For decades women get fobbed off because it required surgery to verify a diagnosis …
Wynn-Williams said that international recommendations encourage more ultrasounds and MRIs – instead of surgery – for a quicker diagnosis. Meanwhile, many endometriosis sufferers are hoping for more recognition and research into the condition.
Getting even an ultrasound or MRI is seriously challenging in the health system ATM.
I have both friends and family members with Endo – and it can be a crippling condition, affecting quality of life (and, sometimes the ability to have children), but also (more importantly from the Government perspective), the ability to hold a job, and progress a career.
But, the same can be said, with equal justification for knee and hip replacements (although, possibly not affecting the ability to have children )
Most surgeries can be justified on those grounds. I detest the use of the word 'elective', since no-one chooses to go through the process of a surgery with all the associated risks if it wasn't necessary (except perhaps, self-absorbed celebrities and their cosmetic surgeries).
Now, your ability to receive surgery in the public system seems to more depend on how quickly you'll be dead without it. Appendix, yep. Cataracts, they won't kill you.
Guess that there's still a post-code lottery going then – because my experience (in Auckland) differs. Cataracts – yep, you can get on the list for a publicly funded one (just one eye) – it might take 9 months or so to get to the top of the list. Knee replacement surgery – not a chance, sunshine. It's either private or not at all.
I was assessed at Waikato Hospital in March last year for knee replacement surgery. I was told that it needed to happen and that I would go onto the waiting list. I half expected that to be the end of the saga for months if not years, but it all happened in September – I was operated on at Southern Cross Hospital, Hamilton, after having been advised I may well be transfered to a private hospital in Rotoroa, Hamilton or even Auckland. Of course this all happened before the General Election last year, so I have no idea what would happen now.
Cataracts won't kill you – but they can stop you doing your job. They can stop you driving, they can stop you from reading, they can make using a computer very difficult. Mine also stopped my voluntary work.
My eyes are complex – it took 6 months to get all the calculations done for my last surgery. I operated on one and a half eyes for about 8 months. I spend a lot of my $$ on health insurance because of the difficulties with my eyes. I have a corneal graft in one eye, and a very expensive bit of plastic in the other eye.
After the last surgery which also cleared up a cataract, I can actually see to get safely to the bathroom at night without my contact lenses. I cannot have corrective glasses because the irregularities of my corneas require the use of hard contact lenses.
My first surgery took nearly 3 years to get right. Corneal grafts are very hard to do – I got very used to seeing someone coming at my eye with a scalpel and a pair of tweezers as they took out the various stitches.
Good to see the punks taking on the racist right wing fascists in the UK (once again).
Punks – in town for the annual Rebellion festival – squared off against men in football shirts, separated only by police.
“England ‘till I die” and “We want our country back,” crowds chanted, alongside: “Oh, Tommy Robinson,” and “Protect our kids.”
“Where the f*** were you in Leeds?” Others shouted.
Counter-protesters returned verbal volleys of: “Nazi scum off our streets” as bottles were thrown and minor skirmishes broke out.
One woman holding a placard saying “Thugs (and) racists not welcome” had it torn from her hands as crowds pushed from the town hall to the Metropole and as sirens filled the summer air.
10,000 anti fascist punks are in Blackpool for Rebellion Festival. Safe to say the little Tommy lads misjudged this, like most of their pitiful life decisions. They ran away. Moral of the story: Don’t fuck with punks, they hate the far right.
Well technically I don't mean that. The right wing fascists chanting it do though.
His plea to Trump was pretty pathetic though. Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Paul Gosar amongst his supporters. Noting he also has supporters in New Zealand including some who petitioned for his release from jail.
I feel like I'm two days away from being sentenced to death in the U.K. for journalism. Today, I am calling on the help of Donald Trump, his administration and the Republican Party to grant me and my family political asylum in the United States of America. … I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case. I need evacuation from this country because dark forces are at work. … This is a direct appeal on behalf of my family – we love the United States, I have no future here [in Britain]. The country has fallen.
1/ Just did a network analysis of the "far right thugs unite" hashtag. It largely seems to be a simulated scandal/outrage to promote the Reform Party and Nigel Farage and – while also being an attack on Keir Starmer.
Farage was also described on Wednesday as “nothing better than a Tommy Robinson in a suit” by Brendan Cox, the campaigner and husband of the murdered Labour MP, Jo Cox. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the EDL in 2009.
There was a rapid spread online of misinformation after the attack, with inflammatory far-right narratives rife on the comment threads under posts by Farage and another Reform MP, Rupert Lowe, on their official Facebook pages.
Under posts by Farage and Lowe, who echoed Farage by saying there was “more to this than we’re being told”, comments ranged from predictions of a coming race war, sharing of misinformation, antisemitic tropes and claims of a cover-up.
“This is clearly not a case of accidental mischaracterisation. This is Reform and Farage in particular actively spreading disinformation and actively using insinuation to incite anxiety, concern and inflame emotions,” Cox said.
Farage was described as “utterly shameful” by the Tory peer Lord Barwell, the former MP who served as Theresa May’s Downing Street chief of staff.
He said: “He is an MP. If he has questions, he could have asked them in the House of Commons yesterday – but he wasn’t there. Instead he prefers to encourage those spreading misinformation on here [social media]. Utterly shameful.”
10/ Another interesting element is that the account with the most impressions on this hashtag is ReformUK member, @TalkTV Host, and former employee of Cambridge Analytica's parent company SCL Group @ThatAlexWoman (Alexandra Philips)
I assume the massive copy and paste (as opposed to retweet) is to make it look like more people re individually supporting the right – even if some accounts have shiny new AI generated photos.
Carole Cadwalladr on the amplification of outright lies and fueling the ensuing outrage.
.
Algorithms that send the most outrageous comments viral and a chain reaction of anger and disinformation made the riots that followed the Southport killings inevitable
[…]
“It feels like it was only a matter of time before we saw something like this in the UK,” said Julia Ebner, the leader of the Violent Extremism Lab at the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion at Oxford University. “This alternative information ecosystem is fuelling these narratives. We saw it in Germany in the 2018 Chemnitz riots, which this strongly reminded me of. And we saw [it] in the US with the January 6 insurrection.
“You see this chain reaction in these alternative news channels, where disinformation can spread so quickly and can mobilise people to take the streets – who are then prone to using violence because there’s this anger and these really deep emotions that are, of course, being amplified. And then, from these alternative outlets, it’s carried on to X or on to the mainstream social media platforms.”
He knows what he is doing. His algorithms are a party to incitement to violence. He is publishing Tommy Robinson’s words & pumping them to millions. He has no protection from Section 230 in the UK. He is a publisher. And publishers have responsibilities.
I have to say it has been disgusting to see the hysteria around Imane khelif.
A reprise of the facts.
Imane Khelif was born female in Algeria, a deeply conservative Islamic country that doesn't recognise trans people as even existing, let alone allowing people to transition.
She has lost nine times to date to other female fighters.
The IBA is a discredited, Russian dominated organisation banned from the Olympics because of it's corruption and doping scandals.
The IBF has an axe to grind with the IOC.
The IBA has not published any of it's so-called testing results relating to Imane Khelif.
People merely believed what the IB said because it suited their own agenda to make common cause with a fascist front organisation bent on discrediting the Olympics.
The IBA is little more than another branch of the vast Russian disinformation campaign aimed at disrupting the Olympics because the Russian have been kicked out for rampant doping and cheating.
When will all the useful idiots on here who enthusiastically joined the pre-formed narrative pile on to vilify Imane Khelif publicly confess their idiocy and draw the appropriate lesson and show the appropriate level of humility for their gullibility and credulity when manipulated by obvious Russian black propaganda & misinformation?
Big claims require proper evidence it is to the great discredit of this site that a content creator has jumped on the bandwagon to publish an item attacking someone based entirely on how she looks because it suits her raid culture war agenda. Imane Khelif is a hero in Algeria, where her life story is an inspiration – she is a UNICEF ambassador and walked ten kilometres a day to training when she was a youngster because she was too poor to get there any other way.
