@Les
The comment does look at alcohol providers being made to take notice and accept some cost of their externalities. Alcohol dependence which gets called ‘hospitality’ fuels the bars profitability – they are more alcohol peddlers than anything else, and mainly useful when they are live music venue for our musicians. Alcohol sellers are so immersed in their own addiction to squeezing out maximum money from the live bodies they are hosting that ordering them to shut before 4 a.m. is greeted angrily
Police have been active in pointing out the rise in incidents in the late night/early morning fuelled by alcohol. From their point of view they are being used as street cleaners, trying to keep order and prevent self-harm or harm to others by people under drug influence who are not open to reason. So tazers seem a reasonable option to them in the circumstances. In a table of control methods I looked at on google, tazers cause far less injuries than dogs for instance. What would be better than suggesting liquor sellers pay half of the tazer cost, is to suggest government show some guts, backbone and integrity and enact laws to nationally close bars earlier, and require application to local councils for special licences to hold Oktoberfest type events, despite all the moans and groans of the hosps.
Add to that a closing module requiring bars etc. to shut their doors to new customers an hour before closing (with exceptions to allow individuals or couples to join friends in the first 20 minutes) plus to announce the closing hour to their patrons, stop serving alcoholic liquor then and advise them real hospitality will be offered for the next hour, at half normal price. They would then only serve coffee or tea – not fruit juice or water which could be the cover for vodka and other mixes, and sandwiches or savouries. And further, have some live music or play NZ music cds, including classical and concert music. (This is very effective in helping people decide to leave. I have seen it used, it works to clear people in a less excited, more rational way.) In that hour they would disperse in dribs and drabs and in better more relaxed mood. This should be a model imposed on all liquor sellers, who would have to put up and shut up.
The entire alcohol system that we have in NZ is, IMO, built around the fact that most people don’t have the requisite self-control. Just look at the noise the alcohol industry makes when limiting opening hours is mentioned.
People with self-control simply plan around the opening hours and enjoy themselves anyway. The rest just go out and get trashed because they can keep buying and buying.
So, should the alcohol industry pay for the damage caused by alcohol? Damn right they should because they’re the ones profiting from it.
Your an example confused.
User pays why should non drinkers subsidize an industry that kills 600 people a year and does $6 billion worth of damage to the economy every year wastes up to 75% of police time 1/2 our prison population is estimàted to be their because of Alcohol related crime.
Infused.
That is an interesting idea. I guess the main advantage of that vs excise tax is the financial incentive to reduce harm of alcohol. However, reducing alcohol harm does mean reducing consumption, so they may figure they are better off paying the hospital bill and decide to do nothing.
[lprent: Why? You have no point to your abuse. You know what the rules are. Pointless abuse is unwelcome. If it is a persistent behaviour we assume you don’t want to comment here. Read the policy again. ]
“Young, drunk and violent people account for more than half of all suspects dealt with by police force, including Tasers, police figures show.”
What they don’t say there is it’s often the same people that the Police are dealing with. Alcohol itself isn’t the problem IMO, it’s more that some people shouldn’t drink.
I’d wager that if they started recording the names of those causing aggravation when they’re pissed they’ll find it’s a small percentage of assholes who can’t handle the drink that ruin it for the rest of us. We’re not all violent drunks.
Rather than ban or restrict booze I think they’d be better off starting to ban certain people from drinking. That wouldn’t completely stop alcohol-fueled offences but I’m sure it would drastically reduce them.
Listening to Tim Grosser this morning and the snake oil flowing off his slippery silver tongue. Trying to credit the falling over of the TPPA signing down to his hard line stance
on dairy access. I call bulshit to that, he is milking it for all it’s worth. None of the automotive big players could agree, and our position was relatively insignificant. It is astounding the media can’t smell a rat and call him out.
Kathryn Ryan’s fawning fan-girl interview with Jerome Kaino:
Yet another opportunity wasted
Radio NZ National, Monday 3 August 2015, 10:10 a.m.
Today’s “feature interview” was a rather dismal showcase of Kathryn Ryan at her worst. Interviews with sports people are rarely very deep or enlightening, but this one was particularly bad, with the nadir being reached as she chuckled indulgently about the way Kaino had described Graham Henry as “a man who communicates with his eyebrows”. Of course she resolutely avoided anything controversial. We have already had a look at Jerome Kaino’s ability to talk bullshit… http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16072015/#comment-1045606
I flicked the following email to Kathryn Ryan. Keep listening, fellas—she might read it out!…..
Why did you not ask Jerome Kaino the hard question?
Dear Kathryn,
I am disappointed you chose not to confront Jerome Kaino with the evidence that he and his colleagues in the All Black forward pack cynically cheated throughout that farcical 2011 RWC final.
You could also have asked him what he thought of the performance, or non-performance, of South African Craig Joubert, the referee of that match.
They really aren’t. Nobody owing allegiance to NZ is killing, wounding or doing GBH to the Queen. Nobody is levying war against NZ or assisting an armed force to invade the country or is using force to overthow the government of New Zealand.
I agree with you, the TPP is a bad idea – particularly ISDS – and secret negotiations are not in the best interests of NZ. I much more favour a network of bilateral agreements, but hyperbole doesn’t help the cause.
“A conspiracy usually involves a group entering into a secret agreement to achieve some illicit or harmful objective.”
Actually they are levying war against the 11 countries involved in the conspiracy.
The 0.01% is a waging which is commonly known as a currency war against every country on this planet. They are doing so by using fraudulent financial instruments and printing money out of thin air repayable with interest. They did so with Greece, They are doing so with the Ukraine and they are doing it with us. John Key loaded us up with $ 100 billion in debt and more than $112 Billion (2012 and counting) in Derivatives. It may not kill people with weapons but it kills people never the less.
The TPPA is just the icing on the cake. It is a conspiracy to commit treason no matter how you look at it!
He explains land is scarce in China, with a lot of it being owned by the government, so people are looking for alternative ways to invest their savings.
He says Chinese people have opted to buy property abroad, rather than invest in the stock market, as it seems like a safer option with a greater guaranteed return.
“When you have one of them here, 10 of them will come; when you have 10 of them here, 100 will come, and then the price [of property] will keep going up, and it’ll almost never come down.
“They come in bunches… and it’s almost impossible to argue they’ll stop coming unless there’s some restriction in terms of how many Chinese can buy in this country, otherwise there’s no stopping them.”
+100 Jim in Tokyo…agreed!…. this will be a major Election issue…and this is how they do it….and this is where Labour and NZF should look to put the restrictions on:
“They come in bunches… When you have one of them here, 10 of them will come; when you have 10 of them here, 100 will come…”
hahaha that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard today. One is just a person, but don’t be fooled, they is sneaky. Two of them? That’s “Chinese”. But ten, that’s a bunch. I can totally believe that guy’s a professor.
I saw two of “them” at the bus stop this morning. They’ve probably attracted or “subdivided” into several thousand units, by now. We are doomed. DOOOOMED!
The kind of growth described is a reflection of how Chinese tend to associate and do business via extended networks of “guan xi.” Once a few Chinese business people find a deal, their networks will start to become active and much more interest will come.
There are new housing developments in Albany where almost all the property owners are Chinese. Whole streets where every site is owned or being built on by a Chinese owner. No integration at all.
That’s very bad for all concerned. I just read on Zero Hedge…what happens when super keen ‘buyers at any price’ transform into desperate ‘sellers at any price.’
That kind of financial volatility is what we are opening NZ up to.
