The two faced hag collins just blamed Ardern for parliament sitting yesterday, reckoned its because Ardern didnt use her power to suspend parliament till level 3!!
Careful now, wags. Puckish Rogue gets let out of his cage next month and he'll want revenge on all those that have been sacrilegious to his chosen one.
Anker I agree with you. Collins seemed to display some underlying anger issues this morning. She is becoming disturbingly edgy. Despite the nonsensical, aggressive responses from Collins, Indira Stewart did a great job.
What an hilarious interview on TVNZ Breakfast (sorry don't know how to link) Indira wasn't taking any of Karen Collins's BS and the true angry, self serving and deranged Leader of the National Party came shining through. You just know each time she smiles another woodland animal dies.
Now if only Hedges could extricate himself from the 80's.
Empire is driven by one underlying consideration – the necessity to control sunshine and resources. The US was never short of these things, and it's military projection was much less about the control of territory, but the control of the political agenda during the Cold War. Well that purpose is long over and they never replaced it with anything. An insular and inward looking US public have elected one President after another who promised the least in terms of engagement with the wider world. Biden's precipitate and bungled exit from Afghanistan being merely the most recent nadir in this process.
Hedges article is of course deeply selective in his targets – he omits the immense expansion of trade and human welfare that is also the direct result of this same post-WW2 period US led period of relative security and stability. His inability to tear himself away from gloating over the costs that were paid for this has a direct parallel with those fools who would 'defund the police' because every now and then they shoot someone in egregious circumstances.
Just to be very clear on this – my argument has never been that the US were any good at being 'world policeman', but even their incompetent efforts at the task have on the whole delivered far more benefit than cost. On this basis my next proposition is – if the principle of global security is so beneficial even on such a flawed basis – what would it take to do the job properly?
You know that 'defunding the police' was about removing from them jobs for which they were demonstrably unsuited, eg mental healthcare by firearm, and paying better people to do those things?
Please, don’t accuse another Author and Moderator of this site of being a paid tool of anybody or anything. I’ve handed out long bans for this kind of shit and I don’t make exceptions. It doesn’t make for a strong debating point unless the identity of the commenter is publicallyknown and they are publicallyknown to be on a pay-list and even then it is almost always (!) just taking pot-shots at the person and not addressing the gist of their comment.
While it is possible to ban an author from commenting, it's rare and not over something like this. It also creates problems for them putting up posts and being able to comment on their own posts.
My view is that authors get to say what they like (within reason), but I agree that it would be good if KJT could dial back the ad hom stuff. Probably RL too (haven't been following closely, but there's obvious aggro between the two of them).
It sets a bad example that others who are not Authors are likely to follow, as does happen here and as such, it spoils the vibe and kills constructive debate.
It was a plea and a general warning to all, not a Moderation note. If necessary, we can take this to the back-end, yes? I might just get something off my chest there, anyway.
And very quickly poor communities at the pointy end of this demand to 'defund the police' realised that the very real reduction in security it entailed came at a cost to them.
By all means train and manage the police better to weed out those incapable of doing the job properly. and provide for far better mental health care. But it fairly quickly became obvious these good intentions were being used by radicals as a fig-leaf to dismantle policing altogether.
And while you and I can both imagine an ideal world of perfect people in which security is not required, absent that utopia ordinary people, usually the most vulnerable, are those who depend on the police most of all.
And by extension the same argument applies to nations.
Several unpleasant direct interactions with police in my youth in both NZ and AUS, gave me a very dim view of them to say the least. That doesn't change the fact that society needs and always will need them.
Calls for defunding are 'baby with the bathwater'. Select your police men/women better. Train and support them better. Hell, even pay them better.
IMHO – Defunding arguments are technically similar to those used by the right to justify the offloading of state assets. The argument went that these publicly owned companies were run badly (often true). This morphed into public ownership causes mismanagement (not true), therefore they must be sold.
Agree also with the nation level angle. A void will always be filled by one of the global swinging dicks.
Have you managed to miss the point AGAIN? There are jobs the police should not be doing, and no amount of 'weeding out' will change that. It's almost as if you counter an argument by pretending it's something else. I'm sure that's not the case though.
That's why it's so much easier for Hedges' to take yet another hit at the United States, rather than do hard work.
Compared to any other major power the United States has an exceedingly open society and a heavily analysed military making it comparatively easy to examine the United States forever … which they obviously do … while criminal states in much more controlled societies just keep expanding underneath much scrutiny.
Check out Al Jazeera's critical stories of itself or its neighbours. Not.
The World Press Freedom Index shows which states tolerate any public dissent at all let alone serious book-length scrutiny.
Of those who are least free, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Vietnam have massive militaries and will hunt any reporter down to death no problem.
Writing actual investigative journalism on nasty non-US states probably doesn't garner anywhere near as many lucrative clicks from convergence moonbats with a very blinkered worldview that just want the same old recycled polemic that strokes their confirmation bias.
A fair point for the selfish, but not much use for a rapidly darkening world in which the last proponents of an open society have zero supporters on either the left or the right.
@RedLogix "my argument has never been that the US were any good at being 'world policeman', but even their incompetent efforts at the task have on the whole delivered far more benefit than cost"…..
I wonder how many times throughout the last 250 years a line just like that has been used to justify all the abuses of power, misery, death and suffering imposed by the unbridled greed, corruption and ego in the name of white western imperialism?….
But then if history has taught us nothing else about man, it has taught us that powerful men and nations will find the most creative, often outrageous cover and along with their willing enablers, use them to justify any and all acts of hubris, atrocity, villainy conducted in the name of their project…..which is why the saying (and title of a classic Killdozer LP)…’Intellectuals Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite ‘is as much a fact today as it has been throughout history, as they have always been one of the powers greatest enablers.
You demand the world should be full of perfect people like noble rescuers such as yourself, act outraged when it isn't, and turn me into the evil persecutor. Thus setting up a distracting drama and totally failing to address the actual comment.
@RedLogix No, what is childish is your unwavering, dear I say it, fundementalist adherence to defending a pernicious regime that has inflicted pain and misery around the world to millions of humans…but because it isn’t in your backyard you tell us it is all but benign (the world's police force!)…a regime I will remind you, that has along with the UK been the primary reason why the gift of free energy has been completely thrown away, and they fucked the planet for future generations while they were at it, in 150 short years…don’t you get it Red Logix? The ideology you defend has blown it, completely and utterly….for all of us, and more importantly all our future generations ..so no, it is you who needs to grow up, grow some balls and take a look in the mirror.
Even just one of US Imperialism’s very long list of unwarranted, illegal and unwanted (apart from the applicable ruling classes and toadies) interventions in other nations, is enough reason to put them in the naughty corner forever.
Lets take Chile in 1973…the ‘Chicago Boys’ dream, and in retrospect a demo version of neo liberalism to the extreme. A CIA assisted violent overthrow of an elected social democratic Govt. Horrific. No excuse. All boats were not floated.
Pinochet divided the long narrow country into 15 “economic zones”, and tortured and murdered thousands of decent people. I worked with the NZ Chilean exile community in 70s and had first hand accounts.
Is Kissinger too old to be waterboarded? nah…such crims should be pursued till the end.
Why is it that it's only ever the 'crimes' of US that concern you?
In 1973 the Cold War was still in full swing. You can only be incredibly grateful it remained 'cold' and never escalated to a direct confrontation with the Soviets. Yet on the peripheries it was as intense and brutal as any war.
The main answer I can think of to my rhetorical question above is that closet marxists such as yourself still haven't gotten over the fact that the US won.
The USA has not “won” a war since 1945! And it was a justifiable anti fascist war–now neo fascists walk the streets of America and stormed the Capitol on January 6. How the mighty have fallen.
US Imperialism and the US arms industry get involved in asymmetrical contests and end up getting their arse kicked again and again.
Interesting you mention Grenada, I just looked it up yesterday for some reason and it all came back–New Jewel movement factions, Cuban construction workers fighting US marines on beaches–what a debacle.
Except that as we now see, the US hasn't "won" and as with the horrendous waste of time, effort, human life, environmental and social destruction in Afghanistan, all US interventions can now be truly seen as waste and a brake on human and environmental growth and potential. How can any sane person when confronted by the climate disaster that is now in front us talk up the type of US blindness of rape and pillage that produced this mess? Driven only by the profit on the bottom line or gdp? Well, now, if there is still time we may get a chance to see how much faster and equitably human potential can be delivered when the god given right to hoard multiple billions of capital for personal use is removed and returned to the productive base. This is the model that China offers. We can try it with NZ characteristics. The wonder is that their is still a world after being subjected to US imperial greed. Thankyou Joe Biden for admitting defeat and giving us some extra time to find a new direction.
I have noticed a significant effort among trumpetistas to lay blame for the Afghan fiasco on Biden – as if the fellow left to wind up a failed invasion can bear more responsibility than the clown who started a war with no exit strategy – W for worthless Bush. It was always going to end like this.
I guess they figure that, absent Biden, der schlumpenfurher is a shoe-in.
I don't know who the best candidate for US president might be, but Trump is almost certainly the worst one.
Thanks Ad.. you have to admire Hedges, immovable on his principles and fearless in his critiques of the powerful…which is why he is no longer New York Times Middle East Bureau Chief I guess.
I had always been under the impression one of the major reasons he was no longer Middle East Bureau chief for the Times was that he failed to apply the simplest journalistic skepticism and fact checking when he passed on the Iraq WMD lies from the likes of Chalabi. Thereby helping the Shrub administration manufacture consent for the 2003 Iraq war under false pretences.
"Collaborator" is your word, not mine, and it's probably a bit harsh.
But Hedges was one of the few people actually in a position to have made a difference, had he applied even a modicum of skepticism and critical thinking and fact-checking. But he didn't. Not even a smidgen of those basic journalistic skills.
You'd think in the interim he might have recognised his failings and made an effort to sharpen his independent and critical thinking skills. But nah, it seems he's found it much easier to grift a living by continually recycling the same slightly reworked tired rants at the same tired uncritical audience that craves familiar repetition above all.
"The overall conclusion reached is that the United States most likely has been responsible since WWII for the deaths of between 20 and 30 million people in wars and conflicts scattered over the world".
A pretty Good attempt at beating the Nazi’s record.
Before we even get into the current deaths due to US saunctions, blockades and bombings, happening right now,
You are so predictable. You keep repeating the same idiotically selective claims over and over.
The irrefutable data shows that in the period since the end of WW2 due to an immense expansion of trade – only made possible because the US created and paid for the security and commercial infrastructure that enabled it – human populations have increased, life expectancy has lengthened and the quality of life for billions has expanded dramatically. Before WW2 most of the human race lived in absolute poverty – now its around 15% or less. Erasing that benefit to literally billions of the poorest people in the world as "bullshit" betrays your professed claim to care for them as very hollow indeed.
If the US decides that it really doesn't care about the expansion of totalitarian regimes outside of the Western Hemisphere – and this is the direction it's heading in – then expect this experiment to get a run this decade.
Unlike the compilers of those lists, the US had more pragmatic choices to make. As I said above – the intent of the Cold War was to control the politics and contain the Soviets.
If they ever had a longer term goal it was the not unreasonable hope that by engagement they could hope to influence these nations away from totalitarianism and toward more open, liberal societies. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. And even today of the 200 odd nations on earth, the number you'd actually want to live in if you had a choice barely exceeds 50 or so.
If they ever had a longer term goal it was the not unreasonable hope that by engagement they could hope to influence these nations away from totalitarianism and toward more open, liberal societies. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't
I'm not going to ask you if a 'pragmatic' 'engagement' like Albright made, one that caused the death of 500,000 children, was a price they had to pay to 'influence a nation away from totalitarianism and toward a more open, liberal society'. I think the answer might scare me. Be real. Everything the USA does, and has done is purely in the interest of money and power. To suggest the underlying reasons are out of the concern for the happiness of other humans beings, altruism … well, each to his own.
Lesley Stahl asking Madeleine Albright about the sanctions against Iraq in May 1996.
“We have heard that a half million children have died,” stated Stahl. “I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?”
“I think this is a very hard choice,” replied Albright, “but the price – we think the price is worth it.”
"hope that by engagement they (The USA) could hope to influence these nations away from totalitarianism and toward more open, liberal societies."
So even though no actual facts support in any way your white man triumphalist fantasy story, in-fact the actual facts tells us your story is the opposite, and is nothing but pure fantasy…(some would say propaganda, but for propaganda to work it has to have a element of truth in it, which is why everyone knows the notion of the USA spreading democracy is bullshit)…but yet here you are, back yet again, straight faced telling us yet again to believe up is down, black is white.
