Sweety Pook is the only pūkeko in her whānau to ever let me get that close to her on a regular basis. She came to accept having a 3G clamshell cellcam as close as a foot away from her face, as long as I kept up the soothing patter. (And I had either wheat grains or a bread chunk for her.)
Pukekos are probably my favourite bird, with honourable mentions to Keas and Kiwis, due to their comically oversized feet, way they walk and family structure
Yes, they are devoted parents, aunts, uncles & cousins. All the adults, & any adolescents that can fly, share in the feeding, protection & raising of new pooklets.
Bluey, the koro, always bedded down with the new pooklets every night until they were old enuf to build their own solitary sleeping nests, like all the older birds.
They are fastidious house cleaners too. Every morning Bluey and/or the other birds would dump old bedding in a little rubbish heap a foot or two away from the pooklets’ nest, and they’s all pull out new grass and lay it down as fresh bedding.
Once the rubbish heap got too big, Bluey would build another nest somewhere else.
then call the pooklets to come to that one at bedtime. It was a sweet thing to observe – dad calling the kids to bed for the night. 😀
And I noticed they prefer to walk to where they want to go. Even if they CAN fly directly to their destination, they almost always land a few metres away, & walk the last bit of distance.
Watching these birds walk, it’s very easy to see that their ancestors were raptor dinosaurs.
Hi Gezza, that's really great. On the edge of Lake Rotorua at Kawaha Point we had a Kereru which would let us come really close, about 1 metre away. We had a dish we'd place segments of plum, and each morning it would arrive sit on the rail close to the dish . It would take a piece in its beak and manoeuvre it to swallow it whole. We cut the pieces smaller scared we'd choke it. So lovely to be so close. That was 10 years ago, we have the photos packed away somewhere lol.
How neat ! Kereru are big birds. That’d be something to see. These days I never take a photo, I always take a video clip, & leave my cellcams on the default setting to video after last use. I make frequent use of the zoom too. Every shot that looks good as a pic, imo looks even better as a short live action video clip.
The birdsong along the stream at my place starts really early, before dawn. Like, 5 am or even earlier some days. I throw the kitchen windows open if I’m up early. As well as the sparrows & blackbirds, I usually have a song thrush putting out its full, enchanting repertoire.
And this morning I had about 15 minutes of a shining cuckoo’s song or call. (Other names: shining bronze-cuckoo, pipiwharauroa, pīpīwharauroa.) It’s a very distinctive call, once you know what you’re listening for, from a most unusual-looking bird that is quite often heard but rarely actually seen by anyone in a tree. It eventually moved upstream, I could hear its call receding in the distance.
She will love you more if you bring her dog food. Pukeko will hunt in packs to take chicks from other less aggressive birds. I have seen them take coot chicks and ducklings in Western Springs Park.
…..and the bloody puks will raid your orchard and your veges. Also horribly aggressive to other species of birds. You can probably gather I hate the bloody things, especially the way they make out they are so "sweet".
Yes, if one attacks, they all attack. It’s a family affair.
Mine weren’t particularly aggressive with other birds (one whanau can sometimes behave quite differently from another one, even just down the road, researchers have noted). Sometimes one might rear up & stab a mallard duck in the back if it had barged into the middle of a group of them & was hoovering up too many wheat grains.
Or if a rapacious mallard drake or hen had bowled over one of their pooklets in their mad rush to get in on a free feast. But most often I wound up with both ducks & pūkekos eating in the same space without any aggro.
Ivan The Terrible was a mallard drake who would attack all the pooks for no other reason than he wanted all the food that was going solely for himself! He was so aggressive they all fled from him.
If you encounter unusually aggressive pūkekos, there’ll be pooklets hiding in foliage near them that they aggressively protect. They go straight on the offensive if the kids are nearby.
Hmmm. My dear old Mum (when I was a toddler) was feeding bread to mamma duck and tiny new ducklings that had walked up from the lake at the bottom of our section.. She saw a lonely pukeko prancing (they do walk funny) up from the rear. 'Oh, that poor, shy pukeko!' she thought, and especially threw a large piece of bread to land right in front of it. It pranced by the bread, then suddenly rushed and violently pecked a tiny duckling around the neck, and bolted off with it.
My dear old Mum hated pukeko for the rest of her life, and encouraged us to set our pet dogs onto them. Not that they ever caught one.
They are a clever, tough breed, and will be one of the last to become a threatened species.
Yes. They all learn very quickly how to walk along the fence paling tops. Even when a strong gust of wind hits them, they just put their wings out – like a tightrope walker’s arms – to keep their balance, & keep on carefully strolling along the fence.
Those long toes/talons can easily grip both sides of the palings, hence their dexterity in fence-walking.
They are prodigious climbers too. They’ll walk-climb right up an erect tree branch to the top, if in the mood.
I just wish they had more road sense! I live 20k out of Whangarei and nearly every time I travel in to town there are at least 2 sad bundles of feathers on the road 😥
It’s because they so like to walk everywhere. The silly sods don’t use their wings to fly up & over the roads.
My Pook family has now moved on downstream – the side of the stream bank where they used to build their sleeping & pooklet nests has been steadily eroding away with each heavy-rainfall-induced full flow event & all that remains where they used to have some flat or gently sloping spaces is now a sheer cliff face – not safe for raising pooklets, who’d fall into the water when very tiny.
I was always telling my Pook family 🐧 newbies 🐧🐧 to STAY OFF THE ROADS 🚷 & stick by the stream!
There’s a typical light breeze blowing, but it’s a warm one & it’s a gorgeous morning in North Welly. Going to go & get out in it & do some light weeding & gardening.
Thanks again Gezza. I could see Sweety pook's brain working there. And my God the size of those feet! You certainly have her trust. Being deaf, I was unable to hear the audio, but the video tells a wonderful story as always
A person could go across a level zone and have a legit reason and then moonlight as a sex worker, courier, thief, do money laundering and wear an expensive suit or an exclusive designer lable.
It is about the safety of people when it comes to contact tracing and the transmission of Covid.
There needs to be a process to inform contacts when it might not be safe for the person who falsified information and it needs to be done from the inside.
There are clues and even using the time frame and a close location is important.
Maybe they should have given sex workers essential worker status in level three..fast food and fast sex, not my bag personally, but I can see how it could be a thing for a lot of people.
I am not 100% sure about this, so could be talking complete shit, but have heard in various interviews with suppossed experts that they can call in some pretty draconian powers with a pandemic like holding people.
require persons to report themselves or submit themselves for medical examination at specified times and places:
(ea)
if the spread of the disease would be a significant risk to the public, require people to report, or submit themselves for medical testing, at stated times and places:
(f)
require persons, places, buildings, ships, vehicles, aircraft, animals, or things to be isolated, quarantined, or disinfected as he thinks fit:
(fa)
if the spread of the disease would be a significant risk to the public, require people, places, buildings, ships, vehicles, aircraft, animals, or things to be tested as he or she thinks fit:
Those clauses are not time limited. So yeah, personally, I would not want the Director General of Health thinking I might be in need of some kind of incentive to be co-operative with an infectious disease investigation.
If it even gets to trial; Treetop! This stuck in my craw a bit when I first read it, but in retrospect it is a small price for information leading to the securing of her companion whose location is as yet unknown. Better to be practical than vengeful where public safety is concerned:
The woman has not given a reason for being in Te Tai Tokerau and has not been open about her movements.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins is not ruling out dropping charges against the woman, in a bid to cut a deal for her cooperation.
He said the woman has not been providing information to health officials, and he will consider options which might encourage her to be more open.
Hipkins said sometimes taking a hard line makes it less likely someone will cooperate, and if there are things officials could do to help her be more open, then the government will look at that.
We lived at Kaukapakapa in the 50’s for 3 years and travelled up to the Bay of Islands when there were hardly any other holiday makers except in the campsites. It was beautiful clean and full of kaimoana.
I thought L4 was history, not gonna use it anymore. L3.25 is the new L4? Then again, the Traffic Light system is gonna replace Levels stystem so I guess we trust they know what they are doing. A lot of people are worried looking at comments last few days.
Maybe they could just make up an equation or something that looks cool, say
[L= (R0/vaccination rate) x π] or something
– I'm sure an actual mathematician could make up a credible one – for the alert levels, but which is as hard to decipher and meaningless as the ones we have right now.
I am still trying to get my head around why people swim outside the flags at the beach when they need to swim between the flags.
I saw the changes made in the UK when it came to what the Covid restrictions were. People ended up being confused about what they were suppose to do and threw the towel in telling the mayor/government to f off.
Wrong time to implement the traffic light system. Government need to focus on vaccination uptake.
“I am still trying to get my head around why people swim outside the flags at the beach when they need to swim between the flags.”
……………………………
My theory? In any given population of sufficient size there will always a group of individualistic rule breakers for whom virtually any rule MUST be broken, by them, regardless of whether the rule makes sense or not. It’s a character flaw.
Also in any population of sufficient size, there will also be a group of people who basically have no mind of their own, who will see someone else rebel against a rule, & who will copy their behaviour, mistakenly thinking they are being individualistic rule-breakers themselves. They’re not: they’re just “followers”.