No issue has more exposed the mickey mouse logic and gullibility of the online culture war pseudo-commentariat style than this ever became an issue.
People will be more than happy to "withdraw and apologise" as soon as we see the karyotype results from an an accredited laboratory. A simple cheek swab will settle this argument for once and for all.
So you have reached the "made up my mind and no evidence is allowed to be produced" state of affairs? You are denying a person the ability to produce evidence to counteract the statements made by the IBA which have produced this controversy?
One would think that a reasonable person – when faced with the expression of such concerns – would have no problem submitting to a non-invasive test which would conclusively show the facts of the matter.
They said much the same things about Caster Semenya until the CAS decision came out – and then they didn't.
I am astonished at the level of stupidity a stubborn refusal to simply admit you were wrong can reach. The IBA made the claim Imane Khelif failed a DNA test.
Common sense tells us extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You've produced no fucking evidence that Imane Khelif isn't anything but a woman.
I read on a random website that you were arrested for fucking a pig six month ago, the police don't have any record of this but I'm predisposed to believe you have a porcine festish so until you produce a statement from the pig denying it and a cast iron alibi backed up by your employer I'll choose to believe a random website over the police.
Maybe address that the IOC doesn't think 46 XY DSD competitors are disqualified from women's boxing (while the IBA did), rather than throwing random allegations at other commentators. Because unless you agree on that the evidence presented by such a test is irrelevant, as is what the IBA has claimed.
If its ok for the IOC to include 46 XY DSD competitors in women's boxing then we can ignore the IBA statements entirely.
And yet I saw enough comments at TS before the election of those who were not going to vote Labour/Greens any more because of those parties’ anti-GC political decisions. Who did they decide to vote for, on finding Tanya Unkovich 8th on the NZ First Party list?
If someone voted for NZ First in 2023 on the basis of their GC platform, and helped them get enough party votes to be a member of the Coalition; then yes, in a broader sense, I consider that person to continue to support NZF in general.
Can't remember any posts (vs comments) here at TS on either Unkovich's toilet criminalisation bill or on NZF's threatened sports policy, opening things up for maybe an uncomfortable debate. Funny, that. That is why I suggested the Khalif controversy is a proxy here for debate on NZFs sports policy threat.
Note the Coalition only backed down on the proposed funding threats once Sports NZ and many individual sports associations basically told the government to get fucked, we've had this discussion with our particular sports community and are happy that our own solutions are fair and inclusive.
I'll take that as a retraction, as your original allegation appeared to be that posts were being put up on TS in propagandistic support of some NZ first policy (which is frankly clearly nonsense).
I'm happy to assume you miss-spoke and only meant that NZ first policy sometimes takes the same side as GC positions on certain issues and some commenters here may have even supported NZ first policy choices.
No. Instead of debating the pros and cons of NZF anti-trans policies, which I would expect from TS, given that, apparently, it's the only safe commentary site for kiwi GC advocates, there is a resounding silence here.
And so it looks to me like the Khelif story becomes the proxy for re-airing GC views on just who is entitled to participate in NZ boxing (but we can't talk about that!).
Instead of debating the pros and cons of NZF anti-trans policies, which I would expect from TS, given that, apparently, it’s the only safe commentary site for kiwi GC advocates, there is a resounding silence here.
It’s probably because most of the GC people here atm are feminists and lefties and we don’t have much in common with NZF policy apart from superficially.
Pretty sure the official site policy is if its worth mentioning you can raise a post about it (or just complain all passive aggressive that nobody wrote one for you instead).
As some 46XY DSD women have naturally given birth to children, as I referenced previously, I say Adult, female, whatever.
Why are you talking about 46XY DSD? Every biologist and sports writer I've seen in the past week is talking about 5-ARD, a DSD that only affects males (who can't give birth).
Nearly all the comments have been under my post, and most of the people who think there is an issue are left wing feminists and leftie men. I count one person who might be a NZF supporter, and another whose voting preferences I don't know.
You appear to be running genderist talking points that don't hold up to scrutiny.
Thanks, I can tick off lots of boxes on my culture wars Bingo card. Please define genderism for me, though.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
genderism is the term I use to short hand gender identity ideology. GII is a philosophy based in a range of overlapping beliefs: sex isn’t binary, humans can change biological sex, gender identity trumps biological sex, sex is a social construct, trans women are literally women, and so on.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
Honestly tWig, I think that is the result of two things: the places you choose to engage with, and No Debate. If it weren’t for No Debate, all the evidence would be in the MSM instead of disappearing down everyone’s twitter timeline.
You might want to tighten up your use of the word in trying to dodge the CW Bingo card.
Wiki has a grab-bag of definitions for genderism.
You asked for a definition and I gave you one so you could understand what I am meaning. I’m more interested here in effective communication than random wiki definitions. I can use GII instead from now on.
Please define No Debate for me, your in-house lexicon is opaque.
I don’t do twitter or social media, never have. Most of the references I have read are articles in ‘print’ media, science papers, and excellent rebuttals put up by pro-trans writers.
No Debate is a strategy developed over the last decade by lobby groups like Stonewall UK, it was designed to stop the public debating the GII agenda they were rolling out. The idea was that instead of putting out ideas and policy change and convincing the public to accept them, debate would not be tolerated and should be blocked and shut down.
It was incredibly effective, and has affected MSM and many public institutions like universities, government departments and NGOs.
That means that many of the rapid societal changes around GII have happened without public scrutiny. Turns how that is an own goal, because now there is a growing backlash as people start to understand what has happened and what it means.
No Debate was broken by a number of key actions, largely by left gender critical feminists in the UK, but also whistleblowers eg at Tavistock. Grass roots feminism and resistance, along with GI activist basically breaking societal boundaries and safeguarding, eventually got through to the MSM, first the conservative press and then eventually the liberal press.
Now MSM are more willing to cover the stories. But No Debate still has a strong influence, especially in places like NZ.
Material reality is a term used to refer to nature/the physical world, that exists independently from human perception.
For Marx and Engels, materialism meant that the material world, perceptible to the senses, has objective reality independent of mind or spirit. They did not deny the reality of mental or spiritual processes but affirmed that ideas could arise, therefore, only as products and reflections of material conditions.
I’m not a marxist, but read and engage with socialist feminists, radical feminists and gender critical feminists who understand Marx, which is where I get my own understanding of the concept of material reality from.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the gender critical feminist position. The argument isn’t that TW are a danger in women’s toilets, it’s that male people as a class are. This is one of the reasons why why we have female spaces and services in the first place. Not all men, but enough of them and we can’t predict which ones, are dangerous to women.
TW are a subset of males, and appear to have the same patterns of male socialisation and violence against women as other men.
I will post some examples of TW and male violence against women. There’s plenty of it about if you don’t block it.
But wait, wouldn't that all have come out in Parliamentary debates and select committes on NZ transgender policy and legislation, if there was such incontrovertable evidence that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? There were plenty of GC submissions weren't there? Must have missed all that evidence.
But wait, wouldn’t that all have come out in Parliamentary debates and select committes on NZ transgender policy and legislation, if there was such incontrovertable evidence that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? There were plenty of GC submissions weren’t there? Must have missed all that evidence.
who has said that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? Did you just make that up?
That’s a website that pulled together examples of the harassment women were getting online for talking about women’s sex based rights. Lots of violent rhetoric. Twitter eventually shut that down after they got hauled before the UK parliament and asked to account for why they were allowing this. So you don’t see it as much now, but the website is a very good example of the kinds of MVAW that is embedded in GII. GII lefties/liberals stood by and let that happen, I spent a lot of time reporting tweets like that to twitter and almost never saw a leftist trans ally condemn them.
But both sides are 'armed' in that particular culture war, and 'TERFs' and their supporters give as good as they get, if not more, like actually murdering a trans girl in the UK. Or inciting men to go armed into womens toilets, good one, KJ whassaname.