Unfortunately we seldom get to choose our overlords as they tend to impose themselves upon us. With the British Empire gone and the US hegemony fading one wonders who the next oppressor nation will be that steps into the vacuum ….
I suggest you listen to the old Tom Lehrer song about the rocket scientist Wernher von Braun.
In particular take note of the last line of the last verse.
"You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese!" says Wernher von Braun."
A multi polar world may be where we head to next , where there is no singular all powerful oppressor.Have we become so habituated to the neighbourhood bully we can no longer imagine a world without him?
Personally, I'm more worried by western oligarchs like Bezos, Branson, and Musk (Boggis ,Bunce and Bean) add Thiel,who with their immense wealth and power can drive, unchecked, technology and human aided evolution in ways that continue their power but are not in the best interests of humanity and the life humanity depends on
Must be the threads with significant input from a contributor who I'm not allowed to reply to for fear of doom. No point in reading such threads. If there happens to be any accurate medical information or insightful geopolitical commentary, I'll have to pick it up from elsewhere.
I'm interested in Judith's insistence on vaccination targets. She wants a specific number – yesterday (I think) she was saying to Corin Dann that 70-75% will "give us options". She didn't say what those options might be, nor did she have any targets for what those options might produce, e.g. less than x excess deaths and less than y excess hospitalisations annually. She was not pressed on where she got the 70-75% number from. Was it from the Doherty Institute, a faithful echo of Scomo's 'plan', or simply an imitation of what the UK has actually done? Or based on something else?
This insistence on a hard number, yet total vagueness on what it might lead to, looks methodologically inconsistent. So it seems that what she's really after is an arbitrary target (preferably one that's not very high) because it will provide a justification for doing what National have always wanted to do – open up.
The insistence on hard numbers is so further down the line she might have the possibility of being deep and meaningful in the House.
"To the Prime Minister: Why did she say on the 14th of June there would 3,128,716 people vaccinated by November 21st and yet there are only 3,128,402 vaccinated? Did she deliberately mislead the House?"
….throwing in the towel...might be more of a case of accepting the inevitable.
UK and Europe looking at only testing people with symptoms. The vaccines offer 50% efficacy for Delta, although they do seem to prevent 90% hospitalisations. Vaccinated people still carry similar viral load as unvaccinated. Vaccinated will be offered booster shots. Herd immunity and elimination no longer feasible. Calls for greater emphasis on immune support and therapeutics.
And vaccinating children?
Dr Ruchi Sinha, consultant paediatrician, Imperial College Choosing not to vaccinate children would be unlikely to cause problems in the health service What matters is the burden of patient hospitalisation and actually there hasn't been as much with this delta variant They tend to be the children who have got their comorbidities, obesity, or severe neurological problems and those children are already considered for vaccination. Covid on its own in paediatrics is not the problem
So children under 12 are expendable Rosemary? You have to be kidding.
I think NZ should aim to vaccinate 95% of the population including children. Then we might contemplate gradually opening borders with strict conditions.
Are you going to do the mahi or take the ban? You are not in Pre-Moderation because I have no time to monitor it, so please don’t do anything stupid – Incognito]
Bearded Git…"So children under 12 are expendable Rosemary? "
My response to that was, appropriately, "Who said "children under 12 are expendable"?
…and answering my own question… "Nowhere (in the article clip linked to)does anyone say that."
Perhaps Bearded Git could answer my question?
[In no way did this address your Moderation. You are now in Pre-Moderation, so that I can deal with all your problematic existing and future comments. You’re taking way too much Moderation time by ignoring Moderation notes and keep adding more to it – Incognito]
He can, but you need to respond to Incog's moderation in the other thread or you will be banned. It's not a hard one to sort out, I've commented in the other convo that I think it's a matter of semantics and nuance in language.
A young friend visited shortly before Lockdown, and horrified that I had obviously not attended to basic laptop housekeeping, "cleared my cookies". I am sure he did me a good turn, but one consequence of this "cookie clearing" is that I no longer see the "Replies" button to the right of the page. (There are other inconveniences, but they;re not pertinent here.)
Gone it is, and has resisted all attempts to restore it.
This means that I have no idea if someone has replied to a comment of mine or not…unless I actively go looking.
I did spot the Mod note yesterday in passing and thought I had explained myself…but clearly not. I really don't have the time or inclination to go back and have another go. I don't think anything I write now would make any difference.
I don't 'make shit up'. I don't spread 'misinformation'. I do obviously have a different way of looking at things from the norm…and I refuse to blindly accept without question all that either the government or mainstream media decide is the 'truth'. I read very widely from news sources from all over the world.
With regards to Covid …TS has become largely an echo chamber and Bearded Git's "'So children under 12 are are expendable Rosemary?" is typical of the sort of response I seem to elicit. Responses that are clearly unwarranted and simply wrong…but that largely go unchallenged. I have come to expect these kind of responses now, and see The Standard as being an almost hostile place for any type of discussion about the issue that has dominated the past eighteen months of all of our lives. I guess the 'keep to your bubble' message has been taken a little too far.
Thanks for letting me know about the Replies tab, that's pretty important.
I also don't believe you make shit up or spread misinformation and I disagree with Incognito's characterisation of your comments. I've had other stuff going on lately so haven't been following the debate on TS, but I understand what you are saying here. There's a lot of tension around the pandemic stuff because it's so close to home (as opposed say to arguing about the US election).
I"m tending to let comments slide except where they're going to cause immediate problems or tip over into flaming. I did say something to BG, but the comment wasn't bad enough to get out the bold pen. I can see how this is a problem when there's a lot of active moderation happening elsewhere. Not sure what can be done about that atm.
If you get a ban, I will look forward to seeing you back in due course, I think your presence here is good for the community and your comments are often thought provoking. Maybe consider writing a post for TS? That would change the echo chamber a bit. Not sure if you have been writing elsewhere lately?
(If you reply here but are banned I will see your reply in the back end)
I reckons it is of huge importance that you continue to encourage and facilitate 'robust discussion' on sex self ID and the misrepresentation of 'gender conversion therapy'. There's an awful lot of rabbit hole stuff going on at the moment that demands we all suspend fact and reality and pass around the teacups at the party. Left unchallenged the long term effects are going to be considerable. Let not future generations ask why the fuck we didn't speak up.
Please keep up this work. I'll be lurking and checking.
I have a proposal for you, Rosemary, and I sincerely hope you’ll take it.
You are a valued contributor on this site and I acknowledge and respect that.
I intend to ban you for a while for your series of comments on Covid vaccination and wasting Moderator time. I also intend to reply to at least some of them, for the record only, no further response from you is desirable. However, if you agree to stay off this topic of Covid vaccination, for two months, you are free to continue commenting here, as far as I am concerned. That will reset the current Moderation of your comments.
After clearing cookies, my experience has been that the Replies tab is automatically restored after the next time I make a comment. I guess logging in would have the same effect. @lprent can clarify.
Please stop your virtue signalling, playing the victim, and blaming others such as Bearded Git for your predicament, which is entirely of your own making. You are setting up a ‘nice’ drama triangle here [HT to RedLogix].
Discussion of Covid with you is an exercise in futility because of this and your strong negative bias.
If you really intend to not bother with the Moderation notes then I will go through your recent comments, for the record and clarification, and just ban you. It is up to you.
Claiming that "By definition it [the Pfizer vaccine] is not a vaccine." is clearly spreading misinformation. If the "Pfizer so-called vaccine" is "not a vaccine", then how to explain that "they do seem to prevent 90% hospitalisations" @7.1 [12:36 pm today] – that's some placebo effect!
If Rosemary genuinely believes the Pfizer vaccine is not a vaccine, then claiming such might not be disinformation, but it's certainly misinformation.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, we are all desperate for information. Where did the virus come from? Is there a cure? How can we keep staying safe? Will life get back to normal?
In the case of COVID-19, information can be a literal life-saver—when it’s true. Wrong information doesn’t help anyone and can even make things worse. And like a virus, wrong information can spread, causing what’s been called an infodemic.
And now more than ever, we are seeing the spread of two forms of wrong information: misinformation and disinformation. These two words, so often used interchangeably, are merely one letter apart. But behind that one letter hides the critical distinction between these confusable words: intent.
I think Rosemary misinterpreted the comment by Bearded Git. She’s a master at twisting other people’s words to feed her own bias and narrative.
If they throw the towel in only vaccinated people will enjoy some level of protection against the worst effects of Covid-19, as it stands. The vaccine has been approved in NZ for people of 12+, which means that children under 12 would be more likely to catch the virus, as indeed seems to be happening overseas in relatively highly vaccinated populations.
Bearded Git also said that he thinks that “NZ should aim to vaccinate 95% of the population including children.” [my emphasis]
IMO, Rosemary got the wrong end of the stick again and was barking up the wrong tree again. In fact, she did bring up “vaccinating children” in this thread @ 7.1 and stated her position on this again.
I think Rosemary misinterpreted the comment by Bearded Git. She’s a master at twisting other people’s words to feed her own bias and narrative.
That doesn't explain anything though, other than your view.
Rosemary brought up the under 12 thing, didn't say much, dropped a quote and linked a video. I can't see how BG got from that that she thinks kids are expendable. Rosemary can't see it either. Where did she say or even imply that?
She's allowed to express a differing opinion, even if people don't like it. That's robust debate.
Covid-19 is not just a flu and there is still much we do not know about it and its future variants. We have six babies aged under one who have Covid-19 in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Maybe that focusses the mind?
Lastly,
She's allowed to express a differing opinion, even if people don't like it. That's robust debate.
Sure, she is, but she was under Moderation and simply ignored it, consistently. She’s trying to weasel her way out of it, IMO, and I’m not having a bar of it. Let’s see what she says next, shall we?
Children under 12 are not being vaccinated, so they go without the protection when we “throw in the towel”.
Rosemary seems to think this is fine. Bearded Git seems to think this is not fine and phrased this as “expendable”, like it or not.
Sometimes, incopnito, you slide from simple interference- running to outright fucking lying aggression.
Nowhere did I imply that kids under 12 years old were expendable.
I quoted a doctor. A paediatrician no less, and a consultant to the Imperial College. Who after looking at all the available information, and no doubt conferring with his peers arrived at the following…which I will provide again…because I try to be helpful like that.
Dr Ruchi Sinha, consultant paediatrician, Imperial College Choosing not to vaccinate children would be unlikely to cause problems in the health service What matters is the burden of patient hospitalisation and actually there hasn't been as much with this delta variant They tend to be the children who have got their comorbidities, obesity, or severe neurological problems and those children are already considered for vaccination. Covid on its own in paediatrics is not the problem.
I suggest you take it up with the doctor. After all…what would he know about it…the UK being so far behind NZ?
I get that moderating on a site like this has challenges, and I am also beginning to realise that these days it there is a very fine line between what weka calls 'robust debate' and what you and others here (and MSM and the government) call 'misinformation' or 'disinformation'. What was considered a valid opinion or even 'truth' two years ago can now find itself slapped with a label and a ban hammer.
Last year, when it was obvious that there was increasing control over what could and what could not be said about Covid…and I think perhaps it was about the hypothesis that Sars-CoV-2 was a product of a laboratory experiment…I remarked that free speech and the truth might be the most significant victims of this shit show in the long term. I fear I was right.
I'll bother you no more incognito. I'll enjoy casting an eye over TS from well outside the tent.
I clearly stated that Bearded Git used the word “expendable”, not you!?
There was no “fucking lying aggression” in that at all; it is all in your mind and all yours, as usual.
If you’re not fine with not vaccinating children under 12 then you have a really funny way of expressing that.
Don’t hide behind a doctor, and why would I have to take it up with the doctor, as they didn’t comment even here, but you did. Own your own words, say what you mean and mean what you say.
It is now clear that vitamin D has important roles in addition to its classic effects on calcium and bone homeostasis. As the vitamin D receptor is expressed on immune cells (B cells, T cells and antigen presenting cells) and these immunologic cells are all are capable of synthesizing the active vitamin D metabolite, vitamin D has the capability of acting in an autocrine manner in a local immunologic milieu. Vitamin D can modulate the innate and adaptive immune responses. Deficiency in vitamin D is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as an increased susceptibility to infection.
From what I can see..the Consensus Statement from the MOH page I linked to has failed to recognise the link between lower vitamin D levels and immune response. With specific reference to Maori and Pasifica peoples the Ministry's stance is/was that because the bone density in these populations is fine, and they are at no greater risk of fractures, then low Vitamin D or the ability to manufacture Vit D from sunlight (due to darker skin) is not an issue.
Perhaps its time to look at which populations in NZ are at most risk from Covid…and maybe offer them some extra support.
[You’re going around here accusing others of making up shit and not listening and reading and here you are spinning your own BS narrative again.