A given number of people in both these groups wind up being ideal candidates for Darwin Awards, because some are just plain stupid, which is probably why their numbers don’t tend to increase over time.
Altho I have met one individual in my life whose poor choices and/or really stupid instant decisions, & the resulting matching accidents, occurred with such regularity, & often such severe consequences, I concluded I had finally met a real-life jinx. Fortunately for his friends & loved ones, he only ever seemed to jinx himself.
Though he was a most likely a source of constant worry for them.
The kind of guy who would stand in the bathtub to paint the bathroom wall, holding the paint can, & then “step back” to admire his work, forgetting he was still standing in the bathtub – result, injured back & blue paint everwhere, all over the bathroom, the floor, the fittings….
Got a brother like that. He drove his car into a muddy quagmire once and then couldn't get it out of course. When asked why he did it in the first place he didn't know. Just one example.
They seem incapable of thinking things through before they act. Probably got a medical name but don't know what it is.
I was under the impression that levels would generally stay but the traffic lights determine stop or go for individual places like pubs, restaurants and gigs etc, meaning different colours for vaccine status and other protections like green for full vacc, passports, sign-ins, masks etc.
At an individual level, it may occasionally happen that someone with infection-derived immunity may have more antibodies than someone with vaccination derived immunity.
But first, antibody counts aren't the be-all-and-end-all of immunity. There's a bunch of other factors. most of which are a bit harder to measure but may be more important.
At a population level, apparently the data is quite clear. Vaccinated people on average have better immunity than those with immunity gained from infection.
At least the divorce lawyer economy is going to boom in Northland. Name and shame for the complicit to circumvent border controls clients is going to be fun, get your popcorn here.
A lesson found on the New York Times. We are facing the same dilemmas.
SINGAPORE — The vaccines were supposed to be the ticket out of the pandemic. But in Singapore, things did not go according to plan.
The Southeast Asian city-state was widely considered a success story in its initial handling of the coronavirus. It closed its borders, tested and traced aggressively and was one of the first countries in Asia to order vaccines.
In September, with cases doubling every eight to 10 days, the government reinstated restrictions on gatherings. The United States said its citizens should reconsider travel to the country. Long lines started forming at the emergency departments in several hospitals. People were told once again they should work from home.
Vaccination alone has its limitations. Without vaccinations all hell would break loose. So other measures which work alongside vaccination is required.
The countries who have opened up have opened up to new strains of Covid. I think it is important to not introduce new strains as the Pfizer vaccine may not be enough.
I'd rather take the turtle approach and not the hare.
Once new effective treatments are available it will not be as important to rely on vaccination.
Two things I am following is the new Mu strain and hope in the quillay tree.
It is so tough being the Prime Minister. Imagine the stress involved in deciding which course to take. We are damned regardless. And people's lives are at risk.
However, there are reports that in India, Japan and Brazil incidence of infection are inexplicably dropping. Hope?
Or they are not testing in those countries..possibly dubious figures. Remember the Economist said a couple of weeks ago that the Covid death toll is 18m not 4.5m as reported.
this is damning. Fuck National, and fuck NZF who would have known about this man's unjust conviction when the blocked Labour from repealing the three strikes law.
Parliament didn't intend for the three-strikes law to result in sentences that violate the Bill of Rights or New Zealand's international human rights obligations, the justices found.
Hmmm – I'll wager those who voted for this law didn't care. They had been advised on this point.
Happy though, for this little fiction if it was required for this unjust sentence to be discarded.
Sorry on a phone so not typing as much as I should
When I said psych hospital that's max security I didn't mean all wards but that it needs to have at least one max security ward and lower security for others
Not too sure how the psych wards work, I know some guys from the ISU ward in Christchurch Mens get transferred to Hillmorton but I also know know they say a prisoners behaviour is "behavioural" therefore they won't take him
Apologies. Posted this on the review thread by accident. But find it interesting and funny. And worth resurrecting on the right one
Pretty funny watching an irrelevant Winston Peters getting air time on the Nation, pretending to slag off the party he personally decided would be govt.
Edit: And probably will again given his beef with the Nats if by some miracle he gets the chance again.
People take the opportunistic idiot seriously though. Which I continue to find odd.
My werking assumption is that for a certain proportion it’s memory problems, for some others, they’ve simply not been voting for enuf to be aware of his track record, & finally, for some, they just enjoy watching him having fun, playing merry hell with the opposition or the government, depending on what side of the House he’s on this term. He IS hugely entertaining.
And he’s also got the benefit of having done a lot of good for pensioners, been a very solid Foreign Minister, twice, & quite a dependable Deputy PM.
I will forever be grateful for that decision to go with Jacinda Ardern and Labour.. I don't think Winston really realised what she would be like and how much of a favour he did all of us.
I hope this latest battle with delta does not cloud people's judgement. Remember we have been safe from covid pretty much for two years.
Delta is a different beast, and vaccines masks and bubble selection will be necessary for those of us with co-morbidities.
The young will quickly take on the risk after vaccination, as they do when driving riding motorbikes and indulging in adrenalin rush activities and contact sports.
But they need help with education instead of becoming “cheap wages.”
Spit tests masks general behaviours and even new laws may protect us to a degree, but there is no way business is supporting lock downs anymore, because the support was not there with a mortgage and rental moratorium for the lock down period imo.
Equity means we have to own the difficult starting place at the outset for many groups.
Poor food poor housing low incomes, add to that fear of authority and the effects of the lawless element involved in drugs in their neighbourhood.
This delta virus is cruel in large families holding down casual work and unsociable hours. Any of them influenced by misinformation on the internet not vaccinated are sitting ducks for delta. It spreads in crowded households very rapidly.
We have to stop being judgemental and resource their leadership to gain traction. This a crisis and needs swift assistance and care. Otherwise we will lose thousands and will be horrified.
We should not let these leaders of capitalism get away with silly whingeing. We should email. facebook tweet, whatever to say 'you have lost custom with that selfish stance BAU has gone.' The sooner we convince them of that, the better off we will all be.
We also need to convince our Leaders to stay the course.
Treasury and Business predicted "-15% GDP… we were 5+% So they were 20% out in their take on things.. why are we listening now? Keep hopeful and follow the advice. That has served us well. We have done well up to now..
We do need to support the marginalized, even when they don't help. Look at the self appointed Apostle. We are awaiting the fall out from that.
Yes I was absolutely digusted when I read this – she'll have that limpet attached to her for the rest of his life! Would make a good episode of Why Women Kill IMO
When one builds a successful business, a former partner is entitled to their share of assets gained. Why should a copyright asset be treated differently?
Why should copyright ownership as a money making asset be treated differently to any other money making asset sold to settle a relationship property dispute?
because art/creativity is personal and to tie it into a broken relationship like this is anti-human and anti-community. The ex can benefit financially but shouldn't retain control of someone's career.
I guess a comparison might be the family home. If they come to an agreement, she keeps the home and live in it with the kids, he gets bought out and gives up control of the asset. But even if they don't sell, he shouldn't have keys to the house. There's an obvious conflict of interest.
Copyright itself is anti-community. Prevents things being in the commons. Stops art and music being the very product of communities by invoking ownership.
Capitalism surely is the application of rules to create monopolies and to control the printing of material. Copyright has a long history of reducing the rights of citizens to freely disseminate information and knowledge.
The very notion of ideas forming in a vacuum and not through building on others work and knowledge is a capitalist one. Copyright itself is essentially a monopoly – in fact was once called that.
Early copyright privileges were called "monopolies," particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who frequently gave grants of monopolies in articles of common use, such as salt, leather, coal, soap, cards, beer, and wine. The practice was continued until the Statute of Monopolies was enacted in 1623, ending most monopolies, with certain exceptions, such as patents; after 1623, grants of Letters patent to publishers became common.
"As the "menace" of printing spread, governments established centralized control mechanisms, and in 1557 the English Crown thought to stem the flow of seditious and heretical books by chartering the Stationers' Company. The right to print was limited to the members of that guild, and thirty years later the Star Chamber was chartered to curtail the "greate enormities and abuses" of "dyvers contentyous and disorderlye persons professinge the arte or mystere of pryntinge or selling of books."
And so on and so on. All designed to control and repress. This continues in modern times where copyright is affectionately known in the US as The Mickey Mouse law. Each time Mickey Mouse is due to come out of copyright the US extends the copyright period.
It should be by now in the commons. Walt Disney is long departed. He cannot make any more money out of it. There are plenty of artists who had their copyright owned by recording companies who made a fortune while the artist made zilch. The notion that copyright supports artists is nonsense much of the time even today – just look at Taylor Swift who is having to re-record her own albums as she does not own her own copyright to the original albums.
Copyright should be non-monopolistic for a start. The original author/artist/artists should always have the continued right in law to work they have created – they can sell it to corporates but they should always be able to sell their own works themselves (an alienable right) – corporate exclusivity to copyright should be forbidden. If an artist is not happy with a publisher they have sold rights to then they should be free to sell to another publisher / give permission to another to publish. That would be competition. you look after your artist, pay them a fair share or they can choose to go somewhere else. Upon death all published work should revert to the commons (though there should be some limited provision for supporting surviving families say 10 years) – none for surviving corporates.