What a sad piece of evidence that is. I was expecting pages and pages, full of breakdowns by crime, etc. But 2-3 pages, one of which misquotes and misinterprets the conclusions 'Swedish study', which I read myself last year, and the rest on the UK trans prison sexual assault data, which, frankly, was a mess (eg, no differentiation between trans men and trans women in that study, just for starters).
Here's a submission to the same committe (twice as long, and more readable than the original submission) that challenges, in the politest possible way, the barely-there claims in Freedman, Stock and Sullivan's submission. Honestly, you wouldn't get a pass mark for their one if you wrote a stage 2 criminolgy essay.
The IBA supplied the results of the tests to the IOC. There were two tests – done at two different laboratories. As I said – Khalif could allow the publication of those tests, or get another one done and publish that.
The pig says you never paid him when you pimped him out!
here's the reference for the IOC having seen the test results,
PARIS – The athlete who has ignited a worldwide controversy in Olympic women’s boxing was disqualified from the 2023 International Boxing Assn. world championships in New Delhi after two tests, one in India amid that tournament and a prior test in Turkey in May 2022, “concluded the boxer’s DNA was that of a male consisting of XY chromosomes,” according to correspondence the IBA sent in June 2023 – more than a year ago – to the International Olympic Committee.
The June 5, 2023, letter, spotlighting Algeria’s Imane Khelif, reads, “This situation epitomizes the importance of protecting safe sport, and the integrity of sport in which the Olympic Movement is jointly committed to.”
I think this podcast featuring Professor Ross Tucker, a sports scientist is outstanding on the subject of these two boxers. Thoroughly recomend you listen to it Sanctuary if you want unbiased scientific evidence on this situation.
BTW the IBA can't release the tests undertaken by these two boxers it is confidential information. But both boxers had the opportunity to appeal to the Swiss based Court of Arbitration for Sport and chose not to.
As to the Italian woman boxer who stated she withdrew from the match because she feared for her life? Well who cares about her or believes her anyway (sarc)
“Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”
No, read Casini's full comments in her post-match statement in the article I cited. Vsub is creating a victim where there is a boxer who says she quit the bout because it was too difficult for her, her words immediately on pulling out were driven by anger at losing her Olympic opportunity, and does not 'blame' Khelif, where many here are.
That is as valid an interpolation of Casini’s state of mind as that postulated bu Visub, and one tjat grants Casini considerably more agency than a victim frame.
he was in tears in the ring and as she faced the media after the bout.
“I wasn’t able to finish the match. I felt a strong pain to my nose and I said [to myself] for the experience that I have and the maturity as a woman that I have, I said I hope my nation won’t take it badly, I hope my dad won’t take it badly – but I stopped, I said stop for myself,” Carini told BBC Sport.
“It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.
“I didn’t have fear, I don’t fear the ring. I don’t fear taking the blows. But this time there’s an end for everything, and I put an end to this match, because I wasn’t able to [continue].”
“After the second punch, after years of experience, I felt a strong pain in the nose. I said enough, because I didn’t want. I couldn’t finish the fight after the punch to the nose. So it was better to put an end to it.“
The body that oversaw that 2023 event is the International Boxing Association (IBA) and it says both fighters failed gender eligibility tests.
On Monday the IBA will hold a news conference to give a “detailed explanation of the reasons for the disqualification”.
They oppose the newly formed WBO being recognised by the IOC as their replacement.
The IBA, formerly known as AIBA, was formed in 1946 as a worldwide governing body for amateur boxing. The IOC recognised the IBA as the sport’s governing body until 2019.
'I can't be bothered learning about DSDs, femaleness is an assignment, not biology, I hate the Russians therefore anyone associated with them is tainted beyond redemption and handily it means I don't have to consider how my politics might fuck over women, but who cares, let's just pretend they're all bigots anyway, or culture war dupes'
Fwiw, Khelif could have been an amazing ambassador for sports people with DSDs. But who cares about them eh.
Please be a bit more discerning in splashing the word "facts" about. There's strong evidence Khelif is male and so far no evidence beyond "Trust me bro it says so right there in her passport" or "But she was raised as a girl" that Khelif is female.
If you are wrong in your claim, and I believe you are wrong, you are advocating for male athletes to punch female athletes in the face as a public spectacle and be rewarded for doing so. Given what's at stake, some consideration of the possibility you may be wrong would be well advised here.
I agree, there's a huge amount of evidence that identity claims about sex can be different from a person's actual sex. This is why identity claims are worthless when the stakes are as high as "If we're wrong about this, a man will get rewarded for punching women in the face as public entertainment." Actual sex can be tested for and, in this context, absolutely should be.
It is interesting that the Gender Idealogues who up till now have been saying that sex is "assigned at birth" presumably by the appearance of the genitalia, and can be assigned wrongly, are now all sex absolutists saying that the boxers were female at birth, were raised as female, and are female now.
The "assigned at birth" mantra which was stolen from the language which was used in relations to persons with a DSD in the times and places where chromosome tests were not available, is very applicable in the current circumstances but the words have conveniently vanished from the lexicon.
Is it because the landlord class have health insurance?
“Under-investment in general practice is a false economy that will result in delayed diagnoses, greater ED attendance and hospital admissions, all of which will cost a lot more than the investment needed to adequately fund a sustainable GP service.”
So, having broken its promise to the nation, and dumped 85% of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill in the trash, National's stooges on the Justice Committee have decided to end their "consideration" of the bill, and report back a full month early: Labour says the Justice Select Committee ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review offers a mature and sophisticated understanding of workforce challenges facing Australia’s National Intelligence Community (NIC). It provides a thoughtful roadmap for modernising that workforce and enhancing cross-agency and cross-sector collaboration. ...
OPINION AND ANALYSIS:Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier’s comments singling out Health NZ for “acting contrary to the law” couldn’t be clearer. If you find my work of value, do consider subscribing and/or supporting me. Thank you.Health NZ has been acting a law unto itself. That includes putting its management under extraordinary ...
Southeast Asia’s three most populous countries are tightening their security relationships, evidently in response to China’s aggression in the South China Sea. This is most obvious in increased cooperation between the coast guards of the ...
In the late 1970s Australian sport underwent institutional innovation propelling it to new heights. Today, Australia must urgently adapt to a contested and confronting strategic environment. Contributing to this, a new ASPI research project will ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital waiting list crisis just gets worse, including compelling interviews with an over-worked surgeon who is leaving, and a patient who discovered after 19 months of waiting for a referral that her bowel and ovaries were fused together with scar tissue ...
Plainly, the claims being tossed around in the media last year that the new terminal envisaged by Auckland International Airport was a gold-plated “Taj Mahal” extravagance were false. With one notable exception, the Commerce Commission’s comprehensive investigation has ended up endorsing every other aspect of the airport’s building programme (and ...
Movements clustered around the Right, and Far Right as well, are rising globally. Despite the recent defeats we’ve seen in the last day or so with the win of a Democrat-backed challenger, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, over her Republican counterpart, Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, in the battle for ...
In February 2025, John Cook gave two webinars for republicEN explaining the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. 20 February 2025: republicEN webinar part 1 - BUST or TRUST? The scientific consensus on climate change In the first webinar, Cook explained the history of the 20-year scientific consensus on climate change. How do ...
After three decades of record-breaking growth, at about the same time as Xi Jinping rose to power in 2012, China’s economy started the long decline to its current state of stagnation. The Chinese Communist Party ...
The Pike River Coal mine was a ticking time bomb.Ventilation systems designed to prevent methane buildup were incomplete or neglected.Gas detectors that might warn of danger were absent or broken.Rock bolting was skipped, old tunnels left unsealed, communication systems failed during emergencies.Employees and engineers kept warning management about the … ...
Regional hegemons come in different shapes and sizes. Australia needs to think about what kind of hegemon China would be, and become, should it succeed in displacing the United States in Asia. It’s time to ...
RNZ has a story this morning about the expansion of solar farms in Aotearoa, driven by today's ground-breaking ceremony at the Tauhei solar farm in Te Aroha: From starting out as a tiny player in the electricity system, solar power generated more electricity than coal and gas combined for ...
After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and almost a year before the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, US President George H W Bush proclaimed a ‘new world order’. Now, just two months ...