In the factcheck.org link, it didn’t say at all what you asserted it said. In fact, it was almost the exact opposite!!! WTF!!! SSDD!!!
It could be a genuine misinterpretation on your behalf, but your claim is not true. All this would be less of a problem if weren’t for your confirmation bias and the seriousness of the topic.
I’m growing really tired of battling your false misguided narratives on all things Covid-19 and it has to end, one way or another – Incognito]
I don't know enough to say it gives better immunity as such (beyond lowering malnourishment rates in general), but I'd be interested to see transmission rates in more crowded homes vs UMC 2 rooms (not just bedrooms) per person homes.
yeah, the crowded housing seems a no brainer given what we know about overcrowding and other diseases, and delta's spread in households.
Even for people that want to ignore the role of nutrition and poverty in infectious diseases, there's still the issue of poverty and food poverty in how one might do things like socially distance, afford masks, afford to take time off work, afford to go to a doctor, afford to drive rather than take public transport and so on.
I used that particular article to demonstrate how mainstream media has addressed the issue of Vitamin D in relation to Covid.
A clue to the slant is the author choosing to use the "crackpot" quote from Frieden, knowing damn well that most folks read little other than the header and the opening paragraph. The author is setting the tone. They are a "factchecker" when all is said and done.
Yes, the author refers to studies that suggest Vitamin D might have uses beyond bone health and acknowledges there Vitamin D supports the immune system and might… tamp down overactive immune responses by tilting those responses toward less inflammatory ones, including by reducing the production of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling proteins. (which would be of use with Covid) …then proceeds to cast doubt on any claim that Vitamin D supplementation just might be of use.
Lack of Evidence for Vitamin D and COVID-19
Because the coronavirus is so new, little rigorous research has been done specifically on vitamin D and COVID-19.
Now why on earth did the "factchecking" author feel it necessary to make such a statement?
Coronaviruses are not new. Coronaviruses require a response from our immune systems and Vitamin D has been found to be immune supportive.
Especially in immune modulation. (Which the author has already told us) Which, with this particular coronavirus, could be of considerable help.
And returning to New Zealand and our vulnerable Maori and Pasifika populations (with regard to vitamin D levels)…readers may be interested in this…
"Burden of Disease Associated with low Vitamin D status in New Zealand"
Scragg, Grey, Stewart et al" which specifically references Pasifika peoples.
They say that the 'sun safe' policies should not necessarily apply to Pasifka peoples due to their low rates of skin cancer and low levels of Vitamin D and high disease burden that could be related in part to said low Vitamin D levels. There are graphs and projections and the usual, and they close with a recommendation for clinical trials and perhaps revising sun exposure advice, vitamin D supplementation or fortification of foods to assist with reduction of all cause mortality.
A pity that this paper was apparently ignored by our own Ministry of Health, who seem to still be fixated on Vitamin D's sole use in the human body being for bone health.
Me? I'd immediately advise and fund Vitamin D supplements for all at risk groups in NZ…or at least carry out widespread Vitamin D levels testing. Immediately.
Vaccinating Auckland first, which is where Pacifica are concentrated, covers all those bases. Thankfully the government agrees and is prioritising vaccine accordingly.
From Rosemary's 'debunked' as being "crackpot" link [8 June 2021]:
“There are many crackpot claims about miracle cures floating around,” he [Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr Tom Frieden] wrote, “but the science supports the possibility – although not the proof – that Vitamin D may strengthen the immune system, particularly of people whose Vitamin D levels are low.”
… Thus, while it’s a good idea to get enough vitamin D — pandemic or not — it’s too early to say that a lack of vitamin D makes COVID-19 worse, or that supplementing with vitamin D provides any protection against the disease.
Covid-19: Here's why Jacinda Ardern's British critics are wrong[1 Sept] Once the population is fully vaccinated by late 2021, and we know more about the implications of various policy options, New Zealand will be well placed to make an informed choice about continuing with an elimination strategy or switching to a looser suppression approach if that appears optimal. Until then, we hope the country can continue to keep its options open.
To be clear, once some NZers turn their backs on the Covid-19 elimination strategy that has undoubtedly saved many Kiwi lives, there's no going back. Since ‘Freedum Day’ in the UK there have been thousands of Covid-19 deaths.
NZ will get around to "living with covid-19" (straight out of the Plan B playbook) eventually – still, no hurry eh. I hope our govt will wait at least until the tragic global Covid death toll on Worldometers exceeds NZ's population, which with any luck won't be until November.
As I said above Jimmy, they have caved in. This from today's SMH:
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the state’s public health team changed its COVID-19 advice to the government in the past two days, making it clear “that we are not going to drive these numbers down, they are going to increase”.
“Now it’s up to us to make sure that they don’t increase too fast, and that they don’t increase too much relative to the number of people who are getting vaccinated every single day, every single week,” he said during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update.
Great cartoon. Judith Collins seemingly has a tantrum or tendency to bully whenever she is challenged, whether it be from her own caucus or Breakfast tv. Fair enough to put her case, but she should be able to handle questioning with more composure. Not a person to respect at all.
When you think how our PM has handled Hosking over the last few years when he has harangued her, what a difference. I never listen to him, but pick up comments from people, so am interested if he gives Collins an easy time in comparison when he interviews her.
When Jacinda got the hard questions from Hosking that she couldn't answer, she decided not to go on the show any more. I guess that is one way to handle it. At least Hipkins and Robertson still turn up although they do get a grilling.
He threw a hissy-fit nearly every time she came on his dog of a programme. Her composure, and her constant cheerfulness, obviously rattled him; he never had the wit or the knowledge to challenge her.
Even Paul Henry seemed gracious and adroit compared to Hosking.
Yes.. Remember earlier on when Hosking tried to tell Jacinda that our frontier controls needed more 'subtleties and nuances' like the Australian controls? As I remember, she smiled and replied, "Mike, if you have become a person of subtleties and nuances – Bless!" Hilarious.
And I have yet to hear Hoskings defend his argument, given what has since transpired in NSW and Victoria. If we do beat Delta Covid in this round, surely Hosking has to offer an apology? (But does he have a memory capable of recording anything unfavourable to his current obsession? No evidence of that to date.)
"Berejiklian is Australia's most successful premier. Her state is the best economic performer, she is popular, and she has led far and away Australia's most successful COVID response."
With Algeria finally running out of the last of its supplies, the scourge of leaded petrol for road transport has finally been eliminated from the world, in a significant victory for public health.
But this barbaric substance is still widely and legally used in New Zealand, as far as I can tell. In piston engine airplanes. It doesn't need to be, lead-free avgas is completely technically feasible.
Does anyone else have concerns about the person inside the Ministry of Health, who is leaking daily case numbers to the NZ Herald? Is it just a National party supporter or is it corruption? Is the NZ Herald paying an insider for information? The right wing influence of Australian owned news media can be seen around the world. Anybody?
Since the State Sector Act and Reserve Bank Act etc. the public service top echelon seems loaded to the gunwales with fifth columnists by design–well paid neo libs happy to receive bloated salaries courtesy of the tax payer–while frustrating any minuscule move away from monetarist managerialism.
No? Well even the Deputy Prime Minister is frustrated enough to have set up an Implementation Unit. The informants seem all over Govt. Depts, Immigration being a classic leak source among many others.
Is it actually a "leak", or simple liaison with the ministry?
Yes Minister used the line that "leaking" was an irregular verb: "I give confidential press briefings, you leak, they have been charged under S2A of the Official Secrets Act", but it's public information that isn't necessarily embargoed until a formal relase time.
Anyone here following the Canadian election? Trudeau who had a minority govt but could pass any legislation he wanted with help of labours sister party the NDP , the center left BQ or on rare occasions the Canadian conservative party. No party wanted to go to election and all parties especially the NDP had bent over backwards to pass legislation (and made some huge left wing amendments to liberal legislation) Trudeau who came second in the popular vote in the 2019 election but had a plurality of seats was polling well but only about 5% higher than the tory's called a snap election noone wanted in the middle of the fourth wave of a pandemic and with no platform other than attacking the other parties as boogie men is now consistent 2-6 % behind in the polls and it his party may not even be able to form a minority govt now.
The public are quite furious that he forced an election. His opponents all released platforms he hasn't, and the tory's have interesting policies like putting workers on the boards of companies and banning companies that receive govt money from laying off staff or giving executives bonuses. Trudeau is trying to make this pro choice moderate out to be a knuckle dragging fascist and it's not working, the guy doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body
The NDP labours sister party are the most liked and trusted. Their green party is in a state if shambles that makes national look functional.
What's most interesting is they are all seriously debating and coming up with housing policies that make nz parties look like right wing free market zealots in comparison. Though interestingly they all seem to be wanting to ban foreign ownership which is fascinating because nzlp got hell for wanting to do that…
This election is keeping me occupied 🤣 I find it fascinating how often nz politics mirrors nz politics for the last two decades of they elect a Tory we elect a Tory in our next election 2006 can 2008 nz) if they elect a young progressive we elect a young progressive in our next election 2015, 2017)
The interesting thing is regardless of whether Trudeau wins a minority, majority or loses this seems to be his last election campaign he's distrusted by the left the right and the center , he's less popular than his party which he brought from the dead and they won't want him to run again if he wins a majority, if he wins a minority he'll have put the covid outbreak at risk and wasted billions on an election noone wanted for nothing and will likely be rolled and if the conservatives win well he'll be gone.
He may go down as the Theresa May of Canadian politics all because of his cynical arrogance to throw an election two years earlier, funnily enough I and many others thought he was once the template all center left leaders should run on but his charisma hasn't led to policy reforms or the transformation people wanted and expected and hoped for…
And while much has been made about the similarities between Ardern and Trudeau (and we borrowed quite a bit of their ideas especially messaging and social media for 2017) I believe apart from being young excellent media managers that's about where it ends. Trudeau is a trust fund baby who lacks substance and is a cringe machine with comments like "people-kind" "she-lection" "she-cession" who bombards the public with so social virtues he doesn't believe in and while his organization has run a good covid response his governing has been marred in quite serious corruption allegations and he isn't let's say a brain box the way his father or Ardern are he recently said "I don't think about monetary policy" , imagine the hell an nz candidate would get for that, Ardern is an afept administrator and while I have issues with policies and the pace of transformation she is not style over substance, she has both , Trudeau junior is all style and no substance.
He did however save his party's fortunes when it looked like the NDP had finally replaced the liberals as the main party of the opposition he was able to increase his party's seats from 34 to 184 in two years but governing is a hard job. He also has broken a million promises , he promised 2015 would be the last campaign under first passed the post and then won a landslide, ironically much like the UK if they had proportion the center left would always be in power.
Here's hoping for an NDP win or at the very least a strong NDP that can bargain or gain concessions from the liberals I hope proportional rep is one of them.
There's no point looking for anything redemptive for the left in the Canadian election.
The Conservatives will get the greatest share, the centre left will decline, and the wee minorities like the Greens will continue to consign themselves to the 1-2% dustbin of history.
The Liberals would need to team up with the New Democratic Party to have a shot at power. Not likely so far.
This fool needs to be thrown out of the Party, schnell.
It hardly matters, now that the Labour Party has been burned to the ground by its Blairite rump, but surely this fellow should be automatically excluded for being stupid enough to speak up for untermenschen six years ago. It's verboten for any British Labour Party member to speak up for them now…
Uk labour is dead in the water unless it can form some kind of progressive electorate seat alliance with the lib Dems and greens to not split the center to center left vote.
The agreement could be any labour govt institutes proportional rep but weirdly the labour party who would have governed in every election since the 70s with PR is dead against it they'd rather be a large opposition than a coalition govt.
Also the party that most wants PR the liberals are dead set against deals, coalitions and negations so I don't understand what they think they'll do in a PR system if they don't like compromise or coalitions or working with other parties
After 2 massive electoral losses, Keir Starmer can figure out what his predecessors didn't.
More foolish Middle Eastern donkeys like George Galloway will continue to seek to split the vote and turn Labour to rubble. Galloway came very close to killing Labour off in the Batley and Spen by-election just a month ago. Corbyn just made it worse in 2019 and worse until he let Boris Johnson in, such was his ineptitude.
Corbyn and Galloway have just ruined much of Labour's traditional vote in the north. Corbyn should just retire. Galloway is just a perpetual loser.
Personally i find much to admire about Corbyn AND Galloway .I enjoy Corbyns quiet dogged pursuit of his principles and Galloways steely resolve to right wrongs and injustices .To tell the truth im in the habit of going to bed and watching MOATS but i seldom last the whole three hours !