I can publish and bring the joy of Anna Sewells – Black Beauty to anyone tomorrow or Treasure Island or Gone With The Wind – all the artists are dead and they belong to the commons.
We lose so much creativity due to copyright – it is restrictive not empowering.
You've missed the point. Yes, building up a business is personal. But afaik it's the monetary value that gets split in divorce not the control of the actual business. In this case the ex wants control of copyright of some of the paintings in perpetuity i.e. they get to say what happens to the paintings, reproductions etc. They want to make reproductions of single art works against the artists will.
This would be analogous to someone having a business, getting married, running the business on their own, getting divorced and the ex not just getting a financial split but having a say in the business post-divorce against the will of the person whose business it is.
In fact it is control of the business that is split.
The shares.
In a 50/50 relationship split, of a business that is “relationship property”, both partners have an equal say, and share in future earnings. Just as they do in the “family home”. (There is an exception for family homes when children are involved, which usually works in favour of the woman in the relationship BTW).
The ruling is entirely consistent with the general divorce law principle, of an equal split of “relationship property”.
Earnings a partner makes while they are together, including future earnings in a business one partner owns or starts are part of the settlement on a divorce/split
The court appears to have ruled that Intellectual Property is no different to any other property brought into the relationship (not subject to a PRA) or created/acquired during it. I'm guessing inventions, authored works etc would also be captured.
The law isn't interested in the artists 'feelings'. The issue is whether the property has economic value. Clearly it does.
IMHO the outcome is fair. If he has built up a business, for example, she will be entitled to one half of either it's ongoing returns or it's net present value (as determined by a valuation).
the issue isn't division of finances, it's that the court is giving the ex control of copyright. That's a different thing.
Another example would be someone was a writer, got married, wrote a book, got divorced, and the ex was given control of the book copyright, could sell the rights to someone to make a shitty film of the book. That's far beyond a fair split of assets.
In your example, the ex wouldn't get 'control' of the copyright, because that would be shared 50/50.
But that aside, copyright is simply another form of property. It is an asset in the same way architectural drawings or software would be. It would be perverse indeed if the work product of one partner in a relationshiop was somehow protected from relationship property.
Sirpa's paintings really are commercial junk. They are as close to high art as McDonald's are to the French Cafe. Most of them wouldn't make the cut of a Mambo t-shirt.
If you use your spouse as a muse then divorce them, you deserve to give what you owe. Male or female.
The judgment lines up with all other case law about the ownership of property created during a partnership. It is shared equally, all else being equal …
Because we are not talking about the pictures but any creative outcome in the future being deemed intellectual property. OMG NZ, imagine you do this to Maori.
A limit should be agreed in writing as to the number of prints and other reiterations or the value could be devalued The actual art does not matter It is the principle and the precedent set. Does this situation require a trust?
It has been the same with "relationship property" for decades now.
Just that more often it is a male partners earnings/assets that are split.
I know one at the moment, where the woman in the relationship wants half of all property, including the business, but is trying to leave her male partner with 100% of the debt.
Should we be looking at regional border control strategies where that is relatively easy to do? South Island/North Island. Otago and Southland share a border with Canterbury with only three road accesses (thanks to the Waitaki River), and a border with the West Coast with one road access.
The vaccination programme is a major tool, but I don't think it's going to give us quite the freedom many seem to think it is even if we get to 90+%. We should be thinking further than the next 6 months.
I was thinking pre-emptively rather than reactively. eg if the South Island and North Island were separated to prevent delta from getting to the SI, what would that look like? It would affect air travel, ferries, shipping and land freight. Supply lines would be one logistical issue, travelling another.
My question here is what will people be willing to do to keep a place covid-free ie support the elimination strategy?
From a future proofing, climate prep, sustainability perspective, there are lots of potential gains eg relocalising economies, relocalising food production, slow travel.
I think there would need to be careful consideration given to not creating stigma for areas that have delta.
Mostly I'm thinking about how neoliberalism is pushing us towards 'live with covid', and the parallel conversations about climate action/relocalisation, and covid prevention, need to merge. It's business's failure to adapt to a more secure world now that's the problem eg tourism still banking on the borders opening while health sector people are saying no, we shouldn't be opening the borders. The sooner businesses can adapt and make the most of opportunities for long term stability with the multiple crises the better. The public pushing these narratives would help.
The southern & eastern borders of level 3 Waikato are too big to effectively control. It is only a matter of time now until Delta creeps down to Wellington. Gray & Baker may be right that Cook Straight is a more practical border:
"I worry that we will see spread, we're already seeing spread north, I think we will see spread south and we as a population should not really be prepared to accept this. We've done so well in the last 18 to 20 months."
She said the messaging from the government to do with loosened restrictions had been confusing.
"This week has been quite confusing for lots of people… I would urge communities, particularly in areas with lower vaccination rates, whatever the reason for those low vaccination rates, I would say to everybody, the population, we've just got to behave as if we're still in level 4…
{Baker} said one option is a regional approach which would mean a suppression policy could be used in Auckland, while the rest of the country and particularly the South Island could continue to strive to eliminate the virus.
Though I think that falling back all the way to the Waitaki is conceding too much; Weka. The Waiau, plus the 3 passes (Lewis, Arthurs & Haast) are quite as defensible in a managed retreat if boaties won't keep clear of the Sounds and northern coast of Te Waipounamu.
But planning for the worst is not admitting defeat, even if it may seem like a self fulfilling prophecy as we watch the slow moving trainwreck up in Te Ikanui.
To transition safely, we propose four key tenets. First, nations need to retain flexible and short-term NPIs {non-pharmaceutical interventions} based on the changing epidemiology and hospital capacities and be steadfast in implementing NPIs even when there is a rise in infections from reopening. Second, nations need to ensure maximum vaccination coverage while taking into account risk prioritisation, vaccine dose sparing, and equity principles. Third, the disparate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the need for more targeted and commensurate relief, to shield to an extent industries and vulnerable groups from the unintended consequences resulting from sustained NPIs. Fourth, nations need to foster extensive surveillance and stronger community social responsibility to detect and isolate COVID-19 cases quickly through more self-testing and home-based isolation while transferring risk assessment skills from institutions to individuals through codesigned risk communication and community engagement strategies, so communities can understand and mitigate their own risks.
Thanks for the Baker reference, will have a listen to the audio.
I wasn't thinking about falling back to the Waitaki, so much as the South Island being distinct from the NI, and within the SI looking at the natural geography as a way of partitioning areas if necessary.
Nelson/Marlborough (don't know exactly where those natural boundaries are with Canterbury)
West Coast
Canterbury
South of the Waitaki and Haast
Stewart Island
Chathams
Yeah, the small boats might be an issue in the Sounds and Fiordland. But it's about having low risk not no risk.
The company producing an experimental antiviral pill for Covid-19 treatment is accused of selling the drug to the US at 40 times the cost of its production, found a report.
Molnupiravir, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Merck, has entered into a contract with the US government to supply 1.7 million courses at a price of $700 per course. However, an analysis of drug pricing by Harvard School of Public Health and King’s College Hospital in London found that it takes about $17.74 to produce a five-day course.
I kinda wonder how many people that won't get vaccinated, because of BigPharma profiteering off vaccines and because the vaccine is too new, will be demanding stockpiles of this stuff every time they get a sniffle.
Yeah, when I first read about how it worked, my reaction was holee phuc, Incredible Hulk here we come!.
Since then, biochemistry academic friends and family and a bunch of technical articles have explained to me why it causes viral mRNA replication to get fucked up, but actual human mRNA replication doesn't get fooled. I'm fairly sure I don't properly understand it, so I'm definitely not gonna try to explain to anyone else.
But still, that mode of action scares me enough that I really hope I'm never in the position of considering whether to take it. The prospect of actual covid hospitalisation would be pretty persuasive tho.
Well, it's only roughly 50% effective in preventing hospitalisations. That's kinda feeble compared to the vaccine's 80% to 90% effectiveness in preventing hospitalisations.
There were too few test subjects to be confident about the effect on deaths, bet that there were eight deaths in something like 370 patients in the placebo arm, vs no deaths in 370ish patients in the treatment arm is certainly better than having those numbers the other way around.
Are we getting one gang-related fitearms incident a day lately? Or is it one every 2nd day, on average? There sure do seem to be a helluva a lot of these…
A real dilemma for bloggers there and here who say Winston Peters never gives the truth and what he says shouldn't be trusted. Who also say Jacinda Ardern never gives the truth and what she says shouldn't be trusted.
Having both of them wrong in the women up north scenario I guess means they must know what the real story is. They should get in touch with David Seymour and tell him.
You see, as expected, David Seymour has chimed in. He wants Hipkins to tell us what he (Hipkins) doesn't know. He should consult those who do know.
National and ACT who complain bitterly about the government using the podium at 1 pm for extra media coverage, have today … demanded that the government use the podium at 1 pm for extra media coverage.
