Im not sure that we as a nation have much choice. If our FM toned down the rhetoric and we got ourselves off the Russian list of unfriendly nations could we really expect to be able to buy cheap Russian oil? We would then face sanctions ourselves.
Can we nationalise our oil and gas reserves? Would this be enough? As things stand at present the only real immediate answer is to understand that the resources in your country are now absolutely a nations primary source for survival. Even the aluminium smelter should now be looked at as a national resource as aluminium prices rise.
The extraordinary thing is that the US still seems to think that money has some sort of intrinsic value divorced from reality. They really seem to think that a nation that is a net energy exporter can be brought to its knees by cutting it off from Swift. It didnt work for Iran. With Russia it will blow up in their face.
Steering a path through this will be very challenging. We have already seen with covid how difficult national unity for the public good is but also that we are one of the better nations at getting this right. It really is time to start looking at what we can do for ourselves and our immediate neighbours in the Pacific. If we can get actual physical help from larger nations we should be prepared to look at it on a case by case basis. We don't indulge in continual hand wringing about US wars of aggression every time we engage with them and should be prepared to do the same with Russia and China in any offers of help in especially energy infrastructure. If we want pumped hydro, we could talk to them about help, or Russia or Iran to upgrade a nationalised Marsden Point? Its definitely time to think outside the box. We will need all the help we can get.
"We don't indulge in continual hand wringing about US wars of aggression every time we engage with them and should be prepared to do the same with Russia and China in any offers of help in especially energy infrastructure."
We engage in voluminous hand wringing about US wars of aggression particularly when we are asked to join them. As we should.
"If we want pumped hydro, we could talk to them about help, or Russia or Iran to upgrade a nationalised Marsden Point?"
For pumped hydro I would turn to Australian and Irish examples that have been operational for a while.
I certainly agree that this is asking the right questions about our own energy resilience at the right time.
Hearing Luxon this morning saying the "ute tax" will go because there are no current electric alternatives in-market is just folly.
Smart companies should use this war to price shifting their whole fleets much faster.
Companies like rentals, construction and taxis who are less oil dependent are going to be sitting pretty while the rest in their combustion engines are screaming.
It’s a brutal mechanism but 91 Petrol is the climate change lever we all need.
It would be a climate change mechanism if we all had the luxury of being able to afford to move over to electric, work local or from home. But most don't so the more likely scenario is an uplift in social unrest. Even Germany has been unable to resist the primacy of fossil fuel energy, the lack of which will drive right wing nationalism. If we don't come up with an immediate answer to rising fuel costs while we work on future energy shifts then it is likely that social cohesion will break down. Russia understands this and it is part of their decision process on why now is a good time. They may not have all the bells and whistles but will have the social cohesion that abundent energy resources bring. How are we going to mitigate this or are the recent scenes in Wellington just a gentle rehersal on the future?
Yes it will be the corporate fleets, taxis, local government, and central government Departments that will be able to put in orders for electric vehicles – which in turn starts a proper secondary market for the majority of New Zealanders. We still haven't seen enough government procurement support for this.
It was in 2019 that nearly 3% of the entire population of New Zealand marched up and down the country seeking much stronger action for climate change.
In May this year the full plan is supposed to come out that shows how we will fulfill that promise.
So May would be a really good time for those who want more to start preparing the kind of creative protest that got the 2021 tractor protest so much airtime.
If we get a petrol spike to $4 the political pressure from consumers to do less will be hard to resist – and that is when the government will need its supporters the most.
Absolute environmental madness for government to invest in whole fleets of electric vehicles, with all the carbon used to create them, when there are hundreds of thousands of good quality, serviceable vehicles, ripe for conversion.
If the money is there for a fleet, it's more than there to get deals on batteries, engines and motors and train the people to do it. If you want trickle down to affect us poor people, get the tech and process sorted and cheap enough for the countries top 10 best selling models by testing on the rich pricks and let us have at it. Got to better than waiting for new electric fleets to age, decay, and be passed on to the little people.
If you want to be all radical and revolutionary, you could keep it all in house and make parts with home grown aluminium from Tiwai, and when were done and gas free, mothball it.
I didn't realise it but apparently NZ was importing approx 15% of fuel from Russia this was almost totally oil for refining – with the refinery scheduled to close in April I would imagine forward contracts for refined fuel would already be in place I believe in my ferreting around that I saw that of our imports of fuel from Russia only about 1% was refined product. I would anticipate that our forward contracts for refined fuel would have barely included any from Russia – NZ will certainly be paying a lot more for it's fuel due to the international market conditions but any NZ ban on Russian product I think would be mainly symbolic. Any thoughts Ad?
I don't know enough about New Zealand fuel importing to comment specifically.
I do see though that we are going through a spike that will last at least as long as the Yom Kippur War, which started off the Muldoon government seeking as much energy independence as possible.
I want to see the petrol price rise debated in Parliament as soon as possible, so that Dr Woods can start revealing more plans than simply her confidence in forward contracts out of Singapore. The Comm Comm already went through the fuel company books two years ago and made fuck-all difference.
Pretty weird to see the future rushing at us when we're clearly not ready.
Government revenue from fuel excise is around 2 billion per year at an appropriate point politically they could announce a halving of the excise to "assist the country in dealing with the disruption caused by worldwide issues" or doubtlessly some better constructed phrase to maximise the political benefit of their actions cost 1 billion per annum.
Why not eliminate all the excise? Leave yourself the option so that you actually have an option.
When National demands all excise is removed …"but roading still has to be paid for and it is important for an element of the user paying to remain. Of course this remains an exercisable option if the international oil market……"
When the trucking lobby demands a subsidy for diesel costs….. " unfortunately in New Zealand the general public has been subsidising the trucking industry already for many years as the heavy transport industry does not and has not paid their fair share of roading costs. We are announcing a commission to investigate the fairest structure of revenue collection for roading costs going forward….."
Perhaps a levy on all new and used imports with solely ICE power and apply that levy to subsidise new and used electric and hybrid vehicle imports.
Perhaps embracing Efeso Collins plan for free public transport in Auckland – reducing the congestion costs to the economy in Auckland and the reduction in costs for the less well off would likely make it a winner from the economic point of view.
The government is hopefully looking at ideas like these as well as better measures thought of by people well paid to develop them.
Ad at sparrow fart: “We’re now in an inflation v morality war”
Money trumps morality. That's capitalism.
Michael Hudson has written a sobering article on the economic consequences of recent events
Empires often follow the course of a Greek tragedy, bringing about precisely the fate that they sought to avoid. That certainly is the case with the American Empire as it dismantles itself in not-so-slow motion.
The basic assumption of economic and diplomatic forecasting is that every country will act in its own self-interest. Such reasoning is of no help in today’s world. Observers across the political spectrum are using phrases like “shooting themselves in their own foot” to describe U.S. diplomatic confrontation with Russia and allies alike.
There will be no transition, to many people are addicted to this life style.
I'm with those who say there will be a complete breakdown of the current system by 2030. We are fast running out of the ability to maintain this stupidity.
Well unsustainable policy from the government ie policy for biofuels was one of the main contributing factor in the food riots and arab spring.Here it was the underlying forcing beneath speculative bubbles and bursts.
“The Sustainable Biofuels Mandate will prevent around one million tonnes of emissions from cars, trucks, trains and ships over the next three years and up to 10 million tonnes by 2035 to help us meet our climate commitments.
Three weeks in and we're so short of nurses that we are now talking about having covid positive nurses back on wards, on the same day we're told that rest during infection is the best way to avoid long covid… doesnt make much sense does it, basically asking nurses to take an even bigger risk in sacrificing their long term health.
Perhaps we should be asking those unvaxxed nurses if they'd like to come back to work please…
Healthcare Workers Are 7 Times More Likely To Develop Severe COVID-19
Why Healthcare Workers Are at Higher Risk
It likely comes down to exposure, Richard Watkins, MD, an infectious disease physician and and associate professor of internal medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University, tells Verywell. Healthcare workers have “higher levels of viral exposure” and are “in close contact with infected patients,” he points out.
It certainly poses some questions about 'sense.' Just like making sense of unvaxxed nurses.
They'd be administering medication to patients and carrying out procedures with the air of, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Trust me, I know exactly what's in this, how it was arrived at, all about the company that made it, and how your body is going to respond to it."
Much like you when you used your computer just now. Vast knowledge of computer science, physics, math, and micro-engineering. Or would you even turn it on – dilemma!
That post was unclear at best. I did ponder, after my ten minutes was up, if I'd interpreted it wrong.
I agree. Unvaxed nurses have no place in hospitals or any public facing role. But we all know the cliche by now, unprecedented times, aye.
We don't see it, but if you talk to public facing medical workers, it's really hard and has been for some time. Not just the increased work and work requirements, but the increase in crazy they're having to deal with. Putting unvaxed colleagues in that environment adds insult to injury.
If by crazy, you mean: othering, simplifying complex issues with pejoratives, deliberate misrepresenting of someone’s position then hell yes. Off the scale.
So rather than contribute to the discussion we have this non sequitur.
Why do you think it would be a good policy to employ unvaccinated nurses in front facing roles?
I agree. Unvaxed nurses have no place in hospitals or any public facing role. But we all know the cliche by now, unprecedented times, aye.
We don't see it, but if you talk to public facing medical workers, it's really hard and has been for some time. Not just the increased work and work requirements, but the increase in crazy they're having to deal with. Putting unvaxed colleagues in that environment adds insult to injury.
How are unvaccinated nurses supposed to function effectively and with the respect of their colleagues when they are not taking basic steps to protect themselves and others?
Crazy is all the ideas around for not having the vaccinations that are based on 'woo' and not medical reasons. I have absolutely no problem with people not having the vaccination if it is medically advised not to. Asking us to respect a decision based on
'doan wanna'
is a bit much.
Then there are the multitude of CTs that are advanced to 'rationalise/justify' a decision. Why do you defend these and tried to shift the opprobrium onto those who call them out? ie call them out by commonplace references, shorthand to the type of thinking behind them.
I am sure that if I had made up my mind not to have the vax for medical purposes or because I was troubled by the mRNA aspect there is no way in the world I would be allying myself with people whose reasons are because of 5G trackers, magnets, Aids or Covid giving especially if my concerns were related to the mRNA aspect. We have alternatives to this now.
You obviously did not read my reply to your previous posts about people being nasty, according to you. Plus another from me and one from Incognito
Until the vaccines were available, medical staff around the globe developed protocols to minimise infection.
We need to balance the success of such protocols against the need for medical personnel.
(Don't have either of those factors quantified, but I think that's the question that should be asked, and re-asked, as demand grows and available medical resources/personnel dwindle).
It's actually a pretty good analogy – any numpty can turn on a computer and work a desktop with a given margin for error, just like any numpty can change sheets or bandage a wound with a given margin for error.
But managing an ICU bed? Knowing when to call a doctor before all the alarms start going off? Administering drugs properly, recognising errors or drug interactions that dr and pharmacy might have missed? With someone who feels they can pick and choose which protocols they should follow because their own research overrules the specialist guidelines?
Yeah, that's like a computer progammer who thinks a b-tree is the only way to store data or insists on using deprecated library modules. Sooner or later it will end in tears.
i commented here a while ago that they should never have terminated nurses employment for not being vaxxed. I made some suggestions about how these nurses might be redeployed to non contact roles, freeing up other nurses to be on the front line.
I think the situation is so desperate for nurses now, the unvaxxed should be re-instated and have daily rapid anti gen testing before and even during shifts. Many of these nurses will be youngish and fit and probably won't get omicron badly, then will recover. Given nurses with covid are needed to continue to keep the hospitals functioning, what difference is it going to make having an unvaxxed nurse working?
I think the situation is so desperate for nurses now, the unvaxxed should be re-instated and have daily rapid anti gen testing before and even during shifts
RAT inaccuracy during the early days of infection heightens the risk of having having infectious staff working.
Hosted by the University of Auckland, it formed to coordinate experts with a grasp of the science of complexity, to provide insights into how it elucidates the interactions between ourselves and our world.
Here's an example of how it demonstrates relevance:
"All of the people who are part of [New Zealand's misinformation community] are now proposing and promoting a very pro-Kremlin content frame. The second-greatest signature when the protest was on – which is quite extraordinary really, when you think about it – apart from what was happening in front of the Beehive, was Ukraine."
Sanjana Hattotuwa, who monitors more than 100 Telegram channels and dozens of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter accounts run by New Zealand's motley anti-vax movement on a daily basis for Te Pūnaha Matatini, told Newsroom the rapid emergence of Ukraine as a major narrative is like nothing he's seen before.
"RT News has distribution channels on Telegram, which are in the hundreds of thousands, and it has a global ecology that amplifies it to hundreds of thousands more," Hattotuwa said.
These intertwined disinformation and misinformation networks have also formed something of an ouroboros, with the Russian government now amplifying conspiracy theories from the QAnon and anti-vax fringe on its own official channels.
For example, a conspiracy theory which falsely posits Russia invaded Ukraine to take out US-run bioweapons labs developing the next pandemic pathogen is being embraced by Russia. On Monday, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted that Russian forces had found evidence of a "military-biological programme" financed by the United States Department of Defense.
Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystems, and biosphere level.
The word "ecology" ("Ökologie") was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel, and it became a rigorous science in the late 19th century.
So whereas economics provides a world-view based on money, ecology gives us a world-view based on how nature works. That's why politics and governance is based on economics. The political left & right have always agreed that money is more important than nature – which is why Green politics had to be neither left nor right.
Memes are catchy, and informational memes aren't necessarily more contagious than disinformational memes. Social media is an encompassing arena containing a multitude of component social ecosystems (networks) made vibrant via the interflow of infectious memes. As self-organising systems, these will learn to moderate the toxic effects of disinfo to ensure collective survival and health. Or they won't, and will either die or get warped by an uncontrolled infection.
So you can see how social media challenges us to transcend the habitual prioritisation of economics in our political focus, lest we get taken out by toxic invader memes. Just another form of pollution to worry about…
Of course they are. They've got their heads so far up their own asses their only means of taking in information is if it is diametrically opposed to common narrative.
It's all about leadership.
We have been lucky to have a government we can trust during the pandemic. In my opinion, more than anything else majority trust in the leadership of New Zealand's Left of Centre government has helped keep this country's death rate from covid-19 relatively low.
Those MIGs from Poland (all of Poland's MIGs) are going to get delivered to Ukraine. A couple of dozen or more. They gave them to US so US can deliver them thereby fudging the rules around NATO involvement?
I'm not sure Putin's going to see Poland as an innocent party here. But really, screw that guy.
The extended 60-kilometre parade of Russian armoured vehicles, tanks and towed artillery headed from the north on a path towards Kyiv has both alarmed and befuddled watchers of this expanding war. It's not just its sheer size. It's also because that for days, it has not appreciably been moving.
US officials attribute the apparent stall in part to logistical failures on the Russian side, including as a result of food and fuel shortages, that have slowed Moscow's advance through various parts of the country.
“Our assessment is that it's largely meant for resupply – but I can't rule out that there aren't combat vehicles,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday. “We can't even say that it's all one convoy and not several.”
Still, the convoy's progress – or lack thereof – continues to capture popular fascination, thanks to a steady stream of satellite images and video recorded and disseminated by Maxar Technologies, a space technology and intelligence company.
The images have put the business of tracking Russian supply lines, normally the occupation of secretive government agencies, into the public sphere, making them staples of TV news broadcasts and inspiring armchair generals around the world to offer their advice on how to attack the column.
Stuck or stopped? And if stopped why stopped? First, a stopped convoy of this size shows the absolute dominance in the air and on the land of Russian forces. Second, a stopped convoy of this size demonstrates a possible destructive scenario while allowing those that want to leave to do so. The more people that leave the city, the more likely either surrender without fighting or at least fighting that lessens civilian casualties.
Transcript of that part of the interview where the Labour MP apparently says that the definition of ‘woman’ changes depending on which legislation you are referring to at the time 🤡
‘Dysphoric’ is a four-part documentary series on the rise of Gender Identity Ideology, its effects on women and girls – especially in developing countries. Synopsis: In this dystopian world where misogyny is rampant, and womanhood is commodified, being female comes at a cost. Corporates capitalise on women's bodies blurring the lines of biological sex, and profiting from the emperically untested pseudo-science of queer theory. This gaslighting is aided by the complicity of media, academia, legal and the political world. It is no surprise that young girls are fleeing womanhood like a house on fire. The past decade has seen a steep rise in the number of young girls seeking to transition by undergoing life threatening, irreversible procedures. ‘Dysphoric’ is a four-part documentary series on the rise of Gender Identity Ideology, its effects on women and girls – especially in developing countries. The film explores gender transition, the permanent medical side-effects of hormones and surgeries, the propaganda by 'woke' corporations that glorifies thousands of stereotypical gender presentations coalesced as fashion, a surge in pronoun policing; language hijacking that calls women ‘menstruators’, and the many hurdles women face while trying to question this modern-day misogyny.
The film amplifies the voices of detransitioners, clinicians, psychiatrists, sociologists, feminists, academics and concerned citizens.
‘Dysphoric’ was made over the course of a year during COVID lockdown, amid cancellations.
Satire in regards to this issue had a double radical masectomy, a hysterectomy, a vagina ectomy and now is waiting for an leg meat roll to be sewn onto their pubic bone so as no longer be the thing that men don't want to define, but believe any man can be.
I can't read that, it's locked, so I don't know the details of his argument. But why is it astonishing? Someone born female no longer wishes to be identified as such but hasn't had surgery. Continuing to call that person a woman is wrong, imo.
It's an issue because as a result of the ideology, women are now being called cervix havers, even when we don't want to be and when it harms us (think public health campaigns like cervical screening removing the word 'woman' from their material. Not all women know what a cervix is, or English is their second language, so this creates barriers for women who need clear communication around their bodies. It's fucked up to have to be even explaining this).