Evn Tony MOATS is the mother of all talk shows avail apparently on multiple platforms i watch it on you tube.Its up to episode 115 i think atm is broadcast every sun night from london so we get it the following day
One of the most important things Corbyn did while leader of the UK Labour, was to unwittingly expose without question which individuals and institutions who were/are actually Left Progressives and those who are (left leaning?) Liberal Centrists…two quite different things…I find the results of that unveiling very helpful indeed.
And btw, who is another last high profile politician you can name who has been regularly on the front line in food banks, marching in solidarity for Palestinian Human rights raise his voice over the treatment of Julian Assange?
What Corbyn exposed was simply nothing more than himself. You either show you have the capacity to achieve and hold power, or you just don't. Hell even Milliband got closer to power than Corbyn.
Considering the forces of power amassed against him making damn sure he didnt come to power how could corbyn have brought about a different outcome ?Round the clock media attacks were only a part of the strategy .He was deliberately brought down imo by concerted effort on many fronts .Perhaps some of us can remember the antics of a certain pr company called Cosby and Texter and what they managed to achieve both in nz and aus fairly recently ?Add in an intelligence service or two maybe and his chances became slim indeed .
" Hell even Milliband got closer to power than Corbyn."…no he didn't, and he only got as far as he did because he was no threat to the status quo and power..
Critics must accept Jeremy Corbyn has created largest political party in Europe – and work with him
Corbyn is an unfortunate historical blip of – as you point out – incoherent ideological noise – and has bequeathed to Keir Starmer a party in pretty average shape. They are still in the polls about where they were when Corbyn finished the election.
Jeremy Corbyn rattled the ruling class cage–no mistake there. Senior British Military figures openly threatened a coup if he was ever installed in 10 Downing St! His social democratic model and international solidarity outlook was way too much for the generals and British capital and finance capital.
Jeremy’s two key mistakes imo were…
1. not playing hardball with the underminers–he should have vigorously deselected right wing candidates, and made most of head office reapply for their jobs.
2. waffling on Brexit–all that was needed was to say…we will respect the vote of the people whichever way it goes AND implement “For the many not the few” policy of re-nationalisations etc.
What Corbyn exposed quite clearly in the UK (and to some extent, here) is that half the people we hear who identify as 'Left' of 'Progressive' etc, shit their pants when a actual live Left wing politician comes along and looks like they might actually get into a position to make the radical changes they thought they believed in…turns out most of them are not now and never will be on the side of radical progressive change, and when push comes to shove will actively work against it, as we have seen…Lenin got that one right!
A career portfolio manager's climate change predictions.
“Climate change is the next major mega-trend, and we believe it represents the biggest investment opportunity since the internet,” says portfolio manager at Munro Partners James Tsinidis.
“We’re just at the beginning of the next big S-curve, a massive and sustainable decades-long growth trend.”
Corbyns quiet dogged pursuit of his principles and Galloways steely resolve to right wrongs and injustices
Agreed. Principled individuals in politics are rare. Craig Murray is another person whose current predicament hasn't caught the attention of many here.
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
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In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
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To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
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Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
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Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
Don Brash writes – There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 19 include:PM Christopher Luxon is expected to hold his weekly post-cabinet news conference at 4:00pm on Monday.Parliament is not sitting this week. It resumes next week for a two-week sitting session up to and ...
Hi,Thanks to all the beautiful Worms who came to the LA Webworm popup on Saturday.It was a way to celebrate the online store we launched last week — and it was super special.As I talk about a lot, I really value our community here — and it was a BLAST ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
We have been on the road in England, squeezing down narrow lanes, flying up the M6, loving hedgerows and villages and cathedrals, liking the 21st century less.There have been moments when it’s felt like a movie trope. The pub in Exford, lovely seventeenth century bar, almost more dogs than people, ...
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Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
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Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
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And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
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Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
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Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
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Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
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This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
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Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
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Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Garrow, Editorial Web Developer The government has handed down its budget for 2024–25. It’s delivered a $9.3 billion surplus for the financial year just about to finish but is forecasting a $28.3 billion deficit for next year. Here’s the key points: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Jim Chalmers has produced a benign third budget aimed at soothing hard-pressed voters agitated about their high cost of living and punishing interest rates. At the same time he has walked a tightrope, trying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND A $300 energy rebate for all households from July 1 and a 10% increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance are key measures in a budget targeting cost-of-living relief that put ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised an “inflation-fighting and future-making budget” and he has delivered by introducing measures aimed at directly bringing down inflation. Combined, his A$300-per-household energy rebate and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised an “inflation-fighting and future-making budget” and he has delivered by introducing measures aimed at directly bringing down inflation. Combined, his A$300-per-household energy rebate and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been bitten by the giveaway bug. This budget contains not only the well-foreshadowed tax cuts for all taxpayers, but a range of new spending measures in health, education, infrastructure, aged ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews French authorities have imposed a curfew on New Caledonia’s capital Nouméa and banned public gatherings after supporters of the Pacific territory’s independence movement blocked roads, set fire to buildings and clashed with security forces. Tensions in New Caledonia have been inflamed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Greste, Professor of Journalism and Communications, Macquarie University Governments and their agencies wield awesome power. At times, it is quite literally the power over life and death. That is why in any functioning democracy, we have robust checks and balances designed ...
As the world commemorates the 71st Everest Day, it's not just a celebration of human achievement but also a reflection of the enduring bond between New Zealand and Nepal. This day marks the historic feat of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa ...
Individuals in Wellington, led by City Councillor Nīkau Wi Neera, are working to use the ‘hecklers veto’ to shut down Inflection Point , a gender-critical event to be held at a Te Papa venue this weekend featuring speakers such as Bob McCoskrie ...
The transgender community, whānau & allies will rally outside Tākina/Wellington Convention Centre against anti-trans confederation “Inflection Point NZ,” who are hosting a conference to encourage parliamentarians to restrict trans people’s ...
A strategic asset for Auckland that has been fought over for years as either sacrosanct or a sacred cow looks certain to be sold and the proceeds of around $1.3 billion put in a new investment fund. A year after bitter political struggle ended in a compromise in which Auckland ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – the Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonians lined up in long queues outside shopping centres to buy supplies in the capital Nouméa today amid political unrest in the French territory Demonstrations, marches and clashes with security forces erupted yesterday and French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told the public broadcaster he had called ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Chalmers, Senior Lecturer in Human Movement, University of South Australia The tragic death of Manly rugby league player Keith Titmuss in 2020 due to exertional heat stroke is a reminder of the life-threatening nature of the condition. Titmuss died after ...
Internet Governance Project founder Milton Mueller asked “is the Christchurch Call accomplishing anything?” Increasingly it seems the only thing it hopes to achieve is killing off free expression. ...
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has cancelled his visit to New Caledonia due to pro-independence unrest throughout the French Pacific territory. Peters and a delegation of other ministers was due to visit the capital Nouméa later this week. Nouméa’s La Tontouta International Airport is expected to remain closed ...
Audition by Pip Adam and Lioness by Emily Perkins are both shortlisted for the fiction award at the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Here the authors discuss awards, writing, Selling Sunset, review culture, Zoolander and more.Pip Adam: Whenever I think about writers and our ambitions, I can’t help ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Broomhall, Director, Gender and Women’s History Research Centre, Australian Catholic University Andrea Mantegna, Minerva (Athena) expelling Vices from the Garden of Virtue, from the Studiolo of Isabella d’Este, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua (c. 1499–1502).Louvre Museum/Wikimedia Commons Wartime has often presented opportunities ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images The stories Aotearoa New Zealand tells itself about the history of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi have evolved considerably over time. For many decades, starting with the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Carter, Associate Professor, RMIT University Aurora visible from Cope Cope, Victoria on May 11 2024.cafuego/Flickr, CC BY-SA On Saturday evening before Mother’s Day, Australians witnessed a rare celestial spectacle: a breathtaking display of aurora australis, also known as the southern ...
Tara Ward watches as TVNZ’s long-running current affairs show bows out with humility and grace.We have just 12 days left to view the final episode of Sunday on TVNZ+. In just over a week, there will be no more evidence of the award-winning current affairs show on the digital ...
To celebrate New Zealand Music Month, Sophie Ricketts wears a different band T-shirt every day. Here she picks her top 20. I love music. I love listening to it, I love seeing it live, and I love buying a T-shirt from the band or artist I’ve enjoyed. Every year, during ...
Research from AA Insurance reveals more and more people are taking pride in their garage. Meet three New Zealanders using their space in creative ways.If you think of a garage, you might picture a dark room with a parked car. There might be some tools on the wall, or ...
Government spending cuts have forced Scion, the dedicated Crown research institute charged with growing forestry exports, to propose shedding a significant number of scientists. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yasir Arafat, Senior Research Associate, Edith Cowan University asharkyu, Shutterstock As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated ...
NZDF personnel will support the New Zealand National Commemorative Service at the Cassino War Cemetery and a New Zealand Service of Remembrance at the Cassino Railway Station, next week. ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a masseuse tells us how much she earns and where she spends it. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 33 Ethnicity: NZ EuropeanRole: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Byrne, Honorary Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne For many reasons, the 2024 US presidential election will be like no other. Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign is unprecedented. Never before has a former president who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meru Sheel, Associate Professor and Epidemiologist, Infectious Diseases, Immunisation and Emergencies Group, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney We know vaccines have been a miracle for public health. Now, new research led by the World Health Organization has found vaccines ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chrissy Severinsen, Associate Professor in Public Health, Massey University Getty Images Becoming a mother is a significant identity shift, and many new mums struggle. Up to 18% of New Zealand mothers experience depression and anxiety after giving birth. The first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron Teo, Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Southern Queensland ABC Much has been written and produced about white men’s fetishisation of Asian women (crudely nicknamed “yellow fever”). The ABC’s comedy series White Fever breaks new ground by exploring an ...
The children’s minister could have been legally brought before the tribunal after all, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The end of ...
Seen comments on social media about eating bugs? Byron Clark explains the short history of our latest conspiracy. “No, Bill Gates nor Klaus Schwab has not funded the research done here,” reads an August 2023 Facebook post from Otago Locusts, the first farm in Aotearoa rearing insects for human consumption. ...
Rural post is essential but expensive, and residents are worried about its future. It’s 9.30am on a Monday morning in rural Manawatū, and farmer Mairi Whittle is on an all-terrain vehicle with her two young sons. After moving sheep from one slope to another, she swings by the letterbox. Opening ...
Remediating Mt Ruapehu if things go pear-shaped could cost more than $80m – and the new operators aren’t on the hook for any of it The post DoC responsible for $87.5m Ruapehu remediation appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Unfortunately, the term ‘woke’ is back in the news and for the most stupid of reasons: Act leader David Seymour is now designating certain types of food as ‘woke’ or not. As the Government makes cuts to school lunches, let us consider what ‘woke’ might mean here. ...
Analysis: The Government’s decision to return to a mega-style prison seems to be missing a clear business case The post Mega-prison’s missing business case appeared first on Newsroom. ...
New Zealand authors hate houseplants. They are frightened of them, have nightmares about them, regard them as bad omens; they are afraid, too, of the responsibility of caring for them, and think of them as an alien species that will take over the selfish planet of their interior lives. There ...
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More than 160 languages are spoken in New Zealand. Week-long events celebrate the unique languages heard across the country, and this week the focus is on the Rotuman language. According to Unesco, the Rotuman language is listed as endangered along with four other Pacific languages – Tokelauan, Niuean, Cook Islands ...
China’s massive military buildup and aggressive actions in the South China Sea are creating “volatility” that the controversial Aukus pact can help counter, the UK’s top diplomat in New Zealand says. British High Commissioner Iona Thomas will deliver a speech to the NZ Institute of International Affairs on Tuesday evening, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The third Chalmers’ budget will deliver a surplus of $9.3 billion for this financial year – the second successive surplus of the Albanese government. This will be the first time there have been back-to-back ...
RNZ News A New Zealand pro-Palestinian protester who climbed onto the roof of the Christchurch City Council building has been handcuffed and taken away in a police car. About 20 protesters gathered near the Christchurch Art Gallery today. Officers were called to the scene near Worcester Boulevard about 11.20am, and ...
The Council for International Development (CID) presented a compelling case to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committees this week at Parliament, urging the New Zealand Government to significantly boost its Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Greenhow, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Bond University In recent years, a growing number of professional athletes are medically retiring from sport, particularly in some of Australia’s most popular football codes. In April, Collingwood player Nathan Murphy, 24, medically retired ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Scott, Professor of Health Economics, Monash University David Fuentes Prieto/Shutterstock Deciding whether to wait and see if your health condition improves or go to a GP can be a difficult task. You might be unsure about where to go, whom ...
The two faced hag collins just blamed Ardern for parliament sitting yesterday, reckoned its because Ardern didnt use her power to suspend parliament till level 3!!
Unfuckingbelievable,
On the am show.
