The current New Zealand First Foundation trial in the High Court continues to show why reform is required when it comes to money in politics. The juicy details coming out each day show private wealth being funnelled into some peculiar schemes in an attempt to circumvent the Electoral Act. Yet ...
As in so many other areas of public policy, attitudes towards overseas investment in New Zealand – and anywhere, for that matter – boil down in the end to ideology. For proponents of the “free market”, there is really no issue. The market, in their view, must never be second-guessed; ...
Selwyn Manning and I discussed the upcoming NATO Leader’s summit (to which NZ Prime Minister Ardern is invited), the rival BRICS Leader’s summit and what they could mean for the Ruso-Ukrainian Wa and beyond. ...
New Zealand’s Most Profitable“Friend” Dangerous “Threat”: This country’s “Five Eyes” partners, heedless of the economic consequences for New Zealand, have cajoled and bullied its political class into becoming Sinophobes. They simply do not care that close to 40 percent of this country’s trade is with China. As far as Washington, London, ...
I have seen some natter around about how The Rings of Power represents the undue and unholy corporatisation of J.R.R. Tolkien. I won’t point out examples, but anyone who has seen YouTube commentary has a pretty good grasp of what I am talking about – the sentiment that ...
2017’s Queenmaker: Five years ago, Winston Peters’ choice ran counter to New Zealand’s informal, No. 8 wire, post-MMP constitution, which, up until 2017, had decreed that the party with the most votes got to supply the next prime minister. Had National not been in power for the previous 9 years, it ...
I've read some bad stuff about long covid recently, and Marc Daalder's recent Newsroom piece about what endemic covid means for Aotearoa got me wondering about whether the government was thinking about it. Mass-disability due to long covid has obvious implications for health and welfare spending, as well as for ...
Last year, a stranded kiwi criticised the MIQ system. Covid Minister Chris Hipkins responded by doxxing and defaming her. Now, he's been forced to apologise for that: Minister Chris Hipkins has admitted he released incorrect and personal information about journalist Charlotte Bellis, after she criticised the managed isolation system. ...
Gil-galad is an Elven Chad Gil-galad is an Elven Chad But Celebrimbor makes them mad Digesting leaks from Amazon Of Isildur and Pharazôn. The hair is short? The knives are keen. The beardless face of Dwarven Queen? With meteor and man-not-named The fandom temper is inflamed. Of Annatar ...
From the desk of Keir "Patriotic Duty" Starmer:“We have robust lines. We do not want to see these strikes to go ahead with the resulting disruption to the public. The government have failed to engage in any negotiations.“However, we also must show leadership and to that end, please be reminded ...
Has swapping Scott Morrison for Anthony Albanese made any discernible difference to Australia’s relations with the US, China, the Pacific and New Zealand ? Not so far. For example: Albanese has asked for more time to “consider” his response to New Zealand’s long running complaints about the so called “501” ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Biden administration in April 2021 dramatically ratcheted up the country’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions pledge under the Paris target, also known as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The Obama administration in 2014 had announced a commitment to cut U.S. emissions 26-28% below 2005 levels ...
Walking On Sunshine: National’s Sam Uffindell cantered home in the Tauranga By-Election, but the Outdoors & Freedom Party’s Sue Grey attracted an ominous level of support.THE RIGHT’S gadfly commentator, Matthew Hooton, summed up the Tauranga by-election in his usual pithy fashion. “Tonight’s result is poor for the National Party, catastrophic for ...
Te reo Māori is Dr. Anaha Hiini’s life purpose. Raised by his grandparents, Kepa and Maata Hiini, Anaha of Ngāti Tarāwhai, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue descent made a promise at the age of six to his late grandmother, Maata Hiini. “I’ve always had a passion for Māori culture. My first inspiration ...
Dr Carwyn Jones’ vision is to see Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the law given equal mana. Carwyn who holds a PhD in law and society and currently teaches Ahunga Tikanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa after 15 years at Victoria University of Wellington has devoted ...
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to attend the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Spain – but to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda – symbolises the changes she is making to New Zealand foreign policy. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starts today in ...