Trans women and trans men's needs can be met in various ways without dehumanising women (females). Only female bodied people have a cervix, the word we generally use to refer to those people is women. Not wanting to be called a woman is fine, wanting to change the language and concepts of a whole class of people so you can cope or feel included isn't when that class of people object on the basis of their own oppression and wellbeing.
The only way Starmer is right is if the word woman has no meaning. Hence 🤡 MP above.
yep and when that person then dies of cervical cancer because they pretended to be a man than that is just oops. to bad?
You can identify as humpty dumpty, but that does not make you a twin egg in striped trousers.
And the male who had his penis/scrotum inverted into something resembling a 'vulva' and who needs to daily dilate his 'vagina' hole in order to keep depth and keep the hole open – after all their male body wants to shut and heal that hole- does not have a cervix. At the end of the ‘vagina’ hole he has some penile left over tissue or some intestinal tissue. Non of that is a cervix, as that part of the female body has a very clear reason for being. Namely keeping the uterus sterile and being able to open up to let a baby be born.
That man would never die of cervical cancer, but he would still die of penile cancer if he were unlucky enough to get it.
But yes, it is so unkind to pretend that a women on T does not have a cervix, and if it kills them.
edit: https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/ian-duncan-deputy-speaker-house-lords-interview-brother-died-ovarian-cancer-1125221
this is actually a rather sad article, but his brother died not because the language is not correct, but because his brother deluded themselves into thinking that they changed ‘sex’ which sadly they did not. They changed the outside of their bodies, and that was that. A lot of surgery and a lot of T but still a women, and killed by a disease that only women have.
So to some extend you could say that kindness kills transpeople.
and it's worth pointing out the long and horrendous history women have of medical mistreatment via sexism and misogyny, we have bloody good reasons for not giving up our hard won rights or our right to name ourselves in the way that is necessary for us.
"Continuing to call that person a woman is wrong, imo."
Continuing to call that person a 'woman' is factually correct. If we wish to respect that persons wishes by calling them a 'woman' on a personal level, we can do so if we wish. But changing the meaning of a word that defines the reality for the vast majority of adult female humans actually demeans their identity.
I think the solution for public health campaigns is for trans people to politically organise and come up with an overarching term that will include TM, NB females, and any of the other identities, so then we can say "women and [new term] people need to get a cervical smear every three years" or whatever.
(There’s an unclarity here because if we say ‘trans people’ then you get a subset of trans women wanting cervical smears so they feel like a woman despite them not having a cervix (the affirmation need or demand). In some cases there is an medical access issue to sort out, and there’s also a colonisation issue to resolve societally, where some trans women’s wants are unreasonable eg having fake pregnancies and wanting to be part of ante-natal women’s groups)
The problem remains of how to engage with a class of people (trans men) around their female bodies when they have dysphoria to an extent that they cannot tolerate reference to female bodies. This is a separate issue that needs addressing, and shouldn't be used to remove women's language and concepts.
works real well, is explicit in its meaning and need not to be created.
We have accurate language to name things. We just have a group that wants to remove any meaning of he word women and associated functions with that, i.e. the word Mother.
This is a removal of rights from women, to all of their rights they won over the last centuries, down to he 'are they actual humans'.
women, trans men, non-binary, genderfluid, third gender, etc
I think three categories is too many for good public health messaging. It's also clunky. Given this is primarily and identity issue, coining a new term that makes it easy to include people with a gender identity makes sense to me, and keeps things simple.
Transmen and female non binary are sub categories of women.
Transwomen and male non binary are sub categories of men.
Everything else is porkies, and so far these porkies are killing trans/non binary people by witholding hte truth from them. Namely that they can not, ever – with todays medical advances – change their sex. That means transmen can get pregnant, can die of cervical, ovarian, uterine cancers, and transwomen can die of penile, testicular and prostate cancer. Cause in the end biology don't have any fucks to give about our need to be kind to the point of killing people thanks to lies.
It also means that children who grow up trans( puperty blockers, wrong sex hormones, castration, neo vag and leg/arm roll penis surgeries) have all the issues their sexed bodies have, minus the reproduction facilities, issues with arousal/orgasms etc. But it would not be kind to talk honestly about these issues.
As confronting as some might find what you state – I agree with it all.
To allow the words relating to biological sex to be appropriated so as to be meaningless is more than problematic, it is deliberate obfuscation and gaslighting.
Seemingly, 'small' concessions will often have large repercussions. This adoption of alternative language definitions has already shown itself to be one of those instances.
Sorry my first sentence should have read "Continuing to call that person a 'woman' is factually incorrect."
I am more than happy to call a man who identifies as a woman 'she' at a personal and voluntary level. But official recognition of that term is not only a delusion of biological reality, it is to demean biological women.
As you have pointed out, the problem is the ideological results that matter. The reaction to simple statements of fact by JKR is a case in point.
If I wanted to be identified as an idiot, and if I asked you to call me an idiot, then you would be welcome to. But equally, not being an idiot, calling me one would still be factually incorrect.
i commented here a while ago that they should never have terminated nurses employment for not being vaxxed. I made some suggestions about how these nurses might be redeployed to non contact roles, freeing up other nurses to be on the front line.
I think the situation is so desperate for nurses now, the unvaxxed should be re-instated and have daily rapid anti gen testing before and even during shifts. Many of these nurses will be youngish and fit and probably won't get omicron badly, then will recover. Given nurses with covid are needed to continue to keep the hospitals functioning, what difference is it going to make having an unvaxxed nurse working?
Anker, I have recently come out of hospital after elected surgery. I would have been horrified to learn there were unvaccinated nurses in the building. At a time when the country is still to reach its Omicron peak, it is not the time to ease up on current policies. There are other ways that hospitals can reduce the effect of nursing shortages. The obvious one which I expect most are adopting is to cease all elective and other non urgent medical surgeries. My surgery was delayed 15 months due to Covid but I fully accepted there was no alternative.
Once we are tracking back downward which is hopefully only some 2 or 3 weeks away, then it could be appropriate to reconsider employing unvaccinated people but not now.
I have relatives in the Defence Force that were working in the MIQ facilities.
The number of nurses at one such facility was 26, for an MIQ capacity of 50.
They spent all day there, occasionally performing a COVID test. Times that waste of medical resources by the 80 MIQ facilities and you should then reasonably be asking – Could this be handled more efficiently?
This government could have – and still could – do better at allocating medical resources.
Oh yes, the government was caught with its pants down. But of course the current situation has been many years in the making and, as others have pointed out, you can't train nurses overnight.
I think it can be said of most governments whatever their stripes… there is nothing like a full scale emergency to expose the inherent weakness of some government policies.
Firstly Anne, I am very glad you got your surgery and I hope it has gone well.
I have proposed that unvaxxed nurses could be re-deployed to non contact roles and that would involve working from home on secure tele health platforms.
There may come a time when the choice is having covid and being treated with an unvaxxed nurse who has had a RATs test (20% chance of false negatives). Or not getting treatment. Of course if you are in hospital with Covid, then you already have it.
I am very puzzled as to whether people think that a vaxxed nurse who has tested positive but is symptomless or has very mild symptoms should be allowed to work versus an unvaxxed nurse with a RAT test who has tested negative.
I have proposed that unvaxxed nurses could be re-deployed to non contact roles and that would involve working from home on secure tele health platforms.
It would depend entirely on the reason why they are unvaxxed. If its because they are immunocompromised in some way then your idea is an excellent one. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if its happening in some locations already.
But if they are unvaxxed because they have disappeared down rabbit holes then it is a different story. By the very nature of their poor choice I would not want to see any nurse or doctor who has rejected Covid vaccinations on spurious or conspiratorial grounds being associated with a medical practice of any kind.
I know there are others with a different view, but I don’t believe there is any room for compromise on the matter of Covid vaccinations.
Joanne I don’t know what’s gotten into you this week but you are like the manifestation of all of our indignation and your every tweet fills us with determination and courage. Thank you so much for not backing down. We love and respect you so very much.
"Accurate, targeted counter-messaging from the global health community is important but insufficient, as is public pressure on social-media companies. The United Nations and the highest levels of governments must take direct, even confrontational, approaches with Russia, and move to dismantle anti-vaccine groups in the United States.
Efforts must expand into the realm of cyber security, law enforcement, public education and international relations. A high-level inter-agency task force reporting to the UN secretary-general could assess the full impact of anti-vaccine aggression, and propose tough, balanced measures. The task force should include experts who have tackled complex global threats such as terrorism, cyber attacks and nuclear armament, because anti-science is now approaching similar levels of peril. It is becoming increasingly clear that advancing immunization requires a counteroffensive."
Some really awesome high-calibre Māori reached out to me over summer.
– Chris Luxon
Just shooting off at the mouth like he did in the boardroom of Air NZ. Sad thing is this kind of phrasing will go down well with the political right because to them it shows his high aspiration for all Maori to be “high calibre”. This kind of unthinking corp-speak highlights Luxon’s inexperience.
Some comments:
"What the f**k is 'high calibre' Maori? Are you saying the rest are low calibre?" one person asked.
"Just another awkward or demeaning comment from Luxon. WTF are 'high-calibre Māori'? I suspect they are Māori people who have tertiary educations and own multiple houses," another said.
"What constitutes a high calibre Māori, Mr luxon we need the criteria now," someone else said.
Should have said people, and further down the article he tries to explain that's what he meant.
If that's what he meant then why not just say that?
It was a rookie error and a telling slip. Thankfully highlighted by social media and now media.
Probably what he actually meant was wealthy, successful National-voting Maori because to Chris, wealth, success and voting National go hand in hand. While poor, unsuccessful people vote Labour.
But they must have been very Big Guns being such High Calibre.
Mind you what more could one expect coming from an ex CEO of Air NZ where the whole culture and emphasis of the organisation (probably as a result of its ex CEO) is focused on bowing and scraping its "elite" customers.
Sorry Mutton but I can't agree. As a non-journalist, my first question to someone who said "high-calibre people" would be to ask him to describe what low-calibre people are like. Is he talking about early proto-hominids and have we just time-travelled into a 19th Century anthropology lecture?
But calibre, of course, is just one measure in the analogy. I, for example, would be more of a medium calibre low velocity pakeha with a progressive left-hand twist in my lands and grooves.. .
If you replace 'maori' with women, pacifica, people etc. would it cause a similar amount of angst ?
It would be exactly the same for me. Firstly, "awesome, high-calibre" is dickhead corporate language that means fuck all, and represents a clunky, transparent attempt to connect with 'average' people, who are incapable of thinking precisely and therefore beneath one; if he actually thinks it does mean something (which is not to be ruled out), then it's even worse, because it shows that he has trouble distinguishing between the content of his thoughts and the meaning of the words he is uttering. Secondly, regardless of the minority group he is referring to, it implicitly divides that minority group up into the worthy and the unworthy, and exudes the arrogant assumption that he is a fitting arbiter of which is which; it throws up the question as to whether he would even have bothered listening to their ideas if they hadn't met his worthiness criteria. That is the sort of call one can make on the fly if one is just a person on the street; less so if one is aspiring to govern a nation for all of its diverse people.
If he were talking about members of what he considered to be the dominant group in society, the connotations would be slightly different, but there's no real need to go into that here.
You have to actually read the whole article Mutton.
"On an annual basis, national price increases had slowed to 22.9 per cent in February, down from 26.8 per cent the month before."
So, contrary to the misleading framing of the statistics, house prices have gone up an incredible 22.9% from prices that were already mindlessly high a year ago.
There is a constant theme in the media to pretend that house prices are falling when the opposite is true which I don't understand-any theories out there?
What's starting to shock me is how this governments rhetoric has changed.
When asked about a problem this government used to say it would be looking into it and commited to fixing /changing the problem coming off as flexible and reactive if there was a crisis they would admit there was a crisis
Nowadays, the government gets defensive, point blank refuses to answer questions and gets into debates about the wording or definition of the problem and refuses to accept things are a problem. Instead of comiting to change or looking into something it usually lists why they can't do anything on x y z.
This is becoming an issue. They are becoming the can't, shan't , won't party.
Take for instance the cost of living crisis it's clear we're in one and have been in one for some time instead of saying yes it's a crisis because of global issues and we're going to try to address some of these in the budget to soften the blow the pm rejects the word crisis.
Or tax brackets. Tax brackets haven't been adjusted for 12 years, NZs tax system is broken and unfair and focuses far too much on sucking money out of the bottom, tax bracket creep is hurting people many min wage workers are wrongly about to be put in higher tax brackets, a reactive, flexible, energetic government would commit to adjusting tax brackets, it would be popular, instead the government rules out doing so with no argument. Too hard. Meanwhile the opposition commits to do doing so, keys govt would have blunted this by comiting to adjusting them Labour just scoffs. This is going to hurt them.
The government is coming off as tired and stuck in their ways and with some severely hard times coming up this winter problems on tax, housing,rents, fuel,food are falling on death ears it doesn't seem to care about a third term.
They could at the very least adjust tax brackets and drop gst to pre key levels of about 10% to line it up with Australias gst and to offset the 5% inflation.
I fear the govt is walking into its own winter if discontent. I'm not sure if it's arrogance or being captured by their ministries or just plane out of touch but there refusal to even admit problems or commit to simple changes is a big problem and they seem more like a fourth term govt than a govt in it's fifth year.
They desperately need a cabinet shake up and to start reading the room and getting back to a can do govt before the country sees them as out of touch and a govt of can't , shan't won't
I was thinking the same thing. The emerging denial is very john key – like. Jk always denied a housing crisis, inequality crisis and child poverty etc… Labour now starting to sound the same.
Poland cannot do it directly, as it would be act of war. So it goes to US, they sell it to private company as "trash" and that company, privately, sells them very cheap to Ukraine. Documents are clear, Russia cannot complain, everyone have clean hands
The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.
At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.
The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the same vein.
They gotta have plausible deniability. Use an anonymous middleman is the usual way to finesse this situation. Poland gives planes to X while receiving replacements from Y (USA or agent). X gets planes to Ukraine AF.
Money talks so offer the deal to sympathetic govts for an enable fee. All you need is a team of trained-up pilots. If they are two-seaters, an experienced co-pilot could advise a trainee who is experienced with different planes.
. If they are two-seaters, an experienced co-pilot could advise a trainee who is experienced with different planes.
And spend a couple of hundred hours obtaining a type rating in an aircraft travelling at more than twice the speed of sound with an unrefuelled range of 3,000km or so. Nah.
Young guns rise to such challenges! Anyone serious about helping Ukraine will have to use lateral thinking to finesse the mental blocks erected by old guys controlling the various hierarchies. History shows us this is how such challenges usually get dealt with. Forget business as usual and the bureaucratic slowdowns it normally imposes…
Poland has good quality Mig 29's Ukraine has more than enough people experienced in flying those planes but they would have none experienced in flying US manufactured planes like the F16
One of the most successful writers in history expresses her opinions and the headline is that she "receives criticism" rather than the fact that she is defending women's rights.#IStandWithJKRowling#IWDpic.twitter.com/OGIqjmuErQ
Yes, sweetheart. I'm staying right here on this hill, defending the right of women and girls to talk about themselves, their bodies and their lives in any way they damn well please. You worry about your legacy, I'll worry about mine 😉 https://t.co/wLekwpMQEe
So, JKR rightfully uses her institutionally and societally gifted power to talk the feminism she wants. I on the other hand am dropping IWD tweets in OM because I know that if I put up any of this as a post I will suffer social sanctions that unlike JKR I cannot afford, and today I don't have the spoons for it.
That's fucked up. And this is why feminists call JKR a queen.
It's hard enough writing as feminist in this very blokey space, as an author and/or as a commenter, for a range of reasons to do with society and the culture of TS in particular. No Debate and the sex/gender war make it actually risky. Many women cannot even express an opinion using their real life names because of fear of real life sanctions.
We're losing ground. Women, and society. Half of the left doesn't know what we're talking about and the other half thing we're bigots for demanding that being female is an actual thing and that it matters. It's imperative we find ways to name what is happening.
Here's Suzanne Moore,
As a feminist, though, I would indeed like the world to be a better place for women – and by the world, I don’t mean north London or a campus in California; I mean Herat, Tigray, Guatemala. For all the arguments about equality for women amount to nothing if we lose an international perspective. Feminism is global, or it is simply an exercise in consumer power dressed up as politics. That is exactly what happened to Western feminism in the 1990s, when everything from brunching to boob jobs was “empowering”.
If International Women’s Day means anything, it means facing up to what is happening to women everywhere. We have gone backwards, not forwards. The pandemic is part of this, but not the only factor.
…
In short, without a continual fight, no headway is made. The biggest surprise to me, though, has been that the backlash against feminism has come not from the Right, but from the Left. The whole inflated debate around trans issues is so often not about the small number of people who are gender dysphoric, and need care and dignity; it is about the rights of women to keep what we already have. It has produced an avalanche of repulsive misogyny.
The new religion of gender identity (is it a soul, an essence, a made-up concept?) has meant a fundamental denial of women’s experience: menstruation, birth, breastfeeding, menopause. These are not feelings in ladies’ heads, but things that happen to real bodies. As does rape, objectification, FGM, as well as all the societal expectations women deal with on a daily basis.
Which is the point of all that exercise. Achieve 'equality' by dismantling it, calling for 'equity' and thus a fonterra board with 6 male and 6 transwomen or male non binaries or male gender fluids or any made up woo woo is suddenly not a 100% male board.
Have a womans team comprised of only transwomen. ! Equity!
Have transwomen dilute the women pool on women lists, jobs awards etc. And in the end, have these same trans identified males who appropriate womanhood make rules under which things who can no longer be named have to live.
I don't think many of the things who can no longer be named have thoughts about the practical implications, or for those in academia with government jobs maybe they believe that they will not be affected by the shit storm that is about to rain down on us.
The Ferengi Nation comes to mind. Womb rental and all.
Weka, I so endorse all you are saying………..I have been surprized how gender ideology has captured so many, especially the media, the public service, a raft of other organisations and The Labour and Green Parties.