They basically toss a coin: if PM fronts, they say she milks. If PM doesn't, they say she must. (She did front BTW, but not in Wellington … they'll doubtless find some reason to complain about that too).
It is pretty easy to say if we have this % vaccinated (90% or what ever as they won't actually say). This many new cases we can link to the other one. And this many we have no idea, we can't/can/prepare to if possible move to this level
If any is higher than the following #### this we are screwed for a bit
She aint rocket science and is what the are doing anyway
Scenarios. We want scenarios for EVERY possibility.
"Like someone in such and such a region has tested positive and they visited 27 places in the public in the previous week," in which case we would …" And "three people tested positive but two of visited only one place each," and so we would …"
So we'll have about ten thousand possible scenarios on a 'paint by numbers' response list and then we can complain that it's too much, we're confused with all the information.
No, I don't believe it has. Just watched Newshub on the plus one channel setting out what we know & that she's a sex worker was NOT mentioned. NewsHub being the type of media organisation that it is, they would stress that she is a sex worker if this had been confirmed by a reputable source.
Even if she's not, that list of questions of mine still stands & the public – especially Northlanders – deserve to know the answers.
The responsible authorities need to make every effort to ensure this doesn't happen again. Look at the bloody fallout from what looks like a high trust model when a thoroughly untrustworthy individual milked it?
But we seem to be making every effort to guarantee that it happens again.
You ask valid questions above. But only because we have lockdowns, and rules, a border. Remove those and the questions are gone too.
If 2 (so far) women are such a big story, what will thousands of people be? Anyone who demands that we "open up" at some arbitrary number (75, 85, whatever) should not get worked up about two people today. After a couple of months of "freedom", and its certain consequences, nobody will remember or care about 2 cases. Or 200.
"Apply the rules strictly, and then scrap them ASAP". That is literally the opposition's stance. Absurd.
Agree all those those questions deserve to be asked and answered. As one of those Petrol Station places of interest is closest to where I moved to 2 months ago I want all the answers too but I fear we have all bought into the social media gossip on this occasion, including Winston, desperate for attention. Whatever this dodgy woman was up to I hope it all comes clear in the fullness of time.
No. It hasn't been proven. And the gang leader who was supposed to have accompanied her to Northland has categorically denied it. Says he's not been to Northland. He was given an exemption to come to Auckland and encourage his members to get vaxxed. Today's latest Covid news suggests that is exactly what he has done.
You mention Slater. What's the bet he's been 'helping' to spread the rumours.
Not being funny, but think you are mixing your gang members up.
The idiot dude who needs to be in a boys club being mentioned ain't the same idiot dude who needs to be in a boys club, who went up to supposedly encourage vaxing.
@ Chris T
This is the article I saw. It was the Mongrol Mob leader. He was given an exemption to come to Auckland to help get the MM members vaccinated. Should have linked to it:
Btw, Kerikeri used to be an ACT stronghold. Don’t know whether it still is, but wouldn’t surprise me one if there isn’t some NACT dirty politicking going on up there.
of course, neither of these may be seen as reliable to you, as you get your facts from Colt the Man after a long day of turning "womans day" magazines around.
What on earth does a story from a year ago about a (now) former MP saying that Ardern was attacking Dairy Farmers have to do with the events of the last couple of days on a Covid carrier loose in Northland?
I want to know who the "senior figure in the NDHB" is and what they said.
My apologies Alwyn, from reading the thread on the phone I mistakingly thought you you were asking to a link of Matt King lieing, something he was well known for and hence I offered links. I too would like to know who this Senior figure in the DHB is, if in fact they exist although it wouldn't be surprising if they are fictional, along with much of the twitter accusation.
I can see why that happened, trying to handle indentations in the post on a phone seems to me to be an impossible exercise. Even on a 27 inch screen it can be difficult.
Could be completely wrong as going by something I heard on the radio this afternoon while shopping in busy supermarket, but from memory think fake paperwork.
The Nevada State Public Health Laboratory has identified a rare case of COVID-19 reinfection occurring just 22 days after the patient first tested positive.
The patient, an unvaccinated 31-year-old Mineral County man with no underlying health conditions, first tested positive for the delta variant and then, three weeks later, for a different strain that evolved from the delta variant, Mark Pandori, director of the lab at the University of Nevada, Reno’s School of Medicine, told the Review-Journal this week.
[…]
The strain, a sublineage of delta known as AY.26, has 31 genetic differences from delta, including on the spike protein, the part of the virus targeted by vaccines, he said. It is this genetic variety that especially concerns him.
“My concern is that there’s a scientific rationale for this being indicative of a bigger problem,” said Pandori, whose lab in August 2020 reported the first known case of COVID-19 reinfection in North America.
That bigger problem is the possibility of increasing numbers of reinfections as well as so-called breakthrough cases in vaccinated individuals.
Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
Asia Pacific Report Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member. This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
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In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
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The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
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Up close & personal: the preceding negotiations
Good video
Thank you. 👍🏼
Sweety Pook is the only pūkeko in her whānau to ever let me get that close to her on a regular basis. She came to accept having a 3G clamshell cellcam as close as a foot away from her face, as long as I kept up the soothing patter. (And I had either wheat grains or a bread chunk for her.)
Pukekos are probably my favourite bird, with honourable mentions to Keas and Kiwis, due to their comically oversized feet, way they walk and family structure
Yes, they are devoted parents, aunts, uncles & cousins. All the adults, & any adolescents that can fly, share in the feeding, protection & raising of new pooklets.
Bluey, the koro, always bedded down with the new pooklets every night until they were old enuf to build their own solitary sleeping nests, like all the older birds.
They are fastidious house cleaners too. Every morning Bluey and/or the other birds would dump old bedding in a little rubbish heap a foot or two away from the pooklets’ nest, and they’s all pull out new grass and lay it down as fresh bedding.
Once the rubbish heap got too big, Bluey would build another nest somewhere else.
then call the pooklets to come to that one at bedtime. It was a sweet thing to observe – dad calling the kids to bed for the night. 😀
And I noticed they prefer to walk to where they want to go. Even if they CAN fly directly to their destination, they almost always land a few metres away, & walk the last bit of distance.
Watching these birds walk, it’s very easy to see that their ancestors were raptor dinosaurs.
Hi Gezza, that's really great. On the edge of Lake Rotorua at Kawaha Point we had a Kereru which would let us come really close, about 1 metre away. We had a dish we'd place segments of plum, and each morning it would arrive sit on the rail close to the dish . It would take a piece in its beak and manoeuvre it to swallow it whole. We cut the pieces smaller scared we'd choke it. So lovely to be so close. That was 10 years ago, we have the photos packed away somewhere lol.
How neat ! Kereru are big birds. That’d be something to see. These days I never take a photo, I always take a video clip, & leave my cellcams on the default setting to video after last use. I make frequent use of the zoom too. Every shot that looks good as a pic, imo looks even better as a short live action video clip.
The birdsong along the stream at my place starts really early, before dawn. Like, 5 am or even earlier some days. I throw the kitchen windows open if I’m up early. As well as the sparrows & blackbirds, I usually have a song thrush putting out its full, enchanting repertoire.
And this morning I had about 15 minutes of a shining cuckoo’s song or call. (Other names: shining bronze-cuckoo, pipiwharauroa, pīpīwharauroa.) It’s a very distinctive call, once you know what you’re listening for, from a most unusual-looking bird that is quite often heard but rarely actually seen by anyone in a tree. It eventually moved upstream, I could hear its call receding in the distance.
https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/shining-cuckoo
She will love you more if you bring her dog food. Pukeko will hunt in packs to take chicks from other less aggressive birds. I have seen them take coot chicks and ducklings in Western Springs Park.
…..and the bloody puks will raid your orchard and your veges. Also horribly aggressive to other species of birds. You can probably gather I hate the bloody things, especially the way they make out they are so "sweet".
Yes, if one attacks, they all attack. It’s a family affair.
Mine weren’t particularly aggressive with other birds (one whanau can sometimes behave quite differently from another one, even just down the road, researchers have noted). Sometimes one might rear up & stab a mallard duck in the back if it had barged into the middle of a group of them & was hoovering up too many wheat grains.
Or if a rapacious mallard drake or hen had bowled over one of their pooklets in their mad rush to get in on a free feast. But most often I wound up with both ducks & pūkekos eating in the same space without any aggro.
Ivan The Terrible was a mallard drake who would attack all the pooks for no other reason than he wanted all the food that was going solely for himself! He was so aggressive they all fled from him.
If you encounter unusually aggressive pūkekos, there’ll be pooklets hiding in foliage near them that they aggressively protect. They go straight on the offensive if the kids are nearby.
Hmmm. My dear old Mum (when I was a toddler) was feeding bread to mamma duck and tiny new ducklings that had walked up from the lake at the bottom of our section.. She saw a lonely pukeko prancing (they do walk funny) up from the rear. 'Oh, that poor, shy pukeko!' she thought, and especially threw a large piece of bread to land right in front of it. It pranced by the bread, then suddenly rushed and violently pecked a tiny duckling around the neck, and bolted off with it.
My dear old Mum hated pukeko for the rest of her life, and encouraged us to set our pet dogs onto them. Not that they ever caught one.