Mass Migrant flows into countries ( or buy ups by foreigners) are not the wishes of the countries concerned or their peoples…but caused and manipulated by capitalist corporate political oligarchies…. and particularly their wars
‘Migrant flow to Europe is result of US, EU military ops in Middle East – Czech president’
“The flow of immigrants to Europe stems from the Western states’ military interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria, which have contributed to the emergence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, Czech President Milosh Zeman told local media.
“The current wave of migration [to Europe] is rooted in the crazy [US] idea to launch an intervention in Iraq, which allegedly had weapons of mass destruction, but nothing was found,” Zeman said in a video interview with the Czech Repubic’s Blesk newspaper published on Sunday….
A non-clinical staff member has been sacked over refusing to have a flu jab, and other staff members have been bullied into having the vaccine against their will. This is contrary to the patient-centred healthcare that DHBs should be modelling, and is a breach of human rights. What’s more, this bullying is likely to increase absences through stress-induced illness.
”The worker had seen unvaccinated staff being made to wear masks, even though they were sitting in a back office writing up notes, at least 20m from the nearest patient room. Signs had also been put up around Waikato Hospital stating workers wearing masks were not vaccinated, they said.” http://m.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11490970
Some workplaces that encourage staff to get the jab use the down time (when patients have to linger in the clinic for a while in case of an adverse reaction) for a team meeting. That’s potentially a neat way of marginalising colleagues who dare to exercise their right to make independent healthcare decisions – they miss out on the meeting/collegiality.
This is what I suspected when we were talking about this the other day. It’s about bullying.
The head dude quoted the Health and Disability Act, so let me say this, if I were in that hospital, I would invoke my rights to good care and effective communication and insist that the person attending me removed their mask 😉
Yes the reason they want staff who interact with patients to be immunised or wear masks is all about bullying not about anything else……. give me strength.
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
Basically you appear to have argued that the DHB is right in what it is doing (coercion etc) because seasonal flu vaccination takes precedent over all other considerations. I think you are wrong, and that coercion and bullying will create an unhealthy workplace and that this will undermine patient care. FFS, we know this stuff already, it’s not new. It is sad to see these considerations being lost.
btw, here’s the list of professional organisations objecting to how the DHB is handling this,
This is being challenged by unions – APEX, the Resident Doctors Association and the New Zealand Medical Laboratory Workers have served the DHB with claims, while a fourth is expected from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
Hardly a bunch of rapid anti-science/anti-vaxxers.
I have a doctor friend who refuses to have her children vaccinated and advised m.y partner at the time not to allow her daughter to aswell. We were horrified to hear that the percentage of deaths was quite high for a vaccine.
I know someone who does neuroscience research at Otago University. A number of the chemicals used to affect various brain tissue qualities in the lab animals are identical or at least very similar to the ones used in a number of NZ vaccinations.
While you’re at it get them to tell you which of them are still used in vaccines at at what concentrations compared to their use in neuroscience.
Oh and if they can name one or two then ask them whether one would likely to be exposed to many hundreds of times higher quantities of the same chemical on a yearly basis through foodstuffs and the like than several hundred lifetimes of vaccinations.
Well, I was thinking critically about the complete lack of information on which chemicals are used at which concentrations for which desired effect (preservatives, maybe?).
But no, let’s all go “oooo, that means some chemicals in vaccines will affect my braaiiin” like good little reflexive paranoiacs.
maybe McFlock jabs himself all the time?…i guess some people could like getting injections and/or giving others injections …lol..never thought of that before
Perhaps mcFlock does… probably preferable to your own peccadillo of clubbing yourself in the head and then typing drivel on the internet while stupefied.
yeah, but you know I don’t fall into either camp and from where I stand you each look as bad as the other in terms of prejudicial thinking and lack of critique.
The main problem I have with the scienceheads is the arrogance that they are always right (when patently they’re not), and that the concerns of lay people should be dismissed on the basis that they don’t have a science degree.
That would be because I can’t be bothered putting my own position out there when the debate is so mired in going nowhere. It’s there for people to read between the lines if they really want to get to it.
I don’t know who Mercutio is, but did you just insult me?
last time I was scared into having a flu vaccination I felt awful and vomited throughout the night…my partner kindly suggested this was because I had low immunity and needed the vaccine and the flu would have been a lot worse…he takes the flu vaccine and doesnt have a reaction..however he also gets flus that I dont get …. and generally a lot worse than me when I do get them…I also have a nephew who doesn’t take vaccinations because once as a child he had a serious adverse reaction
imo the flu vaccines are worse than the flu …but each to their own…people should certainly not be forced to be vaccinated…or sacked for refusing
That may be your opinion Chooky but there is no evidence that influenza vaccine is worse than influenza in fact there is quite considerable evidence to the contrary with several hundred thousand deaths annually world wide directly attributable to influenza.
Once again no one is being forced to be vaccinated…
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
Your implication was that because Chooky was technically wrong her point was invalid. But if we look at the adverse reaction data on the flu vaccine data sheet we can see the symptoms that Chooky describes. That she technically had an adverse reaction rather than contracting influenza virus isn’t actually better.
This is one of the problems with the sciencehead approach. A lay person doesn’t get the theory right, and their basic argument gets written off. But Chooky is right. For her, the reactions to the vaccine were worse than the flu. That’s her lived experience, which of course is a big no no for some people, but in terms of her individual health and healthcare it’s completely relevant.
You read her post and respond by pointing out she is wrong. I read her post and think, fair enough. The loss of the subjective from healthcare is a real problem.
Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective.
Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu”
I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary. If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more mendacious I find you.
“Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective”
And you’d be completely wrong. I look at the arguments being made and go from there. It is true that in this forum I tend to argue against the scienceheads, but I’ve been relatively open about my antipathy for the shortcomings of the anti-vax lobby as well. Some of the anti-vax arguments and actions internationally make me cringe and I think they’ve done a lot of damage (but probably for different reasons than you do).
Vaccination is complex. Some of the concerns that people have about vaccination are valid. Chooky’s comment about her reaction to the flu vaccine is one example. I notice you don’t actually address the points I made about that, so it’s hard to go anywhere useful after that, which is what happens with a lot of these discussions. I’m not interested in absolutes, I am interested in the underlying beliefs behind various people’s positions (all sides), and how that affects health care in its broader sense.
I can also make arguments for vaccination. You seem to want me to be pro or anti, but I’m neither (or I’m both).
“If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more ”
I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.
“Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu” I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary.”
That’s not all she said though, and as I’ve already pointed out we both listened to what she said and heard different things. I’m more interested in that than pedantic arguments about one aspect of a comment someone made. The differences in what gets heard is a core aspect of health care and why there is such a division between the people who believe science is the be all and end all and the people who have experiences that don’t fit into that. Thankfully we still have some rights in this country that allow for the blurry lines that that entails, both as patients and as workers.
“I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.”
Autospelling on smartphones is less than useful unfortunately. Regarding lying no you don’t take any position that allows for an outright lie or truth.
Anyways not sure whether there is much point continuing the discussion in preference to having dinner.
… and on a side note the safety, efficacy and mechanism of vaccination for influenza vaccination is far more settled that the science around anthropogenic global climate change and i would regard anyone who would suggest we don nothing about the man made causes of climate change to as irresponsible as those who would suggest we don’t offer to vaccinate our vulnerable populations against a potentially dangerous illness such as influenza.
And on your side note – if the science is wrong on climate change, you are still more likely to effect good outcomes by having taken care of the environment.
Get the science wrong on flu vaccines and the personal and societal costs are immense.
northshoredoc – I infer from you not deigning to reply to the question that this study doesn’t fit with your view so you disregard it without being able to say why.
I guess you can’t fall back on the weight of evidence line given there isn’t a body of evidence for multi-year effects.