Debate is shut down, people are called bigots and transphobes, lesbian woman tresspassed from Pride last year and had the police called to enforce the tresspass.
I spoke out recently on a group I am a member of FB page and had my post cancelled. I was drawing attention to the 25,000 detransitioners on Reddit. I know many in the group agree with me, but were too scared to speak up. One had previously spoken up and the gender ideologues rang their employee and they nearly lost their job……………..
We are close to a time where we will no longer be able to speak up without risking hate speech laws being used against us. This is the work of the left (whom I have always been aligned with)
An ideology empowered by leftists driven by pc is how I'd frame it (from my observer position). Viewing the situation with the lens of civil rights, the solution seems achievable via solidarity based on accurate identification of minority rights. Then traditional organising, using leverage & framing in a lobby group. Then, if necessary a class action.
Sharing aspirations is usually how such things originate – often combined with a common grievance based on perception of injustice. Then defining the common interest shared, then using that definition to construct a political action group. Keep membership rules simple, making it easy to join. Voluntary leadership by activists originates – then things get tricky (elections may be necessary at a critical threshold).
So best to focus on getting such a movement up & running. Success will be proportion to numbers joining in the origin phase. Recruitment based on networking, likemindedness. The pool is adult women, the pitch is non-partisan, so the only design challenge is framing. That must address the threat to civil rights. The learning curve will probably lie around what social factors insulate some women from seeing the problem. Incentives to shift their view have to be used in the framing.
Being uninvolved I offer this summary of technique due to a personal history of similar experiential situations & learning curves. Plus altruism.
Viewing the situation with the lens of civil rights, the solution seems achievable via solidarity based on accurate identification of minority rights.
I have a horrible feeling you are meaning natal women.
The minority is the transwomen community.
Many women would happily help them find a place, develop policies where they are no discriminated against that does not involve natal women having their rights and born identity sidelined.
Agree that was why I was curious as to who the people with minority rights were that Dennis mentioned. It surely could not be women as figures show that depending on when the count is taken we make up usually slightly more or very slightly less than 50% and in some age groups are the majority.
Agree that transwomen are transwomen, and are also men and transmen are transmen and are also women.
There is a lot of wool over eyes pulling and sleight of hand that brings to mind sayings of my youth 'I'm not as green as I am cabbage-looking, meaning, “I may look new to this, but I'm not.” and 'I did not come down in the last shower' used to indicate that someone is not foolish or gullible
When it is looked at simplyI wonder why more men are not coming out against this word twisting.
The concept that transwomenhood is a male rights agenda seems to explain this.
Scientists in the Netherlands therefore analyzed data on 31,118 patients who received red blood cell transfusions from 2005 to 2015. Most of the donors (88 percent) were male; 6 percent were women who had been pregnant at least once (regardless of outcome), and 6 percent were women who had not been, according to the national blood supply agency, Sanquin. The sex imbalance is because men are allowed to donate blood more often than women and because donations from women with an unknown pregnancy history were excluded from the analysis.
Recipients, ages 42 to 77, were followed for a median of 245 days. Within that time, 3,969, or 13 percent of recipients, died, Sanquin’s Rutger Middelburg and colleagues reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The risk of dying was about the same after getting blood from a man or a never-pregnant women, regardless of the recipient’s sex. But every unit of blood that a man got from a woman who had been pregnant raised his chance of dying 13 percent.
Far be it for a male to presume to answer that. All I can offer is suggestions! On that limited basis, my answer would hew to the simple formula of women who care enough to work together to solve the problem.
That said, I know it gets complicated. The formula of ready, willing and able is a good one to apply if those complaining about the situation default into assuming that they ought to solve it. Not all such people are willing. Some will be unable (due to personal circumstances such as prior commitments or disabilities). Some may want to help but are currently unready to do so.
So what tends to happen is a zeitgeist effect – all those who synch into the same collective space/time/attitude are the right ones!
Shifting from the generic to the particular, I wonder if it is appropriate to frame it as feminism with a number attached – to invoke the power of tradition. The new number defines progress as the agenda. So it becomes automatically progressive! This framing device works on a mutual recognition basis. Only viable if feminism as ideology is seen as non-toxic in essence by the majority of women, I suspect, and I can't comment on that issue…
thanks for clarifying, I wasn't quite sure what you meant.
There's an awesome grassroots feminist movement in the UK that we've not seen the like of in many a decade. Very heartening. It's arisen because of the impact on women's rights from gender ideology movements, and it's making good progress both in organising and in political gains. Some women have paid a hefty price with jobs, careers, abuse, and police attention.
In NZ there is that potential, but I don't know what the deal is with activism in NZ now. We all seem to be in a holding pattern of some sort (not just women).
Re naming, feminism is a good term on its own. Feminism has always had disagreement and different branches. For clarity currently we can talk about radical feminism, liberal feminism, 2nd and 3rd wave, gender critical feminism and so on.
If this wave is too amorphous to define as yet, then it will eventually crest. That means the time is ripe for those who seek to ride it. Doing so would be the best way to give it collective identity & form…
I must say this appealed to me…..Am I wrong to see it as a men's rights group?
The strategies, bulldozing through, sidelining those who disagree, wanting an end result that comes about by force of will rather than discussion, seem more like stereotypic male thinking.
Yes, I think that the trans “women” are really are men’s rights group.
I think that some of the most vociferous on this topic (irrespective of gender identity), are misogynists who have found a new publicly and politically sanctioned way to harass and harm women.
The failure to recognise and reprimand such actions harms both women and transgender people.
I am not sure why non misogynistic men are not coming out in support of women. Or is the loyalty of a man to a fellow man greater than their loyalty to fairness.
Mind you it is a brave man who will stand with women.
'A number of New Zealand’s leading male politicians, including John Hall, Robert Stout, Julius Vogel, William Fox and John Ballance, supported women’s suffrage'.
A couple of examples of male "allies" responding to a tweet by J K Rowling:
SHUT UP WOMAN, EVERY DAY IT GETS CLEARER THAN EMMA WATSON USING A TIME MACHINE Wrote HARRY POTTER, IT'S NOT POSSIBLE THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BOOK YOU WROTE. TERF
Ooooh it was WARNED?! By a transphobic bigot? I'm sure they're so concerned about what you have to say. Go back to writing Harry Potter, no one wants you here.
We should start a campaign to start calling @jk_rowling "it" as it has lost its privileges to be a "real" woman. If it wants to have its gender back, it can start calling trans women, women.
Why yes Virginia, that is exactly what they are. 🙂 And they enjoy every it every bit.
It never ceases to amuse me that some people really believe that the men of the right and the left are not driven by the exact same misogyny. It is just couched in different terms, but the end effect is the same.
Transgenderism/Trans ideology is misogyny. Pure and unadulterated.
Gender Non Conforming Men are not broken beings that need to be shoved into womens places, pretending to be women to the point where they get to dictate women how to women. And that is MRA in the nutshell. They are men.
You are putting words in my mouth that i don't say. I would like you to consider this for a moment.
Maybe it is not what i said that is the issue but how you interpretate it. I am not even considering William "lia' Thomas as a 'MRA', even tho he benefits greatly from the MRA that comes with TRA.
You can not seperate the MAN from Trans. Otherwise they would be women and then we would not have this issue to talk about.
Gender Non conforming men are not the fault of women and are not a problem for women. They should be an issue for Men and Men should be accomodating them in the male spaces, jobs, awards, and changing rooms. And in fact, i would venture a guess where Michael "lia' Thomas to be the 420 ranked swimmer in the Mens as an out and proud transwomen he would get way more support then he is getting now. But for some reason that is not what Michael "Lia" Thomas is doing. But i guess as someone ranked 420 – i.e. average – would not get to stand on a podium with the winning women ranked below him. And that is MRA in a nutshell. Maybe you need to consider that the two philosophies are intertwined and to some extend feed of each others.
Secondly, i don't consider the swimmer, or the surfer, or even Eddie Izzard a 'transwomen'. I consider them transvestites. Maybe already there we need to identify of whom we speak.
But i take your bigot, and i would add Terf, and Femnazi, and men hater, and i have no issues with that. In the end these words are meaningless and the actions for TRA's are standing on their own as do their words.
And just to re-enforce the idea once more, i do not speak about Transwomen per se, i speak about the movement, the political clout that movement has compared to say 'feminism' , the money behind it, big pharma, big surgery, and so on.
But again, i will wear that 'bigottry' t-shirt. It states that Women are adult human females.
You are putting words in my mouth that i don't say. I would like you to consider this for a moment.
I asked you a specific question,
sorry, are you saying that all trans women are MRAs?
You responded by saying,
Transgenderism/Trans ideology is misogyny. Pure and unadulterated.
Gender Non Conforming Men are not broken beings that need to be shoved into womens places, pretending to be women to the point where they get to dictate women how to women. And that is MRA in the nutshell. They are men.
I took that as you saying that you know what trans women are and you linked this again to MRAs, but you didn't actually answer my question directly, so I parsed it from your recent comments.
I see eventually you clarified that there is a difference between being trans, and trans ideology,
And just to re-enforce the idea once more, i do not speak about Transwomen per se, i speak about the movement, the political clout that movement has compared to say 'feminism' , the money behind it, big pharma, big surgery, and so on.
So my question and assumption served a purpose, of getting you to just say what you meant in relation to my query.
Honestly I didn't read the rest of your comment, because I was asking for a simple thing and as you know I get weary of the lectures at times.
no, trans women are not a men's rights group. Trans women are a group of gender non-conforming males, who just like every other group of people have varying needs and politics.
Gender identity activism (sometimes called trans rights activism) has strong parallels with MRAs. Lots of trans women aren't doing either of those two things. There are some that definitely are.
I also get the view of Magdalen Burns in Molly's link above that why is it that women have to take the big breath of acceptance and why is it that that he is 'widening the bandwidth for women'. He should be widening the bandwidth for men.
The reason i did not answer your question to your satisfaction is very simple.
I am not speaking of transwomen. I am speaking of the movement and only the movement. I can separate the two. So i am not going to answer your questions as your question is quite out of line and accusatory at best.
Its like with men and being a rapist. Not all man are rapists, but most rapists are men. There is quite a nuance in there. Ditto with Transwomen, Non binaries, genderfluid and any of the other 90+ made up 'genders' may not be themselves MRA's but they profit of the MRA tactics employed by TRAs that serve only to shut down women.
And frankly, you, Molly, Anker, Shangreah and others we have had more then one discussion on this subject and it seems that only you saw it fit to declare bigotry where there is none, implied or otherwise.
Transideology is at its heart deeply mysogynistic, starting with the idea that a women gives birth to a child 'with a wrong body'. Humans have one body, once that body is used up we die. We can modify that body with wrong sex hormones, puberty blockers, plastic surgery, fillers, silicon, make up, full body silicon suits, tattoos, implants and what not, but it is still the same body and it is still sexed exactly the same way it was on the day of it emerging from a womans vagina. Yet, here we ask women to make way for men into their spaces, jobs, awards, camps, changing rooms, sports on the ground of these men living in the 'wrong' body. Lol. And as the beautiful clip of the Sainted Magdalene Berns stated, that dude with a beard and horrible dressing sense is now a women and we have to affirm this dude as a women cause kindness and otherwise bigotry. IF that is not MRA tactics in action i must have a different definition of MRAs then you. And fwiw, that dude might not see it as that, but then he is the one that wants to be in places where women are in various stages of undress and he is the one that now has that right, and any women who is uncomfortable with him being in a changing room with her is a ‘terf’ ‘bigot’ ‘transphope’ ‘cissy’ and other assorted bs. The insults change the premise for them stays the same.
Understand that i generally don't go after people and pretend they are something, and if i were to do that, i would have absolutely no qualms and issue in naming the person and stating why i would do so. I am only discussing the movement, the philosophy the legal aspects and the rights that women are losing thanks to this movement that elevates men feels above the rights women earned through hard work, beatings, forced feedings, and ridicule. This may make you uncomfortable, maybe you even think i should be kinder, softer and more accommodating, but to that i only have a 'No, thank you' to give you. I rather be rude then a liar and someone who then must continuously affirm that lie. I personally can't be bothered with that. It would be too exhausting to be honest.
Sabine, while I agreed with weka above, I considered it a response to Shanreagh who seems to be exploring this topic more in recent days, and might not be aware of the distinction between the activism around the gender identity ideology, and the people who are living as transgender. That was only my take, could be wrong.
I understand your position, and agree with it as well.
It is the gender identity ideology that is problematic, and the refusal to put that belief system under the same scrutiny and objectivity that any other belief system would undergo.
The medical interventions promoted for children and young people, the removal of single sex spaces of all kinds (physical and otherwise), the distortion of language, the negative impact on women's sports, the indoctrination of institutions and services, the elimination of lesbians, and gays from their own movement, and the complete failure to ask for empirical evidence is a dangerous movement.
I know that is not the limit of the negative effects, but you get my drift.
Anyway, was cheered up by watching this week's The Mess We're In, in celebration of Women's International Day. If you are wanting something to watch, it's here:
All of us that have been talking about this for ages now are on the same page: it's the ideology and activism that is the problem.
It's really important that we don't lump all trans people in with that. For one thing, it will step over the line in terms of TS debate rules. We have trans people here, they have a right to be here. If people are going to be casual in their rhetoric about transness, and not clear, and they sound like bigots, then it's unfair on trans people, it creates an atmosphere that inhibits debate.
It will also be harder to then argue that feminists have any rights to not be exposed to such when debate women's rights.
For another, it's wrong and not fair.
We cannot expect to have our own arguments respected if we won't make an effort to separate out trans people from the problematic ideology.
weka, if you haven't done so. Watch the link posted above – my daughter and I enjoyed the whole hour, and the display of humour and understanding between the women. I hope you do as well.
I think there exists the same energy – for the most part – between female commentators on here. I hope I'm right about that.
(Edit: Thinking of writing a post about the damage of the medicalised response (and social transitioning) of children, based on the recent changes to that after evidential reviews in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and France. Having just watched the Dysphoria series on Youtube, its a timely conversation for NZ, that has an “affirmation health care” model.)
Yes, it was a nice 'beer' hour in good albeit physically distanced ways, excellent company and as far as i can crush on ladies, oh do i have a crush on Helen Joyce. To the Queen her Ladies!
I am not speaking of transwomen. I am speaking of the movement and only the movement. I can separate the two. So i am not going to answer your questions as your question is quite out of line and accusatory at best.
Sabine, this is literally what I was asking you to clarify. You've done that now, but it took far more work than was necessary imo. A simple clarification would have sufficed.
If you can't handle someone calling your position bigotry, then maybe take more care with how you express it. I'm not the only one who sometimes misunderstands what you say. I'm not saying be kind, I'm saying pay attention to who you are talking to and listen to what they are saying. My original question was incredibly clear and simple to answer. But you didn't.
I don't think you are a bigot now that you have made it clear what you mean. It definitely wasn't clear from your first comment (which is why I asked) or your second.
Again, didn't read most of your comment because am sick of the patronising lectures, as if I don't already know all that stuff.
I tend to abstain from words such as bigotry or any insults to anyone generally specifically insults as generally that always says more about the one using these words then those against whom they are deployed. ,
I am sorry that you thought that my second or first comment was a lecture, i honestly believed that i had to make myself even clearer in my thoughts and words.
My problem is when you don't listen. I didn't need long posts of explanation, I already know what you think about trans ideology, and we are generally on the same page. All I needed was clarification on that one point. See my comment to Molly below for the reasons why. It matters how we talk about trans people here, in the same way it matters how men talk about women. Making it clear that it is the ideology that is being critiqued is a good way to do this 👍
I enjoy reading Suzanne Moore – kicked off the Guardian for.. continuing to be herself – a clear writer.
…The official theme is #breakthebias, which is as innocuous as it is futile. People – not women, because the word ‘women’ is now controversial – are asked to pose, hands crossed upwards, to share as a selfie on social media. This is supposed to be part of imagining a “gender-equal world”, one free of “bias, stereotypes and discrimination”.
…
It renders the term ‘woman’ somewhat pointless, as this is essentially self-ID. That’s a pose.
Still, what is a real woman? I have always been the wrong kind myself: too stroppy, too outspoken, too graceless. But now, though, I am strangely convinced that because I have female biology, I am an actual woman. (The gender rules of femininity that I have considered innately dumb my entire life make me neither a wannabe man, or non-binary, or anything special.)
As a feminist, though, I would indeed like the world to be a better place for women – and by the world, I don’t mean north London or a campus in California; I mean Herat, Tigray, Guatemala. For all the arguments about equality for women amount to nothing if we lose an international perspective. Feminism is global, or it is simply an exercise in consumer power dressed up as politics. That is exactly what happened to Western feminism in the 1990s, when everything from brunching to boob jobs was “empowering”.
…
Forgive me, then, if I do not celebrate International Women’s Day when so many political parties are kowtowing to this woman-hating religion. Forgive me if I think “non-binary” is just another way of creating a new binary, and saying “I am special” and you are not in my tribe. Forgive me if I think that, in so much of the virtue-signalling we will witness today, it will likely be that there is little “international” about any of this.
Sure, I will strike a pose and do the hand gesture – but it will not be a benign, flappy cross: it will be rude and unfeminine.
And it won’t be a pose. For being a woman means living in the real world, in female bodies.
The BBC has spoken to the defence ministries of Estonia, Sweden and Denmark, all of whom confirmed their weapons supplies had been tracked and successfully reached Ukraine in recent weeks.
Britain and America had provided weapons to Ukraine before the invasion began on 24 February, with the UK delivering 2,000 light anti-tank missiles (Nlaws). Most countries though only started to send weapons in response to the Russian invasion. In all, 14 nations have supplied arms. They include Sweden and Finland, both of which have a long history of neutrality and are not members of Nato. But both have sent thousands of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
Germany has supplied 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles. The Baltic states have also delivered thousands of weapons including Stingers and Javelin missiles, one of the world's most effective anti-tank weapons with a range of 2.5km (1.5 miles). Ukraine says it has already successfully destroyed several Russian T-72 tanks.