Warning: Some images may be distressing. Thank you for those who support my work. It means a lot.A shopfront in Australia shows Liberal leader Peter Dutton and mining magnate Gina Rinehart depicted with Nazi imageryUS Government Seeks Death Penalty for Luigi MangioneMangione was publicly walked in front of media in ...
Aged care workers rallying against potential roster changes say Bupa, which runs retirement homes across the country, needs to focus on care instead of money. More than half of New Zealand workers wish they had chosen a different career according to a new survey. Consumers are likely to see a ...
The scurrilous attacks on Benjamin Doyle, a list Green MP, over his supposed inappropriate behaviour towards children has dominated headlines and social media this past week, led by frothing Rightwing agitators clutching their pearls and fanning the flames of moral panic over pedophiles and and perverts. Winston Peter decided that ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
The landedAnd the wealthyAnd the piousAnd the healthyAnd the straight onesAnd the pale onesAnd we only mean the male ones!If you're all of the above, then you're ok!As we build a new tomorrow here today!Lyrics Glenn Slater and Allan Menken.Ah, Democracy - can you smell it?It's presently a sulphurous odour, ...
US President Donald Trump’s unconventional methods of conducting international relations will compel the next federal government to reassess whether the United States’ presence in the region and its security assurances provide a reliable basis for ...
Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated. Neither side is in a position to achieve its stated objectives through military force. But now there is significant diplomatic activity as well. Ukraine has agreed to ...
One of the first aims of the United States’ new Department of Government Efficiency was shutting down USAID. By 6 February, the agency was functionally dissolved, its seal missing from its Washington headquarters. Amid the ...
If our strategic position was already challenging, it just got worse. Reliability of the US as an ally is in question, amid such actions by the Trump administration as calling for annexation of Canada, threating ...
Small businesses will be exempt from complying with some of the requirements of health and safety legislation under new reforms proposed by the Government. The living wage will be increased to $28.95 per hour from September, a $1.15 increase from the current $27.80. A poll has shown large opposition to ...
Summary A group of senior doctors in Nelson have spoken up, specifically stating that hospitals have never been as bad as in the last year.Patients are waiting up to 50 hours and 1 death is directly attributable to the situation: "I've never seen that number of patients waiting to be ...
Although semiconductor chips are ubiquitous nowadays, their production is concentrated in just a few countries, and this has left the US economy and military highly vulnerable at a time of rising geopolitical tensions. While the ...
Health and Safety changes driven by ACT party ideology, not evidence said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. Changes to health and safety legislation proposed by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden today comply with ACT party ideology, ignores the evidence, and will compound New ...
In short in our political economy this morning:Fletcher Building is closing its pre-fabricated house-building factory in Auckland due to a lack of demand, particularly from the Government.Health NZ is sending a crisis management team to Nelson Hospital after a 1News investigation exposed doctors’ fears that nearly 500 patients are overdue ...
Exactly 10 years ago, the then minister for defence, Kevin Andrews, released the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence (FPR). With increasing talk about the rising possibility of major power-conflict, calls for Defence funding to ...
In events eerily similar to what happened in the USA last week, Greater Auckland was recently accidentally added to a group chat between government ministers on the topic of transport.We have no idea how it happened, but luckily we managed to transcribe most of what transpired. We share it ...
Hi,When I look back at my history with Dylan Reeve, it’s pretty unusual. We first met in the pool at Kim Dotcom’s mansion, as helicopters buzzed overhead and secret service agents flung themselves off the side of his house, abseiling to the ground with guns drawn.Kim Dotcom was a German ...
Come around for teaDance me round and round the kitchenBy the light of my T.VOn the night of the electionAncient stars will fall into the seaAnd the ocean floor sings her sympathySongwriter: Bic Runga.The Prime Minister stared into the camera, hot and flustered despite the predawn chill. He looked sadly ...
Has Winston Peters got a ferries deal for you! (Buyer caution advised.) Unfortunately, the vision that Peters has been busily peddling for the past 24 hours – of several shipyards bidding down the price of us getting smaller, narrower, rail-enabled ferries – looks more like a science fiction fantasy. One ...
Completed reads for March: The Heart of the Antarctic [1907-1909], by Ernest Shackleton South [1914-1917], by Ernest Shackleton Aurora Australis (collection), edited by Ernest Shackleton The Book of Urizen (poem), by William Blake The Book of Ahania (poem), by William Blake The Book of Los (poem), by William Blake ...
First - A ReminderBenjamin Doyle Doesn’t Deserve ThisI’ve been following posts regarding Green MP Benjamin Doyle over the last few days, but didn’t want to amplify the abject nonsense.This morning, Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, answered the alt-right’s prayers - guaranteeing amplification of the topic, by going on ...
US President Donald Trump has shown a callous disregard for the checks and balances that have long protected American democracy. As the self-described ‘king’ makes a momentous power grab, much of the world watches anxiously, ...
They can be the very same words. And yet their meaning can vary very much.You can say I'll kill him about your colleague who accidentally deleted your presentation the day before a big meeting.You can say I'll kill him to — or, for that matter, about — Tony Soprano.They’re the ...
Back in 2020, the then-Labour government signed contracted for the construction and purchase of two new rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries, to be operational from 2026. But when National took power in 2023, they cancelled them in a desperate effort to make the books look good for a year. And now ...
The fragmentation of cyber regulation in the Indo-Pacific is not just inconvenient; it is a strategic vulnerability. In recent years, governments across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, have moved to reform their regulatory frameworks for cyber ...
Welcome to the March 2025 Economic Bulletin. The feature article examines what public private partnerships (PPPs) are. PPPs have been a hot topic recently, with the coalition government signalling it wants to use them to deliver infrastructure. However, experience with PPPs, both here and overseas, indicates we should be wary. ...
Willis announces more plans of plans for supermarketsYesterday’s much touted supermarket competition announcement by Nicola Willis amounted to her telling us she was issuing a 6 week RFI1 that will solicit advice from supermarket players.In short, it was an announcement of a plan - but better than her Kiwirail Interislander ...
This was the post I was planning to write this morning to mark Orr’s final day. That said, if the underlying events – deliberate attempts to mislead Parliament – were Orr’s doing, the post is more about the apparent uselessness of Parliament (specifically the Finance and Expenditure Committee) in holding ...
Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC’s plan to build a plant in the United States looks like a move made at the behest of local officials to solidify US support for Taiwan. However, it may eventually lessen ...
This is a Guest Post by Transport Planner Bevan Woodward from the charitable trust Movement, which has lodged an application for a judicial review of the Governments Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024 Auckland is at grave risk of having its safer speed limits on approx. 1,500 local streets ...
We're just talkin' 'bout the futureForget about the pastIt'll always be with usIt's never gonna die, never gonna dieSongwriters: Brian Johnson / Angus Young / Malcolm YoungMorena, all you lovely people, it’s good to be back, and I have news from the heartland. Now brace yourself for this: depending on ...
Today is the last day in office for the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr. Of course, he hasn’t been in the office since 5 March when, on the eve of his major international conference, his resignation was announced and he stormed off with no (effective) notice and no ...
Treasury and Cabinet have finally agreed to a Crown guarantee for a non-Government lending agency for Community Housing Providers (CHPs), which could unlock billions worth of loans and investments by pension funds and banks to build thousands of more affordable social homes. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:Chris Bishop ...
Australia has plenty of room to spend more on defence. History shows that 2.9 percent of GDP is no great burden in ordinary times, so pushing spending to 3.0 percent in dangerous times is very ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Winston Peters will announce later today whether two new ferries are rail ‘compatible’, requiring time-consuming container shuffling, or the more efficient and expensive rail ‘enabled,’ where wagons can roll straight on and off.Nicola Willisthreatened yesterday to break up the supermarket duopoly with ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 23, 2025 thru Sat, March 29, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
For prospective writers out there, Inspired Quill, the publisher of my novel(s) is putting together a short story anthology (pieces up to 10,000 words). The open submission window is 29th March to 29th April. https://www.inspired-quill.com/anthology-submissions/ The theme?This anthology will bring together diverse voices exploring themes of hope, resistance, and human ...