Collins is doing just fine for the Labour/Greens/MP. With her still there the next election will be a doddle.
… two faced hag …
Careful now, wags. Puckish Rogue gets let out of his cage next month and he'll want revenge on all those that have been sacrilegious to his chosen one.
Poor PR. Things have changed so much since he was cast out. He must be feeling so let down by JC.
Missed PR.
not too long now.
I miss P R too!
I am absolutley no fan of Judith C, but I watched a tiny bit of the interview and I seriously wonder if she might need some help…….I geniunely do.
Anker I agree with you. Collins seemed to display some underlying anger issues this morning. She is becoming disturbingly edgy. Despite the nonsensical, aggressive responses from Collins, Indira Stewart did a great job.
Need help??
collins is happy being a nasty piece of work, never forget dirty politics, and paying back double.
And what did Ryan Bridge have to say about that?
Still on the fence about Bridge, he called out richardson for being angry winger ho has it made the other day .
I'm going to be generous and say hes giving collins enough rope.
And in Wellington today it is level 3. What a difference a day makes. I will tune in again today to question time in parliament.
What an hilarious interview on TVNZ Breakfast (sorry don't know how to link) Indira wasn't taking any of Karen Collins's BS and the true angry, self serving and deranged Leader of the National Party came shining through. You just know each time she smiles another woodland animal dies.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/covid-19-delta-outbreak-judith-collins-blasts-ridiculous-tvnz-breakfast-interview-with-indira-stewart/O3DJ22PVZCMOOPLJLDZGU4VKTM/
Wow, it's so long since I've seen Breakfast, that interviewer is great! Kim Hill level of unflappability.
Chris Hedges has a good old fashioned rage against the United States in its withdrawal from Afghanistan:
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/31/the-graveyard-of-empires-strikes-back-but-the-rage-of-a-dying-power-can-be-dreadful/
I particularly liked the quotes from the Carter era.
Now if only Hedges could extricate himself from the 80's.
Empire is driven by one underlying consideration – the necessity to control sunshine and resources. The US was never short of these things, and it's military projection was much less about the control of territory, but the control of the political agenda during the Cold War. Well that purpose is long over and they never replaced it with anything. An insular and inward looking US public have elected one President after another who promised the least in terms of engagement with the wider world. Biden's precipitate and bungled exit from Afghanistan being merely the most recent nadir in this process.
Hedges article is of course deeply selective in his targets – he omits the immense expansion of trade and human welfare that is also the direct result of this same post-WW2 period US led period of relative security and stability. His inability to tear himself away from gloating over the costs that were paid for this has a direct parallel with those fools who would 'defund the police' because every now and then they shoot someone in egregious circumstances.
Just to be very clear on this – my argument has never been that the US were any good at being 'world policeman', but even their incompetent efforts at the task have on the whole delivered far more benefit than cost. On this basis my next proposition is – if the principle of global security is so beneficial even on such a flawed basis – what would it take to do the job properly?
You know that 'defunding the police' was about removing from them jobs for which they were demonstrably unsuited, eg mental healthcare by firearm, and paying better people to do those things?
Redlogix so reliably repeats the US "exceptionalist," line these days.
You wonder if his paycheck comes from the CIA?
Please, don’t accuse another Author and Moderator of this site of being a paid tool of anybody or anything. I’ve handed out long bans for this kind of shit and I don’t make exceptions. It doesn’t make for a strong debating point unless the identity of the commenter is publically known and they are publically known to be on a pay-list and even then it is almost always (!) just taking pot-shots at the person and not addressing the gist of their comment.
While it is possible to ban an author from commenting, it's rare and not over something like this. It also creates problems for them putting up posts and being able to comment on their own posts.
My view is that authors get to say what they like (within reason), but I agree that it would be good if KJT could dial back the ad hom stuff. Probably RL too (haven't been following closely, but there's obvious aggro between the two of them).
It sets a bad example that others who are not Authors are likely to follow, as does happen here and as such, it spoils the vibe and kills constructive debate.
It was a plea and a general warning to all, not a Moderation note. If necessary, we can take this to the back-end, yes? I might just get something off my chest there, anyway.
yes, I think back end is a good idea 👍
I chose to ignore this comment because I could not see anything constructive coming from responding to it.
It's one of those silly things we all say when commenting in the heat of the moment.
And very quickly poor communities at the pointy end of this demand to 'defund the police' realised that the very real reduction in security it entailed came at a cost to them.
By all means train and manage the police better to weed out those incapable of doing the job properly. and provide for far better mental health care. But it fairly quickly became obvious these good intentions were being used by radicals as a fig-leaf to dismantle policing altogether.
And while you and I can both imagine an ideal world of perfect people in which security is not required, absent that utopia ordinary people, usually the most vulnerable, are those who depend on the police most of all.
And by extension the same argument applies to nations.
Well said.
Several unpleasant direct interactions with police in my youth in both NZ and AUS, gave me a very dim view of them to say the least. That doesn't change the fact that society needs and always will need them.
Calls for defunding are 'baby with the bathwater'. Select your police men/women better. Train and support them better. Hell, even pay them better.
IMHO – Defunding arguments are technically similar to those used by the right to justify the offloading of state assets. The argument went that these publicly owned companies were run badly (often true). This morphed into public ownership causes mismanagement (not true), therefore they must be sold.
Agree also with the nation level angle. A void will always be filled by one of the global swinging dicks.
Have you managed to miss the point AGAIN? There are jobs the police should not be doing, and no amount of 'weeding out' will change that. It's almost as if you counter an argument by pretending it's something else. I'm sure that's not the case though.
He knows, he's been told, willful ignorance.
Just imagine if Hedges' turned his eyes to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi royal family survives only because of their fealty to the USA and western interests, so why would he bother?
Because it's time to stop analysing easy targets.
The Saudi royal family is not an "easy target", going by what happened to Jamal Khashoggi.
Obviously.
That's why it's so much easier for Hedges' to take yet another hit at the United States, rather than do hard work.
Compared to any other major power the United States has an exceedingly open society and a heavily analysed military making it comparatively easy to examine the United States forever … which they obviously do … while criminal states in much more controlled societies just keep expanding underneath much scrutiny.
Check out Al Jazeera's critical stories of itself or its neighbours. Not.
The World Press Freedom Index shows which states tolerate any public dissent at all let alone serious book-length scrutiny.
https://rsf.org/en/ranking
Of those who are least free, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Vietnam have massive militaries and will hunt any reporter down to death no problem.
Writing actual investigative journalism on nasty non-US states probably doesn't garner anywhere near as many lucrative clicks from convergence moonbats with a very blinkered worldview that just want the same old recycled polemic that strokes their confirmation bias.
More work, less reward, why bother?
A fair point for the selfish, but not much use for a rapidly darkening world in which the last proponents of an open society have zero supporters on either the left or the right.
@RedLogix
"my argument has never been that the US were any good at being 'world policeman', but even their incompetent efforts at the task have on the whole delivered far more benefit than cost"…..
I wonder how many times throughout the last 250 years a line just like that has been used to justify all the abuses of power, misery, death and suffering imposed by the unbridled greed, corruption and ego in the name of white western imperialism?….
But then if history has taught us nothing else about man, it has taught us that powerful men and nations will find the most creative, often outrageous cover and along with their willing enablers, use them to justify any and all acts of hubris, atrocity, villainy conducted in the name of their project…..which is why the saying (and title of a classic Killdozer LP)…’Intellectuals Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite ‘is as much a fact today as it has been throughout history, as they have always been one of the powers greatest enablers.
You demand the world should be full of perfect people like noble rescuers such as yourself, act outraged when it isn't, and turn me into the evil persecutor. Thus setting up a distracting drama and totally failing to address the actual comment.
It's a childish game,
@RedLogix
No, what is childish is your unwavering, dear I say it, fundementalist adherence to defending a pernicious regime that has inflicted pain and misery around the world to millions of humans…but because it isn’t in your backyard you tell us it is all but benign (the world's police force!)…a regime I will remind you, that has along with the UK been the primary reason why the gift of free energy has been completely thrown away, and they fucked the planet for future generations while they were at it, in 150 short years…don’t you get it Red Logix? The ideology you defend has blown it, completely and utterly….for all of us, and more importantly all our future generations ..so no, it is you who needs to grow up, grow some balls and take a look in the mirror.
Double down on the drama eh?
if this turns into a flame war, it's you who will end up banned. Maybe consider not taking the bait.
Even just one of US Imperialism’s very long list of unwarranted, illegal and unwanted (apart from the applicable ruling classes and toadies) interventions in other nations, is enough reason to put them in the naughty corner forever.
Lets take Chile in 1973…the ‘Chicago Boys’ dream, and in retrospect a demo version of neo liberalism to the extreme. A CIA assisted violent overthrow of an elected social democratic Govt. Horrific. No excuse. All boats were not floated.
Pinochet divided the long narrow country into 15 “economic zones”, and tortured and murdered thousands of decent people. I worked with the NZ Chilean exile community in 70s and had first hand accounts.
Is Kissinger too old to be waterboarded? nah…such crims should be pursued till the end.
Why is it that it's only ever the 'crimes' of US that concern you?
In 1973 the Cold War was still in full swing. You can only be incredibly grateful it remained 'cold' and never escalated to a direct confrontation with the Soviets. Yet on the peripheries it was as intense and brutal as any war.
The main answer I can think of to my rhetorical question above is that closet marxists such as yourself still haven't gotten over the fact that the US won.
The USA has not “won” a war since 1945! And it was a justifiable anti fascist war–now neo fascists walk the streets of America and stormed the Capitol on January 6. How the mighty have fallen.
US Imperialism and the US arms industry get involved in asymmetrical contests and end up getting their arse kicked again and again.
Wrong, Tiger. I have it on pretty reliable (American) authority, that they 'won' the war against Grenada in 1983.
Interesting you mention Grenada, I just looked it up yesterday for some reason and it all came back–New Jewel movement factions, Cuban construction workers fighting US marines on beaches–what a debacle.
Except that as we now see, the US hasn't "won" and as with the horrendous waste of time, effort, human life, environmental and social destruction in Afghanistan, all US interventions can now be truly seen as waste and a brake on human and environmental growth and potential. How can any sane person when confronted by the climate disaster that is now in front us talk up the type of US blindness of rape and pillage that produced this mess? Driven only by the profit on the bottom line or gdp? Well, now, if there is still time we may get a chance to see how much faster and equitably human potential can be delivered when the god given right to hoard multiple billions of capital for personal use is removed and returned to the productive base. This is the model that China offers. We can try it with NZ characteristics. The wonder is that their is still a world after being subjected to US imperial greed. Thankyou Joe Biden for admitting defeat and giving us some extra time to find a new direction.
I have noticed a significant effort among trumpetistas to lay blame for the Afghan fiasco on Biden – as if the fellow left to wind up a failed invasion can bear more responsibility than the clown who started a war with no exit strategy – W for worthless Bush. It was always going to end like this.
I guess they figure that, absent Biden, der schlumpenfurher is a shoe-in.
I don't know who the best candidate for US president might be, but Trump is almost certainly the worst one.
Thanks Ad.. you have to admire Hedges, immovable on his principles and fearless in his critiques of the powerful…which is why he is no longer New York Times Middle East Bureau Chief I guess.
Huh, is that why?
I had always been under the impression one of the major reasons he was no longer Middle East Bureau chief for the Times was that he failed to apply the simplest journalistic skepticism and fact checking when he passed on the Iraq WMD lies from the likes of Chalabi. Thereby helping the Shrub administration manufacture consent for the 2003 Iraq war under false pretences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges
Not to mention his long term intimate relationship with plagiarism.
https://newrepublic.com/article/118114/chris-hedges-pulitzer-winner-lefty-hero-plagiarist
Learn something every day.
So Hedges was a collaborator with the Bush regime, was he? That's almost as funny as your Russiagate posts over the last four years.
"Collaborator" is your word, not mine, and it's probably a bit harsh.
But Hedges was one of the few people actually in a position to have made a difference, had he applied even a modicum of skepticism and critical thinking and fact-checking. But he didn't. Not even a smidgen of those basic journalistic skills.
You'd think in the interim he might have recognised his failings and made an effort to sharpen his independent and critical thinking skills. But nah, it seems he's found it much easier to grift a living by continually recycling the same slightly reworked tired rants at the same tired uncritical audience that craves familiar repetition above all.
Deaths In Other Nations Since WW II Due To Us Interventions By James A. Lucas (countercurrents.org)
"The overall conclusion reached is that the United States most likely has been responsible since WWII for the deaths of between 20 and 30 million people in wars and conflicts scattered over the world".
A pretty Good attempt at beating the Nazi’s record.
Before we even get into the current deaths due to US saunctions, blockades and bombings, happening right now,
“Benefits were more than costs”.