Recent weapons deliveries also include tens of thousands of assault rifles and machine guns, anti-tank mines and hundreds of tonnes of ammunition, as well as body armour and helmets, and medical supplies.
Justin Bronk, a research fellow on airpower at the Royal United Services Institute, says there's been visual confirmation of at least 20 Russian aircraft shot down in Ukraine so far – both helicopters and jets. That's significantly fewer than claimed by Ukraine's ministry of defence, which says it has downed 48 Russian planes and 80 helicopters. Yet even the lower number shows Russia's struggled to gain supremacy in the skies.
Ukraine has suffered losses too. But UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the BBC that Russia had so far not been successful in destroying the country's air defences and air force. Before the war began, Ukraine's military aircraft were outnumbered at least three-to-one by those that had been amassed on the border by Russia.
So the imbalance may be gradually evening out. I couldn't find any update on the Ukraine army situation online.
. I couldn't find any update on the Ukraine army situation online.
Because Ukrainian operation security will be as tight as a drum while every tool the West has works to crack Russia's, and publicise every last detail.
.@JimmySecUK shows Russian Su-34s are using commercial GPS kit in their cockpits. Former RAF specialist @rwek2012 notices it is American-made. How’s that for operational security? pic.twitter.com/odHLqIha8C
— Michael Weiss 🌻🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@michaeldweiss) March 7, 2022
The video was carefully shot to avoid any discernible objects – making it hard to geo-locate. But Ukrainian channels now report the camp has been obliterated by a GRAD salvo. I guess it was geo-located after all. Courtesy of the DP: Artur Gichkaev, CEO of GroznyInform. pic.twitter.com/LFqbXnC2Co
Likewise a third of the Nat caucus is down with omicron. An accurate statistical match with the tunnellers, huh? Probably due to the function of boring that both share…
So censorship is the new normal. Funny how the whole legacy media is complaining about censorship in Russia, then are deathly quite whilst the tech companies shut down alternative news in the west. In particular anti-war voices, it's frightening.
If you have the time worth hearing the whole thing. I say hear as I just play like a podcast, and do other work.
The Opposition is getting better at following their themes eg adjusting tax brackets. (Which the Budget may be already getting ready to do that.
1.CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement, “The debate is not whether inflation has increased and is impacting people. The debate is what we should do about it”; if so, will she adjust the income tax brackets to account for the last four years of inflation?
Putin has offered Ukraine peace, for recognition of the annexation of Crimea and eastern Ukraine areas in Luhansk and Donetsk occupied since 2014 and declaring neutrality (not joining NATO).
The generous offer is indicative of Putin's real agenda.
The end of sanctions on Russia for the annexation of Crimea (and occupation in eastern Ukraine) – this only occurs when an independent and internationally recognised sovereign Ukraine consents.
Ukraine should, in my opinion agree, provided Russia takes over a proportion of the national debt of Ukraine equivalent to the land and resources transferred to Russia.
And also agree to neutrality, provided it retains an independent defence capability. And that it can still join the EU at or by the time the EU and Russia have an FTA. From this a positive Ukraine and Russian economic relationship, in which Russia and the EU would assist with Ukraine's reconstruction.
The increase of sanctions on Russia applied recently would have sharpened focus on the importance of a negotiated settlement.
While Putin would still be free to negotiate a reduced NATO presence in former WP nations, via a military build up threat of securing a land bridge to Kaliningrad via Lithuania – developing a co-operative relationship between the EU and Russia over Ukraine's economic revival would reduce the risk of NATO-Russian conflict
After Ukraine this is where the Russian military will exercise, and while they exercise Putin will seek guarantees of NATO withdrawal of forward capability in former WP nations.
This is why there needs to be a deal over Ukraine, rather than a sacrifice of Ukraine to revitalise NATO. The revitalised NATO they seek only comes from a new Cold War with a heavily sanctioned and bitter Russia.
This leaves the USA vulnerable to Chinese opportunism (annexation of Taiwan post 2025 – they are giving chip manufacturers time to relocate offshore to reduce the economic risk to the West, so make it more of a fait accompli).
The Russian military appears to be overcommitted in Ukraine.
At least to the point that the Belarusian military are throwing sickies rather than join them.
With the mass of their heavy equipment set to be abandoned in the coming rout, it will be Ukraine that decides where the borders lie, as Russian conventional forces are defanged and disgraced, and no economy exists to rebuild them for decades.
Putin must have thought he was the god of intelligence, turning the former US president, but as another US president noted, you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
I didn't realise all those planes that fly in and out of New Zealand airports were Air New Zealand planes in disguise.
I didn't realise that planes labelled as being owned by Qantas, Air China, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines, United and Jetstar were actually part of Air New Zealand.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I am not sure you really want to bring peoples attention to this. The link you provide is dated 20/01/2020. It talks about Air New Zealand putting up its fares when Jetstar stopped flying domestically.
The withdrawal was announced on 25 September 2019 and took effect in November 2019. Well Luxon resigned from Air NZ in June 2019 and left the company on 25 September that year. Hence the increase in fares being complained about took place after his successor took over. It wasn't Luxon's doing at all, was it? After all, would he really be setting the future policy for the airline on his last day in the office?
Legalistic pedant? I think not. I just like to see the truth being told.
You’re missing the point yet again. If you want to talk about Luxon and National’s shambolic financial analyses, then fine, comment under Micky’s Post all you like and give the other side a tough debate. If you want to talk about ANZ, use OM.
You were out by 8 days with the link date; you may value “the truth”, but you obviously don’t value accuracy in and of your statements.
Quite right. It was 28/02/2020. I notice you don't question the rest of my comment though. Pity the fare rises were after his time in the chair isn't it?
No need to respond any further to your diversions – I just like to keep convos more or less on track. Others may want to waste their time, if they so wish – they may even get something useful out of your comments, but I doubt it.
Will this end up being the scandal of the century?
"regular use of ivermectin as a prophylactic agent was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates," based on an observational study of 159,561 residents ages 18 and over in Itajaí, Brazil.
'After adjusting for variables, the authors said, they found a 67% reduction in hospitalization rate and a 70% reduction in mortality rate for ivermectin users.'
"Conclusion: In this large PSM study, regular use of ivermectin as a prophylactic agent was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates."
Even if ivermectin comes out of the wash as being as effective as its premature proponents have claimed for however long, so what? A decision based on insufficient evidence is still a gamble, even if one happens to win.
A gamble was taken by us all in the greatest real-time human experiment! I'm vaccinated. And I'm very concerned we were all duped by the least trusted company in the least trusted industry in modern times, with government/societal 'aid'.
@McFlock its maybe time to confront all the lies your told to believe are fact. I know its not easy as it will shake your version of an 'augmented' reality we've all bought in too.
Serious question: what actual clinical trials has ivermectin gone through compared to the pfizer vaccine regarding efficacy against covid?
This study is promising, shame it took them a year to process and publish their results. It has more participants, but was not blind. Intereference of other treatments was not documented. Absence of adverse events seems to have been assumed rather than actually examined.
Committing oneself to a course of action before sufficient evidence is in might have a desired result, but it doesn't win at science. It could just as easily be an error.
I'm very concerned that absolute morons have undermined effective public health measures to the point that NZ seems to have decided to accept several deaths a day just so some cafe owner can bitch that not enough people are walking through the door.
Stick your augmented reality in your rear usb port, your CPU is throwing a critical runtime error.
I'm not sure what you think your links demonstrate, but they just go to show that what you regard as "experimental" has been more thoroughly studied against covid than ivermectin. And seems to have better results.
You enjoyed the cancel joke… It's all the rage at present, I knew you'd love it
"has been more thoroughly studied against covid than ivermectin". Really? Please do provide the ‘evidence’, because it seems to be blurred more and more for ‘some reason or another’.
Both the Oxford trial on efficacy and 'real world' study from Brazil looking at effectiveness, have no value at all. May rock the boat of augmented reality we're all clinging to too much?
If you take that from my comments, especially the one that was a simple list of questions about the links already provided, then expecting you to understand even your own links is an exercise in futility.
Or you didn't actually take that from my comments, but these are the lengths you'll go to in order to avoid addressing simple questions to which you might not like the answers.
"pointed out potential conflicts of interest with the study’s authors. They noted that although the preprint version of the study mentions that two of its authors received money from a pharmaceutical company that manufactures ivermectin, the published version leaves that detail out.'
In Brazil even before covid , Ivermectin was a commonly prescribed anti parasite drug and what portion the citys inhabitants were already using the drug and of course covid vaccines were also used – which the authors say was still the best protection
But of course for the facebook epidemiologists its of no concern why no real experts will take much notice of the other evidence
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Prime Minister to lead trade mission to the United States this week to support export growth and the return of tourists post COVID-19. Business delegation to promote trade and tourism opportunities in New Zealand’s third largest export and visitor market Deliver Harvard University commencement address Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party on winning the Australian Federal election, and has acknowledged outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison. "I spoke to Anthony Albanese early this morning as he was preparing to address his supporters. It was a warm conversation and I’m ...
Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao. Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao. Matariki Tapuapua, He roimata ua, he roimata tangata. He roimata e wairurutu nei, e wairurutu nei. Te Māreikura mārohirohi o Ihoa o ngā Mano, takoto Te ringa mākohakoha o Rongo, takoto. Te mātauranga o Tūāhuriri o Ngai Tahu ...
Three core networks within the tourism sector are receiving new investment to gear up for the return of international tourists and business travellers, as the country fully reconnects to the world. “Our wider tourism sector is on the way to recovery. As visitor numbers scale up, our established tourism networks ...
The Minister of Customs has welcomed legislation being passed which will prevent millions of dollars in potential tax evasion on water-pipe tobacco products. The Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products) Amendment Act 2022 changes the way excise and excise-equivalent duty is calculated on these tobacco products. Water-pipe tobacco is also known ...
The Government is contributing $100,000 to a Mayoral Relief Fund to help the Levin community following this morning’s tornado, Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan says. “My thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by severe weather events in Levin and across the country. “I know the tornado has ...
The Quintet of Attorneys General have issued the following statement of support for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and investigations and prosecutions for crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The Attorneys General of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand join in ...
Morena tatou katoa. Kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Thank you all for being here today. Yesterday my colleague, the Minister of Finance Grant Robertson, delivered the Wellbeing Budget 2022 – for a secure future for New Zealand. I’m the Minister of Health, and this was ...
Urgent Budget night legislation to stop major supermarkets blocking competitors from accessing land for new stores has been introduced today, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark said. The Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill amends the Commerce Act 1986, banning restrictive covenants on land, and exclusive covenants ...
It is a pleasure to speak to this Budget. The 5th we have had the privilege of delivering, and in no less extraordinary circumstances. Mr Speaker, the business and cycle of Government is, in some ways, no different to life itself. Navigating difficult times, while also making necessary progress. Dealing ...
Budget 2022 provides funding to implement the new resource management system, building on progress made since the reform was announced just over a year ago. The inadequate funding for the implementation of the Resource Management Act in 1992 almost guaranteed its failure. There was a lack of national direction about ...
The Government is substantially increasing the amount of funding for public media to ensure New Zealanders can continue to access quality local content and trusted news. “Our decision to create a new independent and future-focused public media entity is about achieving this objective, and we will support it with a ...
$662.5 million to maintain existing defence capabilities NZDF lower-paid staff will receive a salary increase to help meet cost-of living pressures. Budget 2022 sees significant resources made available for the Defence Force to maintain existing defence capabilities as it looks to the future delivery of these new investments. “Since ...
More than $185 million to help build a resilient cultural sector as it continues to adapt to the challenges coming out of COVID-19. Support cultural sector agencies to continue to offer their important services to New Zealanders. Strengthen support for Māori arts, culture and heritage. The Government is investing in a ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
Four new permanent Coroners to be appointed Seven Coronial Registrar roles and four Clinical Advisor roles are planned to ease workload pressures Budget 2022 delivers a package of investment to improve the coronial system and reduce delays for grieving families and whānau. “Operating funding of $28.5 million over four ...
Establishment of Ministry for Disabled People Progressing the rollout of the Enabling Good Lives approach to Disability Support Services to provide self-determination for disabled people Extra funding for disability support services “Budget 2022 demonstrates the Government’s commitment to deliver change for the disability community with the establishment of a ...
Fairer Equity Funding system to replace school deciles The largest step yet towards Pay Parity in early learning Local support for schools to improve teaching and learning A unified funding system to underpin the Reform of Vocational Education Boost for schools and early learning centres to help with cost ...
$118.4 million for advisory services to support farmers, foresters, growers and whenua Māori owners to accelerate sustainable land use changes and lift productivity $40 million to help transformation in the forestry, wood processing, food and beverage and fisheries sectors $31.6 million to help maintain and lift animal welfare practices across Aotearoa New Zealand A total food and ...
House price caps for First Home Grants increased in many parts of the country House price caps for First Home Loans removed entirely Kāinga Whenua Loan cap will also be increased from $200,000 to $500,000 The Affordable Housing Fund to initially provide support for not-for-profit rental providers Significant additional ...
Child Support rules to be reformed lifting an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 children out of poverty Support for immediate and essential dental care lifted from $300 to $1,000 per year Increased income levels for hardship assistance to extend eligibility Budget 2022 takes further action to reduce child poverty and ...
More support for RNA research through to pilot manufacturing RNA technology platform to be created to facilitate engagement between research and industry partners Researchers and businesses working in the rapidly developing field of RNA technology will benefit from a new research and development platform, funded in Budget 2022. “RNA ...
A new Business Growth Fund to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow Fully funding the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund to unleash regional economic development opportunities Tourism Innovation Programme to promote sustainable recovery Eight Industry Transformation Plans progressed to work with industries, workers and iwi to transition ...
Budget 2022 further strengthens the economic foundations and wellbeing outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa, as the recovery from COVID-19 continues. “The priorities we set for Budget 2022 will support the continued delivery of our commitments for Pacific peoples through the Pacific Wellbeing Strategy, a 2020 manifesto commitment for Pacific ...
Boost for Māori economic and employment initiatives. More funding for Māori health and wellbeing initiatives Further support towards growing language, culture and identity initiatives to deliver on our commitment to Te Reo Māori in Education Funding for natural environment and climate change initiatives to help farmers, growers and whenua ...
New hospital funding for Whangārei, Nelson and Hillmorton 280 more classrooms over 40 schools, and money for new kura $349 million for more rolling stock and rail network investment The completion of feasibility studies for a Northland dry dock and a new port in the Manukau Harbour Increased infrastructure ...
$168 million to the Māori Health Authority for direct commissioning of services $20.1 million to support Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards $30 million to support Māori primary and community care providers $39 million for Māori health workforce development Budget 2022 invests in resetting our health system and gives economic security in ...
Biggest-ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget Provision for 61 new emergency vehicles including 48 ambulances, along with 248 more paramedics and other frontline staff New emergency helicopter and crew, and replacement of some older choppers $100 million investment in specialist mental health and addiction services 195,000 primary and intermediate aged ...
Landmark reform: new multi-year budgets for better planning and more consistent health services Record ongoing annual funding boost for Health NZ to meet cost pressures and start with a clean slate as it replaces fragmented DHB system ($1.8 billion year one, as well as additional $1.3 billion in year ...
Fuel Excise Duty and Road User Charges cut to be extended for two months Half price public transport extended for a further two months New temporary cost of living payment for people earning up to $70,000 who are not eligible to receive the Winter Energy Payment Estimated 2.1 million New ...
A return to surplus in 2024/2025 Unemployment rate projected to remain at record lows Net debt forecast to peak at 19.9 percent of GDP in 2024, lower than Australia, US, UK and Canada Economic growth to hit 4.2 percent in 2023 and average 2.1 percent over the forecast period A ...
Cost of living payment to cushion impact of inflation for 2.1 million Kiwis Record health investment including biggest ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget First allocations from Climate Emergency Response Fund contribute to achieving the goals in the first Emissions Reduction Plan Government actions deliver one of the strongest ...
Budget 2022 will help build a high wage, low emissions economy that provides greater economic security, while providing support to households affected by cost of living pressures. Our economy has come through the COVID-19 shock better than almost anywhere else in the world, but other challenges, both long-term and more ...
Health Minister Andrew Little will represent New Zealand at the first in-person World Health Assembly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday 22 – Wednesday 25 May (New Zealand time). “COVID-19 has affected people all around the world, and health continues to ...
New Zealand is committing to trade only in legally harvested timber with the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today. Under the Bill, timber harvested in New Zealand and overseas, and used in products made here or imported, will have to be verified as being legally harvested. ...
The Government has welcomed the release today of StatsNZ data showing the rate at which New Zealanders died from all causes during the COVID-19 pandemic has been lower than expected. The new StatsNZ figures provide a measure of the overall rate of deaths in New Zealand during the pandemic compared ...
Legislation that will help prevent serious criminal offending at sea, including trafficking of humans, drugs, wildlife and arms, has passed its third reading in Parliament today, Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta announced. “Today is a milestone in allowing us to respond to the increasingly dynamic and complex maritime security environment facing ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor is set to travel to Thailand this week to represent New Zealand at the annual APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting in Bangkok. “I’m very much looking forward to meeting my trade counterparts at APEC 2022 and building on the achievements we ...
OP-ED by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). ...
Australia has a new political leader at the helm after nine years governed by conservatives but what does the change of hands mean for New Zealand? ...
RNZ Pacific A female candidate in the Papua New Guinea elections believes it is more important than ever that the country has women MPs in Parliament. Dulciana Somare-Brash is the daughter of the late Sir Michael Somare and she unsuccessfully stood in the East Sepik regional seat in 2017, finishing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Gilbert’s potoroo, a marsupial that may be extinct in 20 years.Shutterstock It feels a bit strange to publish a paper that we want proved wrong – we have identified the ...