They are a clever, tough breed, and will be one of the last to become a threatened species.
the balance!
Close ups of the pukeko feet is fantastic.
Yes. They all learn very quickly how to walk along the fence paling tops. Even when a strong gust of wind hits them, they just put their wings out – like a tightrope walker’s arms – to keep their balance, & keep on carefully strolling along the fence.
Those long toes/talons can easily grip both sides of the palings, hence their dexterity in fence-walking.
They are prodigious climbers too. They’ll walk-climb right up an erect tree branch to the top, if in the mood.
I just wish they had more road sense! I live 20k out of Whangarei and nearly every time I travel in to town there are at least 2 sad bundles of feathers on the road 😥
It’s because they so like to walk everywhere. The silly sods don’t use their wings to fly up & over the roads.
My Pook family has now moved on downstream – the side of the stream bank where they used to build their sleeping & pooklet nests has been steadily eroding away with each heavy-rainfall-induced full flow event & all that remains where they used to have some flat or gently sloping spaces is now a sheer cliff face – not safe for raising pooklets, who’d fall into the water when very tiny.
I was always telling my Pook family 🐧 newbies 🐧🐧 to STAY OFF THE ROADS 🚷 & stick by the stream!
There’s a typical light breeze blowing, but it’s a warm one & it’s a gorgeous morning in North Welly. Going to go & get out in it & do some light weeding & gardening.
It's also because when one gets killed, the other tend to hang around 🙁
Humans can and will build tunnels for dairy cows to walk under roads, why not wildlife? Or bridges.
Thanks again Gezza. I could see Sweety pook's brain working there. And my God the size of those feet! You certainly have her trust. Being deaf, I was unable to hear the audio, but the video tells a wonderful story as always
🙂 ❤️ ☘
I am curious how this traveler in to northland got a travel permit on false info?
Then the permit was rejected the info was found to be false.
If it was eventually found to be false, why were those checks not done initially?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-northland-into-level-3-warning-cases-could-spiral-out-of-control-if-auckland-restrictions-ease/WYN42Y2ZHS6H5HOT26JIUILYHU/
A person could go across a level zone and have a legit reason and then moonlight as a sex worker, courier, thief, do money laundering and wear an expensive suit or an exclusive designer lable.
It is about the safety of people when it comes to contact tracing and the transmission of Covid.
There needs to be a process to inform contacts when it might not be safe for the person who falsified information and it needs to be done from the inside.
There are clues and even using the time frame and a close location is important.
That would be suggesting the illicit activity, then was noted and travel pass was rejected. Which is feasible.
Maybe they should have given sex workers essential worker status in level three..fast food and fast sex, not my bag personally, but I can see how it could be a thing for a lot of people.
A fixed address used for a brothel so a motel is not used.
Basically where you can and cannot operate during a pandemic.
We all get hungry and enjoy fast food. So a location of interest on all fast food outlets over a time frame in the areas visited..
Five days, no contacts other than 2 petrol stations, forged "essential worker" documents.
When the name comes out she's going to be the most famous prostitute in New Zealand.
Sex education will change that's for sure.
When she said she offered extras she wasn't kidding
The onus is now on people to get tested and to adhere to level 3 restrictions.
I would be very disappointed that a person is not cooperating. Covid is Covid regardless of how it enters your community.
They should detain her until she co operates. Are they allowed to imprison her?
I am not 100% sure about this, so could be talking complete shit, but have heard in various interviews with suppossed experts that they can call in some pretty draconian powers with a pandemic like holding people.
Pretty hazy stuff I think from my googling.
Section 70 of the Health Act 1956:
Those clauses are not time limited. So yeah, personally, I would not want the Director General of Health thinking I might be in need of some kind of incentive to be co-operative with an infectious disease investigation.
People on trial have the right to remain silent. So detaining the person does not mean they will cooperate.
Detaining when a health issue is another matter, so is falsifying information.
good point.
If it even gets to trial; Treetop! This stuck in my craw a bit when I first read it, but in retrospect it is a small price for information leading to the securing of her companion whose location is as yet unknown. Better to be practical than vengeful where public safety is concerned:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/453220/iwi-led-border-controls-back-in-northland-as-region-enters-alert-level-3
Why isn't Northland at Alert Level 4
There aren't enough places of interest in Northland
Burn!
I'm from the far north with old family farms and relatives in both Kerikeri and inland of Whangaroa. Hard case people.
We lived at Kaukapakapa in the 50’s for 3 years and travelled up to the Bay of Islands when there were hardly any other holiday makers except in the campsites. It was beautiful clean and full of kaimoana.
I thought L4 was history, not gonna use it anymore. L3.25 is the new L4? Then again, the Traffic Light system is gonna replace Levels stystem so I guess we trust they know what they are doing. A lot of people are worried looking at comments last few days.
"L3.25 is the new L4?"
Maybe they could just make up an equation or something that looks cool, say
[L= (R0/vaccination rate) x π] or something
– I'm sure an actual mathematician could make up a credible one – for the alert levels, but which is as hard to decipher and meaningless as the ones we have right now.
I am still trying to get my head around why people swim outside the flags at the beach when they need to swim between the flags.
I saw the changes made in the UK when it came to what the Covid restrictions were. People ended up being confused about what they were suppose to do and threw the towel in telling the mayor/government to f off.
Wrong time to implement the traffic light system. Government need to focus on vaccination uptake.
“I am still trying to get my head around why people swim outside the flags at the beach when they need to swim between the flags.”
……………………………
My theory? In any given population of sufficient size there will always a group of individualistic rule breakers for whom virtually any rule MUST be broken, by them, regardless of whether the rule makes sense or not. It’s a character flaw.
Also in any population of sufficient size, there will also be a group of people who basically have no mind of their own, who will see someone else rebel against a rule, & who will copy their behaviour, mistakenly thinking they are being individualistic rule-breakers themselves. They’re not: they’re just “followers”.
A given number of people in both these groups wind up being ideal candidates for Darwin Awards, because some are just plain stupid, which is probably why their numbers don’t tend to increase over time.
Being accident prone due to making poor choices is not a defence.
Indeed, it is NOT. 👍🏼
Altho I have met one individual in my life whose poor choices and/or really stupid instant decisions, & the resulting matching accidents, occurred with such regularity, & often such severe consequences, I concluded I had finally met a real-life jinx. Fortunately for his friends & loved ones, he only ever seemed to jinx himself.
Though he was a most likely a source of constant worry for them.
The kind of guy who would stand in the bathtub to paint the bathroom wall, holding the paint can, & then “step back” to admire his work, forgetting he was still standing in the bathtub – result, injured back & blue paint everwhere, all over the bathroom, the floor, the fittings….
Got a brother like that. He drove his car into a muddy quagmire once and then couldn't get it out of course. When asked why he did it in the first place he didn't know. Just one example.
They seem incapable of thinking things through before they act. Probably got a medical name but don't know what it is.
I had an uncle who was a dreamy like that, a walking disaster and yet lived to 98. I'm not sure how.
Once in the 50’s he was tamping dynamite around a large broom bush.
The dynamite was sweating and it went off before he was ready!!
My Dad remarked at the time "Bill should have realised it had sweated and become unstable.. He worked in the mine long enough."
His only injury was a flash burn in which he lost his eyebrows.
There are several stories all similar. A survivor.
I was under the impression that levels would generally stay but the traffic lights determine stop or go for individual places like pubs, restaurants and gigs etc, meaning different colours for vaccine status and other protections like green for full vacc, passports, sign-ins, masks etc.
The road map communication has not been the best. Too many people do not understand the new step rules which are confusing.
An unvaccinated person who had Covid could have more antibodies than a vaccinated person.
Where you go will depend on the individual.
At an individual level, it may occasionally happen that someone with infection-derived immunity may have more antibodies than someone with vaccination derived immunity.
But first, antibody counts aren't the be-all-and-end-all of immunity. There's a bunch of other factors. most of which are a bit harder to measure but may be more important.
At a population level, apparently the data is quite clear. Vaccinated people on average have better immunity than those with immunity gained from infection.
https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/covid-19-studies-natural-immunity-versus-vaccination
Or if you want a somewhat more detailed and technical explainer:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/prior-infection-vs-vaccination-why-everyone-should-get-a-covid-19-shot/
So many angles to think about.
At least the divorce lawyer economy is going to boom in Northland. Name and shame for the complicit to circumvent border controls clients is going to be fun, get your popcorn here.
A lesson found on the New York Times. We are facing the same dilemmas.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/world/asia/singapore-vaccine-covid.html
Vaccination alone has its limitations. Without vaccinations all hell would break loose. So other measures which work alongside vaccination is required.
The countries who have opened up have opened up to new strains of Covid. I think it is important to not introduce new strains as the Pfizer vaccine may not be enough.
I'd rather take the turtle approach and not the hare.
Once new effective treatments are available it will not be as important to rely on vaccination.
Two things I am following is the new Mu strain and hope in the quillay tree.
It is so tough being the Prime Minister. Imagine the stress involved in deciding which course to take. We are damned regardless. And people's lives are at risk.