So in the absence of evidence you infer that a medical professional is ignoring research that doesn’t fit their worldview.
Funny thing, perspective. I merely inferred that nsd saw a comment that took a narrow, albeit interesting, effect where vaccine efficacy appears to be reduced when recipients have regularly received similar vaccines for variants of that virus in the past and extrapolated that to a generalised statement about the entire immune system and a massive claim about ethics resulting from a further generalisation based on that statement, and nsd simply inferred that any response would be insufficient to address the preconceptions behind that comment.
I infer from your inference that (if my initial inference was accurate) nsd’s inference was probably pretty accurate.
I asked ‘what does the study say’?; I didn’t ask ‘what implications for public health/ethics/medical protocols/patient safety/research’?.
Given nsd declared that it ‘does not say what you think it does’ it’s not unreasonable to draw a subjective inference from their lack of further response.
Nope you haven’t followed the thread – that’s not the comment whose lack of response I queried.
I didn’t ask NSD to comment on my interpretation of the study; I asked what the study said to them.
As you indicated we all draw inferences, and that’s why I’m not sure why you think this worthy of comment. I daresay NSD couldn’t care less what inference I drew. If they did they’re more than capable of fighting their own corner.
I’m merely pointing out that your inference (of an example of the medical establishment ignoring discussions and research that do not fit with the conventional worldview) is a pretty reasonable example of why someone might not be bothered to answer in the first place, and is easily predictable from the way you misinterpreted your linked article.
I think it’s worthy of comment because I think your inference simply feeds the anti-vax mythos, and that (like global warming) we should all do our part to save lives overall.
I’m still amazed that pro-vaxxers consider all vaccinations under the same umbrella.
Vaccinations are an extremely heterogenous set of drug treatments with widely differing levels of risks, benefits and unknowns, and under no circumstances should be considered as a single category which is “all good” or “all bad.”
To do so would be to fall into the realms of irrationality and “mythos.”
As for saving lives. A simple response to you McFlock. Save them in the areas where they are being lost. Not in the areas they are not.
Kinda misses the point to say ‘I’m saving lives’ so being a prat is OK. Remember what started the thread – Waikato DHB leveraging the patients’ rights code to coerce staff by citing patient safety.
Health unions and others have rightly taken the board to task on that. It’s evidently a point lost on you and, incidentally, the writer of the Herald’s leader today: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11491364
As to the WDHB thing, I suspect the complaints have not so much to do with vaccination as such, more the managerial sickness that seems to be afflicting DHBs across the country as the belts tighten into garrotes. Patient safety might be a plausible justification, but a key motivation for the board’s manner of imposing the policy would be the reduction in staff sick leave.
But how a thread starts and how it ends are frequently some distance from one another.
You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.
Cost is a factor in all healthcare management decisions in DHBs.
What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.
Although, I’m not clear what you meant by ‘complaints’; the likelihood is that these workers are upset by the coercion element, not because it’s arisen from a management cost saving drive.
“You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.”
Really? I thought I was more suggesting that the environment attracts a certain style of management.
“What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.”
The measure is fine. The application seems to be not so much.
Effectiveness is clearly demonstrated in sick leave, less clearly in the patient health area.
You say “coercion element”. I reserve judgement on that.
Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?
I’m not sure how else to describe the risk of losing one’s job other than coercion. Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.
You seem to be using weasel phrases to avoid saying where you stand – why reserve judgement?
What’s less than ideal with the application? Is there a more sensitive manner in which the DHB could have told staff they had to have the vaccine or wear the mask?
“Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?”
No idea. It’s perfectly possible that nz dhbs will not have the results demostrated repeatedly if you google scholar “influenza immunisation sick leave”, but I have no reason to assume that they’re particularly exceptional.
“Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.”
In a hospital? Interesting concept. Hell, my GP wears a mask if the patient has a sniffle, without exception.
I have, however, seen managers implement new policies in different ways. Regardless of the merits of a policy. a bullying “my way or the high way” interaction is sometimes used rather than actualy taking the time to make sure everyone knows why and understands the reasons for it. So that’s why I withhold judgement. I don’t care about masks any more than any other protective equipment, but if the managers are dicks, then coercion might be involved.
If you say so, but the flu vaccine is a vaccine against influenza, not the common cold that NZers insist on calling “the flu.” Unless you’re meaning your partner has suffered weeks-long, life-threatening bouts of influenza multiple times without infecting you, in which case I apologise for the implication.
An opinion on whether the practitioner in question has valid reasons for not vaccinating – surely you wouldn’t want to form an opinion on their decision without knowing the rationale for that decision.
I can only go off the ones I know/have known and I am satisfied with their rationales. These are people who have a foot in both camps so to speak and their decisions are generally well informed.
Perhaps your GP told you not to get a flu vaccination because you didn’t need one ?
Perhaps your GP advises some of their other patients to get flu vaccination because they do.
Or are you telling me that you know of GPs that advise against vaccinations for everyone ? If that is the case I’d be interested in why they have that view and how that could be considered well informed.
as I said the GPs I know have valid reasons for their decisions (as did my GP in her advice). I haven’t suggested that they oppose vaccinations for everyone. I don’t think you could practice if you did, it would be unethical. You’re the one that’s gone down that track, not me.
agreed weka…I know doctors that dont vaccinate their children for everything( they have researched the risks for some vaccines ….and also they dont think it likely their children need that vaccine)….and I know one doctor that is against most vaccinations
….people should shop around for a good doctor who can think for themselves …provide education….and leave the clients free to make their own risk assessments and make up their own minds
Apparently 1 in 100,000 die was a reasonable reason, when you only have one child and not likely to have another because of her age, we figured not to roll the dice.
Funny enough before each winter my employer gets the reject call when they offer me a jab. I always sight it is unhealthy and prefer garlic, lemon and honey. Each year I always ensure 5 days sick leave is taken during winter ( 2 last week lol) with the excuse I have a cold. All up 7 weeks leave per year counting 5 days bereavement leave too.
This is mind numbingly stupid. I’m assuming you’re now talking about childhood vaccinations as children are not usually vaccinated for influenza.
For a start adverse reactions causing death are far rarer than 1/100,000 and the likelihood of contracting the offending disease and having serious harm from it considerably more common.
For a start adverse reactions causing death are far rarer than 1/100,000
Infant death rates in NZ are about 5 per 1,000 births as a comparison. You’re suggesting that vaccination death rates are hundreds or thousands of times lower than that.
Hmmmm with a death rate that low how can you be sure that it is being measured correctly and being recorded in a disciplined reliable fashion here in NZ?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Assuming all that, which categories of infant mortality do you think could be misdiagnosed and are actually vaccine-related?
There are two main methods of detection of adverse reactions: individual reporting of suspected adverse reaction, and following cohorts of recipients for any variation against the general population.
On top of that NZ has about four separate mortality review committees that investigate every death in a few different areas (perioperative, child & youth, perinatal, etc). They’re pretty good at figuring out what caused a death, like traffic accidents or cancer or indeed anaphylaxis within a few minutes of receiving an injection.
But of course none of them can read the matrix like you can.
Wow that sounds incredibly thorough. So when did the last vaccination caused death in NZ occur, according to this very comprehensive system you outlined?
northshoredoc: I would greatly welcome additional government money, public sector time and university resources being poured into supporting, monitoring and providing additional data on chiropractic practice in NZ.
mate, we’re a very small profession which has never ever received any appreciable ongoing funding from the MoH directly or indirectly. If you want us to have additional official oversight, support and monitoring, then that will be a must.
Well, there’s a chiropractic council and an association.