PNG Post-Courier “Powes! Powes! Powes!” The city of Port Moresby was ringing with chants of support for its governor for the past 15 years — Powes Parkop. Hundreds of men, women and children from the settlements to the suburbs flocked at the weekend in support of the three-term politician who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Beasy, Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Tasmania You’d be forgiven for not having heard about the long-awaited new Australian Curriculum, which was released with little fanfare in the midst of the election campaign. But this update to the national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nancy Baxter, Professor and Head of Melbourne School of Population & Global Health, The University of Melbourne In a poll conducted by the Guardian in August of 2021 about the number of deaths Australians would be willing to accept as restrictions eased, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock As the polls closed on Saturday night, most election commentary focused on the dispiriting campaign where both major parties avoided any substantial division on policy issues and instead focused on ...
The Environment Committee Komiti Taiao invites public submissions on Aotearoa New Zealand’s emissions budgets and the emissions reduction plan, Te Hau mārohi ki anamata Towards a productive, sustainable and inclusive economy—Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
The announcement in Budget 2022 to build 300 affordable homes for Pasefika families in Porirua will be transformational, says the Central Pacific Collective (CPC). The homes will be built over 10 years through “Our Whare Our Fale” – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jarryd Bartle, Sessional Lecturer, RMIT University Shutterstock One of the surprising results from the federal election was a record vote for Legalise Cannabis Australia, a minor party previously known as the Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) party. The party ...
Stuff business writer John Anthony was still focused on businessman Simon Henry’s widely reported remarks about My Food Bag co-founder Nadia Lim, a day after the company posted its latest annual results. His report on Saturday began with news that – according to its chief executive – My Food Bag’s ...
The Bus and Coach Association welcomes the recent budget announcement by the Labour Government to invest $61 million over the next four years towards ensuring a sustainable, skilled workforce of bus drivers nationwide. “This is great news” says CEO Ben ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Strating, Director, La Trobe Asia and Associate Professor, La Trobe University, La Trobe University During the election campaign, Anthony Albanese singled out Indonesia as a key regional partner. The new prime minister made a point of declaring he intended his first ...
New Zealand’s export industries are looking to a new era in the wake of life returning to something like normal in international markets. The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, will head a mission to the US to promote trade and tourism opportunities in our third largest export and visitor market, saying this ...
Budget 2022’s multi-million dollar spend on “service recognition” awards exemplifies the growing fiscal indulgence of the public sector, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . The Budget’s Summary of Initiatives reveals the Department of Prime Minister ...
Thank you for your invitation to close this semester for your class. There was a time when foreign policy was nonpolitical and when politicians held the view, that offshore, we would face the world as one people. Sadly, that is not the case today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Casswell, Professor of public health policy, Massey University Getty Images The World Health Organization’s newly released report on regulating cross-border alcohol marketing raises the alarm for countries like Australia and New Zealand, given their light touch towards alcohol advertising. ...
The country’s international relationships have loomed large in Beehive announcements since Friday. One press statement – from the PM – congratulated Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party on winning the Australian Federal election. Jacinda Ardern said: “Australia is our most important partner, our only official ally and single economic ...
RNZ News A New Caledonian anti-independence candidate has withdrawn from the race for a seat in the French National Assembly just hours before nominations closed. Vaea Frogier pulled out, citing concern about the splits in the anti-independence camp. Seventeen candidates in New Caledonia are standing in next month’s election, with ...
Right to Life requests that Christopher Luxon becomes the truly pro-life leader that National and our nation desperately needs, by seeking the repeal of the Abortion Legislation Act 2019 and legislating for the recognition of the humanity of unborn ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Carney, Vice-Chancellor’s professorial fellow, Monash University Elections are a test – the ultimate test, really – of those who serve as parliamentarians and those who aspire to serve. Scott Morrison asserted quite absurdly early in the 2022 campaign that the election ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University AAP/James Ross It is pretty human to crave the approval of peers and to hope for more of the same, even if unconsciously. But for political parties selling themselves as unifying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Barton, Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Lukas Coch/AAP Extreme weather events are the new normal. The use of nuclear weapons by Vladimir Putin’s Russian military is now an unthinkable possibility. And ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catharine Coleborne, Dean of Arts/Head of School Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle Higher education did not figure prominently in the election campaign. The biggest issues facing the sector, in particular the arts, humanities and social sciences, could never ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saul Eslake, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Tasmania Shutterstock Labor has inherited an economy with a pretty full “head of steam”. Domestic demand is growing strongly, fuelled by households flush with cash (and enriched by big increases in ...
The election of left-leaning Labor across the ditch may mean a change for several pressing issues in New Zealand's relationship with its closest neighbour. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Phillimore, Executive Director, John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University Western Australia’s promise to be the kingmaker on federal election night has finally been delivered. During the count, the rest of the country saw a slow but steady accumulation ...
RNZ News Joe Hawke — the prominent kaumātua and activist who led the long-running Takaparawhau occupation at Auckland’s Bastion Point in the late 1970s — has died, aged 82. Born in Tāmaki Makaurau in 1940, Joseph Parata Hohepa Hawke of Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei, led his people in their efforts ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camilla Nelson, Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Joel Carrett/AAP Women were everywhere and nowhere in the 2022 federal election. The message from the weekend’s vote was that the things that really matter to women and their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Williams, Associate Professor, Griffith University, Griffith University Darren England/AAP There’s an ancient observance in Chinese history that an earthquake is an ominous omen of coming political change. When the ground shakes it’s said the heavens are withdrawing an emperor’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong original The most amazing thing about the election was the very low primary vote for the ALP and the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party has lost seats to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The rout of Scott Morrison goes beyond the defeat of his government. It has left behind a Liberal party that is now a flightless bird. The parliamentary party has had one wing torn asunder, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne Labor’s win in Saturday’s election heralds real change in health policy. Although Labor had a small-target strategy, with limited big spending commitments, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University The federal election result is highly problematic for the Liberal Party. Aside from finding itself on the opposition benches for the first time in nine years, the Liberal Party lost support in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Lee, Associate Professor, Indigenous Leadership, Swinburne University of Technology Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s acceptance speech opened with a generous acknowledgement of Traditional Owners and a full commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The new government also celebrates the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Skarbek, CEO, Climateworks Centre Mick Tsikas/AAP Public concern over climate change was a clear factor in the election of Australia’s new Labor government. Incoming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to action on the issue, declaring on Saturday night: ...
Community Law Centres O Aotearoa is urging the New Zealand Government to prioritise the treatment of Kiwis who have made Australia their home high on the agenda when Prime Minister Ardern meets with freshly-elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Skarbek, CEO, Climateworks Centre Mick Tsikas/AAP Public concern over climate change was a clear factor in the election of Australia’s new Labor government. Incoming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to action on the issue, declaring on Saturday night: ...
Australia’s election, thrusting the ALP and its leader Anthony Albanese back into a governing role, offers the Ardern government a fresh opportunity to blow the cobwebs off the Anzac partnership. During the last years of the Liberal era, the once-strong Trans-Tasman relationship appeared to cool. Australia’s deportation policy under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Laurenceson, Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), University of Technology Sydney An Albanese government in Canberra means an improved trajectory in Australia-China relations is a real possibility. Sure, there will be no “re-set” like we saw in the heady ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University The election results are in and Labor has won enough seats to form government, either as a majority or with the support of independents. What will this mean for political integrity? The main ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor and Director of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith Business School, Griffith University The Australian Labor Party will form government either outright or in a minority government. The ALP has so far gained a small 2.8% two-party preferred national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government has been resoundingly defeated, with Labor headed for office, although whether in a minority or majority was unclear late Saturday night. The election has been a triumph for the teal independents, with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Nethery, Senior Lecturer in Politics and Policy Studies, Deakin University Joel Carrett/AAP One of the most stunning features of the 2022 election has been the challenge from teal independents in Liberal seats. At the close of counting on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Lukas Coch With 53% counted at Saturday’s federal election, the ABC is calling 72 of the 151 House of Representatives seats for Labor, 52 for the Coalition, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne It really started unravelling for Scott Morrison on All Saints Day, November 1 2021, when French President Emmanuel Macron branded him a liar. Asked by Bevan Shields, who is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marija Taflaga, Lecturer, School of Political Science and International Relations, Australian National University It is incredible the government that led Australia through the pandemic with one of the highest vaccination rates, some of the lowest per capita death rates and, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND Labor’s successful bid for government – only its fifth victory from opposition since the first world war – was based ...
Auckland Central Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick has revealed an alarming failure by the Department of Conservation to live up to its name and protect native kororā (penguins) at Pūtiki Bay on Waiheke Island. “DOC was asked to submit on the Kennedy Point ...
Policy failure over the last eight years — including a massive cut to the ABC’s international funding — has weakened Australia’s voice in the Pacific to its lowest ebb since the Menzies government established the first radio shortwave service across the region more than 80 years ago. Now, with China’s ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern early in March insisted there was no cost-of-living “crisis” in New Zealand. Now her right-hand man, Grant Robertson, has presented a budget which he proudly claims deals with that very same “crisis”, giving away $1 billion in an emergency cost-of-living package. About 2.1 million New Zealanders ...
Podcast - This Budget needed to tackle health and climate while delivering cost-of-living relief. Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch assesses the implications. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Lukas Coch The federal election is on Saturday. Polls close at 6pm local time; that means 6pm AEST in the eastern states, 6:30pm in SA and the ...
Analysis - It was the government's biggest week of the year with the Budget and the Emissions Reduction Plan coming out, and neither was given much of a welcome, Peter Wilson writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ataus Samad, Lecturer, Western Sydney University Mick Tsikas/AAP With the election almost upon us, thoughts are more than ever turned to political survival. While getting pre-selected and winning elections are the initial, difficult challenges of a political career, a major ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart by Keith Rankin. We know that New Zealand has one of the world’s lowest mortality outcomes, so far, in the Covid19 pandemic. (So has North Korea.) It’s still far too early to access the costs incurred – loss of utility enjoyed by actual and ‘would-have-been’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Lillie Eiger/ Sony You’ve probably heard the name Harry Styles. He is the current “real big thing” in popular music. But how did a former boy band star become ...
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris is advocating for a stamp duty on foreign buyers of residential property. Following yesterday’s Budget 2022 announcement, Harris believes that a stamp duty would help increase the ...
And how did the people react to the boost in spending announced in this year’s Budget to promote our wellbeing? In some cases by pleading for more; in other cases, by grouching they got nothing. But Budget spending is never enough. Two lots of bleating came from the Human Rights ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Emma La Rouche, from the University of Canberra’s Media and Communications team, look at the last week of the campaign as Australians head to the polls. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock It will be impossible to tackle climate change unless we transform the way we build and plan cities, which are responsible for a staggering 70% of global emissions. ...
Military spending allocated in the 2022 Wellbeing Budget is $6,077,484,000 - an average of more than $116.8 million every week, and a 10.4% increase on actual spending in 2021. [1] This year’s increase illustrates yet again that the government remains ...
"Theres no such thing as a free lunch"
or so the saying goes…what does that mean to you?
Depends on context:
1. Somewhere, someone, somehow is paying.
2. You've taken on an obligation for reciprocity that at some point will have to be discharged.
It means they don't know the policies of this Labour government very well.
Labour has delivered hundreds of thousands of free lunches per day for several years now.
Which fits under:
1. Somewhere, someone, somehow is paying.
Adding to Molly's idea while it may not be you at the exact time it will be you later on
Wiki has some ideas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain%27t_no_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch
The adding to the confusion is another saying…..
'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?
The proverbial saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' means don't be ungrateful when you receive a gift.
So don't be ungrateful when you receive your free lunch that you may have to pay for sometime in the future.
… or find yourself doing the dishes…
At what price per litre of 91 is continuing an oil embargo of Russian oil still a good idea?
$2.80? $3? $3.50? $5?
We're now in an inflation v morality war
Im not sure that we as a nation have much choice. If our FM toned down the rhetoric and we got ourselves off the Russian list of unfriendly nations could we really expect to be able to buy cheap Russian oil? We would then face sanctions ourselves.
Can we nationalise our oil and gas reserves? Would this be enough? As things stand at present the only real immediate answer is to understand that the resources in your country are now absolutely a nations primary source for survival. Even the aluminium smelter should now be looked at as a national resource as aluminium prices rise.
The extraordinary thing is that the US still seems to think that money has some sort of intrinsic value divorced from reality. They really seem to think that a nation that is a net energy exporter can be brought to its knees by cutting it off from Swift. It didnt work for Iran. With Russia it will blow up in their face.
Steering a path through this will be very challenging. We have already seen with covid how difficult national unity for the public good is but also that we are one of the better nations at getting this right. It really is time to start looking at what we can do for ourselves and our immediate neighbours in the Pacific. If we can get actual physical help from larger nations we should be prepared to look at it on a case by case basis. We don't indulge in continual hand wringing about US wars of aggression every time we engage with them and should be prepared to do the same with Russia and China in any offers of help in especially energy infrastructure. If we want pumped hydro, we could talk to them about help, or Russia or Iran to upgrade a nationalised Marsden Point? Its definitely time to think outside the box. We will need all the help we can get.
"We don't indulge in continual hand wringing about US wars of aggression every time we engage with them and should be prepared to do the same with Russia and China in any offers of help in especially energy infrastructure."
We engage in voluminous hand wringing about US wars of aggression particularly when we are asked to join them. As we should.
"If we want pumped hydro, we could talk to them about help, or Russia or Iran to upgrade a nationalised Marsden Point?"
For pumped hydro I would turn to Australian and Irish examples that have been operational for a while.
I certainly agree that this is asking the right questions about our own energy resilience at the right time.
Hearing Luxon this morning saying the "ute tax" will go because there are no current electric alternatives in-market is just folly.
Smart companies should use this war to price shifting their whole fleets much faster.
Companies like rentals, construction and taxis who are less oil dependent are going to be sitting pretty while the rest in their combustion engines are screaming.
It’s a brutal mechanism but 91 Petrol is the climate change lever we all need.
It would be a climate change mechanism if we all had the luxury of being able to afford to move over to electric, work local or from home. But most don't so the more likely scenario is an uplift in social unrest. Even Germany has been unable to resist the primacy of fossil fuel energy, the lack of which will drive right wing nationalism. If we don't come up with an immediate answer to rising fuel costs while we work on future energy shifts then it is likely that social cohesion will break down. Russia understands this and it is part of their decision process on why now is a good time. They may not have all the bells and whistles but will have the social cohesion that abundent energy resources bring. How are we going to mitigate this or are the recent scenes in Wellington just a gentle rehersal on the future?
Yes it will be the corporate fleets, taxis, local government, and central government Departments that will be able to put in orders for electric vehicles – which in turn starts a proper secondary market for the majority of New Zealanders. We still haven't seen enough government procurement support for this.
It was in 2019 that nearly 3% of the entire population of New Zealand marched up and down the country seeking much stronger action for climate change.
In May this year the full plan is supposed to come out that shows how we will fulfill that promise.
So May would be a really good time for those who want more to start preparing the kind of creative protest that got the 2021 tractor protest so much airtime.
If we get a petrol spike to $4 the political pressure from consumers to do less will be hard to resist – and that is when the government will need its supporters the most.
Absolute environmental madness for government to invest in whole fleets of electric vehicles, with all the carbon used to create them, when there are hundreds of thousands of good quality, serviceable vehicles, ripe for conversion.
If the money is there for a fleet, it's more than there to get deals on batteries, engines and motors and train the people to do it. If you want trickle down to affect us poor people, get the tech and process sorted and cheap enough for the countries top 10 best selling models by testing on the rich pricks and let us have at it. Got to better than waiting for new electric fleets to age, decay, and be passed on to the little people.
If you want to be all radical and revolutionary, you could keep it all in house and make parts with home grown aluminium from Tiwai, and when were done and gas free, mothball it.
I didn't realise it but apparently NZ was importing approx 15% of fuel from Russia this was almost totally oil for refining – with the refinery scheduled to close in April I would imagine forward contracts for refined fuel would already be in place I believe in my ferreting around that I saw that of our imports of fuel from Russia only about 1% was refined product. I would anticipate that our forward contracts for refined fuel would have barely included any from Russia – NZ will certainly be paying a lot more for it's fuel due to the international market conditions but any NZ ban on Russian product I think would be mainly symbolic. Any thoughts Ad?
I don't know enough about New Zealand fuel importing to comment specifically.
I do see though that we are going through a spike that will last at least as long as the Yom Kippur War, which started off the Muldoon government seeking as much energy independence as possible.
I want to see the petrol price rise debated in Parliament as soon as possible, so that Dr Woods can start revealing more plans than simply her confidence in forward contracts out of Singapore. The Comm Comm already went through the fuel company books two years ago and made fuck-all difference.
Pretty weird to see the future rushing at us when we're clearly not ready.
Government revenue from fuel excise is around 2 billion per year at an appropriate point politically they could announce a halving of the excise to "assist the country in dealing with the disruption caused by worldwide issues" or doubtlessly some better constructed phrase to maximise the political benefit of their actions cost 1 billion per annum.
Why not eliminate all the excise? Leave yourself the option so that you actually have an option.
When National demands all excise is removed …"but roading still has to be paid for and it is important for an element of the user paying to remain. Of course this remains an exercisable option if the international oil market……"
When the trucking lobby demands a subsidy for diesel costs….. " unfortunately in New Zealand the general public has been subsidising the trucking industry already for many years as the heavy transport industry does not and has not paid their fair share of roading costs. We are announcing a commission to investigate the fairest structure of revenue collection for roading costs going forward….."
Perhaps develop (or accelerate already existing plans for) vehicle charging network in NZ
Perhaps a levy on all new and used imports with solely ICE power and apply that levy to subsidise new and used electric and hybrid vehicle imports.
Perhaps embracing Efeso Collins plan for free public transport in Auckland – reducing the congestion costs to the economy in Auckland and the reduction in costs for the less well off would likely make it a winner from the economic point of view.