The outlook does not look that promising. Forecasting an economy is a mug’s game. The database on which the forecasts are founded is incomplete, out-of-date, and subject to errors, some of which will be revised after the forecasts are published. (No wonder weather-forecasting is easier.) One often has to adopt ...
by Don Franks It seems that almost each day now another ram raid shatters someone’s shop front and loots the premises. Prestigious Queen street is not immune, while attacks on small dairies have long stopped being headline news. Those of us not directly affected are becoming numbed to this form ...
It’s hard to believe that when we created Sciblogs in 2009, the iPhone was only two years old, being a ‘Youtuber’ wasn’t really a thing and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok didn’t exist. But Science blogging was a big thing, particularly in the United States, where a number of scientists had ...
For 13 years, Sciblogs has been a staple in New Zealand’s science-writing landscape. Our bloggers have written about a vast variety of topics from climate change to covid, and from nanotechnology to household gadgets.But sadly, it’s time to close shop. Sciblogs will be shutting down on 30 June.When ...
Radical Options: By allocating the Broadcasting portfolio to the irrepressible, occasionally truculent, leader of Labour’s Māori caucus, Willie Jackson, the Prime Minister has, at the very least, confirmed that her appointment of Kiri Allan was no one-off. There are many words that could be used to describe Ardern’s placement of ...
A Delicate Juggler? The new Chief Censor, Ms Caroline Flora, owes New Zealand a comprehensive explanation of how she sees, and how she proposes to carry out, her role. Where, for example, is her duty to respect and protect the citizen’s right to freedom of expression positioned in relation to ...
Good grief. Has foreign policy commentary really devolved to the point where our diplomatic effort is being measured by how many overseas trips have been taken by our Foreign Minister? Weird, but apparently so. All this week, a series of media policy wonks have been invidiously comparing how many trips ...
Where we've been Time flies. This coming summer will mark 15 years of Skeptical Science focusing its effort on "traditional" climate science denial. Leaving aside frivolities, we've devoted most of our effort to combatting "serious" denial falling into a handful of broad categories of fairly crisp misconceptions: "radiative physics is wrong,""geophysics is ...
Mercenary army of bogus skeptics on parade Because they're both squarely centered in the Skeptical Science wheelhouse, this week we're highlighting two articles from our government and NGO section, where we collect high-quality articles not originating in academic research but featuring many of the important attributes of journal publications. Our mission ...
In the latest episode of AVFA Selwyn Manning and I discuss the evolution of Latin American politics and macroeconomic policy since the 1970s as well as US-Latin American relations during that time period. We use recent elections and the 2022 Summit of the Americas as anchor points. ...
The Scottish government has announced plans for another independence referendum: Nicola Sturgeon plans to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence in October next year if her government secures the legal approval to stage it. Angus Robertson, the Scottish government’s constitution secretary, said that provided ample time to pass ...
So far, the closer military relationship envisaged by Jacinda Ardern and Joseph Biden at their recent White House meeting has been analysed mainly in terms of what this means for our supposedly “independent” foreign policy. Not much attention has been paid to what having more interoperable defence forces might mean ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters For those puzzling over the various hurricane computer forecast models to figure out which one to believe, the best answer is: Don’t believe any of them. Put your trust in the National Hurricane Center, or NHC, forecast. Although an individual ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Scott Denning The excellent Julia Steinberger essay posted at this site in May provides a disturbing window into the psychology of teaching climate change to young people. It’s critically important to talk with youth about hard topics: love and sex, deadly contagion, school shootings, vicious ...
By Imogen Foote (Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington) A lack of consensus among international conservation regimes regarding albatross taxonomy makes management of these ocean roaming birds tricky. My PhD research aims to generate whole genome data for some of our most threatened albatrosses in a first attempt ...
Well, if that’s “minor” I’d be interested to see what a major reshuffle looks like.Jacinda Ardern has reminded New Zealand of the steel behind the spin in her cabinet refresh announced today. While the Prime Minister stressed that the changes were “triggered” by Kris Faafoi and Trevor Mallard and their ...