Bullshit.
You are so predictable. You keep repeating the same idiotically selective claims over and over.
The irrefutable data shows that in the period since the end of WW2 due to an immense expansion of trade – only made possible because the US created and paid for the security and commercial infrastructure that enabled it – human populations have increased, life expectancy has lengthened and the quality of life for billions has expanded dramatically. Before WW2 most of the human race lived in absolute poverty – now its around 15% or less. Erasing that benefit to literally billions of the poorest people in the world as "bullshit" betrays your professed claim to care for them as very hollow indeed.
Easy to predict the long winded tirade of US exceptionalist BS from you.
At least you made it a bit shorter this time
At some point someone will run the alternative history of Europe and the developed world post WW2 as if the US hadn't stepped in.
If the US decides that it really doesn't care about the expansion of totalitarian regimes outside of the Western Hemisphere – and this is the direction it's heading in – then expect this experiment to get a run this decade.
"If the US decides that it really doesn't care about the expansion of totalitarian regimes outside of the Western Hemisphere "
Really, that is a bit childish….
List of authoritarian regimes supported by the United States
https://en.everybodywiki.com/List_of_authoritarian_regimes_supported_by_the_United_States
America’s 25 Most Awkward Allies
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/americas-most-awkward-allies-103889/
etc etc…got to go to work now…but you know as well as everyone here, that that list is long and sordid.
Unlike the compilers of those lists, the US had more pragmatic choices to make. As I said above – the intent of the Cold War was to control the politics and contain the Soviets.
If they ever had a longer term goal it was the not unreasonable hope that by engagement they could hope to influence these nations away from totalitarianism and toward more open, liberal societies. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. And even today of the 200 odd nations on earth, the number you'd actually want to live in if you had a choice barely exceeds 50 or so.
I'm not going to ask you if a 'pragmatic' 'engagement' like Albright made, one that caused the death of 500,000 children, was a price they had to pay to 'influence a nation away from totalitarianism and toward a more open, liberal society'. I think the answer might scare me. Be real. Everything the USA does, and has done is purely in the interest of money and power. To suggest the underlying reasons are out of the concern for the happiness of other humans beings, altruism … well, each to his own.
That is laughable.
The USA has replaced at least 40 and counting, progressive and democratic regimes with totalitarian ones.
Over 83 and counting deliberate ,"destabilisations.
The idea that the USA is a force for peace and stability is, on the evidence, comic
Sadly as far as the USA goes a few commentors here have adopted a '4 Legs good 2 Legs Bad' mentality waste of time engaging…
Some , "commentators on here" don't go around making excuses for murderous baby killing regimes, just because they are ," on our side".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58380791
@RedLogix
"hope that by engagement they (The USA) could hope to influence these nations away from totalitarianism and toward more open, liberal societies."
So even though no actual facts support in any way your white man triumphalist fantasy story, in-fact the actual facts tells us your story is the opposite, and is nothing but pure fantasy…(some would say propaganda, but for propaganda to work it has to have a element of truth in it, which is why everyone knows the notion of the USA spreading democracy is bullshit)…but yet here you are, back yet again, straight faced telling us yet again to believe up is down, black is white.
[RL: Blatant race baiting. Take a week off.]
See moderation note above.
Geopolitics as cabaret.
But darlin' it's cold outside.
I really must go.
lol. Same here.
Unfortunately we seldom get to choose our overlords as they tend to impose themselves upon us. With the British Empire gone and the US hegemony fading one wonders who the next oppressor nation will be that steps into the vacuum ….
I suggest you listen to the old Tom Lehrer song about the rocket scientist Wernher von Braun.
In particular take note of the last line of the last verse.
"You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese!" says Wernher von Braun."
A multi polar world may be where we head to next , where there is no singular all powerful oppressor.Have we become so habituated to the neighbourhood bully we can no longer imagine a world without him?
Personally, I'm more worried by western oligarchs like Bezos, Branson, and Musk (Boggis ,Bunce and Bean) add Thiel,who with their immense wealth and power can drive, unchecked, technology and human aided evolution in ways that continue their power but are not in the best interests of humanity and the life humanity depends on
When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.
Not sure four or five bullies beating the weak to assert their dominance is better than one.
I thought for a moment, McFlock. that you were commenting upon the 'discussions' above at #4.
What happens when flicking through interminable squabbles trying to find the end.
Still the elephants have trumpeted, and the ants rejoice……….
Must be the threads with significant input from a contributor who I'm not allowed to reply to for fear of doom. No point in reading such threads. If there happens to be any accurate medical information or insightful geopolitical commentary, I'll have to pick it up from elsewhere.
I'm interested in Judith's insistence on vaccination targets. She wants a specific number – yesterday (I think) she was saying to Corin Dann that 70-75% will "give us options". She didn't say what those options might be, nor did she have any targets for what those options might produce, e.g. less than x excess deaths and less than y excess hospitalisations annually. She was not pressed on where she got the 70-75% number from. Was it from the Doherty Institute, a faithful echo of Scomo's 'plan', or simply an imitation of what the UK has actually done? Or based on something else?
This insistence on a hard number, yet total vagueness on what it might lead to, looks methodologically inconsistent. So it seems that what she's really after is an arbitrary target (preferably one that's not very high) because it will provide a justification for doing what National have always wanted to do – open up.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10229022787053264&set=gm.3106590699573622
Cool cartoon
The insistence on hard numbers is so further down the line she might have the possibility of being deep and meaningful in the House.
"To the Prime Minister: Why did she say on the 14th of June there would 3,128,716 people vaccinated by November 21st and yet there are only 3,128,402 vaccinated? Did she deliberately mislead the House?"
The arbitrary target is the PM.
Collins needs to consider what the efficacy (effectiveness) is in the Pfizer vaccine before she counts her chickens.
120 cases in Victoria today. My guess is that Victoria will now throw in the towel like NSW.There goes the Oz bubble.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-nsw-victoria-and-act-covid-19-cases-continue-to-grow-more-pfizer-jabs-on-the-way-20210831-p58nku.html
….throwing in the towel...might be more of a case of accepting the inevitable.
UK and Europe looking at only testing people with symptoms. The vaccines offer 50% efficacy for Delta, although they do seem to prevent 90% hospitalisations. Vaccinated people still carry similar viral load as unvaccinated. Vaccinated will be offered booster shots. Herd immunity and elimination no longer feasible. Calls for greater emphasis on immune support and therapeutics.
And vaccinating children?
Dr Ruchi Sinha, consultant paediatrician, Imperial College Choosing not to vaccinate children would be unlikely to cause problems in the health service What matters is the burden of patient hospitalisation and actually there hasn't been as much with this delta variant They tend to be the children who have got their comorbidities, obesity, or severe neurological problems and those children are already considered for vaccination. Covid on its own in paediatrics is not the problem
So children under 12 are expendable Rosemary? You have to be kidding.
I think NZ should aim to vaccinate 95% of the population including children. Then we might contemplate gradually opening borders with strict conditions.
Who said children under 12 are expendable ?
Nowhere does anyone say that.
You're making shit up.
What would they know in the UK about this? You did listen and read, didn't you?
[Before you start accusing others of making up shit you must attend to the Moderation note for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30-08-2021/#comment-1812340.
In addition, I have another Moderation note ready for you to your response to another Moderation note, which was lacking and mostly avoiding the note: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30-08-2021/#comment-1812409.
Are you going to do the mahi or take the ban? You are not in Pre-Moderation because I have no time to monitor it, so please don’t do anything stupid – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:06 pm.
Bearded Git…"So children under 12 are expendable Rosemary? "
My response to that was, appropriately, "Who said "children under 12 are expendable"?
…and answering my own question… "Nowhere (in the article clip linked to)does anyone say that."
Perhaps Bearded Git could answer my question?
[In no way did this address your Moderation. You are now in Pre-Moderation, so that I can deal with all your problematic existing and future comments. You’re taking way too much Moderation time by ignoring Moderation notes and keep adding more to it – Incognito]
He can, but you need to respond to Incog's moderation in the other thread or you will be banned. It's not a hard one to sort out, I've commented in the other convo that I think it's a matter of semantics and nuance in language.
A young friend visited shortly before Lockdown, and horrified that I had obviously not attended to basic laptop housekeeping, "cleared my cookies". I am sure he did me a good turn, but one consequence of this "cookie clearing" is that I no longer see the "Replies" button to the right of the page. (There are other inconveniences, but they;re not pertinent here.)
Gone it is, and has resisted all attempts to restore it.
This means that I have no idea if someone has replied to a comment of mine or not…unless I actively go looking.
I did spot the Mod note yesterday in passing and thought I had explained myself…but clearly not. I really don't have the time or inclination to go back and have another go. I don't think anything I write now would make any difference.
I don't 'make shit up'. I don't spread 'misinformation'. I do obviously have a different way of looking at things from the norm…and I refuse to blindly accept without question all that either the government or mainstream media decide is the 'truth'. I read very widely from news sources from all over the world.
With regards to Covid …TS has become largely an echo chamber and Bearded Git's "'So children under 12 are are expendable Rosemary?" is typical of the sort of response I seem to elicit. Responses that are clearly unwarranted and simply wrong…but that largely go unchallenged. I have come to expect these kind of responses now, and see The Standard as being an almost hostile place for any type of discussion about the issue that has dominated the past eighteen months of all of our lives. I guess the 'keep to your bubble' message has been taken a little too far.
[Letting this last one go through – Incognito]
Thanks for letting me know about the Replies tab, that's pretty important.
I also don't believe you make shit up or spread misinformation and I disagree with Incognito's characterisation of your comments. I've had other stuff going on lately so haven't been following the debate on TS, but I understand what you are saying here. There's a lot of tension around the pandemic stuff because it's so close to home (as opposed say to arguing about the US election).
I"m tending to let comments slide except where they're going to cause immediate problems or tip over into flaming. I did say something to BG, but the comment wasn't bad enough to get out the bold pen. I can see how this is a problem when there's a lot of active moderation happening elsewhere. Not sure what can be done about that atm.
If you get a ban, I will look forward to seeing you back in due course, I think your presence here is good for the community and your comments are often thought provoking. Maybe consider writing a post for TS? That would change the echo chamber a bit. Not sure if you have been writing elsewhere lately?
(If you reply here but are banned I will see your reply in the back end)
Thanks weka.
I reckons it is of huge importance that you continue to encourage and facilitate 'robust discussion' on sex self ID and the misrepresentation of 'gender conversion therapy'. There's an awful lot of rabbit hole stuff going on at the moment that demands we all suspend fact and reality and pass around the teacups at the party. Left unchallenged the long term effects are going to be considerable. Let not future generations ask why the fuck we didn't speak up.
Please keep up this work. I'll be lurking and checking.
I have a proposal for you, Rosemary, and I sincerely hope you’ll take it.
You are a valued contributor on this site and I acknowledge and respect that.
I intend to ban you for a while for your series of comments on Covid vaccination and wasting Moderator time. I also intend to reply to at least some of them, for the record only, no further response from you is desirable. However, if you agree to stay off this topic of Covid vaccination, for two months, you are free to continue commenting here, as far as I am concerned. That will reset the current Moderation of your comments.
It’ll require mutual trust.
Deal?
After clearing cookies, my experience has been that the Replies tab is automatically restored after the next time I make a comment. I guess logging in would have the same effect. @lprent can clarify.
That’s exactly what I said here: https://thestandard.org.nz/how-to-use-the-replies-and-search-tabs-on-this-site/#comment-1814184.
What utter bollocks!
Please stop your virtue signalling, playing the victim, and blaming others such as Bearded Git for your predicament, which is entirely of your own making. You are setting up a ‘nice’ drama triangle here [HT to RedLogix].
You are misinterpreting and misrepresenting a lot of things about Covid-19, particularly about vaccination. For example, see this from Brigid: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01-09-2021/#comment-1812893.
Discussion of Covid with you is an exercise in futility because of this and your strong negative bias.
If you really intend to not bother with the Moderation notes then I will go through your recent comments, for the record and clarification, and just ban you. It is up to you.
On 1 August, in Open Mike, Rosemary wrote [@12:25 pm]:
Claiming that "By definition it [the Pfizer vaccine] is not a vaccine." is clearly spreading misinformation. If the "Pfizer so-called vaccine" is "not a vaccine", then how to explain that "they do seem to prevent 90% hospitalisations" @7.1 [12:36 pm today] – that's some placebo effect!
If Rosemary genuinely believes the Pfizer vaccine is not a vaccine, then claiming such might not be disinformation, but it's certainly misinformation.
See My Moderation note @ 4:27 pm.
I also can't see where Rosemary said that, so please be more careful in how you frame your argument BG.