The government is hopefully looking at ideas like these as well as better measures thought of by people well paid to develop them.
I agree that the future is rushing at us
Ad at sparrow fart: “We’re now in an inflation v morality war”
Money trumps morality. That's capitalism.
Michael Hudson has written a sobering article on the economic consequences of recent events
The American Empire Self-Destructs
But nobody thought that it would happen this fast
fasthttps://www.unz.com/mhudson/the-american-empire-self-destructs/
Liking it. Bring on the bigger oil prices, time it was what it really cost us all to burn carbon.
yep. And best we get on with recreating society so that we don't get inundated with the fall out from that. Just transition.
There will be no transition, to many people are addicted to this life style.
I'm with those who say there will be a complete breakdown of the current system by 2030. We are fast running out of the ability to maintain this stupidity.
I prefer boycotting stuff I wasn't going to use anyway.
Well unsustainable policy from the government ie policy for biofuels was one of the main contributing factor in the food riots and arab spring.Here it was the underlying forcing beneath speculative bubbles and bursts.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/powering-nz%E2%80%99s-future-biofuels
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1413108112#fig01
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1413108112
Three weeks in and we're so short of nurses that we are now talking about having covid positive nurses back on wards, on the same day we're told that rest during infection is the best way to avoid long covid… doesnt make much sense does it, basically asking nurses to take an even bigger risk in sacrificing their long term health.
Perhaps we should be asking those unvaxxed nurses if they'd like to come back to work please…
Not knowing how long it is going to take for the Covid wave to peak and then drop is also a concern for nurses.
Not to mention the dangers of viral load.
It certainly poses some questions about 'sense.' Just like making sense of unvaxxed nurses.
They'd be administering medication to patients and carrying out procedures with the air of, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Trust me, I know exactly what's in this, how it was arrived at, all about the company that made it, and how your body is going to respond to it."
Much like you when you used your computer just now. Vast knowledge of computer science, physics, math, and micro-engineering. Or would you even turn it on – dilemma!
Well done, much impressed.
But you have to train to be a nurse, you don't have to train to use a computer.
The concern about unvaxxed nurses is they will, in that environment, inevitably and quickly become the cared-for, rather than the carers.
That post was unclear at best. I did ponder, after my ten minutes was up, if I'd interpreted it wrong.
I agree. Unvaxed nurses have no place in hospitals or any public facing role. But we all know the cliche by now, unprecedented times, aye.
We don't see it, but if you talk to public facing medical workers, it's really hard and has been for some time. Not just the increased work and work requirements, but the increase in crazy they're having to deal with. Putting unvaxed colleagues in that environment adds insult to injury.
Has there being a noticeable rise in crazy here?
Yes.
oh hell yes
"Oh hell yes"
That is unfortunate. A small, but SOO vocal, group.
At least we can laugh.
Groundswell have been quiet lately. Hope they're not in Waiouru pinching tanks.
If by crazy, you mean: othering, simplifying complex issues with pejoratives, deliberate misrepresenting of someone’s position then hell yes. Off the scale.
So rather than contribute to the discussion we have this non sequitur.
Why do you think it would be a good policy to employ unvaccinated nurses in front facing roles?
How are unvaccinated nurses supposed to function effectively and with the respect of their colleagues when they are not taking basic steps to protect themselves and others?
Crazy is all the ideas around for not having the vaccinations that are based on 'woo' and not medical reasons. I have absolutely no problem with people not having the vaccination if it is medically advised not to. Asking us to respect a decision based on
'doan wanna'
is a bit much.
Then there are the multitude of CTs that are advanced to 'rationalise/justify' a decision. Why do you defend these and tried to shift the opprobrium onto those who call them out? ie call them out by commonplace references, shorthand to the type of thinking behind them.
I am sure that if I had made up my mind not to have the vax for medical purposes or because I was troubled by the mRNA aspect there is no way in the world I would be allying myself with people whose reasons are because of 5G trackers, magnets, Aids or Covid giving especially if my concerns were related to the mRNA aspect. We have alternatives to this now.
You obviously did not read my reply to your previous posts about people being nasty, according to you. Plus another from me and one from Incognito
Until the vaccines were available, medical staff around the globe developed protocols to minimise infection.
We need to balance the success of such protocols against the need for medical personnel.
(Don't have either of those factors quantified, but I think that's the question that should be asked, and re-asked, as demand grows and available medical resources/personnel dwindle).
Oh bugger! All those years spent in teaching computer science – a complete an utter waste of time.
You definitely have to train to teach about and fix them.
That's a tiny part of computer science.
It's actually a pretty good analogy – any numpty can turn on a computer and work a desktop with a given margin for error, just like any numpty can change sheets or bandage a wound with a given margin for error.
But managing an ICU bed? Knowing when to call a doctor before all the alarms start going off? Administering drugs properly, recognising errors or drug interactions that dr and pharmacy might have missed? With someone who feels they can pick and choose which protocols they should follow because their own research overrules the specialist guidelines?
Yeah, that's like a computer progammer who thinks a b-tree is the only way to store data or insists on using deprecated library modules. Sooner or later it will end in tears.
i commented here a while ago that they should never have terminated nurses employment for not being vaxxed. I made some suggestions about how these nurses might be redeployed to non contact roles, freeing up other nurses to be on the front line.
I think the situation is so desperate for nurses now, the unvaxxed should be re-instated and have daily rapid anti gen testing before and even during shifts. Many of these nurses will be youngish and fit and probably won't get omicron badly, then will recover. Given nurses with covid are needed to continue to keep the hospitals functioning, what difference is it going to make having an unvaxxed nurse working?
RAT inaccuracy during the early days of infection heightens the risk of having having infectious staff working.
ermbiggened
Despite the training the medical profession is as prone to poor decision making as any other group.
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/887590699/doctors-and-dentists-still-flooding-u-s-with-opioid-prescriptions
Yes indeed …the same with teachers…..being educated does not stop them from falling into illogical traps.
Several of those leading the scientific explanation of the pandemic in our media are principle investigators for this org: https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/about-us/
https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/siouxsie-wiles/
https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/shaun-hendy/
https://www.math.canterbury.ac.nz/~m.plank/
Hosted by the University of Auckland, it formed to coordinate experts with a grasp of the science of complexity, to provide insights into how it elucidates the interactions between ourselves and our world.
Here's an example of how it demonstrates relevance:
The big picture view derives from ecology.
So whereas economics provides a world-view based on money, ecology gives us a world-view based on how nature works. That's why politics and governance is based on economics. The political left & right have always agreed that money is more important than nature – which is why Green politics had to be neither left nor right.
Memes are catchy, and informational memes aren't necessarily more contagious than disinformational memes. Social media is an encompassing arena containing a multitude of component social ecosystems (networks) made vibrant via the interflow of infectious memes. As self-organising systems, these will learn to moderate the toxic effects of disinfo to ensure collective survival and health. Or they won't, and will either die or get warped by an uncontrolled infection.
So you can see how social media challenges us to transcend the habitual prioritisation of economics in our political focus, lest we get taken out by toxic invader memes. Just another form of pollution to worry about…
"Uniformly pro-Putin"
Of course they are. They've got their heads so far up their own asses their only means of taking in information is if it is diametrically opposed to common narrative.
It's All About Trust
We have been lucky to have a government we can trust during this pandemic
The difference in the death rate in Hong Kong pop. 7 mil. compared to New Zealand pop. 5mil. is dramatic, where trust in the government is low.
Many have put it down to distrust of the Communist government of Hong Kong by the elderly.
It's all about leadership.
We have been lucky to have a government we can trust during the pandemic. In my opinion, more than anything else majority trust in the leadership of New Zealand's Left of Centre government has helped keep this country's death rate from covid-19 relatively low.
Those MIGs from Poland (all of Poland's MIGs) are going to get delivered to Ukraine. A couple of dozen or more. They gave them to US so US can deliver them thereby fudging the rules around NATO involvement?
I'm not sure Putin's going to see Poland as an innocent party here. But really, screw that guy.
https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/statement-of-the-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-the-republic-of-poland-in-connection-with-the-statement-by-the-us-secretary-of-state-on-providing-airplanes-to-ukraine
Bah. Pentagon knocked it back.
Stuck Russian convoy has grown somewhat:
Stuck or stopped? And if stopped why stopped? First, a stopped convoy of this size shows the absolute dominance in the air and on the land of Russian forces. Second, a stopped convoy of this size demonstrates a possible destructive scenario while allowing those that want to leave to do so. The more people that leave the city, the more likely either surrender without fighting or at least fighting that lessens civilian casualties.
Just one daisy cutter bomb should do it.
https://www.history.com/videos/worlds-largest-conventional-bomb
Will one of these be the West’s next export to the Ukraine?
Yes, women are still and increasingly fucked off about having our words and concepts suppressed and being told to shut the fuck up.
JKR on fire this week. International Women’s Day
Transcript of that part of the interview where the Labour MP apparently says that the definition of ‘woman’ changes depending on which legislation you are referring to at the time 🤡
long past time to sort this mess out.
Unbelievable. A major political party in a modern democracy who can’t define “woman”. When is this crap going to end?
Not a major political party, most major political parties.
Currently watching documentary series available on Youtube: Dysphoria
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRU9NIX0AA143z2QKukQcOqS96qriKGyw
Is this what Labour is proposing, or is it emotional rhetoric?
It’s satire. Read the room.
If you want to talk to feminists on IWD I’d suggest not leading with calling their politics emotional.
Satire in regards to this issue had a double radical masectomy, a hysterectomy, a vagina ectomy and now is waiting for an leg meat roll to be sewn onto their pubic bone so as no longer be the thing that men don't want to define, but believe any man can be.
Of course it's satire, but Keir Starmer did make the astonishing claim that it was wrong to say only women have a cervix.
he's not the only one. So much of this nonsense now.
I can't read that, it's locked, so I don't know the details of his argument. But why is it astonishing? Someone born female no longer wishes to be identified as such but hasn't had surgery. Continuing to call that person a woman is wrong, imo.
It's an issue because as a result of the ideology, women are now being called cervix havers, even when we don't want to be and when it harms us (think public health campaigns like cervical screening removing the word 'woman' from their material. Not all women know what a cervix is, or English is their second language, so this creates barriers for women who need clear communication around their bodies. It's fucked up to have to be even explaining this).
Trans women and trans men's needs can be met in various ways without dehumanising women (females). Only female bodied people have a cervix, the word we generally use to refer to those people is women. Not wanting to be called a woman is fine, wanting to change the language and concepts of a whole class of people so you can cope or feel included isn't when that class of people object on the basis of their own oppression and wellbeing.
The only way Starmer is right is if the word woman has no meaning. Hence 🤡 MP above.
Starmer article is here https://archive.ph/LC1G2
yep and when that person then dies of cervical cancer because they pretended to be a man than that is just oops. to bad?
You can identify as humpty dumpty, but that does not make you a twin egg in striped trousers.
And the male who had his penis/scrotum inverted into something resembling a 'vulva' and who needs to daily dilate his 'vagina' hole in order to keep depth and keep the hole open – after all their male body wants to shut and heal that hole- does not have a cervix. At the end of the ‘vagina’ hole he has some penile left over tissue or some intestinal tissue. Non of that is a cervix, as that part of the female body has a very clear reason for being. Namely keeping the uterus sterile and being able to open up to let a baby be born.
That man would never die of cervical cancer, but he would still die of penile cancer if he were unlucky enough to get it.
But yes, it is so unkind to pretend that a women on T does not have a cervix, and if it kills them.
edit: https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/ian-duncan-deputy-speaker-house-lords-interview-brother-died-ovarian-cancer-1125221
this is actually a rather sad article, but his brother died not because the language is not correct, but because his brother deluded themselves into thinking that they changed ‘sex’ which sadly they did not. They changed the outside of their bodies, and that was that. A lot of surgery and a lot of T but still a women, and killed by a disease that only women have.
So to some extend you could say that kindness kills transpeople.
and it's worth pointing out the long and horrendous history women have of medical mistreatment via sexism and misogyny, we have bloody good reasons for not giving up our hard won rights or our right to name ourselves in the way that is necessary for us.
"Continuing to call that person a woman is wrong, imo."
Continuing to call that person a 'woman' is factually correct. If we wish to respect that persons wishes by calling them a 'woman' on a personal level, we can do so if we wish. But changing the meaning of a word that defines the reality for the vast majority of adult female humans actually demeans their identity.
I think the solution for public health campaigns is for trans people to politically organise and come up with an overarching term that will include TM, NB females, and any of the other identities, so then we can say "women and [new term] people need to get a cervical smear every three years" or whatever.
(There’s an unclarity here because if we say ‘trans people’ then you get a subset of trans women wanting cervical smears so they feel like a woman despite them not having a cervix (the affirmation need or demand). In some cases there is an medical access issue to sort out, and there’s also a colonisation issue to resolve societally, where some trans women’s wants are unreasonable eg having fake pregnancies and wanting to be part of ante-natal women’s groups)
The problem remains of how to engage with a class of people (trans men) around their female bodies when they have dysphoria to an extent that they cannot tolerate reference to female bodies. This is a separate issue that needs addressing, and shouldn't be used to remove women's language and concepts.
women, transmen, and non binary.
men, transwomen and non binary.
works real well, is explicit in its meaning and need not to be created.
We have accurate language to name things. We just have a group that wants to remove any meaning of he word women and associated functions with that, i.e. the word Mother.
This is a removal of rights from women, to all of their rights they won over the last centuries, down to he 'are they actual humans'.
women, trans men, non-binary, genderfluid, third gender, etc
I think three categories is too many for good public health messaging. It's also clunky. Given this is primarily and identity issue, coining a new term that makes it easy to include people with a gender identity makes sense to me, and keeps things simple.
They are perfect as they are true.
We have two groups
Men – Women
Transmen and female non binary are sub categories of women.
Transwomen and male non binary are sub categories of men.
Everything else is porkies, and so far these porkies are killing trans/non binary people by witholding hte truth from them. Namely that they can not, ever – with todays medical advances – change their sex. That means transmen can get pregnant, can die of cervical, ovarian, uterine cancers, and transwomen can die of penile, testicular and prostate cancer. Cause in the end biology don't have any fucks to give about our need to be kind to the point of killing people thanks to lies.
It also means that children who grow up trans( puperty blockers, wrong sex hormones, castration, neo vag and leg/arm roll penis surgeries) have all the issues their sexed bodies have, minus the reproduction facilities, issues with arousal/orgasms etc. But it would not be kind to talk honestly about these issues.
@Sabine.
As confronting as some might find what you state – I agree with it all.
To allow the words relating to biological sex to be appropriated so as to be meaningless is more than problematic, it is deliberate obfuscation and gaslighting.
Seemingly, 'small' concessions will often have large repercussions. This adoption of alternative language definitions has already shown itself to be one of those instances.
Sorry my first sentence should have read "Continuing to call that person a 'woman' is factually incorrect."
I am more than happy to call a man who identifies as a woman 'she' at a personal and voluntary level. But official recognition of that term is not only a delusion of biological reality, it is to demean biological women.
As you have pointed out, the problem is the ideological results that matter. The reaction to simple statements of fact by JKR is a case in point.
Calling you an idiot is also factually correct. Am I ok to continue doing so?
/satire
that's not satire, it's trolling by someone who can't formulate an argument, and as you know, I will moderate such.
Only if "idiot" was a biological state that could not be changed, and Gypsy belonged to it.
But it is not is it?
Just like your comment was not '/satire'.
If I wanted to be identified as an idiot, and if I asked you to call me an idiot, then you would be welcome to. But equally, not being an idiot, calling me one would still be factually incorrect.
It will be a change anyway.
With our current Government every other day of the year is, to paraphrase the immortal Horace Rumpole, "We who must be obeyed day".
So we must stop questioning these things that are decided by those above our pay grade and get on with the obeying bit.
Some of us have a suitable response to that. It consists of 2 words. The first begins with F. The second word is 'that'.
i commented here a while ago that they should never have terminated nurses employment for not being vaxxed. I made some suggestions about how these nurses might be redeployed to non contact roles, freeing up other nurses to be on the front line.
I think the situation is so desperate for nurses now, the unvaxxed should be re-instated and have daily rapid anti gen testing before and even during shifts. Many of these nurses will be youngish and fit and probably won't get omicron badly, then will recover. Given nurses with covid are needed to continue to keep the hospitals functioning, what difference is it going to make having an unvaxxed nurse working?
Anker, I have recently come out of hospital after elected surgery. I would have been horrified to learn there were unvaccinated nurses in the building. At a time when the country is still to reach its Omicron peak, it is not the time to ease up on current policies. There are other ways that hospitals can reduce the effect of nursing shortages. The obvious one which I expect most are adopting is to cease all elective and other non urgent medical surgeries. My surgery was delayed 15 months due to Covid but I fully accepted there was no alternative.
Once we are tracking back downward which is hopefully only some 2 or 3 weeks away, then it could be appropriate to reconsider employing unvaccinated people but not now.
I have relatives in the Defence Force that were working in the MIQ facilities.
The number of nurses at one such facility was 26, for an MIQ capacity of 50.
They spent all day there, occasionally performing a COVID test. Times that waste of medical resources by the 80 MIQ facilities and you should then reasonably be asking – Could this be handled more efficiently?
This government could have – and still could – do better at allocating medical resources.
Oh yes, the government was caught with its pants down. But of course the current situation has been many years in the making and, as others have pointed out, you can't train nurses overnight.
I think it can be said of most governments whatever their stripes… there is nothing like a full scale emergency to expose the inherent weakness of some government policies.
Repetitive failure to acknowledge issues, and correct accordingly is a problem regardless of which government is in charge.
Current government seems to have this problem.
Firstly Anne, I am very glad you got your surgery and I hope it has gone well.
I have proposed that unvaxxed nurses could be re-deployed to non contact roles and that would involve working from home on secure tele health platforms.
There may come a time when the choice is having covid and being treated with an unvaxxed nurse who has had a RATs test (20% chance of false negatives). Or not getting treatment. Of course if you are in hospital with Covid, then you already have it.