However, there are reports that in India, Japan and Brazil incidence of infection are inexplicably dropping. Hope?
I do hope that the PM has drawn a firm line between her public and private life.
Covid is for scientists to solve and politicians to manage measures to lessen the impact and uncertainty due to Covid.
Or they are not testing in those countries..possibly dubious figures. Remember the Economist said a couple of weeks ago that the Covid death toll is 18m not 4.5m as reported.
this is damning. Fuck National, and fuck NZF who would have known about this man's unjust conviction when the blocked Labour from repealing the three strikes law.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/three-strikes-law-supreme-court-rejects-hefty-prison-sentence-for-unwanted-kiss/KXJFJBC3OBKEGF5AV43JPGIYPQ/
Hmmm – I'll wager those who voted for this law didn't care. They had been advised on this point.
Happy though, for this little fiction if it was required for this unjust sentence to be discarded.
Stories like this won't make the hang-rope wielding National and Act supporters change their minds about the three strikes law.
They'll redirect their attention and inclination to the judges who point out the madness.
yeah but NACT aren't in government, Labour are and should do something about this when they get a moment.
What we need is maximum security hospitals, stand alone facilties, with doctors, psych, nurses and officers
But I doubt any party would have the guts to do right thing
Not sure this man should be incarcerated at all. It's possible he needs community support and we're just shit at it.
Also not sure why he would need to be in maximum security hospital. If he needs psychiatric care, wouldn't one of the locked wards suffice?
Don't we have high security psych wards already? There's one in Dunedin I think.
Sorry on a phone so not typing as much as I should
When I said psych hospital that's max security I didn't mean all wards but that it needs to have at least one max security ward and lower security for others
Not too sure how the psych wards work, I know some guys from the ISU ward in Christchurch Mens get transferred to Hillmorton but I also know know they say a prisoners behaviour is "behavioural" therefore they won't take him
Kids too. Once they're deemed as having a personality disorder they're bounced from psych services and social workers/youth justice are on their own.
Apologies. Posted this on the review thread by accident. But find it interesting and funny. And worth resurrecting on the right one
Pretty funny watching an irrelevant Winston Peters getting air time on the Nation, pretending to slag off the party he personally decided would be govt.
Edit: And probably will again given his beef with the Nats if by some miracle he gets the chance again.
People take the opportunistic idiot seriously though. Which I continue to find odd.
Me too chrisT. He's a chameleon alright and I don't know why anybody trusts him.
Agreed
My werking assumption is that for a certain proportion it’s memory problems, for some others, they’ve simply not been voting for enuf to be aware of his track record, & finally, for some, they just enjoy watching him having fun, playing merry hell with the opposition or the government, depending on what side of the House he’s on this term. He IS hugely entertaining.
And he’s also got the benefit of having done a lot of good for pensioners, been a very solid Foreign Minister, twice, & quite a dependable Deputy PM.
I will forever be grateful for that decision to go with Jacinda Ardern and Labour.. I don't think Winston really realised what she would be like and how much of a favour he did all of us.
I hope this latest battle with delta does not cloud people's judgement. Remember we have been safe from covid pretty much for two years.
Delta is a different beast, and vaccines masks and bubble selection will be necessary for those of us with co-morbidities.
The young will quickly take on the risk after vaccination, as they do when driving riding motorbikes and indulging in adrenalin rush activities and contact sports.
But they need help with education instead of becoming “cheap wages.”
Spit tests masks general behaviours and even new laws may protect us to a degree, but there is no way business is supporting lock downs anymore, because the support was not there with a mortgage and rental moratorium for the lock down period imo.
Equity means we have to own the difficult starting place at the outset for many groups.
Poor food poor housing low incomes, add to that fear of authority and the effects of the lawless element involved in drugs in their neighbourhood.
This delta virus is cruel in large families holding down casual work and unsociable hours. Any of them influenced by misinformation on the internet not vaccinated are sitting ducks for delta. It spreads in crowded households very rapidly.
We have to stop being judgemental and resource their leadership to gain traction. This a crisis and needs swift assistance and care. Otherwise we will lose thousands and will be horrified.
We should not let these leaders of capitalism get away with silly whingeing. We should email. facebook tweet, whatever to say 'you have lost custom with that selfish stance BAU has gone.' The sooner we convince them of that, the better off we will all be.
We also need to convince our Leaders to stay the course.
Treasury and Business predicted "-15% GDP… we were 5+% So they were 20% out in their take on things.. why are we listening now? Keep hopeful and follow the advice. That has served us well. We have done well up to now..
We do need to support the marginalized, even when they don't help. Look at the self appointed Apostle. We are awaiting the fall out from that.
Key had the right idea years ago, when he just told him to f off before the election.
Basically cut off his nuts as a problem
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pm-rules-out-any-nz-first-deal/2H7RMVGJBDQXGOKLIMJSWCYPX4/
Whoever is leading the Nats at the next election would be wise to do the same I think.
This is beyond pathetic! Trying to make a story out of a handful of text messages between Siouxsie Wiles and Ashley Bloomfield.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-siouxsie-wiles-to-ashley-bloomfield-lets-get-vaccinated-together-on-the-sky-tower-texts-show/6SL5TWWE2E7AJJFKRHNGICYLMM/
So, a couple of people who know each other are not allowed to communicate with one another? Jesus!
Speaks volumes for how low churnalism has sunk these days. This is old style Women’s Magazine or Entertainment Tonight celebrity gossip stuff.
whoever did the OIA must have been disappointed. All pretty mundane.
And all the while the law in NZ ruled that a woman's soul belongs to her husband:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126570671/artist-broken-after-judge-rules-copyright-of-her-work-must-be-shared-in-divorce
Back to the 16th century and its not surprising how women are now seen. No, not just body, its now the mind too! Its back to being a "property".
For all artists out there, make sure your copy right is strictly secured in a trust because this is the corporate model and well protected.
I hope that some high powered women have a thing or two to say to this because it will be their innovations, their inventions, their input next.
Yes I was absolutely digusted when I read this – she'll have that limpet attached to her for the rest of his life! Would make a good episode of Why Women Kill IMO
I couldn't have worded it any better.
I would buy from the artist.
How would a person know who they were buying from?
It works the other way round too, tho, doesn't it?
Limpet ex-female partners or ex-wives hanging off their male ex-partner's or ex-husband's well-paying skills or talents?
Surely this is about the equal application of matrimonial property law?
The other way around makes no difference. It is about the future proceeds of the artists copyright. I would still only buy from the artist.
When it comes to the division of the matrimonial property, it is not a one off like a house sale so it is not limited.
When one builds a successful business, a former partner is entitled to their share of assets gained. Why should a copyright asset be treated differently?
Looking at the legal implications.
https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/til-art-do-us-part-creative-copyright-in-divorce
income from copyright assets maybe, but not ownership of the copyright itself, that's a problem.
Why should copyright ownership as a money making asset be treated differently to any other money making asset sold to settle a relationship property dispute?
because art/creativity is personal and to tie it into a broken relationship like this is anti-human and anti-community. The ex can benefit financially but shouldn't retain control of someone's career.
I guess a comparison might be the family home. If they come to an agreement, she keeps the home and live in it with the kids, he gets bought out and gives up control of the asset. But even if they don't sell, he shouldn't have keys to the house. There's an obvious conflict of interest.
Enduring years of financial hardship and spending every waking hour creating an income producing asset isn't personal?
Obliging someone to return to former hardships and demands isn't controlling someone's career?
And TBF, the comparison is that the occupant pays the market price to rent the part of the home they don't own. Zip to do with access.
lol.
"anti-community"
Copyright itself is anti-community. Prevents things being in the commons. Stops art and music being the very product of communities by invoking ownership.
If I write a book, and it's not copyrighted, then someone can take that work and sell it as their own. That's not the commons, that's capitalism.
you might not be wrong about it being anti-community, but I'd like to see a better model.
Capitalism surely is the application of rules to create monopolies and to control the printing of material. Copyright has a long history of reducing the rights of citizens to freely disseminate information and knowledge.
The very notion of ideas forming in a vacuum and not through building on others work and knowledge is a capitalist one. Copyright itself is essentially a monopoly – in fact was once called that.
And so on and so on. All designed to control and repress. This continues in modern times where copyright is affectionately known in the US as The Mickey Mouse law. Each time Mickey Mouse is due to come out of copyright the US extends the copyright period.
It should be by now in the commons. Walt Disney is long departed. He cannot make any more money out of it. There are plenty of artists who had their copyright owned by recording companies who made a fortune while the artist made zilch. The notion that copyright supports artists is nonsense much of the time even today – just look at Taylor Swift who is having to re-record her own albums as she does not own her own copyright to the original albums.
Copyright should be non-monopolistic for a start. The original author/artist/artists should always have the continued right in law to work they have created – they can sell it to corporates but they should always be able to sell their own works themselves (an alienable right) – corporate exclusivity to copyright should be forbidden. If an artist is not happy with a publisher they have sold rights to then they should be free to sell to another publisher / give permission to another to publish. That would be competition. you look after your artist, pay them a fair share or they can choose to go somewhere else. Upon death all published work should revert to the commons (though there should be some limited provision for supporting surviving families say 10 years) – none for surviving corporates.