I think Rosemary misinterpreted the comment by Bearded Git. She’s a master at twisting other people’s words to feed her own bias and narrative.
If they throw the towel in only vaccinated people will enjoy some level of protection against the worst effects of Covid-19, as it stands. The vaccine has been approved in NZ for people of 12+, which means that children under 12 would be more likely to catch the virus, as indeed seems to be happening overseas in relatively highly vaccinated populations.
Bearded Git also said that he thinks that “NZ should aim to vaccinate 95% of the population including children.” [my emphasis]
IMO, Rosemary got the wrong end of the stick again and was barking up the wrong tree again. In fact, she did bring up “vaccinating children” in this thread @ 7.1 and stated her position on this again.
That doesn't explain anything though, other than your view.
Rosemary brought up the under 12 thing, didn't say much, dropped a quote and linked a video. I can't see how BG got from that that she thinks kids are expendable. Rosemary can't see it either. Where did she say or even imply that?
She's allowed to express a differing opinion, even if people don't like it. That's robust debate.
sigh
Children under 12 are not being vaccinated, so they go without the protection when we “throw in the towel”.
Rosemary seems to think this is fine. Bearded Git seems to think this is not fine and phrased this as “expendable”, like it or not.
I have already provided loads of examples of Rosemary twisting words and conclusions, so I don’t quite follow why you paint it as just my view!?
If we were are going to have a genuine debate about vaccinating children, here are some recent links from NZ to kick it off:
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/07/28/dont-underestimate-covid-in-children.html
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/six-children-aged-under-one-have-covid-19-in-nz-bloomfield
Covid-19 is not just a flu and there is still much we do not know about it and its future variants. We have six babies aged under one who have Covid-19 in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Maybe that focusses the mind?
Lastly,
Sure, she is, but she was under Moderation and simply ignored it, consistently. She’s trying to weasel her way out of it, IMO, and I’m not having a bar of it. Let’s see what she says next, shall we?
@ Incognito
Children under 12 are not being vaccinated, so they go without the protection when we “throw in the towel”.
Rosemary seems to think this is fine. Bearded Git seems to think this is not fine and phrased this as “expendable”, like it or not.
Sometimes, incopnito, you slide from simple interference- running to outright fucking lying aggression.
Nowhere did I imply that kids under 12 years old were expendable.
I quoted a doctor. A paediatrician no less, and a consultant to the Imperial College. Who after looking at all the available information, and no doubt conferring with his peers arrived at the following…which I will provide again…because I try to be helpful like that.
Dr Ruchi Sinha, consultant paediatrician, Imperial College Choosing not to vaccinate children would be unlikely to cause problems in the health service What matters is the burden of patient hospitalisation and actually there hasn't been as much with this delta variant They tend to be the children who have got their comorbidities, obesity, or severe neurological problems and those children are already considered for vaccination. Covid on its own in paediatrics is not the problem.
I suggest you take it up with the doctor. After all…what would he know about it…the UK being so far behind NZ?
I get that moderating on a site like this has challenges, and I am also beginning to realise that these days it there is a very fine line between what weka calls 'robust debate' and what you and others here (and MSM and the government) call 'misinformation' or 'disinformation'. What was considered a valid opinion or even 'truth' two years ago can now find itself slapped with a label and a ban hammer.
Last year, when it was obvious that there was increasing control over what could and what could not be said about Covid…and I think perhaps it was about the hypothesis that Sars-CoV-2 was a product of a laboratory experiment…I remarked that free speech and the truth might be the most significant victims of this shit show in the long term. I fear I was right.
I'll bother you no more incognito. I'll enjoy casting an eye over TS from well outside the tent.
What is wrong with your reading comprehension?
I clearly stated that Bearded Git used the word “expendable”, not you!?
There was no “fucking lying aggression” in that at all; it is all in your mind and all yours, as usual.
If you’re not fine with not vaccinating children under 12 then you have a really funny way of expressing that.
Don’t hide behind a doctor, and why would I have to take it up with the doctor, as they didn’t comment even here, but you did. Own your own words, say what you mean and mean what you say.
You’re always so evasive when challenged.
'immune support' aka vaccination
There we go again with the 'all the eggs in the vaccine basket' theme.
Such a pity that our own Ministry of Health seems to have failed to keep up with the science. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166406/
Abstract
It is now clear that vitamin D has important roles in addition to its classic effects on calcium and bone homeostasis. As the vitamin D receptor is expressed on immune cells (B cells, T cells and antigen presenting cells) and these immunologic cells are all are capable of synthesizing the active vitamin D metabolite, vitamin D has the capability of acting in an autocrine manner in a local immunologic milieu. Vitamin D can modulate the innate and adaptive immune responses. Deficiency in vitamin D is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as an increased susceptibility to infection.
From what I can see..the Consensus Statement from the MOH page I linked to has failed to recognise the link between lower vitamin D levels and immune response. With specific reference to Maori and Pasifica peoples the Ministry's stance is/was that because the bone density in these populations is fine, and they are at no greater risk of fractures, then low Vitamin D or the ability to manufacture Vit D from sunlight (due to darker skin) is not an issue.
There has been numerous studies looking at the Vitamin D levels of Covid patients and suggestions that Vitamin D supplementation might be a useful tool in the box have been 'debunked' as being "crackpot". A pity.
Perhaps its time to look at which populations in NZ are at most risk from Covid…and maybe offer them some extra support.
[You’re going around here accusing others of making up shit and not listening and reading and here you are spinning your own BS narrative again.
In the factcheck.org link, it didn’t say at all what you asserted it said. In fact, it was almost the exact opposite!!! WTF!!! SSDD!!!
It could be a genuine misinterpretation on your behalf, but your claim is not true. All this would be less of a problem if weren’t for your confirmation bias and the seriousness of the topic.
I’m growing really tired of battling your false misguided narratives on all things Covid-19 and it has to end, one way or another – Incognito]
An airdrop of 2,000 tonnes of oranges over South Auckland.
raise benefit levels and minimum wage and take the GST off fresh produce.
(ignoring housing crisis elephant in the living room).
Not sure how that raises vaccine or COVID19 protection.
But hey more income to the poor is sure to help generally.
Raising living standards naturally gives one better immunity to viruses, bacteria, or any other greebly.
That's been known for ..oh about 120 years
You are saying that's been proven on a COVID19 population?
Would you like to join the band with Rosemary and the Reckons?
I don't know enough to say it gives better immunity as such (beyond lowering malnourishment rates in general), but I'd be interested to see transmission rates in more crowded homes vs UMC 2 rooms (not just bedrooms) per person homes.
Rosemary and the Reckons, and the WHO.
http://www.emro.who.int/nutrition/news/nutrition-advice-for-adults-during-the-covid-19-outbreak.html
yeah, the crowded housing seems a no brainer given what we know about overcrowding and other diseases, and delta's spread in households.
Even for people that want to ignore the role of nutrition and poverty in infectious diseases, there's still the issue of poverty and food poverty in how one might do things like socially distance, afford masks, afford to take time off work, afford to go to a doctor, afford to drive rather than take public transport and so on.
Edit
Gah!!
You’re not worth replying to.
"Not sure how that raises vaccine or COVID19 protection."
Why would it be an either or? Obviously it should be a both/and.
See my Moderation note @ 2:34 pm.
I used that particular article to demonstrate how mainstream media has addressed the issue of Vitamin D in relation to Covid.
A clue to the slant is the author choosing to use the "crackpot" quote from Frieden, knowing damn well that most folks read little other than the header and the opening paragraph. The author is setting the tone. They are a "factchecker" when all is said and done.
Yes, the author refers to studies that suggest Vitamin D might have uses beyond bone health and acknowledges there Vitamin D supports the immune system and might… tamp down overactive immune responses by tilting those responses toward less inflammatory ones, including by reducing the production of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling proteins. (which would be of use with Covid) …then proceeds to cast doubt on any claim that Vitamin D supplementation just might be of use.
Lack of Evidence for Vitamin D and COVID-19
Because the coronavirus is so new, little rigorous research has been done specifically on vitamin D and COVID-19.
Now why on earth did the "factchecking" author feel it necessary to make such a statement?
Coronaviruses are not new. Coronaviruses require a response from our immune systems and Vitamin D has been found to be immune supportive.
Especially in immune modulation. (Which the author has already told us) Which, with this particular coronavirus, could be of considerable help.
And returning to New Zealand and our vulnerable Maori and Pasifika populations (with regard to vitamin D levels)…readers may be interested in this…
"Burden of Disease Associated with low Vitamin D status in New Zealand"
Scragg, Grey, Stewart et al" which specifically references Pasifika peoples.
They say that the 'sun safe' policies should not necessarily apply to Pasifka peoples due to their low rates of skin cancer and low levels of Vitamin D and high disease burden that could be related in part to said low Vitamin D levels. There are graphs and projections and the usual, and they close with a recommendation for clinical trials and perhaps revising sun exposure advice, vitamin D supplementation or fortification of foods to assist with reduction of all cause mortality.
A pity that this paper was apparently ignored by our own Ministry of Health, who seem to still be fixated on Vitamin D's sole use in the human body being for bone health.
Me? I'd immediately advise and fund Vitamin D supplements for all at risk groups in NZ…or at least carry out widespread Vitamin D levels testing. Immediately.
Vaccinating Auckland first, which is where Pacifica are concentrated, covers all those bases. Thankfully the government agrees and is prioritising vaccine accordingly.
From Rosemary's 'debunked' as being "crackpot" link [8 June 2021]:
"Pity" eh.
"There we go again with the 'all the eggs in the vaccine basket' theme."
I'd rather you didn't mis-interpret what I've written.
The vaccine offers immunity support. That is actually a fact.
I've not implied it is the only way to increase immunity.
Noted.
Vaccines prevent 90% of hospitalisations from Covid-19 infections? Sign me up!
Just kidding Rosemary – I'm already vaccinated.
Unite against COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz/
To be clear, once some NZers turn their backs on the Covid-19 elimination strategy that has undoubtedly saved many Kiwi lives, there's no going back. Since ‘Freedum Day’ in the UK there have been thousands of Covid-19 deaths.
NZ will get around to "living with covid-19" (straight out of the Plan B playbook) eventually – still, no hurry eh. I hope our govt will wait at least until the tragic global Covid death toll on Worldometers exceeds NZ's population, which with any luck won't be until November.
I believe Victoria are no longer pursuing an elimination strategy.
As I said above Jimmy, they have caved in. This from today's SMH:
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the state’s public health team changed its COVID-19 advice to the government in the past two days, making it clear “that we are not going to drive these numbers down, they are going to increase”.
“Now it’s up to us to make sure that they don’t increase too fast, and that they don’t increase too much relative to the number of people who are getting vaccinated every single day, every single week,” he said during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-nsw-victoria-and-act-covid-19-cases-continue-to-grow-more-pfizer-jabs-on-the-way-20210831-p58nku.html
That is grim given the increased death and injury that will occur there.
Couldn't agree more Ad.
Great cartoon. Judith Collins seemingly has a tantrum or tendency to bully whenever she is challenged, whether it be from her own caucus or Breakfast tv. Fair enough to put her case, but she should be able to handle questioning with more composure. Not a person to respect at all.
When you think how our PM has handled Hosking over the last few years when he has harangued her, what a difference. I never listen to him, but pick up comments from people, so am interested if he gives Collins an easy time in comparison when he interviews her.
When Jacinda got the hard questions from Hosking that she couldn't answer, she decided not to go on the show any more. I guess that is one way to handle it. At least Hipkins and Robertson still turn up although they do get a grilling.
"When you think how our PM has handled Hosking over the last few years when he has harangued her, what a difference."
I suppose so. Are you suggesting that Judith should behave like Jacinda? Throw a hissy-fit and refuse to appear for an interview again?
The hissy-fits were entirely those thrown by Hosking. He was clearly incensed by Jacinda Ardern's seemingly effortless ascendancy over him.
Hosking was hissy fitting for weeks after it, I doubt Adern spared him a second thought.
I'm hearing Collins is having a blinder in the house today!
He threw a hissy-fit nearly every time she came on his dog of a programme. Her composure, and her constant cheerfulness, obviously rattled him; he never had the wit or the knowledge to challenge her.
Even Paul Henry seemed gracious and adroit compared to Hosking.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16092015/#comment-1071308
Yes.. Remember earlier on when Hosking tried to tell Jacinda that our frontier controls needed more 'subtleties and nuances' like the Australian controls? As I remember, she smiled and replied, "Mike, if you have become a person of subtleties and nuances – Bless!" Hilarious.
And I have yet to hear Hoskings defend his argument, given what has since transpired in NSW and Victoria. If we do beat Delta Covid in this round, surely Hosking has to offer an apology? (But does he have a memory capable of recording anything unfavourable to his current obsession? No evidence of that to date.)