I am very puzzled as to whether people think that a vaxxed nurse who has tested positive but is symptomless or has very mild symptoms should be allowed to work versus an unvaxxed nurse with a RAT test who has tested negative.
this is a good proposal imo. I'm not sure that MoH or DHBs are resilient and adaptable enough to manage that.
We should be looking hard at aged care for this issue too.
It would depend entirely on the reason why they are unvaxxed. If its because they are immunocompromised in some way then your idea is an excellent one. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if its happening in some locations already.
But if they are unvaxxed because they have disappeared down rabbit holes then it is a different story. By the very nature of their poor choice I would not want to see any nurse or doctor who has rejected Covid vaccinations on spurious or conspiratorial grounds being associated with a medical practice of any kind.
I know there are others with a different view, but I don’t believe there is any room for compromise on the matter of Covid vaccinations.
Rowling tends to choose her causes fairly well, I think.
JK Rowling joins royals and celebrities in donating millions to Ukraine relief (msn.com)
COVID vaccines: time to confront anti-vax aggression
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01084-x
"Accurate, targeted counter-messaging from the global health community is important but insufficient, as is public pressure on social-media companies. The United Nations and the highest levels of governments must take direct, even confrontational, approaches with Russia, and move to dismantle anti-vaccine groups in the United States.
Efforts must expand into the realm of cyber security, law enforcement, public education and international relations. A high-level inter-agency task force reporting to the UN secretary-general could assess the full impact of anti-vaccine aggression, and propose tough, balanced measures. The task force should include experts who have tackled complex global threats such as terrorism, cyber attacks and nuclear armament, because anti-science is now approaching similar levels of peril. It is becoming increasingly clear that advancing immunization requires a counteroffensive."
Pretty sure nothing will actually happen.
– Chris Luxon
Just shooting off at the mouth like he did in the boardroom of Air NZ. Sad thing is this kind of phrasing will go down well with the political right because to them it shows his high aspiration for all Maori to be “high calibre”. This kind of unthinking corp-speak highlights Luxon’s inexperience.
Some comments:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/national-leader-christopher-luxon-defends-high-calibre-m-ori-comment-after-criticism.html
What a daft thing for people to be upset about.
If you replace 'maori' with women, pacifica, people etc. would it cause a similar amount of angst ?
Should have said people, and further down the article he tries to explain that's what he meant.
If that's what he meant then why not just say that?
It was a rookie error and a telling slip. Thankfully highlighted by social media and now media.
Probably what he actually meant was wealthy, successful National-voting Maori because to Chris, wealth, success and voting National go hand in hand. While poor, unsuccessful people vote Labour.
Some really awesome high-calibre Māori reached out to me over summer.
– Chris Luxon
Yeah, I used to use that expression – high calibre – years ago when I was an immature, naive idiot who fancied herself. 😉
Oh dear, oh dear – what a chump call!
But they must have been very Big Guns being such High Calibre.
Mind you what more could one expect coming from an ex CEO of Air NZ where the whole culture and emphasis of the organisation (probably as a result of its ex CEO) is focused on bowing and scraping its "elite" customers.
If I have interpreted your comment correctly, don't you think Luxon is a naive chump to have expressed himself in such a way?
Sorry Mutton but I can't agree. As a non-journalist, my first question to someone who said "high-calibre people" would be to ask him to describe what low-calibre people are like. Is he talking about early proto-hominids and have we just time-travelled into a 19th Century anthropology lecture?
But calibre, of course, is just one measure in the analogy. I, for example, would be more of a medium calibre low velocity pakeha with a progressive left-hand twist in my lands and grooves.. .
It would be exactly the same for me. Firstly, "awesome, high-calibre" is dickhead corporate language that means fuck all, and represents a clunky, transparent attempt to connect with 'average' people, who are incapable of thinking precisely and therefore beneath one; if he actually thinks it does mean something (which is not to be ruled out), then it's even worse, because it shows that he has trouble distinguishing between the content of his thoughts and the meaning of the words he is uttering. Secondly, regardless of the minority group he is referring to, it implicitly divides that minority group up into the worthy and the unworthy, and exudes the arrogant assumption that he is a fitting arbiter of which is which; it throws up the question as to whether he would even have bothered listening to their ideas if they hadn't met his worthiness criteria. That is the sort of call one can make on the fly if one is just a person on the street; less so if one is aspiring to govern a nation for all of its diverse people.
If he were talking about members of what he considered to be the dominant group in society, the connotations would be slightly different, but there's no real need to go into that here.
yep, Luxon has become Captain Dufus…
looking forward to the many foot-in-mouth's to come haha
House prices falling. Thanks Jacinda!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/127987960/housing-market-correction-under-way-but-masked-by-last-years-price-increases
You have to actually read the whole article Mutton.
"On an annual basis, national price increases had slowed to 22.9 per cent in February, down from 26.8 per cent the month before."
So, contrary to the misleading framing of the statistics, house prices have gone up an incredible 22.9% from prices that were already mindlessly high a year ago.
There is a constant theme in the media to pretend that house prices are falling when the opposite is true which I don't understand-any theories out there?
Many in the media are idiots that stop thinking after the headline?
The actual purpose of our "news" papers is to spruik the property market?
no problem, it is the way you are despite all your obfuscation
so fucking boring haven't you got anything better to do?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
What's starting to shock me is how this governments rhetoric has changed.
When asked about a problem this government used to say it would be looking into it and commited to fixing /changing the problem coming off as flexible and reactive if there was a crisis they would admit there was a crisis
Nowadays, the government gets defensive, point blank refuses to answer questions and gets into debates about the wording or definition of the problem and refuses to accept things are a problem. Instead of comiting to change or looking into something it usually lists why they can't do anything on x y z.
This is becoming an issue. They are becoming the can't, shan't , won't party.
Take for instance the cost of living crisis it's clear we're in one and have been in one for some time instead of saying yes it's a crisis because of global issues and we're going to try to address some of these in the budget to soften the blow the pm rejects the word crisis.
Or tax brackets. Tax brackets haven't been adjusted for 12 years, NZs tax system is broken and unfair and focuses far too much on sucking money out of the bottom, tax bracket creep is hurting people many min wage workers are wrongly about to be put in higher tax brackets, a reactive, flexible, energetic government would commit to adjusting tax brackets, it would be popular, instead the government rules out doing so with no argument. Too hard. Meanwhile the opposition commits to do doing so, keys govt would have blunted this by comiting to adjusting them Labour just scoffs. This is going to hurt them.
The government is coming off as tired and stuck in their ways and with some severely hard times coming up this winter problems on tax, housing,rents, fuel,food are falling on death ears it doesn't seem to care about a third term.
They could at the very least adjust tax brackets and drop gst to pre key levels of about 10% to line it up with Australias gst and to offset the 5% inflation.
I fear the govt is walking into its own winter if discontent. I'm not sure if it's arrogance or being captured by their ministries or just plane out of touch but there refusal to even admit problems or commit to simple changes is a big problem and they seem more like a fourth term govt than a govt in it's fifth year.
They desperately need a cabinet shake up and to start reading the room and getting back to a can do govt before the country sees them as out of touch and a govt of can't , shan't won't
I was thinking the same thing. The emerging denial is very john key – like. Jk always denied a housing crisis, inequality crisis and child poverty etc… Labour now starting to sound the same.
Tax lawyer stickies all over this.
The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.
At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.
The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the same vein.
https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/statement-of-the-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-the-republic-of-poland-in-connection-with-the-statement-by-the-us-secretary-of-state-on-providing-airplanes-to-ukraine
And that's a no.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/08/poland-mig-29-jets-us-ukraine
They gotta have plausible deniability. Use an anonymous middleman is the usual way to finesse this situation. Poland gives planes to X while receiving replacements from Y (USA or agent). X gets planes to Ukraine AF.
Money talks so offer the deal to sympathetic govts for an enable fee. All you need is a team of trained-up pilots. If they are two-seaters, an experienced co-pilot could advise a trainee who is experienced with different planes.
And spend a couple of hundred hours obtaining a type rating in an aircraft travelling at more than twice the speed of sound with an unrefuelled range of 3,000km or so. Nah.
Young guns rise to such challenges! Anyone serious about helping Ukraine will have to use lateral thinking to finesse the mental blocks erected by old guys controlling the various hierarchies. History shows us this is how such challenges usually get dealt with. Forget business as usual and the bureaucratic slowdowns it normally imposes…
Poland has good quality Mig 29's Ukraine has more than enough people experienced in flying those planes but they would have none experienced in flying US manufactured planes like the F16
So, JKR rightfully uses her institutionally and societally gifted power to talk the feminism she wants. I on the other hand am dropping IWD tweets in OM because I know that if I put up any of this as a post I will suffer social sanctions that unlike JKR I cannot afford, and today I don't have the spoons for it.
That's fucked up. And this is why feminists call JKR a queen.
It's hard enough writing as feminist in this very blokey space, as an author and/or as a commenter, for a range of reasons to do with society and the culture of TS in particular. No Debate and the sex/gender war make it actually risky. Many women cannot even express an opinion using their real life names because of fear of real life sanctions.
We're losing ground. Women, and society. Half of the left doesn't know what we're talking about and the other half thing we're bigots for demanding that being female is an actual thing and that it matters. It's imperative we find ways to name what is happening.
Here's Suzanne Moore,
Read the whole thing,
https://archive.ph/p1POV link from out behind the paywall.
Which is the point of all that exercise. Achieve 'equality' by dismantling it, calling for 'equity' and thus a fonterra board with 6 male and 6 transwomen or male non binaries or male gender fluids or any made up woo woo is suddenly not a 100% male board.
Have a womans team comprised of only transwomen. ! Equity!
Have transwomen dilute the women pool on women lists, jobs awards etc. And in the end, have these same trans identified males who appropriate womanhood make rules under which things who can no longer be named have to live.
I don't think many of the things who can no longer be named have thoughts about the practical implications, or for those in academia with government jobs maybe they believe that they will not be affected by the shit storm that is about to rain down on us.
The Ferengi Nation comes to mind. Womb rental and all.
Weka, I so endorse all you are saying………..I have been surprized how gender ideology has captured so many, especially the media, the public service, a raft of other organisations and The Labour and Green Parties.
Debate is shut down, people are called bigots and transphobes, lesbian woman tresspassed from Pride last year and had the police called to enforce the tresspass.
I spoke out recently on a group I am a member of FB page and had my post cancelled. I was drawing attention to the 25,000 detransitioners on Reddit. I know many in the group agree with me, but were too scared to speak up. One had previously spoken up and the gender ideologues rang their employee and they nearly lost their job……………..
We are close to a time where we will no longer be able to speak up without risking hate speech laws being used against us. This is the work of the left (whom I have always been aligned with)
the work of the left
An ideology empowered by leftists driven by pc is how I'd frame it (from my observer position). Viewing the situation with the lens of civil rights, the solution seems achievable via solidarity based on accurate identification of minority rights. Then traditional organising, using leverage & framing in a lobby group. Then, if necessary a class action.
Sharing aspirations is usually how such things originate – often combined with a common grievance based on perception of injustice. Then defining the common interest shared, then using that definition to construct a political action group. Keep membership rules simple, making it easy to join. Voluntary leadership by activists originates – then things get tricky (elections may be necessary at a critical threshold).
So best to focus on getting such a movement up & running. Success will be proportion to numbers joining in the origin phase. Recruitment based on networking, likemindedness. The pool is adult women, the pitch is non-partisan, so the only design challenge is framing. That must address the threat to civil rights. The learning curve will probably lie around what social factors insulate some women from seeing the problem. Incentives to shift their view have to be used in the framing.
Being uninvolved I offer this summary of technique due to a personal history of similar experiential situations & learning curves. Plus altruism.
A movement of what exactly?
But who are these people
I have a horrible feeling you are meaning natal women.
The minority is the transwomen community.
Many women would happily help them find a place, develop policies where they are no discriminated against that does not involve natal women having their rights and born identity sidelined.
Clarity in language is important.
Natal women are women. Unless half the world's population has agreed otherwise.
Transwomen are transwomen, and are also men.
Agree that was why I was curious as to who the people with minority rights were that Dennis mentioned. It surely could not be women as figures show that depending on when the count is taken we make up usually slightly more or very slightly less than 50% and in some age groups are the majority.
Agree that transwomen are transwomen, and are also men and transmen are transmen and are also women.
There is a lot of wool over eyes pulling and sleight of hand that brings to mind sayings of my youth 'I'm not as green as I am cabbage-looking, meaning, “I may look new to this, but I'm not.” and 'I did not come down in the last shower' used to indicate that someone is not foolish or gullible
When it is looked at simply I wonder why more men are not coming out against this word twisting.
The concept that transwomenhood is a male rights agenda seems to explain this.
Medical differences between men and women matter too.
I hadn't heard of this before but if true, should change protocols for both donating and receiving blood products:
https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/17/blood-transfusions-pregnant-women/
A movement of what exactly?
Far be it for a male to presume to answer that. All I can offer is suggestions! On that limited basis, my answer would hew to the simple formula of women who care enough to work together to solve the problem.
That said, I know it gets complicated. The formula of ready, willing and able is a good one to apply if those complaining about the situation default into assuming that they ought to solve it. Not all such people are willing. Some will be unable (due to personal circumstances such as prior commitments or disabilities). Some may want to help but are currently unready to do so.
So what tends to happen is a zeitgeist effect – all those who synch into the same collective space/time/attitude are the right ones!
Shifting from the generic to the particular, I wonder if it is appropriate to frame it as feminism with a number attached – to invoke the power of tradition. The new number defines progress as the agenda. So it becomes automatically progressive! This framing device works on a mutual recognition basis. Only viable if feminism as ideology is seen as non-toxic in essence by the majority of women, I suspect, and I can't comment on that issue…
thanks for clarifying, I wasn't quite sure what you meant.
There's an awesome grassroots feminist movement in the UK that we've not seen the like of in many a decade. Very heartening. It's arisen because of the impact on women's rights from gender ideology movements, and it's making good progress both in organising and in political gains. Some women have paid a hefty price with jobs, careers, abuse, and police attention.
In NZ there is that potential, but I don't know what the deal is with activism in NZ now. We all seem to be in a holding pattern of some sort (not just women).
Re naming, feminism is a good term on its own. Feminism has always had disagreement and different branches. For clarity currently we can talk about radical feminism, liberal feminism, 2nd and 3rd wave, gender critical feminism and so on.
And more than that too. I just read the wiki for 4th wave. There isn't one for the 5th wave yet but this popped up:
https://gayexpress.co.nz/2021/03/international-womens-day-what-will-fifth-wave-feminism-look-like/
If this wave is too amorphous to define as yet, then it will eventually crest. That means the time is ripe for those who seek to ride it. Doing so would be the best way to give it collective identity & form…
I must say this appealed to me…..Am I wrong to see it as a men's rights group?
The strategies, bulldozing through, sidelining those who disagree, wanting an end result that comes about by force of will rather than discussion, seem more like stereotypic male thinking.
I think that some of the most vociferous on this topic (irrespective of gender identity), are misogynists who have found a new publicly and politically sanctioned way to harass and harm women.
The failure to recognise and reprimand such actions harms both women and transgender people.
Yes that is right….misogynists too.
I am not sure why non misogynistic men are not coming out in support of women. Or is the loyalty of a man to a fellow man greater than their loyalty to fairness.
Mind you it is a brave man who will stand with women.
'A number of New Zealand’s leading male politicians, including John Hall, Robert Stout, Julius Vogel, William Fox and John Ballance, supported women’s suffrage'.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/brief-history
In the UK
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/HgXhTLahLDp8Lg
In the US
https://suffragistmemorial.org/7-suffragist-men-and-the-importance-of-allies/
A couple of examples of male "allies" responding to a tweet by J K Rowling:
,,, and the screenshot of the bravest…
Why yes Virginia, that is exactly what they are. 🙂 And they enjoy every it every bit.
It never ceases to amuse me that some people really believe that the men of the right and the left are not driven by the exact same misogyny. It is just couched in different terms, but the end effect is the same.
sorry, are you saying that all trans women are MRAs?
Transgenderism/Trans ideology is misogyny. Pure and unadulterated.
Gender Non Conforming Men are not broken beings that need to be shoved into womens places, pretending to be women to the point where they get to dictate women how to women. And that is MRA in the nutshell. They are men.
"Widening the bandwidth of being a male" perhaps?
to me this is just bigotry. Trans women =/= trans ideology. There are many trans women who reject the ideology.
MRA is a specific set of philosophies. To equate all trans women with that is similar to saying that all feminists hate men.
You are putting words in my mouth that i don't say. I would like you to consider this for a moment.
Maybe it is not what i said that is the issue but how you interpretate it. I am not even considering William "lia' Thomas as a 'MRA', even tho he benefits greatly from the MRA that comes with TRA.
You can not seperate the MAN from Trans. Otherwise they would be women and then we would not have this issue to talk about.
Gender Non conforming men are not the fault of women and are not a problem for women. They should be an issue for Men and Men should be accomodating them in the male spaces, jobs, awards, and changing rooms. And in fact, i would venture a guess where Michael "lia' Thomas to be the 420 ranked swimmer in the Mens as an out and proud transwomen he would get way more support then he is getting now. But for some reason that is not what Michael "Lia" Thomas is doing. But i guess as someone ranked 420 – i.e. average – would not get to stand on a podium with the winning women ranked below him. And that is MRA in a nutshell. Maybe you need to consider that the two philosophies are intertwined and to some extend feed of each others.
Secondly, i don't consider the swimmer, or the surfer, or even Eddie Izzard a 'transwomen'. I consider them transvestites. Maybe already there we need to identify of whom we speak.
But i take your bigot, and i would add Terf, and Femnazi, and men hater, and i have no issues with that. In the end these words are meaningless and the actions for TRA's are standing on their own as do their words.