Let’s start with the basics: if a client walks in and they are treated, then leaves in a wheelchair or ambulance, who does the chiropractor mandatorily (for membership and registration) report that to?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Pretend entities are all any you listed, function as.
If you had/have watched the c-span link, you could have identified that two of the co-authors of study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754936# , Coleen Boyle and Frank Stephano are employed by the CDC.
They are accused of shredding documents related to the outcomes of the study.
Gotta be pretty fucken thick, or have an agenda to not see the writing on the wall.
The pharmaceutical industry see’s it coming, which is why they are sponsoring legislation such as SB277 in California.
Thing is, those same companies are now going to under the microscope, along with the endemic corruption, which is a far more sinister threat than any manufactured virus ‘pandemic’.
That’s the cold hard stare of exposure, arrowing the way of every medical professional who’ve spent their career preaching the benevolence of an industry, which directly kills millions of the people every single year.
To be fair, it’s only mind-numbingly stupid if you refuse to accept that garlic, lemon, honey and taking sick leave when not sick are effective prophylactics against infectious disease. Yes, OK, it’s mind-numbingly stupid.
@ Skinny …In the public service i always used to throw sickies at the hint of a sniffle….and ironically enough the more stoic and committed and dedicated public servants who never threw sickies ….always came down with the worst crash and flus lasting weeks ….and on the final count had much more sick leave taken than the sickie throwers…proof it doesn pay to be a Calvinist stoic
+1
It is not acceptable for people who have a cold to front up at work and sprend it, staff know this and do us all a favour as did I last week when slightly off colour. Burnt it off pretty quick 🙂
August 1st is a day that may make the history books in Puerto Rico. This Saturday (technically Monday, since the deadline is on a weekend) Puerto Rico has a major debt payment due in the amount of $58 million that it’s not going to pay. For the first time in its history, Puerto Rico will default.
Puerto Rico has been threatening default since the beginning of time, which has led most creditors to believe its administrators are, yet again, crying wolf. This time will likely be different. Throughout the week, the Governor of Puerto Rico, through his Chief of Staff, has continuously confirmed that Puerto Rico will be unable to make the full payment required by COB Monday. Sources have told me that Puerto Rico has transferred finances to its debt paying authority in an amount that is short its total bill. After years of threats, it’s finally going to happen.
My final confirmation comes from the fact that the island’s top leaders have all left Puerto Rico. Governor Garcia-Padilla is attending a conference of Governors in Colorado, and will be on vacation when Doomsday rolls around. The Secretary of State (second in command) has also left, while President of the Senate and the Speaker of its House of Representatives have all hightailed it out of town, leaving but the little known Secretary of Justice in charge of the government. “Default and flee?” as one analyst quipped on Twitter.
———————————————————————————————————————-
hattip Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/02/1408174/-The-largest-muni-bond-default-in-U-S-history-is-happening
Quote:
Mr Key said: “It’s quite clear from the statements they’ve been making that Australia is looking to reduce … the level at which you have to pay GST from $1000 down to $20 and maybe, potentially, to zero.”
He said Government had not yet discussed what New Zealand’s new limit could be, but it would definitely have to be lowered.
“Otherwise the gap is too large,” he said.
“The balancing act for us is always between the Government trying to have a level playing field and not massive inconvenience for the consumer.”
Asked whether New Zealand’s tax threshold would be similar to Australia’s, he said: “Yes, potentially. I can’t see why there would be a dramatic difference.
“If Australia can get to a point where they can adequately complete the test of being fair but not dramatically inconveniencing consumers then we should be able to do the same.”
End Quote.
If NZ can harmonise with Australia re GST on off-shore online goods, why can’t they do the same re basic foods which are GST-exempt in Australia? Would be good if ordinary consumers got cheaper healthy foods as a spin-off from raising more GST form off-shore online purchases.
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Ngāi Tahu wants to introduce contamination charges to address contamination in Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, the High Court has been told.In the second week of the two-month case against the Attorney-General over wai māori (freshwater), Dr Elizabeth Brown, the Rangatira of Taumutu, which sits on the lake’s edge, told Justice Melanie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra ASIO chief Mike Burgess has warned that over the next five years Australia’s security environment will become more dynamic, diverse and degraded, with “more security surprises” in the second half of the decade than in ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
“We are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
TPPA? NoNZense!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/70752347/majority-of-people-in-combat-situations-with-cops-have-been-drinking-taser-report-shows
very stupid suggestion.
@Les
The comment does look at alcohol providers being made to take notice and accept some cost of their externalities. Alcohol dependence which gets called ‘hospitality’ fuels the bars profitability – they are more alcohol peddlers than anything else, and mainly useful when they are live music venue for our musicians. Alcohol sellers are so immersed in their own addiction to squeezing out maximum money from the live bodies they are hosting that ordering them to shut before 4 a.m. is greeted angrily
Police have been active in pointing out the rise in incidents in the late night/early morning fuelled by alcohol. From their point of view they are being used as street cleaners, trying to keep order and prevent self-harm or harm to others by people under drug influence who are not open to reason. So tazers seem a reasonable option to them in the circumstances. In a table of control methods I looked at on google, tazers cause far less injuries than dogs for instance. What would be better than suggesting liquor sellers pay half of the tazer cost, is to suggest government show some guts, backbone and integrity and enact laws to nationally close bars earlier, and require application to local councils for special licences to hold Oktoberfest type events, despite all the moans and groans of the hosps.
Add to that a closing module requiring bars etc. to shut their doors to new customers an hour before closing (with exceptions to allow individuals or couples to join friends in the first 20 minutes) plus to announce the closing hour to their patrons, stop serving alcoholic liquor then and advise them real hospitality will be offered for the next hour, at half normal price. They would then only serve coffee or tea – not fruit juice or water which could be the cover for vodka and other mixes, and sandwiches or savouries. And further, have some live music or play NZ music cds, including classical and concert music. (This is very effective in helping people decide to leave. I have seen it used, it works to clear people in a less excited, more rational way.) In that hour they would disperse in dribs and drabs and in better more relaxed mood. This should be a model imposed on all liquor sellers, who would have to put up and shut up.
And I bet hardly any of it is caused by bars…
They are too expensive. It’s young guys (and gals) drinking before they go out. I know, as I did it as a teen. We drunk at a bar once in a blue moon.
The biggest issue is supermarkets.
I know.
Put the price up.
At least that will stop the poor from drinking.
The alcohol industry should be charged of the cost of all alcohol related admissions to hospital.
Why? Because some idiot has no self control?
The entire alcohol system that we have in NZ is, IMO, built around the fact that most people don’t have the requisite self-control. Just look at the noise the alcohol industry makes when limiting opening hours is mentioned.
People with self-control simply plan around the opening hours and enjoy themselves anyway. The rest just go out and get trashed because they can keep buying and buying.
So, should the alcohol industry pay for the damage caused by alcohol? Damn right they should because they’re the ones profiting from it.
Your an example confused.
User pays why should non drinkers subsidize an industry that kills 600 people a year and does $6 billion worth of damage to the economy every year wastes up to 75% of police time 1/2 our prison population is estimàted to be their because of Alcohol related crime.
Infused.
We could just direct income from the alcohol excise tax to the health sector.
There needs to be a price signal to the alcohol industry, that there is a cost.
Can you elaborate. I don’t understand your point.
10 people are admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol issues –
Cost 100k.
Say happens 50 times year. Thus cost is 5million
Bill sent to alcohol industry.
The say look that is costing too much we need to do something to reduce it.