A company gives a large amount of money to a political party because they are concerned about law changes which might affect their business model. And lo and behold, the changes are dumped, and a special exemption written into the law to protect them. Its the sort of thing we ...
Active Shooters: With more than two dozen gang-related drive-by shootings dominating (entirely justifiably) the headlines of the past few weeks, there would be something amiss with our democracy if at least one major political party did not raise the issues of law and order in the most aggressive fashion. (Photo ...
Going Down? Governments also suffer in recessions and depressions – just like their citizens. Slowing economic activity means fewer companies making profits, fewer people in paid employment, fewer dollars being spent, and much less revenue being collected. With its own “income” shrinking, the instinct of most government’s is to sharply ...
In the 50 years since Norm Kirk first promised to take the bikes off the bikies, our politicians have tried again and again to win votes by promising to crack down on gangs. Canterbury University academic Jarrod Gilbert (an expert on New Zealand’s gang culture) recently gave chapter and verse ...
Misdirection: New Zealanders see burly gang members, decked out in their patches, sitting astride their deafening motorcycles, cruising six abreast down the motorway as frightened civilians scramble to get out of their way, and they think these guys are the problem. Fact is, these guys represent little more than the misdirection ...
New Zealand’s defence minister, Peeni Henare, has had a very busy first half of the year. In January, Henare was the face of New Zealand’s relief effort to Tonga, following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano. Then, from March onwards, Henare was often involved in Jacinda Ardern’s announcements ...
James Heartfield wrote this article on intersectionalism and its flaws nine years ago. He noted on Twitter: “Looking back, these problems got worse, not better.” Published 17 November 2013. Is self-styled revolutionary Russell Brand really just a ‘Brocialist’? Is Lily Allen’s feminist pop-video racist? Is lesbian activist Julie Bindel a ...
The New Zealand First donations scandal trial began in the High Court this week. And it’s already showing why the political finance laws in this country need a significant overhaul. The trial is the outcome of a high-profile scandal that unfolded in the 2020 election year, when documents were made ...
The televised hearings into the storming of the Capitol are revealing to the American public a truth that was obvious to some of us from the outset – that the Trumpian “big lie” about a “stolen” election was part of a determined attempt at a coup that would have been ...
When in 1980 I introduced the term ‘Think Big’ to characterise the major (mainly energy) projects, I was concerned about the wider issue of state-led development strategies. From that perspective, the 1980s program was not our first ‘think big’. That goes back to Vogel in 1870, who wanted to develop ...
Malaysia will abolish the death penalty: The government has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty, giving judges discretion in sentencing. Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the decision was reached following the presentation of a report on substitute sentences for the mandatory death penalty, which he presented ...
The Petitions Committee has reported back on a petition to introduce a capital gains tax on residential property, with a response that basicly boils down to "fuck off, we're not interested". Which is sadly unsurprising. According to the current Register of Members' Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests, the eight members ...
We Can Be Heroes: Ukrainian newly-weds pose for the cameras before heading-off to the front-lines. The Russo-Ukrainian War has presented young people with the inescapable reality of heroism. They see Volodymyr Zelensky in his olive-drab T-shirts; they see men and women their own age stepping-up to do their bit. They have ...
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed the irony of Boris Johnson's desperate attempts to cling onto power.I recall, almost immediately after Jermey Corbyn was elected, a bunch of memes based on the WW2 film Downfall, associating the mild manner Jermey Corbyn with Hitler in his final, ...
Terms and conditions may change For myriad reasons we'd like to think and know that dumping our outmoded and dangerous fossil fuel energy sources may be difficult and may require a lot of investment but that when we're done, it'll be back to business as usual in terms of what ...
Yesterday the Supreme Court quashed Alan Hall's conviction for murder, declaring it was a miscarriage of justice. In doing so, the Chief Justice found that "such departures from accepted standards must either be the result of extreme incompetence or of a deliberate and wrongful strategy to secure conviction" - effectively, ...
New Zealand may have finally jumped off its foreign policy tightrope act between China and the US. Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern effectively chose sides, leaping into the arms of the US, at the expense of the country’s crucial relationship with China. That’s the growing consensus amongst observers of ...