I can publish and bring the joy of Anna Sewells – Black Beauty to anyone tomorrow or Treasure Island or Gone With The Wind – all the artists are dead and they belong to the commons.
We lose so much creativity due to copyright – it is restrictive not empowering.
That should say inalienable.
You've missed the point. Yes, building up a business is personal. But afaik it's the monetary value that gets split in divorce not the control of the actual business. In this case the ex wants control of copyright of some of the paintings in perpetuity i.e. they get to say what happens to the paintings, reproductions etc. They want to make reproductions of single art works against the artists will.
This would be analogous to someone having a business, getting married, running the business on their own, getting divorced and the ex not just getting a financial split but having a say in the business post-divorce against the will of the person whose business it is.
But you know, have at it arguing for capitalistic values.
Is that not how it usually works though? Would half of the shares in a revenue-producing business not usually go to the former spouse?
Don't know how that works. Or if shares are the same as copyright.
Shares are ownership and all that entails.
That is exactly what does happen.
In fact it is control of the business that is split.
The shares.
In a 50/50 relationship split, of a business that is “relationship property”, both partners have an equal say, and share in future earnings. Just as they do in the “family home”. (There is an exception for family homes when children are involved, which usually works in favour of the woman in the relationship BTW).
The ruling is entirely consistent with the general divorce law principle, of an equal split of “relationship property”.
That is my reading of it also.
OMG
//
That has been the rule for decades.
Earnings a partner makes while they are together, including future earnings in a business one partner owns or starts are part of the settlement on a divorce/split
Assessing future earnings from a business would be tricky when it comes to selling art.
Apparently this case is new. It's not just the earnings, it's the control of the copyright.
The court appears to have ruled that Intellectual Property is no different to any other property brought into the relationship (not subject to a PRA) or created/acquired during it. I'm guessing inventions, authored works etc would also be captured.
The law isn't interested in the artists 'feelings'. The issue is whether the property has economic value. Clearly it does.
Peak capitalism
Peak equality
we should get over that and look for fairness instead.
IMHO the outcome is fair. If he has built up a business, for example, she will be entitled to one half of either it's ongoing returns or it's net present value (as determined by a valuation).
the issue isn't division of finances, it's that the court is giving the ex control of copyright. That's a different thing.
Another example would be someone was a writer, got married, wrote a book, got divorced, and the ex was given control of the book copyright, could sell the rights to someone to make a shitty film of the book. That's far beyond a fair split of assets.
In your example, the ex wouldn't get 'control' of the copyright, because that would be shared 50/50.
But that aside, copyright is simply another form of property. It is an asset in the same way architectural drawings or software would be. It would be perverse indeed if the work product of one partner in a relationshiop was somehow protected from relationship property.
There's nothing fair about the rent seeking nature of copyright.
No more art then, just commercial junk. Great advancement for humanity. Bravo.
Sirpa's paintings really are commercial junk. They are as close to high art as McDonald's are to the French Cafe. Most of them wouldn't make the cut of a Mambo t-shirt.
If you use your spouse as a muse then divorce them, you deserve to give what you owe. Male or female.
The judgment lines up with all other case law about the ownership of property created during a partnership. It is shared equally, all else being equal …
I don't even know why this was a story
Agreed.
Because we are not talking about the pictures but any creative outcome in the future being deemed intellectual property. OMG NZ, imagine you do this to Maori.
That wasn't my reading of the decision. The shared copyright only related to items created while they were together.
A limit should be agreed in writing as to the number of prints and other reiterations or the value could be devalued The actual art does not matter It is the principle and the precedent set. Does this situation require a trust?
It is not setting a precedent.
It has been the same with "relationship property" for decades now.
Just that more often it is a male partners earnings/assets that are split.
I know one at the moment, where the woman in the relationship wants half of all property, including the business, but is trying to leave her male partner with 100% of the debt.
It's a thing because the artist is a woman, it's how some at "the standard "roll
Hone Harawira on RNZ last night about Northland, from Te Tai Tokerau perspectives. Worth a listen. He's focused on border control.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018815670/hone-harawira-raises-concerns-as-covid-19-seeps-into-northland
Should we be looking at regional border control strategies where that is relatively easy to do? South Island/North Island. Otago and Southland share a border with Canterbury with only three road accesses (thanks to the Waitaki River), and a border with the West Coast with one road access.
The vaccination programme is a major tool, but I don't think it's going to give us quite the freedom many seem to think it is even if we get to 90+%. We should be thinking further than the next 6 months.
I thought the government pretty much IS implementing regional border controls now?
How is what you are proposing significantly different, weka?
I was thinking pre-emptively rather than reactively. eg if the South Island and North Island were separated to prevent delta from getting to the SI, what would that look like? It would affect air travel, ferries, shipping and land freight. Supply lines would be one logistical issue, travelling another.
My question here is what will people be willing to do to keep a place covid-free ie support the elimination strategy?
From a future proofing, climate prep, sustainability perspective, there are lots of potential gains eg relocalising economies, relocalising food production, slow travel.
I think there would need to be careful consideration given to not creating stigma for areas that have delta.
Mostly I'm thinking about how neoliberalism is pushing us towards 'live with covid', and the parallel conversations about climate action/relocalisation, and covid prevention, need to merge. It's business's failure to adapt to a more secure world now that's the problem eg tourism still banking on the borders opening while health sector people are saying no, we shouldn't be opening the borders. The sooner businesses can adapt and make the most of opportunities for long term stability with the multiple crises the better. The public pushing these narratives would help.
The southern & eastern borders of level 3 Waikato are too big to effectively control. It is only a matter of time now until Delta creeps down to Wellington. Gray & Baker may be right that Cook Straight is a more practical border:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/453208/easing-auckland-s-restrictions-a-very-risky-strategy-public-health-expert
Though I think that falling back all the way to the Waitaki is conceding too much; Weka. The Waiau, plus the 3 passes (Lewis, Arthurs & Haast) are quite as defensible in a managed retreat if boaties won't keep clear of the Sounds and northern coast of Te Waipounamu.
But planning for the worst is not admitting defeat, even if it may seem like a self fulfilling prophecy as we watch the slow moving trainwreck up in Te Ikanui.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02186-3/fulltext
Thanks for the Baker reference, will have a listen to the audio.
I wasn't thinking about falling back to the Waitaki, so much as the South Island being distinct from the NI, and within the SI looking at the natural geography as a way of partitioning areas if necessary.
Yeah, the small boats might be an issue in the Sounds and Fiordland. But it's about having low risk not no risk.
Certainly won't be the first time the fuckers indulge in a little price gouging.
https://twitter.com/Nature/status/1446627596964347906
The company producing an experimental antiviral pill for Covid-19 treatment is accused of selling the drug to the US at 40 times the cost of its production, found a report.
Molnupiravir, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Merck, has entered into a contract with the US government to supply 1.7 million courses at a price of $700 per course. However, an analysis of drug pricing by Harvard School of Public Health and King’s College Hospital in London found that it takes about $17.74 to produce a five-day course.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-merck-covid-pill-cost-b1933100.html
I kinda wonder how many people that won't get vaccinated, because of BigPharma profiteering off vaccines and because the vaccine is too new, will be demanding stockpiles of this stuff every time they get a sniffle.
Just a word from TFG and they will.
Put out the word that that's where they've really put the microchips, and there's nothing Donnie One-Term could say that would make them take it.
Or tell them that it might change their DNA.
Oh wait, it actually might:
"Well, auxh nucleosides [including molnupiravir] can also be taken up by many other enzymes, including those that handle our own nucleic acids, so some of them are mutagenic." https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/molnupiravir-last-small-molecule-coronavirus-hopes
Yeah, when I first read about how it worked, my reaction was holee phuc, Incredible Hulk here we come!.
Since then, biochemistry academic friends and family and a bunch of technical articles have explained to me why it causes viral mRNA replication to get fucked up, but actual human mRNA replication doesn't get fooled. I'm fairly sure I don't properly understand it, so I'm definitely not gonna try to explain to anyone else.
But still, that mode of action scares me enough that I really hope I'm never in the position of considering whether to take it. The prospect of actual covid hospitalisation would be pretty persuasive tho.
That and the totally nil long-term safety data – no thanks.
Still it might turn out as a useful horse de-wormer.
Funny thing is when I first read about this pill, I thought hmmm not sure I'm keen on it this early, yet I had no problem getting vaxxed
Was reading about this the other day. Extremely cool stuff, but geezes pharma can be pricks when it comes to wanting ott profit.
Extremely cool stuff…
Well, it's only roughly 50% effective in preventing hospitalisations. That's kinda feeble compared to the vaccine's 80% to 90% effectiveness in preventing hospitalisations.
There were too few test subjects to be confident about the effect on deaths, bet that there were eight deaths in something like 370 patients in the placebo arm, vs no deaths in 370ish patients in the treatment arm is certainly better than having those numbers the other way around.
Sorry. Meant cool as a concept if it turns out to be an option for those unable to have the vaccine, due to severe reaction.