(Note numbers made up)
That is an interesting idea. I guess the main advantage of that vs excise tax is the financial incentive to reduce harm of alcohol. However, reducing alcohol harm does mean reducing consumption, so they may figure they are better off paying the hospital bill and decide to do nothing.
PS thanks for the positive comment.
What a stupid fucking comment
[lprent: Why? You have no point to your abuse. You know what the rules are. Pointless abuse is unwelcome. If it is a persistent behaviour we assume you don’t want to comment here. Read the policy again. ]
Why not the drunks arrested?
They usually are. But it’s an electrified ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
Why not you arrested? For not being in reasonable control of your comments. Do you ever have anything of a positive and individual nature to suggest?
“Young, drunk and violent people account for more than half of all suspects dealt with by police force, including Tasers, police figures show.”
What they don’t say there is it’s often the same people that the Police are dealing with. Alcohol itself isn’t the problem IMO, it’s more that some people shouldn’t drink.
I’d wager that if they started recording the names of those causing aggravation when they’re pissed they’ll find it’s a small percentage of assholes who can’t handle the drink that ruin it for the rest of us. We’re not all violent drunks.
Rather than ban or restrict booze I think they’d be better off starting to ban certain people from drinking. That wouldn’t completely stop alcohol-fueled offences but I’m sure it would drastically reduce them.
Listening to Tim Grosser this morning and the snake oil flowing off his slippery silver tongue. Trying to credit the falling over of the TPPA signing down to his hard line stance
on dairy access. I call bulshit to that, he is milking it for all it’s worth. None of the automotive big players could agree, and our position was relatively insignificant. It is astounding the media can’t smell a rat and call him out.
Kathryn Ryan’s fawning fan-girl interview with Jerome Kaino:
Yet another opportunity wasted
Radio NZ National, Monday 3 August 2015, 10:10 a.m.
Today’s “feature interview” was a rather dismal showcase of Kathryn Ryan at her worst. Interviews with sports people are rarely very deep or enlightening, but this one was particularly bad, with the nadir being reached as she chuckled indulgently about the way Kaino had described Graham Henry as “a man who communicates with his eyebrows”. Of course she resolutely avoided anything controversial. We have already had a look at Jerome Kaino’s ability to talk bullshit…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-16072015/#comment-1045606
I flicked the following email to Kathryn Ryan. Keep listening, fellas—she might read it out!…..
Why did you not ask Jerome Kaino the hard question?
Dear Kathryn,
I am disappointed you chose not to confront Jerome Kaino with the evidence that he and his colleagues in the All Black forward pack cynically cheated throughout that farcical 2011 RWC final.
You could also have asked him what he thought of the performance, or non-performance, of South African Craig Joubert, the referee of that match.
Yours in disappointment,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
More on Jerome Kaino….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22052013/#comment-636506
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15122011/#comment-417760
RWC Final – 23rd Oct 2011 – Refereeing discussion from The Breakdown
Let’s Call The TPPA “Negotiations” What They Really Are: A Conspiracy To Commit Treason!
They really aren’t. Nobody owing allegiance to NZ is killing, wounding or doing GBH to the Queen. Nobody is levying war against NZ or assisting an armed force to invade the country or is using force to overthow the government of New Zealand.
I agree with you, the TPP is a bad idea – particularly ISDS – and secret negotiations are not in the best interests of NZ. I much more favour a network of bilateral agreements, but hyperbole doesn’t help the cause.
wow… someone with some sense here.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/traitor
“A conspiracy usually involves a group entering into a secret agreement to achieve some illicit or harmful objective.”
Actually they are levying war against the 11 countries involved in the conspiracy.
The 0.01% is a waging which is commonly known as a currency war against every country on this planet. They are doing so by using fraudulent financial instruments and printing money out of thin air repayable with interest. They did so with Greece, They are doing so with the Ukraine and they are doing it with us. John Key loaded us up with $ 100 billion in debt and more than $112 Billion (2012 and counting) in Derivatives. It may not kill people with weapons but it kills people never the less.
The TPPA is just the icing on the cake. It is a conspiracy to commit treason no matter how you look at it!
Over @ Interest.co.nz there’s an interview with Victoria University academic Professor Siah Hwee Ang on Property investment through a Chinese lens
A few snippets:
+100 Jim in Tokyo…agreed!…. this will be a major Election issue…and this is how they do it….and this is where Labour and NZF should look to put the restrictions on:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/wall-of-chinese-capital-buying-up-australian-properties-20150628-ghztdf.html
“They come in bunches… When you have one of them here, 10 of them will come; when you have 10 of them here, 100 will come…”
hahaha that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard today. One is just a person, but don’t be fooled, they is sneaky. Two of them? That’s “Chinese”. But ten, that’s a bunch. I can totally believe that guy’s a professor.
I saw two of “them” at the bus stop this morning. They’ve probably attracted or “subdivided” into several thousand units, by now. We are doomed. DOOOOMED!
The kind of growth described is a reflection of how Chinese tend to associate and do business via extended networks of “guan xi.” Once a few Chinese business people find a deal, their networks will start to become active and much more interest will come.
There are new housing developments in Albany where almost all the property owners are Chinese. Whole streets where every site is owned or being built on by a Chinese owner. No integration at all.
That’s very bad for all concerned. I just read on Zero Hedge…what happens when super keen ‘buyers at any price’ transform into desperate ‘sellers at any price.’
That kind of financial volatility is what we are opening NZ up to.
Mass Migrant flows into countries ( or buy ups by foreigners) are not the wishes of the countries concerned or their peoples…but caused and manipulated by capitalist corporate political oligarchies…. and particularly their wars
‘Migrant flow to Europe is result of US, EU military ops in Middle East – Czech president’
http://www.rt.com/news/311407-migrant-crisis-eu-policy/
“The flow of immigrants to Europe stems from the Western states’ military interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria, which have contributed to the emergence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, Czech President Milosh Zeman told local media.
“The current wave of migration [to Europe] is rooted in the crazy [US] idea to launch an intervention in Iraq, which allegedly had weapons of mass destruction, but nothing was found,” Zeman said in a video interview with the Czech Repubic’s Blesk newspaper published on Sunday….
On the good news front.
Players, fans, the AFL, and the media stand up to the racial B.S. in Australia. Great video – people showing their support to Adam Goodes.
http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-08-02/were-with-adam-players-fans-back-goodes
I’m starting to see why the senior docs’ union vociferously opposed Nigel Murray’s appointment at Waikato DHB: http://www.asms.org.nz/news/asms-news/2014/06/12/waikato-dhb-should-keep-looking-for-chief-executive/
A non-clinical staff member has been sacked over refusing to have a flu jab, and other staff members have been bullied into having the vaccine against their will. This is contrary to the patient-centred healthcare that DHBs should be modelling, and is a breach of human rights. What’s more, this bullying is likely to increase absences through stress-induced illness.
”The worker had seen unvaccinated staff being made to wear masks, even though they were sitting in a back office writing up notes, at least 20m from the nearest patient room. Signs had also been put up around Waikato Hospital stating workers wearing masks were not vaccinated, they said.”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11490970
A good Union would knock that over for it’s members that refuse.
Accepting the flu vaccination is the new mark of corporate conformity. Maybe the unsanctified – I mean unvaccinated – should wear arm bands as well.
Some workplaces that encourage staff to get the jab use the down time (when patients have to linger in the clinic for a while in case of an adverse reaction) for a team meeting. That’s potentially a neat way of marginalising colleagues who dare to exercise their right to make independent healthcare decisions – they miss out on the meeting/collegiality.
Yep. And this is a new way for employers to bully and control staff.
This is what I suspected when we were talking about this the other day. It’s about bullying.