Prime minister Kevin Rudd released the 2009 defence white paper in May of that year. It is today remembered mostly for what it said about the strategic implications of China’s rise; its plan to double ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Voters want the Government to retain the living wage for cleaners, a poll shows.The Government’s move to provide a Crown guarantee to banks and the private sector for social housing is described a watershed moment and welcomed by Community Housing Providers.Nicola Willis is ...
The recent attacks in the Congo by Rwandan backed militias has led to worldwide condemnation of the Rwandan regime of Paul Kagame. Following up on the recent Fabian Zoom with Mikela Wrong and Maria Amoudian, Dr Rudaswinga will give a complete picture of Kagame’s regime and discuss the potential ...
New Zealand’s economic development has always been a partnership between the public and private sectors.Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) have become fashionable again, partly because of the government’s ambitions to accelerate infrastructural development. There is, of course, an ideological element too, while some of the opposition to them is also ideological.PPPs come in ...
How Australia funds development and defence was front of mind before Tuesday’s federal budget. US President Donald Trump’s demands for a dramatic lift in allied military spending and brutal cuts to US foreign assistance meant ...
Questions 1. Where and what is this protest?a. Hamilton, angry crowd yelling What kind of food do you call this Seymour?b.Dunedin, angry crowd yelling Still waiting, Simeon, still waitingc. Wellington, angry crowd yelling You’re trashing everything you idiotsd. Istanbul, angry crowd yelling Give us our democracy back, give it ...
Two blueprints that could redefine the Northern Territory’s economic future were launched last week. The first was a government-led economic strategy and the other an industry-driven economic roadmap. Both highlight that supporting the Northern Territory ...
In December 2021, then-Climate Change Minister James Shaw finally ended Tiwai Point's excessive pollution subsidies, cutting their "Electricity Allocation Factor" (basically compensation for the cost of carbon in their electricity price) to zero on the basis that their sweetheart deal meant they weren't paying it. In the process, he effectively ...
Green MP Tamatha Paul has received quite the beat down in the last two days.Her original comments were part of a panel discussion where she said:“Wellington people do not want to see police officers everywhere, and, for a lot of people, it makes them feel less safe. It’s that constant ...
US President Donald Trump has raised the spectre of economic and geopolitical turmoil in Asia. While individual countries have few options for pushing back against Trump’s transactional diplomacy, protectionist trade policies and erratic decision-making, a ...
Jobs are on the line for back-office staff at the Department of Corrections, as well as at Archives New Zealand and the National Library. A “malicious actor” has accessed and downloaded private information about staff in districts in the lower North Island. Cabinet has agreed to its next steps regarding ...
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 and climate; on the fifth anniversary of the arrival of Covid and the ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
The government’s own Regulatory Impact Statement acknowledges that organic producers will bear the financial burden of adapting to the risks posed by GMO expansion. ...
The committee has "rammed it through with outrageous haste", with a report now expected tomorrow, but excluding thousands of submissions, Duncan Webb says. ...
The US president’s sweeping programme of global tariffs will hit every country abroad, including New Zealand, and dramatically raise prices at home. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here.In a dramatic, flag-draped address from the White ...
Alex Casey talks to Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi, the couple who launched a project to change 51 lives in honour of those lost in the Christchurch mosque attacks. When Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi walked into Naeem’s house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, they knew immediately that he needed their help. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Professor of Trade Law, Taxation and Climate Change, Queensland University of Technology US President Donald Trump has imposed a range of tariffs on all products entering the US market, with Australian exports set to face a 10% tariff, effective April ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Shutterstock Recent media coverage in the Nine newspapers highlights a surge in non-medical ultrasound providers offering “reassurance ultrasounds” to expectant parents. The service has resulted in serious harms, such as misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies and ...
The three MPs whose rule-breaking haka caught the world’s attention didn’t attend their scheduled hearing yesterday. Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis has the rundown of what happened, why, and what’s likely to come next. I see Te Pāti Māori and the privileges committee are in some sort of stand-off – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Turner, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University The Eurasian and North American tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland.Nido Huebl/Shutterstock Earth is the only known planet which has plate tectonics today. The constant movement of these giant slabs of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Meta has stolen millions of books to train its AI, including books by kaituhi Māori. What does that mean for mātauranga and its status as taonga? New Zealand authors are among the millions whose books have been pirated and scraped by Meta to train its AI. The New Zealand Society of ...
Some hoped the open of the New Zealand markets would open with a bounce as certain tariffs fell short of the worst-case scenario, but investors were met with a deflated thud.The New Zealand market fell immediately as stock market darling Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s shares were punished, with no update ...
Healthcare dominated the debate in an unusually sober and serious question time. “Hey David!” a group of high school students in the public gallery called out as Act leader David Seymour entered the debating chamber. Standing in the middle of the floor, before any other MPs had arrived, he happily ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Naval History, University of Portsmouth How the Shuqiao barges may be used to ferry troops ashore. X (formerly Twitter) China’s intentions when it comes to Taiwan have been at the centre of intense discussion for years. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham Netflix television series Adolescence follows a 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of his female classmate. It touches upon incel online hate groups, toxic influencers and the misogynistic online ...
I don’t want my neuroses about someone being ‘good enough’ to keep me from finding love. But choosing to be with someone who isn’t quite right seems like a death sentence.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,I’m a straight single woman in my late 20s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudia Reyes, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University Pavel Gabzdyl / Shutterstock The “music” of starquakes – enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars – can reveal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney The five-week election campaign is now in full swing throughout the nation. Amid the flurry of photo opportunities and press conferences, candidates campaign in specific areas for a reason: to shore ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Whittle, ANZMUSC Practitioner Fellow, Monash University Marinesea/Shutterstock More than 500 million people around the world live with osteoarthritis. The knee is affected more often than any other joint, with symptoms (such as pain, stiffness and reduced movement) affecting work, sleep, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cornelia Sattler, Research Fellow in Ecology, Macquarie University Samantha Terrell/Shutterstock If you go walking in the wild, you might expect that what you’re seeing is natural. All around you are trees, shrubs and grasses growing in their natural habitat. But there’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeleine Fraser, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Australian Catholic University One of the first things parents want to ask their children after school is “how was your day?” We simply want to know how they are going and what happened at school. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Johnston, Director of Learning and Teaching at Excelsia University College and Research Affiliate, University of Sydney As Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young waved a decapitated salmon dripping with blood in parliament last week, you could feel the election coming. Hanson-Young ...
The head of the Mental Health Foundation says he is not confident there will not be a repeat of a mistake that saw an 11-year-old girl wrongly identified as an adult mental health patient. ...
Staff at Kāinga Ora face restructuring, with a Green MP claiming another 500 jobs are set to go and staff are worried front line housing services will suffer. ...
The government is scheduled to announce reforms to fast-track new drugs based on prior overseas approvals, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Quicker drug approvals on their way The government is expected to unveil reforms today that ...
Comment: The Consumer Data Right is now part of New Zealand law. The CDR is intended to give customers (including consumers and business customers) greater control over the data that certain service providers hold about them.The introduction of the CDR was confirmed by the enactment of the Customer and Product ...
The President’s guest list in the Rose Garden includes steel workers, autoworkers, oil and gas workers, steam fitters, truck drivers, and hardworking Americans from a variety of trades, the White House saysDonald Trump wants to punish countries for national drug-buying schemes like Pharmac, by imposing tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported ...
For decades women get fobbed off because it required surgery to verify a diagnosis …
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/08/04/decade-to-diagnosis-endometriosis-sufferers-agonising-wait/
Can Health New Zealand deliver, or do younger women have less political clout than older people – cancer drugs, hip and knee repalcements …
Getting even an ultrasound or MRI is seriously challenging in the health system ATM.
I have both friends and family members with Endo – and it can be a crippling condition, affecting quality of life (and, sometimes the ability to have children), but also (more importantly from the Government perspective), the ability to hold a job, and progress a career.