Farmers are currently enjoying the highest prices and payouts in the history of this country. They will never be better placed to acknowledge that their wealth comes on the back of climate-changing emissions and causes serious amounts of water and soil pollution. Costs which everyone else is having to shoulder. ...
A ballot for two member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Electoral (Right to Switch Rolls Freely) Amendment Bill (Rawiri Waititi) Customs and Excise (Child Sex Offender Register Information Sharing) Amendment Bill (Erica Stanford) The first is also covered in Golriz Ghahraman's ...
It never rains but it pours. A day after we get the mysterious landscape of TirHarad, we finally get Empire Magazine’s image of the Amazon Celebrimbor, as played by Charles Edwards: Now, I would be lying if I said that this Celebrimbor looks in any way like the ...
The world is currently going through a surge of inflation - some of it due to the ongoing breakdown in the global supply chain, some of it due to disruptions to oil and food supply due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but much of it due to pure corporate profiteering. ...
The He Waka Eke Noa report has finally been released, and it shows that the entire project was a scam from start to finish. The scam starts with the title, which translates as "we are all in this together". But the whole purpose of the policy is to ensure that ...
Today is a Member's Day, and first up is the second reading of the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill. Like the recent Rotorua bill, this is going to be controversial, as it ditches the principle of fully-elected local bodies in favour of iwi appointments (and disproportionate ones at ...
As per Fellowship of Fans, we now have a couple more images from The Rings of Power, this time what appears to be some items from the upcoming Empire Magazine article. This first ...
In this Free Speech podcast Daphna Whitmore speaks to Nina Power – an English social critic, philosopher, and author of the new book “What Do Men Want”. Nina was previously a senior lecturer in Philosophy at Roehampton University in Britain. She writes for Telegraph, Art Review, and The Spectator and ...
Back in 2017, then-opposition leader Jacinda Ardern declared climate change to be "my generation's nuclear-free moment". Since then the government she leads has passed the Zero Carbon Act, legislating a net-zero (except for methane) 2050 target and strengthening our interim 2030 target. But that target has been rated as "insufficient" ...
That giant sucking noise is the sound of the jobs of our nurses, doctors, and midwives being vacuumed up by medical recruiters from New South Wales. The conservative Perrottet NSW state government has just announced ambitious aims to recruit more than 10,000 nurses, doctors and other staff as part of ...
A Man May Smile And Smile: Stan Rodger was an affable almost avuncular figure although it’s important to recall that no-one gets to the top of the then largest union in the country without exercising the skills commonly found in any political snake pit; ostensible bands of brothers and sisters ...
A new poll shows that the majority of people back the Greens’ call on the Government to overhaul the country’s criminally punitive, anti-evidence drug law. ...
The US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion is a reminder that we must take nothing for granted in Aotearoa, the Green Party says. “Aotearoa should be a place where everyone, no matter where they are from, or who they love, can choose what is right for their body and their ...
We’re proud to have delivered on our election commitment to establish a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. For the first time this year, New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own. ...
Proposed new legislation to reduce the risk that timber imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says. ...
On World Refugee Day, the Green Party is calling on the new Minister for Immigration, Michael Wood to make up for the support that was not provided to people forced to leave their home countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
This week, we’ve marked a major milestone in our school upgrade programme. We've supported 4,500 projects across the country for schools to upgrade classrooms, sports facilities, playgrounds and more, so Kiwi kids have the best possible environments to learn in. ...
We’ve delivered on our election commitment to make Matariki a public holiday. For the first time this year, all New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own with family and friends. Try our quiz below, then challenge your whānau! To celebrate, we’ve ...
The Green Party says the removal of pre-departure testing for arrivals into New Zealand means the Government must step up domestic measures to protect communities most at risk. ...
The long overdue resumption of the Pacific Access Category and Samoan Quota must be followed by an overhaul of the Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme, says the Green Party. ...
Lessons must be learned from the Government's response to the Delta outbreak, which the Ministry of Health confirmed today left Māori, Pacific, and disabled communities at greater risk. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to withdraw the proposed Oranga Tamariki oversight legislation which strips away independence and fails to put children at the heart. ...