The head dude quoted the Health and Disability Act, so let me say this, if I were in that hospital, I would invoke my rights to good care and effective communication and insist that the person attending me removed their mask 😉
Yes the reason they want staff who interact with patients to be immunised or wear masks is all about bullying not about anything else……. give me strength.
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
Basically you appear to have argued that the DHB is right in what it is doing (coercion etc) because seasonal flu vaccination takes precedent over all other considerations. I think you are wrong, and that coercion and bullying will create an unhealthy workplace and that this will undermine patient care. FFS, we know this stuff already, it’s not new. It is sad to see these considerations being lost.
btw, here’s the list of professional organisations objecting to how the DHB is handling this,
This is being challenged by unions – APEX, the Resident Doctors Association and the New Zealand Medical Laboratory Workers have served the DHB with claims, while a fourth is expected from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
Hardly a bunch of rapid anti-science/anti-vaxxers.
I have a doctor friend who refuses to have her children vaccinated and advised m.y partner at the time not to allow her daughter to aswell. We were horrified to hear that the percentage of deaths was quite high for a vaccine.
I know someone who does neuroscience research at Otago University. A number of the chemicals used to affect various brain tissue qualities in the lab animals are identical or at least very similar to the ones used in a number of NZ vaccinations.
Really ? which ones are those ?
Righto Doc what is the skinny on flu vaccines and deaths in mainly children I presume?
C’mon buddy you’re telling the story, you tell me.
Not sure. I’ll ask them and see if I can find out.
While you’re at it get them to tell you which of them are still used in vaccines at at what concentrations compared to their use in neuroscience.
Oh and if they can name one or two then ask them whether one would likely to be exposed to many hundreds of times higher quantities of the same chemical on a yearly basis through foodstuffs and the like than several hundred lifetimes of vaccinations.
🙄
I even heard that some vaccines contain dihydrogen monoxide, which kills around a hundred NZers a year.
The irony there is that that hoax was supposed to encourage critical thinking. But apparently that only works one way.
Well, I was thinking critically about the complete lack of information on which chemicals are used at which concentrations for which desired effect (preservatives, maybe?).
But no, let’s all go “oooo, that means some chemicals in vaccines will affect my braaiiin” like good little reflexive paranoiacs.
as I’ve mentioned before McFlock, get jabbed with whatever to your hearts content, I ain’t stopping you.
Not with that bullshit, you’re not.
maybe McFlock jabs himself all the time?…i guess some people could like getting injections and/or giving others injections …lol..never thought of that before
🙄
Perhaps mcFlock does… probably preferable to your own peccadillo of clubbing yourself in the head and then typing drivel on the internet while stupefied.
yeah, but you know I don’t fall into either camp and from where I stand you each look as bad as the other in terms of prejudicial thinking and lack of critique.
The main problem I have with the scienceheads is the arrogance that they are always right (when patently they’re not), and that the concerns of lay people should be dismissed on the basis that they don’t have a science degree.
I have no idea where you actually stand.
It’s all very well to play Mercutio, but he only existed as a foil to advance the plot twice with some undetermined motivations and characterisation.
“I have no idea where you actually stand.”
That would be because I can’t be bothered putting my own position out there when the debate is so mired in going nowhere. It’s there for people to read between the lines if they really want to get to it.
I don’t know who Mercutio is, but did you just insult me?
Romeo & Juliet. The guy who said “a plague on both your houses” or similar.
Not an insult as such, more a description of your position from my perspective.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4546421/rep-bill-posey-calling-investigation-cdcs-mmr-reasearch-fraud
Don’t imagine this got widespread recognition by the MSM
The flu vaccine is a fraud and a health risk, and those who endorse it should be struck off for negligence
you do realise that the mmr vaccine has nothing to do with the flu, right?
of course he/she does ….there are side effects to them all….some relatively harmless but for some… deadly
dah dah ….DAH !
derrrh
Undoubtedly.
last time I was scared into having a flu vaccination I felt awful and vomited throughout the night…my partner kindly suggested this was because I had low immunity and needed the vaccine and the flu would have been a lot worse…he takes the flu vaccine and doesnt have a reaction..however he also gets flus that I dont get …. and generally a lot worse than me when I do get them…I also have a nephew who doesn’t take vaccinations because once as a child he had a serious adverse reaction
imo the flu vaccines are worse than the flu …but each to their own…people should certainly not be forced to be vaccinated…or sacked for refusing
That may be your opinion Chooky but there is no evidence that influenza vaccine is worse than influenza in fact there is quite considerable evidence to the contrary with several hundred thousand deaths annually world wide directly attributable to influenza.
Once again no one is being forced to be vaccinated…
You also can’t claim that any individual hasn’t had an idiosyncratic reaction to any vaccine (or drug, or anything for that matter).
I didn’t say that and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest I did. What I see you doing just now is deliberately misrepresenting one person’s argument because you have no other way to address the issues I have been raising.
😆 I couldn’t resist.
Your implication was that because Chooky was technically wrong her point was invalid. But if we look at the adverse reaction data on the flu vaccine data sheet we can see the symptoms that Chooky describes. That she technically had an adverse reaction rather than contracting influenza virus isn’t actually better.
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/datasheet/f/Fluvaxinj.pdf
This is one of the problems with the sciencehead approach. A lay person doesn’t get the theory right, and their basic argument gets written off. But Chooky is right. For her, the reactions to the vaccine were worse than the flu. That’s her lived experience, which of course is a big no no for some people, but in terms of her individual health and healthcare it’s completely relevant.
You read her post and respond by pointing out she is wrong. I read her post and think, fair enough. The loss of the subjective from healthcare is a real problem.
Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective.
Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu”
I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary. If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more mendacious I find you.
“Weka in my opinion your position is pretty much to support anyone who argues against immunisation from either a personal or population perspective”
And you’d be completely wrong. I look at the arguments being made and go from there. It is true that in this forum I tend to argue against the scienceheads, but I’ve been relatively open about my antipathy for the shortcomings of the anti-vax lobby as well. Some of the anti-vax arguments and actions internationally make me cringe and I think they’ve done a lot of damage (but probably for different reasons than you do).
Vaccination is complex. Some of the concerns that people have about vaccination are valid. Chooky’s comment about her reaction to the flu vaccine is one example. I notice you don’t actually address the points I made about that, so it’s hard to go anywhere useful after that, which is what happens with a lot of these discussions. I’m not interested in absolutes, I am interested in the underlying beliefs behind various people’s positions (all sides), and how that affects health care in its broader sense.
I can also make arguments for vaccination. You seem to want me to be pro or anti, but I’m neither (or I’m both).
“If you want to stand up for some perceived working against choke good for you frankly the more I interact with you on this issue the more ”
I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.
“Choke made the statement that “flu vaccines are worse than the flu” I commented that there is considerable evidence to the contrary.”
That’s not all she said though, and as I’ve already pointed out we both listened to what she said and heard different things. I’m more interested in that than pedantic arguments about one aspect of a comment someone made. The differences in what gets heard is a core aspect of health care and why there is such a division between the people who believe science is the be all and end all and the people who have experiences that don’t fit into that. Thankfully we still have some rights in this country that allow for the blurry lines that that entails, both as patients and as workers.
“I have no idea what the first part of that sentence is supposed to mean, and if you think I am lying about something please point to it specifically.”
Autospelling on smartphones is less than useful unfortunately. Regarding lying no you don’t take any position that allows for an outright lie or truth.
Anyways not sure whether there is much point continuing the discussion in preference to having dinner.
So I’m telling covert lies? I’m happy to be really clear about what I mean if people ask. People rarely bother in these conversations.