And just to re-enforce the idea once more, i do not speak about Transwomen per se, i speak about the movement, the political clout that movement has compared to say 'feminism' , the money behind it, big pharma, big surgery, and so on.
But again, i will wear that 'bigottry' t-shirt. It states that Women are adult human females.
I asked you a specific question,
You responded by saying,
I took that as you saying that you know what trans women are and you linked this again to MRAs, but you didn't actually answer my question directly, so I parsed it from your recent comments.
I see eventually you clarified that there is a difference between being trans, and trans ideology,
So my question and assumption served a purpose, of getting you to just say what you meant in relation to my query.
Honestly I didn't read the rest of your comment, because I was asking for a simple thing and as you know I get weary of the lectures at times.
no, trans women are not a men's rights group. Trans women are a group of gender non-conforming males, who just like every other group of people have varying needs and politics.
Gender identity activism (sometimes called trans rights activism) has strong parallels with MRAs. Lots of trans women aren't doing either of those two things. There are some that definitely are.
That's a clearer statement than mine.
Thanks, weka. I agree with every word.
Yes I get this.
I also get the view of Magdalen Burns in Molly's link above that why is it that women have to take the big breath of acceptance and why is it that that he is 'widening the bandwidth for women'. He should be widening the bandwidth for men.
Magdalen Burns has another video at this link
The reason i did not answer your question to your satisfaction is very simple.
I am not speaking of transwomen. I am speaking of the movement and only the movement. I can separate the two. So i am not going to answer your questions as your question is quite out of line and accusatory at best.
Its like with men and being a rapist. Not all man are rapists, but most rapists are men. There is quite a nuance in there. Ditto with Transwomen, Non binaries, genderfluid and any of the other 90+ made up 'genders' may not be themselves MRA's but they profit of the MRA tactics employed by TRAs that serve only to shut down women.
And frankly, you, Molly, Anker, Shangreah and others we have had more then one discussion on this subject and it seems that only you saw it fit to declare bigotry where there is none, implied or otherwise.
Transideology is at its heart deeply mysogynistic, starting with the idea that a women gives birth to a child 'with a wrong body'. Humans have one body, once that body is used up we die. We can modify that body with wrong sex hormones, puberty blockers, plastic surgery, fillers, silicon, make up, full body silicon suits, tattoos, implants and what not, but it is still the same body and it is still sexed exactly the same way it was on the day of it emerging from a womans vagina. Yet, here we ask women to make way for men into their spaces, jobs, awards, camps, changing rooms, sports on the ground of these men living in the 'wrong' body. Lol. And as the beautiful clip of the Sainted Magdalene Berns stated, that dude with a beard and horrible dressing sense is now a women and we have to affirm this dude as a women cause kindness and otherwise bigotry. IF that is not MRA tactics in action i must have a different definition of MRAs then you. And fwiw, that dude might not see it as that, but then he is the one that wants to be in places where women are in various stages of undress and he is the one that now has that right, and any women who is uncomfortable with him being in a changing room with her is a ‘terf’ ‘bigot’ ‘transphope’ ‘cissy’ and other assorted bs. The insults change the premise for them stays the same.
Understand that i generally don't go after people and pretend they are something, and if i were to do that, i would have absolutely no qualms and issue in naming the person and stating why i would do so. I am only discussing the movement, the philosophy the legal aspects and the rights that women are losing thanks to this movement that elevates men feels above the rights women earned through hard work, beatings, forced feedings, and ridicule. This may make you uncomfortable, maybe you even think i should be kinder, softer and more accommodating, but to that i only have a 'No, thank you' to give you. I rather be rude then a liar and someone who then must continuously affirm that lie. I personally can't be bothered with that. It would be too exhausting to be honest.
Sabine, while I agreed with weka above, I considered it a response to Shanreagh who seems to be exploring this topic more in recent days, and might not be aware of the distinction between the activism around the gender identity ideology, and the people who are living as transgender. That was only my take, could be wrong.
I understand your position, and agree with it as well.
It is the gender identity ideology that is problematic, and the refusal to put that belief system under the same scrutiny and objectivity that any other belief system would undergo.
The medical interventions promoted for children and young people, the removal of single sex spaces of all kinds (physical and otherwise), the distortion of language, the negative impact on women's sports, the indoctrination of institutions and services, the elimination of lesbians, and gays from their own movement, and the complete failure to ask for empirical evidence is a dangerous movement.
I know that is not the limit of the negative effects, but you get my drift.
Anyway, was cheered up by watching this week's The Mess We're In, in celebration of Women's International Day. If you are wanting something to watch, it's here:
All of us that have been talking about this for ages now are on the same page: it's the ideology and activism that is the problem.
It's really important that we don't lump all trans people in with that. For one thing, it will step over the line in terms of TS debate rules. We have trans people here, they have a right to be here. If people are going to be casual in their rhetoric about transness, and not clear, and they sound like bigots, then it's unfair on trans people, it creates an atmosphere that inhibits debate.
It will also be harder to then argue that feminists have any rights to not be exposed to such when debate women's rights.
For another, it's wrong and not fair.
We cannot expect to have our own arguments respected if we won't make an effort to separate out trans people from the problematic ideology.
weka, if you haven't done so. Watch the link posted above – my daughter and I enjoyed the whole hour, and the display of humour and understanding between the women. I hope you do as well.
I think there exists the same energy – for the most part – between female commentators on here. I hope I'm right about that.
(Edit: Thinking of writing a post about the damage of the medicalised response (and social transitioning) of children, based on the recent changes to that after evidential reviews in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and France. Having just watched the Dysphoria series on Youtube, its a timely conversation for NZ, that has an “affirmation health care” model.)
Will see if I can get something coherent drafted.
👍👍
Sent email with draft post,
.
👍
Yes, it was a nice 'beer' hour in good albeit physically distanced ways, excellent company and as far as i can crush on ladies, oh do i have a crush on Helen Joyce. To the Queen her Ladies!
Yes, I'm tempted to get that audio book just to listen to Helen Joyce for hours.
that's a good idea! I have the hard back but haven't gotten far through yet.
Sabine, this is literally what I was asking you to clarify. You've done that now, but it took far more work than was necessary imo. A simple clarification would have sufficed.
If you can't handle someone calling your position bigotry, then maybe take more care with how you express it. I'm not the only one who sometimes misunderstands what you say. I'm not saying be kind, I'm saying pay attention to who you are talking to and listen to what they are saying. My original question was incredibly clear and simple to answer. But you didn't.
I don't think you are a bigot now that you have made it clear what you mean. It definitely wasn't clear from your first comment (which is why I asked) or your second.
Again, didn't read most of your comment because am sick of the patronising lectures, as if I don't already know all that stuff.
I tend to abstain from words such as bigotry or any insults to anyone generally specifically insults as generally that always says more about the one using these words then those against whom they are deployed. ,
I am sorry that you thought that my second or first comment was a lecture, i honestly believed that i had to make myself even clearer in my thoughts and words.
My problem is when you don't listen. I didn't need long posts of explanation, I already know what you think about trans ideology, and we are generally on the same page. All I needed was clarification on that one point. See my comment to Molly below for the reasons why. It matters how we talk about trans people here, in the same way it matters how men talk about women. Making it clear that it is the ideology that is being critiqued is a good way to do this 👍
I enjoy reading Suzanne Moore – kicked off the Guardian for.. continuing to be herself – a clear writer.
Helping the underdog fight better:
So the imbalance may be gradually evening out. I couldn't find any update on the Ukraine army situation online.
Because Ukrainian operation security will be as tight as a drum while every tool the West has works to crack Russia's, and publicise every last detail.
Giddy with excitement over all this 'war porn' arent you.
Probably using the garmin hand held taped to the cockpit if the Russian Glonasss GPS system is jammed while over Ukraine
Says TS's #1 hasbarah warrior for the autocratic warmonger calling the shots.
/
Thats defamatory . Ive said its a terrible war as they always are including those by the US and friends 'good wars' and a massive mistake by Putin.
Omicron has just shut down a major infrastructure project, temporarily.
Omicron brings Auckland tunnelling machine to a halt (1news.co.nz)
A third of workers are down as 'close contacts' or infected.
This will be a shockwave through the construction industry, which is one of New Zealand's largest employers.
Likewise a third of the Nat caucus is down with omicron. An accurate statistical match with the tunnellers, huh? Probably due to the function of boring that both share…
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/07/around-11-national-mps-isolating-or-with-covid-willis/
Ha ha very smart Dennis
High calibres require a lot of boring.
And, as Reginald Perrin notes: "Praise the Lord for small bores, for small bores get bigger every day,"
"Let it rip" huh?
Certainly 'ripping' at the moment.
Hipkin seems to have his Ted Bundy hat on,with the unscientific rationale of reduced isolation to 7 days.
"A third of the National Party has either been infected with Covid-19 or is isolating with someone who has, as the Omicron wave hits Parliament.?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300535648/covid19-nz-national-hit-hardest-as-omicron-reaches-parliament
If they can't keep themselves safe, how can they keep the rest of us safe??
they've all just got colds
/sarc
So censorship is the new normal. Funny how the whole legacy media is complaining about censorship in Russia, then are deathly quite whilst the tech companies shut down alternative news in the west. In particular anti-war voices, it's frightening.
If you have the time worth hearing the whole thing. I say hear as I just play like a podcast, and do other work.
The Opposition is getting better at following their themes eg adjusting tax brackets. (Which the Budget may be already getting ready to do that.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/list-of-oral-questions/oral-questions-9-march-2022/
One does get the sneaking suspicion …
Putin has offered Ukraine peace, for recognition of the annexation of Crimea and eastern Ukraine areas in Luhansk and Donetsk occupied since 2014 and declaring neutrality (not joining NATO).
The generous offer is indicative of Putin's real agenda.
The end of sanctions on Russia for the annexation of Crimea (and occupation in eastern Ukraine) – this only occurs when an independent and internationally recognised sovereign Ukraine consents.
Ukraine should, in my opinion agree, provided Russia takes over a proportion of the national debt of Ukraine equivalent to the land and resources transferred to Russia.
And also agree to neutrality, provided it retains an independent defence capability. And that it can still join the EU at or by the time the EU and Russia have an FTA. From this a positive Ukraine and Russian economic relationship, in which Russia and the EU would assist with Ukraine's reconstruction.
The increase of sanctions on Russia applied recently would have sharpened focus on the importance of a negotiated settlement.
While Putin would still be free to negotiate a reduced NATO presence in former WP nations, via a military build up threat of securing a land bridge to Kaliningrad via Lithuania – developing a co-operative relationship between the EU and Russia over Ukraine's economic revival would reduce the risk of NATO-Russian conflict
The Russian military appears to be overcommitted in Ukraine.
At least to the point that the Belarusian military are throwing sickies rather than join them.
With the mass of their heavy equipment set to be abandoned in the coming rout, it will be Ukraine that decides where the borders lie, as Russian conventional forces are defanged and disgraced, and no economy exists to rebuild them for decades.
Putin must have thought he was the god of intelligence, turning the former US president, but as another US president noted, you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
A monopoly? Really?
I didn't realise all those planes that fly in and out of New Zealand airports were Air New Zealand planes in disguise.
I didn't realise that planes labelled as being owned by Qantas, Air China, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines, United and Jetstar were actually part of Air New Zealand.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Don’t be a legalistic pedant.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/kevin-ward-warnings-over-air-new-zealand-monopoly-as-price-for-domestic-flights-rises/
Not only that but ANZ has a dominant position with either weak opposition or are in cahoots with the foreign carrier on many routes
Especially for most lucrative in regrads numbers of travellers and business segment
https://www.qantas.com/nz/en/qantas-experience/network-and-partner-airlines/air-new-zealand.html
That might be the case, but this Post is not about ANZ as such. Why is it so hard for some here to stay on topic, even loosely?
I am not sure you really want to bring peoples attention to this. The link you provide is dated 20/01/2020. It talks about Air New Zealand putting up its fares when Jetstar stopped flying domestically.
The withdrawal was announced on 25 September 2019 and took effect in November 2019. Well Luxon resigned from Air NZ in June 2019 and left the company on 25 September that year. Hence the increase in fares being complained about took place after his successor took over. It wasn't Luxon's doing at all, was it? After all, would he really be setting the future policy for the airline on his last day in the office?
Legalistic pedant? I think not. I just like to see the truth being told.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/399566/jetstar-to-pull-out-of-regional-flying-in-nz-at-end-of-november
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/116075634/luxons-last-stand-air-nz-chief-executive-steps-down-at-annual-meeting
You’re missing the point yet again. If you want to talk about Luxon and National’s shambolic financial analyses, then fine, comment under Micky’s Post all you like and give the other side a tough debate. If you want to talk about ANZ, use OM.
You were out by 8 days with the link date; you may value “the truth”, but you obviously don’t value accuracy in and of your statements.
Have a nice day.
Quite right. It was 28/02/2020. I notice you don't question the rest of my comment though. Pity the fare rises were after his time in the chair isn't it?
No need to respond any further to your diversions – I just like to keep convos more or less on track. Others may want to waste their time, if they so wish – they may even get something useful out of your comments, but I doubt it.
As the world fractures in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine what chance the global co operation vital to addressing climate change?
Will this end up being the scandal of the century?
"regular use of ivermectin as a prophylactic agent was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates," based on an observational study of 159,561 residents ages 18 and over in Itajaí, Brazil.
'After adjusting for variables, the authors said, they found a 67% reduction in hospitalization rate and a 70% reduction in mortality rate for ivermectin users.'
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35070575/
"Conclusion: In this large PSM study, regular use of ivermectin as a prophylactic agent was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates."
https://www.cureus.com/articles/82162-ivermectin-prophylaxis-used-for-covid-19-a-citywide-prospective-observational-study-of-223128-subjects-using-propensity-score-matching
Those numbers are similar to 2 x shots plus booster(3) in regards to Omricon!
Obviously the Oxford trial is still on-going, but there seems to be a picture forming around this very cheap and safe drug.
Scandal of the century my arse.
Even if ivermectin comes out of the wash as being as effective as its premature proponents have claimed for however long, so what? A decision based on insufficient evidence is still a gamble, even if one happens to win.
"so what"?
"insufficient evidence"
A gamble was taken by us all in the greatest real-time human experiment! I'm vaccinated. And I'm very concerned we were all duped by the least trusted company in the least trusted industry in modern times, with government/societal 'aid'.
@McFlock its maybe time to confront all the lies your told to believe are fact. I know its not easy as it will shake your version of an 'augmented' reality we've all bought in too.
Serious question: what actual clinical trials has ivermectin gone through compared to the pfizer vaccine regarding efficacy against covid?
This study is promising, shame it took them a year to process and publish their results. It has more participants, but was not blind. Intereference of other treatments was not documented. Absence of adverse events seems to have been assumed rather than actually examined.
Committing oneself to a course of action before sufficient evidence is in might have a desired result, but it doesn't win at science. It could just as easily be an error.
I'm very concerned that absolute morons have undermined effective public health measures to the point that NZ seems to have decided to accept several deaths a day just so some cafe owner can bitch that not enough people are walking through the door.
Stick your augmented reality in your rear usb port, your CPU is throwing a critical runtime error.
“Serious question: what actual clinical trials has ivermectin gone through compared to the pfizer vaccine regarding efficacy against covid?”
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-06-23-ivermectin-be-investigated-possible-treatment-covid-19-oxford-s-principle-trial
It's still going….. takes time to get this information on trials and studies at the end of a global pandemic right?!!
https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-provide-update-ongoing-studies-covid-19
Cancelling and ignoring your usual ‘attacks and distractions’ @Mcflock
omagerd I bin cancelled. 🙄
I'm not sure what you think your links demonstrate, but they just go to show that what you regard as "experimental" has been more thoroughly studied against covid than ivermectin. And seems to have better results.
You enjoyed the cancel joke… It's all the rage at present, I knew you'd love it
"has been more thoroughly studied against covid than ivermectin". Really? Please do provide the ‘evidence’, because it seems to be blurred more and more for ‘some reason or another’.
I'm sure it will all come out in the wash eventually right….? https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/wait-what-fda-wants-55-years-process-foia-request-over-vaccine-data-2021-11-18/
P.S. Demonstrating what you asked for.
Read the links again.
Look at:
Maybe you're right?
Both the Oxford trial on efficacy and 'real world' study from Brazil looking at effectiveness, have no value at all. May rock the boat of augmented reality we're all clinging to too much?
Nothing to see, look away, back to meta kids.
https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/safety/Alerts/ivermectin-covid19.htm
I trust consensus expert medical opinion. If you trust ivermectin, then go for it, but please get vaccinated against COVID-19 too.
In NZ , so far 1 in 77000 people have tragically lost their lives to COVID-19; in Brazil it's roughly 1 in 330. I don't trust ivermectin to keep me safe from COVID. Three doses of the mRNA vaccine are all I need for now, and that's not just the placebo talking.
Vaccination status of new hospitalisations per 100,000 of population segment: Boosted – 1; Unvaccinated – 5.5.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/450874/covid-19-data-visualisations-nz-in-numbers
Hmmm.
If you take that from my comments, especially the one that was a simple list of questions about the links already provided, then expecting you to understand even your own links is an exercise in futility.
Or you didn't actually take that from my comments, but these are the lengths you'll go to in order to avoid addressing simple questions to which you might not like the answers.
"pointed out potential conflicts of interest with the study’s authors. They noted that although the preprint version of the study mentions that two of its authors received money from a pharmaceutical company that manufactures ivermectin, the published version leaves that detail out.'
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jan/28/facebook-posts/study-brazil-ivermectin-covid-19-prevention-flawed/
In Brazil even before covid , Ivermectin was a commonly prescribed anti parasite drug and what portion the citys inhabitants were already using the drug and of course covid vaccines were also used – which the authors say was still the best protection
But of course for the facebook epidemiologists its of no concern why no real experts will take much notice of the other evidence
If you have worms go for Ivermectin all you like
lol big worming got to 'em, huh.