But, the same can be said, with equal justification for knee and hip replacements (although, possibly not affecting the ability to have children
)
Most surgeries can be justified on those grounds. I detest the use of the word 'elective', since no-one chooses to go through the process of a surgery with all the associated risks if it wasn't necessary (except perhaps, self-absorbed celebrities and their cosmetic surgeries).
Now, your ability to receive surgery in the public system seems to more depend on how quickly you'll be dead without it. Appendix, yep. Cataracts, they won't kill you.
Guess that there's still a post-code lottery going then – because my experience (in Auckland) differs. Cataracts – yep, you can get on the list for a publicly funded one (just one eye) – it might take 9 months or so to get to the top of the list. Knee replacement surgery – not a chance, sunshine. It's either private or not at all.
I was assessed at Waikato Hospital in March last year for knee replacement surgery. I was told that it needed to happen and that I would go onto the waiting list. I half expected that to be the end of the saga for months if not years, but it all happened in September – I was operated on at Southern Cross Hospital, Hamilton, after having been advised I may well be transfered to a private hospital in Rotoroa, Hamilton or even Auckland. Of course this all happened before the General Election last year, so I have no idea what would happen now.
Guess that it is an example of different 'rules' in different geographical areas.
Guess Dr Levy will attempt to 'fix' regional inequities in public health services.
Cataracts won't kill you – but they can stop you doing your job. They can stop you driving, they can stop you from reading, they can make using a computer very difficult. Mine also stopped my voluntary work.
My eyes are complex – it took 6 months to get all the calculations done for my last surgery. I operated on one and a half eyes for about 8 months. I spend a lot of my $$ on health insurance because of the difficulties with my eyes. I have a corneal graft in one eye, and a very expensive bit of plastic in the other eye.
After the last surgery which also cleared up a cataract, I can actually see to get safely to the bathroom at night without my contact lenses. I cannot have corrective glasses because the irregularities of my corneas require the use of hard contact lenses.
My first surgery took nearly 3 years to get right. Corneal grafts are very hard to do – I got very used to seeing someone coming at my eye with a scalpel and a pair of tweezers as they took out the various stitches.
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/finance/john-key-pushes-back-on-nicola-willis-hope-for-a-disruptive-kiwibank-academic-labels-idea-irresponsible
Old boy keys told the nats off twice this week , do you think the youngins will listen!!!
Good to see the punks taking on the racist right wing fascists in the UK (once again).
Punks – in town for the annual Rebellion festival – squared off against men in football shirts, separated only by police.
“England ‘till I die” and “We want our country back,” crowds chanted, alongside: “Oh, Tommy Robinson,” and “Protect our kids.”
“Where the f*** were you in Leeds?” Others shouted.
Counter-protesters returned verbal volleys of: “Nazi scum off our streets” as bottles were thrown and minor skirmishes broke out.
One woman holding a placard saying “Thugs (and) racists not welcome” had it torn from her hands as crowds pushed from the town hall to the Metropole and as sirens filled the summer air.
https://thelead.uk/skirmishes-and-simmering-tensions-blackpool-protest-wake-southport-attacks-takes-place
10,000 anti fascist punks are in Blackpool for Rebellion Festival. Safe to say the little Tommy lads misjudged this, like most of their pitiful life decisions. They ran away. Moral of the story: Don’t fuck with punks, they hate the far right.
https://x.com/supertanskiii/status/1819880615853859318
Some things remain constant.
Dead Kennedys – Nazi Punks Fuck Off
Tommy Robinson? oh you mean Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon who is skulking in Cyprus hiding from his court case.
Well technically I don't mean that. The right wing fascists chanting it do though.
His plea to Trump was pretty pathetic though. Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Paul Gosar amongst his supporters. Noting he also has supporters in New Zealand including some who petitioned for his release from jail.
I feel like I'm two days away from being sentenced to death in the U.K. for journalism. Today, I am calling on the help of Donald Trump, his administration and the Republican Party to grant me and my family political asylum in the United States of America. … I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case. I need evacuation from this country because dark forces are at work. … This is a direct appeal on behalf of my family – we love the United States, I have no future here [in Britain]. The country has fallen.
All roads lead to Farage.
1/
Just did a network analysis of the "far right thugs unite" hashtag. It largely seems to be a simulated scandal/outrage to promote the Reform Party and Nigel Farage and – while also being an attack on Keir Starmer.
https://x.com/marcowenjones/status/1820114563469127841
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1820114563469127841.html
Farage was also described on Wednesday as “nothing better than a Tommy Robinson in a suit” by Brendan Cox, the campaigner and husband of the murdered Labour MP, Jo Cox. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the EDL in 2009.
There was a rapid spread online of misinformation after the attack, with inflammatory far-right narratives rife on the comment threads under posts by Farage and another Reform MP, Rupert Lowe, on their official Facebook pages.
Under posts by Farage and Lowe, who echoed Farage by saying there was “more to this than we’re being told”, comments ranged from predictions of a coming race war, sharing of misinformation, antisemitic tropes and claims of a cover-up.
“This is clearly not a case of accidental mischaracterisation. This is Reform and Farage in particular actively spreading disinformation and actively using insinuation to incite anxiety, concern and inflame emotions,” Cox said.
Farage was described as “utterly shameful” by the Tory peer Lord Barwell, the former MP who served as Theresa May’s Downing Street chief of staff.
He said: “He is an MP. If he has questions, he could have asked them in the House of Commons yesterday – but he wasn’t there. Instead he prefers to encourage those spreading misinformation on here [social media]. Utterly shameful.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/31/farage-accused-of-inciting-southport-violence-by-former-counter-terror-chief
Indeed.
10/ Another interesting element is that the account with the most impressions on this hashtag is ReformUK member, @TalkTV Host, and former employee of Cambridge Analytica's parent company SCL Group @ThatAlexWoman (Alexandra Philips)
I assume the massive copy and paste (as opposed to retweet) is to make it look like more people re individually supporting the right – even if some accounts have shiny new AI generated photos.
Carole Cadwalladr on the amplification of outright lies and fueling the ensuing outrage.
.
Algorithms that send the most outrageous comments viral and a chain reaction of anger and disinformation made the riots that followed the Southport killings inevitable
[…]
“It feels like it was only a matter of time before we saw something like this in the UK,” said Julia Ebner, the leader of the Violent Extremism Lab at the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion at Oxford University. “This alternative information ecosystem is fuelling these narratives. We saw it in Germany in the 2018 Chemnitz riots, which this strongly reminded me of. And we saw [it] in the US with the January 6 insurrection.
“You see this chain reaction in these alternative news channels, where disinformation can spread so quickly and can mobilise people to take the streets – who are then prone to using violence because there’s this anger and these really deep emotions that are, of course, being amplified. And then, from these alternative outlets, it’s carried on to X or on to the mainstream social media platforms.”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/aug/03/a-polarisation-engine-how-social-media-has-created-a-perfect-storm-for-uks-far-right-riots
Apartheid Clyde.
@carolecadwalla
He knows what he is doing. His algorithms are a party to incitement to violence. He is publishing Tommy Robinson’s words & pumping them to millions. He has no protection from Section 230 in the UK. He is a publisher. And publishers have responsibilities.
https://x.com/carolecadwalla/status/1820158514259427717
I have to say it has been disgusting to see the hysteria around Imane khelif.
A reprise of the facts.
Imane Khelif was born female in Algeria, a deeply conservative Islamic country that doesn't recognise trans people as even existing, let alone allowing people to transition.
She has lost nine times to date to other female fighters.
The IBA is a discredited, Russian dominated organisation banned from the Olympics because of it's corruption and doping scandals.
The IBF has an axe to grind with the IOC.
The IBA has not published any of it's so-called testing results relating to Imane Khelif.
People merely believed what the IB said because it suited their own agenda to make common cause with a fascist front organisation bent on discrediting the Olympics.
The IBA is little more than another branch of the vast Russian disinformation campaign aimed at disrupting the Olympics because the Russian have been kicked out for rampant doping and cheating.