There is evidence that the flu vaccine adversely affects immunity when taken year after year – http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/flu-vaccine-paradox-adds-to-public-health-debate-1.2912790
It’s unethical to push a vaccine whose safety, efficacy, and even mechanism are anything but settled.
That study does not say what you think it does.
… and on a side note the safety, efficacy and mechanism of vaccination for influenza vaccination is far more settled that the science around anthropogenic global climate change and i would regard anyone who would suggest we don nothing about the man made causes of climate change to as irresponsible as those who would suggest we don’t offer to vaccinate our vulnerable populations against a potentially dangerous illness such as influenza.
What does the study say?
And on your side note – if the science is wrong on climate change, you are still more likely to effect good outcomes by having taken care of the environment.
Get the science wrong on flu vaccines and the personal and societal costs are immense.
northshoredoc – I infer from you not deigning to reply to the question that this study doesn’t fit with your view so you disregard it without being able to say why.
I guess you can’t fall back on the weight of evidence line given there isn’t a body of evidence for multi-year effects.
So in the absence of evidence you infer that a medical professional is ignoring research that doesn’t fit their worldview.
Funny thing, perspective. I merely inferred that nsd saw a comment that took a narrow, albeit interesting, effect where vaccine efficacy appears to be reduced when recipients have regularly received similar vaccines for variants of that virus in the past and extrapolated that to a generalised statement about the entire immune system and a massive claim about ethics resulting from a further generalisation based on that statement, and nsd simply inferred that any response would be insufficient to address the preconceptions behind that comment.
I infer from your inference that (if my initial inference was accurate) nsd’s inference was probably pretty accurate.
I asked ‘what does the study say’?; I didn’t ask ‘what implications for public health/ethics/medical protocols/patient safety/research’?.
Given nsd declared that it ‘does not say what you think it does’ it’s not unreasonable to draw a subjective inference from their lack of further response.
You made a claim about what your link said, no? Or did you make a claim about immunity and just link randomly to an irrelevant article?
Then you made a ethical claim that was apparently related to your claim about the link.
NSD said the study did not say what you seemed to think it does.
You asked nsd to explain it for you. NSD couldn’t be bothered. From that, you drew one inference. I drew another.
Nope you haven’t followed the thread – that’s not the comment whose lack of response I queried.
I didn’t ask NSD to comment on my interpretation of the study; I asked what the study said to them.
As you indicated we all draw inferences, and that’s why I’m not sure why you think this worthy of comment. I daresay NSD couldn’t care less what inference I drew. If they did they’re more than capable of fighting their own corner.
Yes. They are. I am not fighting their corner.
I’m merely pointing out that your inference (of an example of the medical establishment ignoring discussions and research that do not fit with the conventional worldview) is a pretty reasonable example of why someone might not be bothered to answer in the first place, and is easily predictable from the way you misinterpreted your linked article.
I think it’s worthy of comment because I think your inference simply feeds the anti-vax mythos, and that (like global warming) we should all do our part to save lives overall.
I’m still amazed that pro-vaxxers consider all vaccinations under the same umbrella.
Vaccinations are an extremely heterogenous set of drug treatments with widely differing levels of risks, benefits and unknowns, and under no circumstances should be considered as a single category which is “all good” or “all bad.”
To do so would be to fall into the realms of irrationality and “mythos.”
As for saving lives. A simple response to you McFlock. Save them in the areas where they are being lost. Not in the areas they are not.
“Save them in the areas where they are being lost. Not in the areas they are not.”
Yeah, that’s the general philosophy behing the vaccination schedule.
Kinda misses the point to say ‘I’m saving lives’ so being a prat is OK. Remember what started the thread – Waikato DHB leveraging the patients’ rights code to coerce staff by citing patient safety.
Health unions and others have rightly taken the board to task on that. It’s evidently a point lost on you and, incidentally, the writer of the Herald’s leader today:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11491364
lucky that’s not what I said, then.
As to the WDHB thing, I suspect the complaints have not so much to do with vaccination as such, more the managerial sickness that seems to be afflicting DHBs across the country as the belts tighten into garrotes. Patient safety might be a plausible justification, but a key motivation for the board’s manner of imposing the policy would be the reduction in staff sick leave.
But how a thread starts and how it ends are frequently some distance from one another.
You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.
Cost is a factor in all healthcare management decisions in DHBs.
What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.
Although, I’m not clear what you meant by ‘complaints’; the likelihood is that these workers are upset by the coercion element, not because it’s arisen from a management cost saving drive.
“You seem to be suggesting that because cost savings are probably driving WDHB’s decision we ought to be more sympathetic because of the pressures in the sector.”
Really? I thought I was more suggesting that the environment attracts a certain style of management.
“What counts is whether the measure is ethically acceptable, and whether it is likely to be effective.
It’s likely to fail on both counts.”
The measure is fine. The application seems to be not so much.
Effectiveness is clearly demonstrated in sick leave, less clearly in the patient health area.
You say “coercion element”. I reserve judgement on that.
Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?
I’m not sure how else to describe the risk of losing one’s job other than coercion. Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.
You seem to be using weasel phrases to avoid saying where you stand – why reserve judgement?
What’s less than ideal with the application? Is there a more sensitive manner in which the DHB could have told staff they had to have the vaccine or wear the mask?
“Where you say effectiveness is demonstrated, is there any research specifically on DHB sick leave rates since staff vaccines were targeted five years ago?”
No idea. It’s perfectly possible that nz dhbs will not have the results demostrated repeatedly if you google scholar “influenza immunisation sick leave”, but I have no reason to assume that they’re particularly exceptional.
“Forcing someone to wear a mask is humiliating and may be unworkable.”
In a hospital? Interesting concept. Hell, my GP wears a mask if the patient has a sniffle, without exception.
I have, however, seen managers implement new policies in different ways. Regardless of the merits of a policy. a bullying “my way or the high way” interaction is sometimes used rather than actualy taking the time to make sure everyone knows why and understands the reasons for it. So that’s why I withhold judgement. I don’t care about masks any more than any other protective equipment, but if the managers are dicks, then coercion might be involved.
…however he also gets flus that I dont get …
If you say so, but the flu vaccine is a vaccine against influenza, not the common cold that NZers insist on calling “the flu.” Unless you’re meaning your partner has suffered weeks-long, life-threatening bouts of influenza multiple times without infecting you, in which case I apologise for the implication.
so the influenza virus doesn’t cause the common cold?
[headdesk]
A Dr who refuses to have her children vaccinated ?
Have you asked her why she refuses to have her children vaccinated ?
I also know doctors that don’t always vaccinate themselves or their kids. It’s not unheard of nsd.
Yes, but as you have often commented one would have to know the whole story to form an opinion.
an opinion about what? It’s a fact that some doctors don’t vaccinate.
An opinion on whether the practitioner in question has valid reasons for not vaccinating – surely you wouldn’t want to form an opinion on their decision without knowing the rationale for that decision.
I can only go off the ones I know/have known and I am satisfied with their rationales. These are people who have a foot in both camps so to speak and their decisions are generally well informed.
My own GP told me not to get a flu vaccination.
Perhaps your GP told you not to get a flu vaccination because you didn’t need one ?
Perhaps your GP advises some of their other patients to get flu vaccination because they do.
