Open mike 10/05/2019
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- Rātana Pā goes high-tech with UFBIwi, hapu and visitors to Rātana Pā near Whanganui now have access to ultra-fast broadband following its connection, completed in time for annual Rātana celebrations, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. The connection and associated hardware were funded from the Provincial Growth Fund’s $21 million Marae Digital Connectivity programme, ...5 days ago
- Govt’s strong financial management acknowledgedThe Government’s strong financial management and plan to future proof the economy with new infrastructure investment has gained further recognition from an international ratings agency. Credit rating agency Fitch has upgraded one of its main metrics assessing the Government’s books, lifting its foreign currency AA rating outlook to ‘positive’ from ...5 days ago
- Boost in Whānau Ora funding to keep changing livesWhānau throughout New Zealand are set to benefit from an extra three million dollars that will go directly to Whānau Ora Commissioning Agencies, the Minister for Whānau Ora Peeni Henare announced today. Including previous funding boosts, the Agencies will now receive $87 million this year between them. In Budget 2019 ...5 days ago
- More people getting into workThe December quarter benefit numbers released today show the Government’s plan to get people off the benefit and into work is starting to pay off,” Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said. “Nearly 19,000 people cancelled their benefit and went into work in the last few months of the year – ...5 days ago
- Wairoa gets up to $6.1m to rebuild heart of CBDThe Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing up to $6.1 million to revitalise business and tourism opportunities in Wairoa, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF is funding: Up to $4.8 million for the Wairoa Integrated Business and Tourism Facility Up to $960,000 for the ...6 days ago
- Major Events support for creative and cultural eventsCreative and cultural events that highlight New Zealand’s diverse culture and build national pride are set to get a funding boost through the Major Events Fund, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. The new Creative and Cultural Events Incubator, which is funded through the Major Events Fund, will open ...6 days ago
- Classroom internet in hundreds of schools to get a boostThe Government has begun a massive IT upgrade to provide more seamless internet access to 200 schools around the country. Te Mana Tūhono – Technology in Schools work programme will launch with a pilot of 10 smaller state schools early this year. IT equipment that gives students access to the ...6 days ago
- Construction workforce, apprenticeships hit record highsWorking with industry and committing to rebuild New Zealand’s infrastructure has produced a record high number of Kiwis working in the construction industry and learning trades, says Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. New figures available today from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tertiary Education ...6 days ago
- NZ concludes digital economy trade talks with Singapore and ChileA new trade agreement concluded today helps New Zealand exporters and consumers take advantage of opportunities from digital trade. Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker together with Chile’s Vice Minister of Trade Rodrigo Yañez and Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, have announced conclusion of ...6 days ago
- Provincial Growth Fund to fund Waipukurau cultural development and tourismThe Ngā Ara Tipuna - Waipukurau Pā Site Interpretation project will receive $2.798 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to create an authentic cultural tourism experience, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “The project will inform visitors about the history of six pā sites in Waipukurau with a combination ...7 days ago
- 21 new judges boost diversity, improve access to justiceTwenty-one new District Court judges have been appointed in a move that will improve access to justice and boost diversity on the bench. The new judges include replacements for retirements and 10 new positions. Attorney-General David Parker today announced the 14 judges who can immediately be named, with the remainder ...7 days ago
- Puhinui to Auckland Airport in 10 minutesAucklanders are another step closer to getting rapid transit to the airport, with the start of construction to upgrade State Highway 20B to the airport, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. SH20B will be upgraded with additional lanes in each direction, dedicated to bus and high-occupancy vehicles between Pukaki Creek ...1 week ago
- Advancing New Zealand’s trade agenda focus of Europe meetingsWorld Trade Organisation reform, agricultural trade and a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom will be the focus of Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker’s visit to Europe this week. David Parker leaves on Tuesday for a series of meetings in the UK and Switzerland that aim ...1 week ago
- Minister of Defence to visit counterparts in US and CanadaThe Minister of Defence, Ron Mark, departed today for the United States and Canada where he will meet with his counterparts. While in Canada Minister Mark will meet with his counterpart, Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan. “New Zealand and Canada are close friends, and share an instinctive like-mindedness on ...1 week ago
- Government to deliver family carers $2000 pay rise, expand scheme to spouses this yearThe Coalition Government is delivering this year the changes to Funded Family Care the disability sector has long-asked for, says Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa. “Today we are announcing the details of our big changes to Funded Family Care, including an annual average pay boost of $2,246.40 for funded ...1 week ago
- Ko te reo kua mū: Piri SciasciaMinister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta joins te ao Māori in their sorrow as they learn of the loss of one of the great orators and spokespersons of a generation – Piri Sciascia. “The son of Pōrangahau was a staunch advocate for Māori development and served his people for over ...1 week ago
- Minister opens new ecosanctuary at Cape FarewellA new ecosanctuary with a predator proof fence on Golden Bay’s Cape Farewell, which will restore a safe home for sea birds, rare native plants, giant snails, and geckos, was officially opened today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “There has been a fantastic community effort supported by the ...1 week ago
- Pacific partners work together to provide additional support to AustraliaThe NZDF continues to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as it battles fires in Victoria and New South Wales, including by transporting Republic of Fiji Military engineers from Nadi to Australia, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. On Saturday morning a NZDF Boeing 757 will depart New Zealand to uplift ...2 weeks ago
- Kaikōura $10.88 million boost in tourism & businessThe Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10.88 million to boost business and tourism opportunities in Kaikōura, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. As part of the Kaikōura Marina Development Programme, the following two projects will receive PGF funding: A $9.88 million investment to begin the ...2 weeks ago
- Govt accounts in surplus, debt remains lowThe Government’s books are in good shape with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the five months to November. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above forecast by $0.7 billion resulting ...2 weeks ago