When will all the useful idiots on here who enthusiastically joined the pre-formed narrative pile on to vilify Imane Khelif publicly confess their idiocy and draw the appropriate lesson and show the appropriate level of humility for their gullibility and credulity when manipulated by obvious Russian black propaganda & misinformation?
Big claims require proper evidence it is to the great discredit of this site that a content creator has jumped on the bandwagon to publish an item attacking someone based entirely on how she looks because it suits her raid culture war agenda. Imane Khelif is a hero in Algeria, where her life story is an inspiration – she is a UNICEF ambassador and walked ten kilometres a day to training when she was a youngster because she was too poor to get there any other way.
No issue has more exposed the mickey mouse logic and gullibility of the online culture war pseudo-commentariat style than this ever became an issue.
People will be more than happy to "withdraw and apologise" as soon as we see the karyotype results from an an accredited laboratory. A simple cheek swab will settle this argument for once and for all.
So you've reached the guilty until proven innocent state of affairs have you?
So you have reached the "made up my mind and no evidence is allowed to be produced" state of affairs? You are denying a person the ability to produce evidence to counteract the statements made by the IBA which have produced this controversy?
One would think that a reasonable person – when faced with the expression of such concerns – would have no problem submitting to a non-invasive test which would conclusively show the facts of the matter.
They said much the same things about Caster Semenya until the CAS decision came out – and then they didn't.
I am astonished at the level of stupidity a stubborn refusal to simply admit you were wrong can reach. The IBA made the claim Imane Khelif failed a DNA test.
Common sense tells us extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You've produced no fucking evidence that Imane Khelif isn't anything but a woman.
I read on a random website that you were arrested for fucking a pig six month ago, the police don't have any record of this but I'm predisposed to believe you have a porcine festish so until you produce a statement from the pig denying it and a cast iron alibi backed up by your employer I'll choose to believe a random website over the police.
See how that works?
Maybe address that the IOC doesn't think 46 XY DSD competitors are disqualified from women's boxing (while the IBA did), rather than throwing random allegations at other commentators. Because unless you agree on that the evidence presented by such a test is irrelevant, as is what the IBA has claimed.
If its ok for the IOC to include 46 XY DSD competitors in women's boxing then we can ignore the IBA statements entirely.
As some 46XY DSD women have naturally given birth to children, as I referenced previously, I say Adult, female, whatever.
GC commentators at TS may be heating this debate up to prop up NZ First in government who threatened to cut off funding to NZ sports bodies with inclusive trans participation policies. This, despite it NOT being an issue in the majority of NZ sports, after considered community debate and policy setting.
Interstingly, boxing is one sport where they have created ‘open’ categories to address the issue of trans participation.
And this policy to relate to all levels of participation, not just elite competition level, a US RW weapons-grade ban.
"Sport NZ advocates for flexibility and bespoke policies suited to each sport, opposing a “one-size-fits-all” solution."
Lol, I doubt any commentators on TS are motivated by propping up NZ first.
And yet I saw enough comments at TS before the election of those who were not going to vote Labour/Greens any more because of those parties’ anti-GC political decisions. Who did they decide to vote for, on finding Tanya Unkovich 8th on the NZ First Party list?
Any surprise that Tanya has introduced a private Members' bill to make it an offense for any person found using a toilet "who is not of the sex for which that toilet has been designated."?
You're saying supporting some policies of a political party makes one a propagandist for that political party?
If someone voted for NZ First in 2023 on the basis of their GC platform, and helped them get enough party votes to be a member of the Coalition; then yes, in a broader sense, I consider that person to continue to support NZF in general.
Can't remember any posts (vs comments) here at TS on either Unkovich's toilet criminalisation bill or on NZF's threatened sports policy, opening things up for maybe an uncomfortable debate. Funny, that. That is why I suggested the Khalif controversy is a proxy here for debate on NZFs sports policy threat.
Note the Coalition only backed down on the proposed funding threats once Sports NZ and many individual sports associations basically told the government to get fucked, we've had this discussion with our particular sports community and are happy that our own solutions are fair and inclusive.
I'll take that as a retraction, as your original allegation appeared to be that posts were being put up on TS in propagandistic support of some NZ first policy (which is frankly clearly nonsense).
I'm happy to assume you miss-spoke and only meant that NZ first policy sometimes takes the same side as GC positions on certain issues and some commenters here may have even supported NZ first policy choices.
No. Instead of debating the pros and cons of NZF anti-trans policies, which I would expect from TS, given that, apparently, it's the only safe commentary site for kiwi GC advocates, there is a resounding silence here.
And so it looks to me like the Khelif story becomes the proxy for re-airing GC views on just who is entitled to participate in NZ boxing (but we can't talk about that!).
It’s probably because most of the GC people here atm are feminists and lefties and we don’t have much in common with NZF policy apart from superficially.
Pretty sure the official site policy is if its worth mentioning you can raise a post about it (or just complain all passive aggressive that nobody wrote one for you instead).
Sure thing. Might take TS up on that post.
Why are you talking about 46XY DSD? Every biologist and sports writer I've seen in the past week is talking about 5-ARD, a DSD that only affects males (who can't give birth).
Just replying to Nic the NZer who mentioned it in the comment before.
Nearly all the comments have been under my post, and most of the people who think there is an issue are left wing feminists and leftie men. I count one person who might be a NZF supporter, and another whose voting preferences I don't know.
You appear to be running genderist talking points that don't hold up to scrutiny.
Please define for me what specifically is 'genderist' in my comments? Is that even a word?
liberal leftie support for gender identity ideology above material reality.
Thanks, I can tick off lots of boxes on my culture wars Bingo card. Please define genderism for me, though.
And there is much less real-world data provided by the GC lobby, as far as my extensive reading has shown, starting with trans women are a danger in womens’ public toilets, if we are discussing ‘material reality’
genderism is the term I use to short hand gender identity ideology. GII is a philosophy based in a range of overlapping beliefs: sex isn’t binary, humans can change biological sex, gender identity trumps biological sex, sex is a social construct, trans women are literally women, and so on.
Honestly tWig, I think that is the result of two things: the places you choose to engage with, and No Debate. If it weren’t for No Debate, all the evidence would be in the MSM instead of disappearing down everyone’s twitter timeline.
You might want to tighten up your use of the word in trying to dodge the CW Bingo card.
Wiki has a grab-bag of definitions for genderism.
You asked for a definition and I gave you one so you could understand what I am meaning. I’m more interested here in effective communication than random wiki definitions. I can use GII instead from now on.
Please define No Debate for me, your in-house lexicon is opaque.
I don’t do twitter or social media, never have. Most of the references I have read are articles in ‘print’ media, science papers, and excellent rebuttals put up by pro-trans writers.
that’s a pretty big hole in your knowledge then,
No Debate is a strategy developed over the last decade by lobby groups like Stonewall UK, it was designed to stop the public debating the GII agenda they were rolling out. The idea was that instead of putting out ideas and policy change and convincing the public to accept them, debate would not be tolerated and should be blocked and shut down.
It was incredibly effective, and has affected MSM and many public institutions like universities, government departments and NGOs.
That means that many of the rapid societal changes around GII have happened without public scrutiny. Turns how that is an own goal, because now there is a growing backlash as people start to understand what has happened and what it means.
No Debate was broken by a number of key actions, largely by left gender critical feminists in the UK, but also whistleblowers eg at Tavistock. Grass roots feminism and resistance, along with GI activist basically breaking societal boundaries and safeguarding, eventually got through to the MSM, first the conservative press and then eventually the liberal press.
Now MSM are more willing to cover the stories. But No Debate still has a strong influence, especially in places like NZ.
Material reality is a term used to refer to nature/the physical world, that exists independently from human perception.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectical-materialism
I’m not a marxist, but read and engage with socialist feminists, radical feminists and gender critical feminists who understand Marx, which is where I get my own understanding of the concept of material reality from.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the gender critical feminist position. The argument isn’t that TW are a danger in women’s toilets, it’s that male people as a class are. This is one of the reasons why why we have female spaces and services in the first place. Not all men, but enough of them and we can’t predict which ones, are dangerous to women.