Or are you telling me that you know of GPs that advise against vaccinations for everyone ? If that is the case I’d be interested in why they have that view and how that could be considered well informed.
as I said the GPs I know have valid reasons for their decisions (as did my GP in her advice). I haven’t suggested that they oppose vaccinations for everyone. I don’t think you could practice if you did, it would be unethical. You’re the one that’s gone down that track, not me.
agreed weka…I know doctors that dont vaccinate their children for everything( they have researched the risks for some vaccines ….and also they dont think it likely their children need that vaccine)….and I know one doctor that is against most vaccinations
….people should shop around for a good doctor who can think for themselves …provide education….and leave the clients free to make their own risk assessments and make up their own minds
Apparently 1 in 100,000 die was a reasonable reason, when you only have one child and not likely to have another because of her age, we figured not to roll the dice.
Funny enough before each winter my employer gets the reject call when they offer me a jab. I always sight it is unhealthy and prefer garlic, lemon and honey. Each year I always ensure 5 days sick leave is taken during winter ( 2 last week lol) with the excuse I have a cold. All up 7 weeks leave per year counting 5 days bereavement leave too.
This is mind numbingly stupid. I’m assuming you’re now talking about childhood vaccinations as children are not usually vaccinated for influenza.
For a start adverse reactions causing death are far rarer than 1/100,000 and the likelihood of contracting the offending disease and having serious harm from it considerably more common.
No it was a flu jab at a private school. Your not a bush doctor are you?
Infant death rates in NZ are about 5 per 1,000 births as a comparison. You’re suggesting that vaccination death rates are hundreds or thousands of times lower than that.
Hmmmm with a death rate that low how can you be sure that it is being measured correctly and being recorded in a disciplined reliable fashion here in NZ?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Assuming all that, which categories of infant mortality do you think could be misdiagnosed and are actually vaccine-related?
love your faith.
Now, if vaccination deaths are so incredibly rare, how do practitioners even know what one looks like?
🙄
There are two main methods of detection of adverse reactions: individual reporting of suspected adverse reaction, and following cohorts of recipients for any variation against the general population.
On top of that NZ has about four separate mortality review committees that investigate every death in a few different areas (perioperative, child & youth, perinatal, etc). They’re pretty good at figuring out what caused a death, like traffic accidents or cancer or indeed anaphylaxis within a few minutes of receiving an injection.
But of course none of them can read the matrix like you can.
Come now McFlock you know that such committees are stacked with stooges who are in the pay of (insert relevant bogeyman).
Wow that sounds incredibly thorough. So when did the last vaccination caused death in NZ occur, according to this very comprehensive system you outlined?
Why don’t you search through the MARC minutes and tell everyone ?
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/MARC/Minutes.asp
Is there any type of similar oversight of chiropractors ?
northshoredoc: I would greatly welcome additional government money, public sector time and university resources being poured into supporting, monitoring and providing additional data on chiropractic practice in NZ.
That would be a “no”, then.
mate, we’re a very small profession which has never ever received any appreciable ongoing funding from the MoH directly or indirectly. If you want us to have additional official oversight, support and monitoring, then that will be a must.
Well, there’s a chiropractic council and an association.
Let’s start with the basics: if a client walks in and they are treated, then leaves in a wheelchair or ambulance, who does the chiropractor mandatorily (for membership and registration) report that to?
Let’s suppose that there isn’t a centre for adverse reactions to medicine that specialises in detecting high-impact low-incidence events.
Then let’s suppose that each and every death of a child or young person isn’t subjected to a multitude of independent examinations, from police to coronor to specialist mortality review committees that look for exactly this sort of thing.
Pretend entities are all any you listed, function as.
If you had/have watched the c-span link, you could have identified that two of the co-authors of study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754936# , Coleen Boyle and Frank Stephano are employed by the CDC.
They are accused of shredding documents related to the outcomes of the study.
Gotta be pretty fucken thick, or have an agenda to not see the writing on the wall.
The pharmaceutical industry see’s it coming, which is why they are sponsoring legislation such as SB277 in California.
Thing is, those same companies are now going to under the microscope, along with the endemic corruption, which is a far more sinister threat than any manufactured virus ‘pandemic’.
Too many holes in the dyke , champion.
Not enough shills to stick their dicks in em.
Macbeth !
lol
That’s the cold hard stare of exposure, arrowing the way of every medical professional who’ve spent their career preaching the benevolence of an industry, which directly kills millions of the people every single year.
With 100% impunity…
Fucked if I’d want that on my conscience
OK. I’ll bite. What was the “statistically significant race effect”?
Bearing in mind that ethnicity’s always fun to quantify lol.
This is mind numbingly stupid.
To be fair, it’s only mind-numbingly stupid if you refuse to accept that garlic, lemon, honey and taking sick leave when not sick are effective prophylactics against infectious disease. Yes, OK, it’s mind-numbingly stupid.
@ Skinny …In the public service i always used to throw sickies at the hint of a sniffle….and ironically enough the more stoic and committed and dedicated public servants who never threw sickies ….always came down with the worst crash and flus lasting weeks ….and on the final count had much more sick leave taken than the sickie throwers…proof it doesn pay to be a Calvinist stoic
+1
It is not acceptable for people who have a cold to front up at work and sprend it, staff know this and do us all a favour as did I last week when slightly off colour. Burnt it off pretty quick 🙂
an Puerto Rico defaulted.
file this under shit happens?
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2015/07/31/opinion-default-is-best-thing-that-can-happen-to-puerto-rico-unfortunately/
August 1st is a day that may make the history books in Puerto Rico. This Saturday (technically Monday, since the deadline is on a weekend) Puerto Rico has a major debt payment due in the amount of $58 million that it’s not going to pay. For the first time in its history, Puerto Rico will default.
Puerto Rico has been threatening default since the beginning of time, which has led most creditors to believe its administrators are, yet again, crying wolf. This time will likely be different. Throughout the week, the Governor of Puerto Rico, through his Chief of Staff, has continuously confirmed that Puerto Rico will be unable to make the full payment required by COB Monday. Sources have told me that Puerto Rico has transferred finances to its debt paying authority in an amount that is short its total bill. After years of threats, it’s finally going to happen.
My final confirmation comes from the fact that the island’s top leaders have all left Puerto Rico. Governor Garcia-Padilla is attending a conference of Governors in Colorado, and will be on vacation when Doomsday rolls around. The Secretary of State (second in command) has also left, while President of the Senate and the Speaker of its House of Representatives have all hightailed it out of town, leaving but the little known Secretary of Justice in charge of the government. “Default and flee?” as one analyst quipped on Twitter.
———————————————————————————————————————-
hattip Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/02/1408174/-The-largest-muni-bond-default-in-U-S-history-is-happening
Two statements from crown law reported in the herald
A spokeswoman for Crown Law said Dotcom’s statements to Slashdot were “incorrect”.
“We do not discuss the content of without prejudice discussions.”
Can anyone else see why i have a problem reconciling these
GST threshold for online goods could be cut – PM
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11491354
Quote:
Mr Key said: “It’s quite clear from the statements they’ve been making that Australia is looking to reduce … the level at which you have to pay GST from $1000 down to $20 and maybe, potentially, to zero.”
He said Government had not yet discussed what New Zealand’s new limit could be, but it would definitely have to be lowered.
“Otherwise the gap is too large,” he said.
“The balancing act for us is always between the Government trying to have a level playing field and not massive inconvenience for the consumer.”
Asked whether New Zealand’s tax threshold would be similar to Australia’s, he said: “Yes, potentially. I can’t see why there would be a dramatic difference.
“If Australia can get to a point where they can adequately complete the test of being fair but not dramatically inconveniencing consumers then we should be able to do the same.”
End Quote.
If NZ can harmonise with Australia re GST on off-shore online goods, why can’t they do the same re basic foods which are GST-exempt in Australia? Would be good if ordinary consumers got cheaper healthy foods as a spin-off from raising more GST form off-shore online purchases.