As New Zealand reconnects with the world, we’re making the most of every opportunity to show we’re a great place to visit, trade with and invest in as part of our plan to grow our economy and build a secure future for all Kiwis. Just this week we saw further ...
The Government is investing to create new product categories and new international markets for our strong wool and is calling on Kiwi businesses and consumers to get behind the environmentally friendly fibre, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said today. Wool Impact is a collaboration between the Government and sheep sector partners ...
At today’s commemoration of the start of the Korean War, Veterans Minister Meka Whaitiri has paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of our New Zealand veterans, their families and both nations. “It’s an honour to be with our Korean War veterans at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park to commemorate ...
Matariki tohu mate, rātou ki a rātou Matariki tohu ora, tātou ki a tātou Tīhei Matariki Matariki – remembering those who have passed Matariki – celebrating the present and future Salutations to Matariki I want to begin by thanking everyone who is here today, and in particular the Matariki ...
Oho mai ana te motu i te rangi nei ki te hararei tūmatanui motuhake tuatahi o Aotearoa, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki, me te hono atu a te Pirīmia a Jacinda Ardern ki ngā mahi whakanui a te motu i tētahi huihuinga mō te Hautapu i te ata nei. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker will represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the second United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which runs from 27 June to 1 July. The Conference will take stock of progress and aims to galvanise further action towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, to "conserve and sustainably use ...
The Government is boosting its partnership with New Zealand’s dairy sheep sector to help it lift its value and volume, and become an established primary industry, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “Globally, the premium alternative dairy category is growing by about 20 percent a year. With New Zealand food ...
The Government is continuing to support the Buller district to recover from severe flooding over the past year, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today during a visit with the local leadership. An extra $10 million has been announced to fund an infrastructure recovery programme, bringing the total ...
“The Government has undertaken preparatory work to combat new and more dangerous variants of COVID-19,” COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall set out today. “This is about being ready to adapt our response, especially knowing that new variants will likely continue to appear. “We have undertaken a piece of work ...
The Government’s strong trade agenda is underscored today with the introduction of the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill to the House, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “I’m very pleased with the quick progress of the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill being introduced ...
A ministerial advisory group that provides young people with an opportunity to help shape the education system has five new members, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said today. “I am delighted to announce that Harshinni Nayyar, Te Atamihi Papa, Humaira Khan, Eniselini Ali and Malakai Tahaafe will join the seven ...
Austria Centre, Vienna [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] E ngā mana, e ngā reo Tēnā koutou katoa Thank you, Mr President. I extend my warm congratulations to you on the assumption of the Presidency of this inaugural meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. You ...
The Government is taking action to make sure homecare and support workers have the right to take a pay-equity claim, while at the same time protecting their current working conditions and delivering a pay rise. “In 2016, homecare and support workers – who look after people in their own homes ...
A law change passed today streamlines the process for allowing COVID-19 boosters to be given without requiring a prescription. Health Minister Andrew Little said the changes made to the Medicines Act were a more enduring way to manage the administration of vaccine boosters from now on. “The Ministry of Health’s ...
New powers will be given to the Commerce Commission allowing it to require supermarkets to hand over information regarding contracts, arrangements and land covenants which make it difficult for competing retailers to set up shop. “The Government and New Zealanders have been very clear that the grocery sector is not ...
Ministerial taskforce of industry experts will give advice and troubleshoot plasterboard shortages Letter of expectation sent to Fletcher Building on trademark protections A renewed focus on competition in the construction sector The Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods has set up a Ministerial taskforce with key construction, building ...
Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson and Minister for Māori Crown Relations Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today the inaugural Matariki public holiday will be marked by a pre-dawn hautapu ceremony at Te Papa Tongarewa, and will be a part of a five-hour broadcast carried by all major broadcasters in ...
Volunteers from all over the country are being recognised in this year’s Minister of Health Volunteer Awards, just announced at an event in Parliament’s Grand Hall. “These awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of dedicated health and disability sector volunteers who give many hours of their time to help other ...