God yes please.
Clearly Indira Stewart rattled the Judith this morning. Caught out in another lie.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/126249973/covid19-talofa-judith–collins-hasnt-been-in-touch-says-pasifika-church-community
With Algeria finally running out of the last of its supplies, the scourge of leaded petrol for road transport has finally been eliminated from the world, in a significant victory for public health.
https://grist.org/regulation/leaded-gasoline-lead-poisoning-united-nations/
But this barbaric substance is still widely and legally used in New Zealand, as far as I can tell. In piston engine airplanes. It doesn't need to be, lead-free avgas is completely technically feasible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avgas
The dates given in your link seem to be very old. Was this product really successful and is it in use today?
Z avgas low lead, available in NZ, still has some lead.
https://z.co.nz/keeping-business-on-the-move/fuels/aviation-fuel-2/
Gotta say, my old K75 goes better on the red petrol.
There are good reasons for not wanting the octane level raised with aromatics, instead of lead, when an engine failure means falling out of the sky.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-nsw-victoria-and-act-covid-19-cases-continue-to-grow-more-pfizer-jabs-on-the-way-20210831-p58nku.html
This from a letter in Oz found on the above link:
"Renewable power generation hit a record in August – 31.6% of all power generated in Australia was from wind, solar and hydro. Coal was down to 62%."
Such a triumph when coal-generated power is down to 62%-scary stuff. Still good to see renewables are increasing rapidly in Oz.
Does anyone else have concerns about the person inside the Ministry of Health, who is leaking daily case numbers to the NZ Herald? Is it just a National party supporter or is it corruption? Is the NZ Herald paying an insider for information? The right wing influence of Australian owned news media can be seen around the world. Anybody?
Just looks like good old fashioned daily back-channelling to me.
Beehive staff do it all the time: When the story is this repetetive and dull, you've got to keep the media sweet with fresh stuff.
Yes Nic I share your concern. If these numbers are being leaked for political purposes what else is being leaked? It stinks.
Since the State Sector Act and Reserve Bank Act etc. the public service top echelon seems loaded to the gunwales with fifth columnists by design–well paid neo libs happy to receive bloated salaries courtesy of the tax payer–while frustrating any minuscule move away from monetarist managerialism.
No? Well even the Deputy Prime Minister is frustrated enough to have set up an Implementation Unit. The informants seem all over Govt. Depts, Immigration being a classic leak source among many others.
MoH though is a special worry during a pandemic.
Implementation Unit has to do with policy implementation, not whether infection figures are released.
Hipkins' lead of the information flow is better than you would find anywhere else.
Is it actually a "leak", or simple liaison with the ministry?
Yes Minister used the line that "leaking" was an irregular verb: "I give confidential press briefings, you leak, they have been charged under S2A of the Official Secrets Act", but it's public information that isn't necessarily embargoed until a formal relase time.
Anyone here following the Canadian election? Trudeau who had a minority govt but could pass any legislation he wanted with help of labours sister party the NDP , the center left BQ or on rare occasions the Canadian conservative party. No party wanted to go to election and all parties especially the NDP had bent over backwards to pass legislation (and made some huge left wing amendments to liberal legislation) Trudeau who came second in the popular vote in the 2019 election but had a plurality of seats was polling well but only about 5% higher than the tory's called a snap election noone wanted in the middle of the fourth wave of a pandemic and with no platform other than attacking the other parties as boogie men is now consistent 2-6 % behind in the polls and it his party may not even be able to form a minority govt now.
The public are quite furious that he forced an election. His opponents all released platforms he hasn't, and the tory's have interesting policies like putting workers on the boards of companies and banning companies that receive govt money from laying off staff or giving executives bonuses. Trudeau is trying to make this pro choice moderate out to be a knuckle dragging fascist and it's not working, the guy doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body
The NDP labours sister party are the most liked and trusted. Their green party is in a state if shambles that makes national look functional.
What's most interesting is they are all seriously debating and coming up with housing policies that make nz parties look like right wing free market zealots in comparison. Though interestingly they all seem to be wanting to ban foreign ownership which is fascinating because nzlp got hell for wanting to do that…
This election is keeping me occupied 🤣 I find it fascinating how often nz politics mirrors nz politics for the last two decades of they elect a Tory we elect a Tory in our next election 2006 can 2008 nz) if they elect a young progressive we elect a young progressive in our next election 2015, 2017)
The interesting thing is regardless of whether Trudeau wins a minority, majority or loses this seems to be his last election campaign he's distrusted by the left the right and the center , he's less popular than his party which he brought from the dead and they won't want him to run again if he wins a majority, if he wins a minority he'll have put the covid outbreak at risk and wasted billions on an election noone wanted for nothing and will likely be rolled and if the conservatives win well he'll be gone.
He may go down as the Theresa May of Canadian politics all because of his cynical arrogance to throw an election two years earlier, funnily enough I and many others thought he was once the template all center left leaders should run on but his charisma hasn't led to policy reforms or the transformation people wanted and expected and hoped for…
Stormy days are on the horizon eh
And while much has been made about the similarities between Ardern and Trudeau (and we borrowed quite a bit of their ideas especially messaging and social media for 2017) I believe apart from being young excellent media managers that's about where it ends. Trudeau is a trust fund baby who lacks substance and is a cringe machine with comments like "people-kind" "she-lection" "she-cession" who bombards the public with so social virtues he doesn't believe in and while his organization has run a good covid response his governing has been marred in quite serious corruption allegations and he isn't let's say a brain box the way his father or Ardern are he recently said "I don't think about monetary policy" , imagine the hell an nz candidate would get for that, Ardern is an afept administrator and while I have issues with policies and the pace of transformation she is not style over substance, she has both , Trudeau junior is all style and no substance.
He did however save his party's fortunes when it looked like the NDP had finally replaced the liberals as the main party of the opposition he was able to increase his party's seats from 34 to 184 in two years but governing is a hard job. He also has broken a million promises , he promised 2015 would be the last campaign under first passed the post and then won a landslide, ironically much like the UK if they had proportion the center left would always be in power.
Here's hoping for an NDP win or at the very least a strong NDP that can bargain or gain concessions from the liberals I hope proportional rep is one of them.
There's no point looking for anything redemptive for the left in the Canadian election.
The Conservatives will get the greatest share, the centre left will decline, and the wee minorities like the Greens will continue to consign themselves to the 1-2% dustbin of history.
The Liberals would need to team up with the New Democratic Party to have a shot at power. Not likely so far.
This fool needs to be thrown out of the Party, schnell.
It hardly matters, now that the Labour Party has been burned to the ground by its Blairite rump, but surely this fellow should be automatically excluded for being stupid enough to speak up for untermenschen six years ago. It's verboten for any British Labour Party member to speak up for them now…
https://twitter.com/trendylefty/status/1432705834925105157
Uk labour is dead in the water unless it can form some kind of progressive electorate seat alliance with the lib Dems and greens to not split the center to center left vote.
The agreement could be any labour govt institutes proportional rep but weirdly the labour party who would have governed in every election since the 70s with PR is dead against it they'd rather be a large opposition than a coalition govt.
Also the party that most wants PR the liberals are dead set against deals, coalitions and negations so I don't understand what they think they'll do in a PR system if they don't like compromise or coalitions or working with other parties
No need for any formal tie before election date.
Plenty of scope afterwards.
After 2 massive electoral losses, Keir Starmer can figure out what his predecessors didn't.
More foolish Middle Eastern donkeys like George Galloway will continue to seek to split the vote and turn Labour to rubble. Galloway came very close to killing Labour off in the Batley and Spen by-election just a month ago. Corbyn just made it worse in 2019 and worse until he let Boris Johnson in, such was his ineptitude.
Corbyn and Galloway have just ruined much of Labour's traditional vote in the north. Corbyn should just retire. Galloway is just a perpetual loser.
Personally i find much to admire about Corbyn AND Galloway .I enjoy Corbyns quiet dogged pursuit of his principles and Galloways steely resolve to right wrongs and injustices .To tell the truth im in the habit of going to bed and watching MOATS but i seldom last the whole three hours !
Hi Weston, I also hold both Corbyn and Galloway in high regard, what is MOATS please?
Evn Tony MOATS is the mother of all talk shows avail apparently on multiple platforms i watch it on you tube.Its up to episode 115 i think atm is broadcast every sun night from london so we get it the following day
Cheers Weston, I see it also plays on Sputnik News ..
One of the most important things Corbyn did while leader of the UK Labour, was to unwittingly expose without question which individuals and institutions who were/are actually Left Progressives and those who are (left leaning?) Liberal Centrists…two quite different things…I find the results of that unveiling very helpful indeed.
And btw, who is another last high profile politician you can name who has been regularly on the front line in food banks, marching in solidarity for Palestinian Human rights raise his voice over the treatment of Julian Assange?
When Corbyn was LOTO, this was just one of his and his team’s contributions delivered to food banks for Christmas
https://skwawkbox.org/2020/12/21/when-corbyn-was-loto-this-was-just-one-of-his-and-his-teams-contributions-delivered-to-food-banks-for-christmas/
Politics isn't therapy, witting or unwitting.
What Corbyn exposed was simply nothing more than himself. You either show you have the capacity to achieve and hold power, or you just don't. Hell even Milliband got closer to power than Corbyn.
Considering the forces of power amassed against him making damn sure he didnt come to power how could corbyn have brought about a different outcome ?Round the clock media attacks were only a part of the strategy .He was deliberately brought down imo by concerted effort on many fronts .Perhaps some of us can remember the antics of a certain pr company called Cosby and Texter and what they managed to achieve both in nz and aus fairly recently ?Add in an intelligence service or two maybe and his chances became slim indeed .
" Hell even Milliband got closer to power than Corbyn."…no he didn't, and he only got as far as he did because he was no threat to the status quo and power..
Critics must accept Jeremy Corbyn has created largest political party in Europe – and work with him
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/john-prescott-critics-must-accept-8626296
This is why he didn't get into power…..it's a simple as that.
Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn: Redistribute UK wealth, tax the rich
https://apnews.com/article/elections-london-international-news-jeremy-corbyn-general-elections-72b180c44ca67f73ce5d5ebe21269790
Backed by Corbyn, over 3,000 march for ‘free Palestine’ in London
https://www.timesofisrael.com/backed-by-corbyn-hundreds-march-for-free-palestine-in-london/
In the UK 2017 election, Corbyn led Labour to 262 seats. Against Theresa May.
In the UK 2019 election, Corbyn led Labour to 202 seats. A drop of 60. Against Boris Johnson.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_general_elections#/media/File:UK_popular_vote.svg
Corbyn is an unfortunate historical blip of – as you point out – incoherent ideological noise – and has bequeathed to Keir Starmer a party in pretty average shape. They are still in the polls about where they were when Corbyn finished the election.
Nothing to do with the unrelenting white anting from within, of course!
Theresa May had worse from within and still won.
It really is Corbyn who lost for Labour.
Sure.
Jeremy Corbyn rattled the ruling class cage–no mistake there. Senior British Military figures openly threatened a coup if he was ever installed in 10 Downing St! His social democratic model and international solidarity outlook was way too much for the generals and British capital and finance capital.
Jeremy’s two key mistakes imo were…
1. not playing hardball with the underminers–he should have vigorously deselected right wing candidates, and made most of head office reapply for their jobs.
2. waffling on Brexit–all that was needed was to say…we will respect the vote of the people whichever way it goes AND implement “For the many not the few” policy of re-nationalisations etc.
Yes that would have helped in 2019.
What Corbyn exposed quite clearly in the UK (and to some extent, here) is that half the people we hear who identify as 'Left' of 'Progressive' etc, shit their pants when a actual live Left wing politician comes along and looks like they might actually get into a position to make the radical changes they thought they believed in…turns out most of them are not now and never will be on the side of radical progressive change, and when push comes to shove will actively work against it, as we have seen…Lenin got that one right!
A career portfolio manager's climate change predictions.
“Climate change is the next major mega-trend, and we believe it represents the biggest investment opportunity since the internet,” says portfolio manager at Munro Partners James Tsinidis.
“We’re just at the beginning of the next big S-curve, a massive and sustainable decades-long growth trend.”
https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/climate-change-biggest-investment-opportunity-since-the-internet-20210826-p58m4w
Agreed. Principled individuals in politics are rare. Craig Murray is another person whose current predicament hasn't caught the attention of many here.
https://twitter.com/craigmurrayorg
My open letter to Dr Ayesha Verrall on why the conversion practices prohibition legislation bill is such a terrible idea. It really is.
https://www.publicgood.org.nz/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Letter-to-Dr-Ayesha-Verrall.pdf