TW are a subset of males, and appear to have the same patterns of male socialisation and violence against women as other men.
I will post some examples of TW and male violence against women. There’s plenty of it about if you don’t block it.
But wait, wouldn't that all have come out in Parliamentary debates and select committes on NZ transgender policy and legislation, if there was such incontrovertable evidence that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? There were plenty of GC submissions weren't there? Must have missed all that evidence.
who has said that trans people are somehow more violent/evil/nasty than the rest of society? Did you just make that up?
what makes you think evidence wasn’t presented?
some real world data.
https://terfisaslur.com/
That’s a website that pulled together examples of the harassment women were getting online for talking about women’s sex based rights. Lots of violent rhetoric. Twitter eventually shut that down after they got hauled before the UK parliament and asked to account for why they were allowing this. So you don’t see it as much now, but the website is a very good example of the kinds of MVAW that is embedded in GII. GII lefties/liberals stood by and let that happen, I spent a lot of time reporting tweets like that to twitter and almost never saw a leftist trans ally condemn them.
But both sides are 'armed' in that particular culture war, and 'TERFs' and their supporters give as good as they get, if not more, like actually murdering a trans girl in the UK. Or inciting men to go armed into womens toilets, good one, KJ whassaname.
feel free to link to the evidence that gender critical feminists are using online violence and threats against trans people.
KJK isn’t a feminist. She’s a right wing populist.
I’m not seeing anything gender critical about Brianna Ghey’s murderers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Brianna_Ghey
‘And spporters’ was the key. Splashback for the GC brigade, who may not have committed the violence, but who built up the heat in society to a boil.
Perhaps Farage and the EDL riots give a similar analogy.
Evidence and Data on Trans Women’s Offending Rates
Written evidence submitted by Professor Rosa Freedman, Professor Kathleen Stock and Professor Alice Sullivan [GRA2021]
https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/18973/pdf/
What a sad piece of evidence that is. I was expecting pages and pages, full of breakdowns by crime, etc. But 2-3 pages, one of which misquotes and misinterprets the conclusions 'Swedish study', which I read myself last year, and the rest on the UK trans prison sexual assault data, which, frankly, was a mess (eg, no differentiation between trans men and trans women in that study, just for starters).
Here's a submission to the same committe (twice as long, and more readable than the original submission) that challenges, in the politest possible way, the barely-there claims in Freedman, Stock and Sullivan's submission. Honestly, you wouldn't get a pass mark for their one if you wrote a stage 2 criminolgy essay.
OK, so you're not a serious person. Good to know.
[Please fix the typo in your email address, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
The IBA supplied the results of the tests to the IOC. There were two tests – done at two different laboratories. As I said – Khalif could allow the publication of those tests, or get another one done and publish that.
The pig says you never paid him when you pimped him out!
here's the reference for the IOC having seen the test results,
https://www.3wiresports.com/articles/2024/8/3/0d4ucn50bmvbndhhqjohaneccoqueq
via https://quillette.com/2024/08/03/xy-athletes-in-womens-olympic-boxing-paris-2024-controversy-explained-khelif-yu-ting/
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-real-science-of-sport-podcast/id1461719225?i=1000664021676
I think this podcast featuring Professor Ross Tucker, a sports scientist is outstanding on the subject of these two boxers. Thoroughly recomend you listen to it Sanctuary if you want unbiased scientific evidence on this situation.
BTW the IBA can't release the tests undertaken by these two boxers it is confidential information. But both boxers had the opportunity to appeal to the Swiss based Court of Arbitration for Sport and chose not to.
As to the Italian woman boxer who stated she withdrew from the match because she feared for her life? Well who cares about her or believes her anyway (sarc)
Reference, please for Italian boxer withdrawl.
reference for what?
A citation for your Italian boxer. I presume you don’t mean the boxer who took part in the bout, and who apologised for her comments?
Her apology included the words " I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,"
“Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”
are you trying to imply that Carini didn't say she ended the fight to preserve her life?
No, read Casini's full comments in her post-match statement in the article I cited. Vsub is creating a victim where there is a boxer who says she quit the bout because it was too difficult for her, her words immediately on pulling out were driven by anger at losing her Olympic opportunity, and does not 'blame' Khelif, where many here are.
That is as valid an interpolation of Casini’s state of mind as that postulated bu Visub, and one tjat grants Casini considerably more agency than a victim frame.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/cw0yvln9z00o
maybe slow down, because you seem to be confusing anker, visub and myself.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/01/angela-carini-abandons-fight-after-46-seconds-against-imane-khelif
Here's the reference for the Italian female boxers withdrawal
please provide the supporting quote, so people don't have to read a whole article to parse your meaning.
“After the second punch, after years of experience, I felt a strong pain in the nose. I said enough, because I didn’t want. I couldn’t finish the fight after the punch to the nose. So it was better to put an end to it.“
the quote from the article as requested
Thanks Sanctuary, brilliant comment, appreciated.
The IBA is to make a statement later today.
They oppose the newly formed WBO being recognised by the IOC as their replacement.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/cnk4427vvd2o
'I can't be bothered learning about DSDs, femaleness is an assignment, not biology, I hate the Russians therefore anyone associated with them is tainted beyond redemption and handily it means I don't have to consider how my politics might fuck over women, but who cares, let's just pretend they're all bigots anyway, or culture war dupes'
Fwiw, Khelif could have been an amazing ambassador for sports people with DSDs. But who cares about them eh.
Immediately followed by:
Please be a bit more discerning in splashing the word "facts" about. There's strong evidence Khelif is male and so far no evidence beyond "Trust me bro it says so right there in her passport" or "But she was raised as a girl" that Khelif is female.
If you are wrong in your claim, and I believe you are wrong, you are advocating for male athletes to punch female athletes in the face as a public spectacle and be rewarded for doing so. Given what's at stake, some consideration of the possibility you may be wrong would be well advised here.
There is also evidence that legal cisgender female identity and biological XX sex may be different.
I agree, there's a huge amount of evidence that identity claims about sex can be different from a person's actual sex. This is why identity claims are worthless when the stakes are as high as "If we're wrong about this, a man will get rewarded for punching women in the face as public entertainment." Actual sex can be tested for and, in this context, absolutely should be.
It is interesting that the Gender Idealogues who up till now have been saying that sex is "assigned at birth" presumably by the appearance of the genitalia, and can be assigned wrongly, are now all sex absolutists saying that the boxers were female at birth, were raised as female, and are female now.
The "assigned at birth" mantra which was stolen from the language which was used in relations to persons with a DSD in the times and places where chromosome tests were not available, is very applicable in the current circumstances but the words have conveniently vanished from the lexicon.
and 'born female', as if sex development in the womb doesn't exist.
Such a lost opportunity for us all to learn about how human biology works and how we establish cultural meaning from that.
Is it because the landlord class have health insurance?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350363007/skyrocketing-family-gp-fees-quite-sickening-doctors-say-its-last-resort
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/08/05/if-youre-going-to-protest-critical-minerals-mining-at-least-walk-the-talk/
An interesting read about how we get to net zero
Mining meeting sound regulatory criteria – not on the conservation estate, and not carbon is not in question.
Carbon gas
https://cylinderguy.co.nz/ask-pete/tips-advice/all-about-gas-water-heating
Coal for local power, or export/steel
https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/minerals-statistics/coal/operating-mines
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/environment/515221/is-nz-bringing-in-indonesian-coal-every-month-to-keep-the-lights-on
The future of reserve power is with the battery.
NZ is now in very high risk of hydropower not meeting demand this spring. Low snowpack and S.I. lakes.
Minister Watt needs to prepare the MBIE team and the EA for short term fixes not just strategies. Transpower are barely coping as is.
Watt and Jones need to call in that big Southland wind farm before it gets pecked to death by locals.
Good to see Shaw commenting there.
Another component in the health care system in crisis.
No pay rise offer and no government funding commitment.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/524201/thousands-of-ambulance-officers-to-strike-as-sector-in-worst-state-ever-seen