New Zealand’s trade agenda continues to build positive momentum as Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor travels to Europe, Canada and Australia to advance New Zealand’s economic interests. “Our trade agenda has excellent momentum, and is a key part of the Government’s wider plan to help provide economic security for ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will leave this weekend to travel to Europe and Australia for a range of trade, tourism and foreign policy events. “This is the third leg of our reconnecting plan as we continue to promote Aotearoa New Zealand’s trade and tourism interests. We’re letting the world know ...
[CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Nga mihi ki a koutou. Let me start by acknowledging the nuclear survivors, the people who lost their lives to nuclear war or testing, and all the peoples driven off their lands by nuclear testing, whose lands and waters were poisoned, and who suffer the inter-generational health ...
New Zealand’s leadership has contributed to a number of significant outcomes and progress at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which concluded in the early hours of Friday morning after a week of intense negotiations between its 164 members. A major outcome is a new ...
The Government has delivered on its commitment to roll out the free methamphetamine harm reduction programme Te Ara Oranga to the eastern Bay of Plenty, with services now available in Murupara. “We’re building a whole new mental health system, and that includes expanding successful programmes like Te Ara Oranga,” Health ...
Kura and schools around New Zealand can start applying for Round 4 of the Creatives in Schools programme, Minister for Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni said today. Both ministers were at Auckland’s Rosehill Intermediate to meet with the ākonga, teachers and the professional ...
It is my pleasure to be here at MEETINGS 2022. I want to start by thanking Lisa and Steve from Business Events Industry Aotearoa and everyone that has been involved in organising and hosting this event. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to welcome you all here. It is ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, met in Wellington today for the biannual Australia - Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations. Minister Mahuta welcomed Minister Wong for her first official visit to Aotearoa New Zealand ...
The volatile global situation has been reflected in today’s quarterly GDP figures, although strong annual growth shows New Zealand is still well positioned to deal with the challenging global environment, Grant Robertson said. GDP fell 0.2 percent in the March quarter, as the global economic trends caused exports to fall ...
More than a million New Zealanders have already received their flu vaccine in time for winter, but we need lots more to get vaccinated to help relieve pressure on the health system, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Getting to one million doses by June is a significant milestone and sits ...
It’s a pleasure to be here today in person “ka nohi ke te ka nohi, face to face as we look back on a very challenging two years when you as Principals, as leaders in education, have pivoted, and done what you needed to do, under challenging circumstances for your ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is successfully creating jobs and boosting regional economic growth, an independent evaluation report confirms. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash announced the results of the report during a visit to the Mihiroa Marae in Hastings, which recently completed renovation work funded through the PGF. ...
Travellers to New Zealand will no longer need a COVID-19 pre-departure test from 11.59pm Monday 20 June, COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “We’ve taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to ensure we aren’t overwhelmed with an influx of COVID-19 cases. Our strategy has ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Rwanda this week to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali. “This is the first CHOGM meeting since 2018 and I am delighted to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “Reconnecting New Zealand with the ...
We, the Ministers for trade from Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, welcome the meeting of Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) partners on 15 June 2022, in Geneva to discuss progress on negotiations for the ACCTS. Our meeting was chaired by Hon Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s Minister for ...
Internal Affairs Minister Jan Tinetti has today announced Caroline Flora as the new Chief Censor of Film and Literature, for a three-year term from 20 July. Ms Flora is a senior public servant who has recently held the role of Associate Deputy‑Director General System Strategy and Performance at the Ministry ...
Eleven projects are being funded as part of the Government’s efforts to prevent elder abuse, Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall announced as part of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. “Sadly one in 10 older people experience elder abuse in New Zealand, that is simply unacceptable,” Ayesha Verrall said. “Our ...
More New Zealand homes, businesses and communities will soon benefit from fast and reliable connectivity, regardless of where they live, study and work,” Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark said today. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us time and again how critical a reliable connection is for ...
Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Twyford will lead Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) First Meeting of States Parties in Austria later this month, following a visit to the Netherlands. The Nuclear Ban Treaty is the first global treaty to make nuclear ...
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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).
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
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.”