50% for them would be better than 0% I would hazard a guess
Oh to be designated a deputy fire/hangi watcher and get to be parked up in that chair.
https://twitter.com/PouTepou/status/1446599340223434756
The deliveries are getting through.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126632353/covid19-34-new-community-cases-covid-found-in-palmerston-north-wastewater
There is an active case there, so it should be present?
FFS: Yet another one 😡
Are we getting one gang-related fitearms incident a day lately? Or is it one every 2nd day, on average? There sure do seem to be a helluva a lot of these…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/453228/person-seriously-injured-in-firearms-incident-in-mt-roskill
🙄 *firearms
Currently can't comment even though I would like to. Due to it probably ending in another suspension.
So I will just say, I agree. Seems worryingly common atm
This is obviously fake news.
Everyone knows that the firearms handed back and the ban on semi auto centre fire rifles means that these incidents are less likely to happen.
Cognitive dissonance update:
2020: "We rule out Winston Peters. We can't trust his word" … Simon Bridges, National leader.
2021: "We choose to believe everything Winston tells us" …
Eh?
Link, please? 😐
Do you happen to know Ardern's opinion on teaming up with Winston again after the next election if he is needed to form govt?
After he has spent the last month of finally being open to the media slagging her govt off.
A real dilemma for bloggers there and here who say Winston Peters never gives the truth and what he says shouldn't be trusted. Who also say Jacinda Ardern never gives the truth and what she says shouldn't be trusted.
Having both of them wrong in the women up north scenario I guess means they must know what the real story is. They should get in touch with David Seymour and tell him.
You see, as expected, David Seymour has chimed in. He wants Hipkins to tell us what he (Hipkins) doesn't know. He should consult those who do know.
And the dissonance gets weirder …
National and ACT who complain bitterly about the government using the podium at 1 pm for extra media coverage, have today … demanded that the government use the podium at 1 pm for extra media coverage.
https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/278614-demand-government-to-be-upfront-about-breach.html
They basically toss a coin: if PM fronts, they say she milks. If PM doesn't, they say she must. (She did front BTW, but not in Wellington … they'll doubtless find some reason to complain about that too).
pretty sure they both want a clearer roadmap than Ardern gave on Monday tbf.
Like what level we we can go toat such and such vaccinated level, with this many unknown link cases. or no unknown linked cases etc.
Unfortunately the govt appears to think we are as a country too thick to grasp these obvious scenarios.
Kinda hard to draw a road map of uncharted territory !!
Till you've navigated it ,
I disagree.
It is pretty easy to say if we have this % vaccinated (90% or what ever as they won't actually say). This many new cases we can link to the other one. And this many we have no idea, we can't/can/prepare to if possible move to this level
If any is higher than the following #### this we are screwed for a bit
She aint rocket science and is what the are doing anyway
Scenarios. We want scenarios for EVERY possibility.
"Like someone in such and such a region has tested positive and they visited 27 places in the public in the previous week," in which case we would …" And "three people tested positive but two of visited only one place each," and so we would …"
So we'll have about ten thousand possible scenarios on a 'paint by numbers' response list and then we can complain that it's too much, we're confused with all the information.
Sorry. But that is bollocks.
Just a rough idea would help small businesses.
This wait till 1pm or 3pm in two weeks time as we can't even give you a rough gauge is getting tiresome.
I definitely want to know how this sex worker managed to get an exemption letter:
Good list Gezza.
has it been proven she is a sex worker? I know the accusation is out there but that might just be a Cameron Slater style slur at this stage.
No, I don't believe it has. Just watched Newshub on the plus one channel setting out what we know & that she's a sex worker was NOT mentioned. NewsHub being the type of media organisation that it is, they would stress that she is a sex worker if this had been confirmed by a reputable source.
Even if she's not, that list of questions of mine still stands & the public – especially Northlanders – deserve to know the answers.
The responsible authorities need to make every effort to ensure this doesn't happen again. Look at the bloody fallout from what looks like a high trust model when a thoroughly untrustworthy individual milked it?
But we seem to be making every effort to guarantee that it happens again.
You ask valid questions above. But only because we have lockdowns, and rules, a border. Remove those and the questions are gone too.
If 2 (so far) women are such a big story, what will thousands of people be? Anyone who demands that we "open up" at some arbitrary number (75, 85, whatever) should not get worked up about two people today. After a couple of months of "freedom", and its certain consequences, nobody will remember or care about 2 cases. Or 200.
"Apply the rules strictly, and then scrap them ASAP". That is literally the opposition's stance. Absurd.
Agree all those those questions deserve to be asked and answered. As one of those Petrol Station places of interest is closest to where I moved to 2 months ago I want all the answers too but I fear we have all bought into the social media gossip on this occasion, including Winston, desperate for attention. Whatever this dodgy woman was up to I hope it all comes clear in the fullness of time.
No. It hasn't been proven. And the gang leader who was supposed to have accompanied her to Northland has categorically denied it. Says he's not been to Northland. He was given an exemption to come to Auckland and encourage his members to get vaxxed. Today's latest Covid news suggests that is exactly what he has done.
You mention Slater. What's the bet he's been 'helping' to spread the rumours.
Not being funny, but think you are mixing your gang members up.
The idiot dude who needs to be in a boys club being mentioned ain't the same idiot dude who needs to be in a boys club, who went up to supposedly encourage vaxing.
@ Chris T
This is the article I saw. It was the Mongrol Mob leader. He was given an exemption to come to Auckland to help get the MM members vaccinated. Should have linked to it:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-mongrel-mob-hit-back-at-winston-peters-over-northland-claims/63YJXDDR3A7PLZDK7O4XHVKZQQ/
Doing the rounds on nact twitter:
Yep. Sent that one from a friend at 8am this morning. Frustrating, no better time to ask…. Is it true, or did you hear it from a NACT supporter.
Has Boag escaped from her crypt?
Umm… what's the hiden info?
What is it with rwnj's poor spelling habits.
Btw, Kerikeri used to be an ACT stronghold. Don’t know whether it still is, but wouldn’t surprise me one if there isn’t some NACT dirty politicking going on up there.
Matt King (Nat) had his office there. He often had a very loose relationship with the truth.
You have a link to this I assume?
What is it?
Would you prefer the Herald
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/covid-19-coronavirus-former-northland-mp-matt-king-defends-controversial-covid-post/LBJTRT6GOTCAG3GKX2ZDVDEV64/
or Stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300116953/election-2020-judith-collins-refuses-to-condemn-false-quote-posted-by-her-mps
of course, neither of these may be seen as reliable to you, as you get your facts from Colt the Man after a long day of turning "womans day" magazines around.
What on earth does a story from a year ago about a (now) former MP saying that Ardern was attacking Dairy Farmers have to do with the events of the last couple of days on a Covid carrier loose in Northland?
I want to know who the "senior figure in the NDHB" is and what they said.
My apologies Alwyn, from reading the thread on the phone I mistakingly thought you you were asking to a link of Matt King lieing, something he was well known for and hence I offered links. I too would like to know who this Senior figure in the DHB is, if in fact they exist although it wouldn't be surprising if they are fictional, along with much of the twitter accusation.
Thank you for this response.
I can see why that happened, trying to handle indentations in the post on a phone seems to me to be an impossible exercise. Even on a 27 inch screen it can be difficult.
Could be completely wrong as going by something I heard on the radio this afternoon while shopping in busy supermarket, but from memory think fake paperwork.
The Opposition meme "We would do it better" "Give us certainty". TUI.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/126618134/covid-for-christmas-the-jibe-that-could-come-back-to-haunt-labour
Sorry, Luke… those "lockdown lefties" still account for a majority of the population.
Great.
The Nevada State Public Health Laboratory has identified a rare case of COVID-19 reinfection occurring just 22 days after the patient first tested positive.
The patient, an unvaccinated 31-year-old Mineral County man with no underlying health conditions, first tested positive for the delta variant and then, three weeks later, for a different strain that evolved from the delta variant, Mark Pandori, director of the lab at the University of Nevada, Reno’s School of Medicine, told the Review-Journal this week.
[…]
The strain, a sublineage of delta known as AY.26, has 31 genetic differences from delta, including on the spike protein, the part of the virus targeted by vaccines, he said. It is this genetic variety that especially concerns him.
“My concern is that there’s a scientific rationale for this being indicative of a bigger problem,” said Pandori, whose lab in August 2020 reported the first known case of COVID-19 reinfection in North America.
That bigger problem is the possibility of increasing numbers of reinfections as well as so-called breakthrough cases in vaccinated individuals.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/mutant-of-delta-variant-blamed-for-nevada-mans-rapid-reinfection-2455634/
tl,dr: the plaguelands are developing yet more variants of the disease.
A bit concerning for populations reliant on natural infection immunity after high levels of spread.
If it is to compromise current vaccines – we have to keep this strain out, or focus on treatments and back to border bubbles and elimination.
Well this is because they were too slow, so opening up to the world becomes a bloody business pipe dream. Let us hasten slowly!!
It's in Bay of Plenty in Katikati, but they are fully vaccinated.
Hold your breath Tauranga.