- Auckland focus for first Police graduation of 2020The number of Police on the Auckland frontline is increasing with the graduation today of a special locally-trained wing of new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of eighteen officers from Recruit Wing 333-5 means that more than 1900 new Police have been deployed since the Coalition Government ...2 weeks ago
- Wairarapa gets $7.11m PGF water boostThe Provincial Growth Fund is putting $7.11 million into creating a sustainable water supply for Wairarapa, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The following two projects will receive Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding: A $7 million investment in Wairarapa Water Limited for the pre-construction development of ...2 weeks ago
- Progress with new Police station in MahiaCommunity safety and crime prevention in the East Coast community of Mahia has moved forward with the opening of a new Police station to serve the growing coastal settlement. Police Minister Stuart Nash has officially opened the new station, which was relocated almost 20 kilometres along the coast from the nearby ...2 weeks ago
- Plans to protect the future of whitebaiting announcedWith several native whitebait species in decline the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has today released proposals to standardise and improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. “The need for action for a healthy whitebait fishery has never been greater,” Eugenie Sage said. “Four of the six whitebait species are ...2 weeks ago
- New resource for schools to increase awareness and understanding of climate changeA new Ministry of Education resource available for schools in 2020 will increase awareness and understanding of climate change, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The resource, Climate Change – prepare today, live well tomorrow, will help students understand the effects of climate change at a local, national and global ...2 weeks ago
- IPCA findings following incident in Tologa Bay
Police accepts the findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority into a fleeing driver incident and firearm discharge in Tologa Bay in June 2018. ...17 mins ago - Every great city needs places like Food Alley – but we need to back them
Our job as walkers of city streets is to continue frequenting gems like the soon-to-close Food Alley, writes Miriam Moore. Last week, my favourite Auckland food institution posted a plea for customers. In a video on its Instagram, Food Alley on Albert Street called for people to still visit, and included ...1 hour ago - Wuhan coronavirus: Unconfirmed reports of infected person in NZ
By RNZ News New Zealand health authorities are following up reports of a person with coronavirus in the southern New Zealand tourism city of Queenstown. The novel coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, has infected 2800 people and killed at least 80 in China. The outbreak is believed to have emerged ...1 hour ago - Bernard’s Pick of the links- Jan 28
Coronavirus: PM Jacinda Ardern makes 'no apologies' for rolling out 'everything we can' to fight disease. ...1 hour ago - Wuhan Virus: New Zealanders left high and dryKiwi taxpayers in China have no one to turn to with New Zealand Embassy Officials having remained on holiday despite the Wuhan Virus turning New Zealanders’ lives in the province upside down. The Embassy in Beijing remains closed for Chinese New ...2 hours ago
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- SAFE to protest arrival of live export ship at Auckland PortCaring Kiwis opposed to the live export trade will be protesting the arrival of livestock carrier Yangtze Fortune at Auckland Port today. ...2 hours ago
- What’s on RNZ News at 8am – Jan 28
The National Party Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says the Government’s approach to the coronavirus has been patchy, poor and slow. ...2 hours ago - Congestion charging: It works!28 January 2020 (Wellington): New Zealand can learn from international experiences showing congestion pricing systems can be successfully introduced – and with the support of the public, says a new report released today by The New Zealand Initiative. ...2 hours ago
- What’s in the newspapers – Jan 28
Frontline police have seized more than 600 firearms across Auckland in less than a year, including 20 now-banned military-style semi-automatics. ...2 hours ago - Petition And Open Letter Back NZ School Climate ResourceEvidence Based Eating New Zealand has issued an open letter and counter-petition opposing New Zealand Federated Farmers’ campaign on climate change resources being introduced to New Zealand schools. ...2 hours ago
- Call for government to deliver on promise to act on rodeos
The Green Party is criticising the government for its lack of delivery on a promise to ban some aspects of rodeo. ...2 hours ago - Australia’s National Digital ID is here, but the government’s not talking about itSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Patrick Scolyer-Gray, Research Fellow, Cyber Security, Deakin University The Australian government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has spent more than A$200 million over the past five years developing a National Digital ID platform. If successful, the project could streamline commerce, resolve bureaucratic ...3 hours ago
- Indigenous languages matter – but all is not lost when they change or even disappearSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maïa Ponsonnet, Senior lecturer, University of Western Australia UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages recently came to an end after a year of celebration of linguistic diversity. And with a “decade of Indigenous languages” now under consideration, it’s a good time to ...3 hours ago
- ACT cannabis laws come into effect on Friday, but they may not be what you hoped forSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bright, Senior Lecturer of Addiction, Edith Cowan University New cannabis cultivation and possession laws come into effect in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) on Friday, January 31. But they’re not what most cannabis enthusiasts would be hoping for. The ACT laws ...3 hours ago
- Pulling out weeds is the best thing you can do to help nature recover from the firesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University Many Australians feel compelled to help our damaged wildlife after this season’s terrible bushfires. Suggested actions have included donating money, leaving water out for thirsty animals, and learning how to help the injured. But ...3 hours ago
- Thinking about thinking helps kids learn. How can we teach critical thinking?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland Few people doubt the value of developing students’ thinking skills. A 2013 survey in the United States found 93% of employers believe a candidate’s demonstrated ...3 hours ago
- Rebuilding from the ashes of disaster: this is what Australia can learn from IndiaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University A key question facing us all after Australia’s unprecedented bushfires is how will we do reconstruction differently? We need to ensure our rebuilding and recovery efforts make us safer, protect ...3 hours ago
- 2020 survey: no lift in wage growth, no lift in economic growth and no progress on unemployment in y...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University 2020 is shaping up as a dismal year for the economy, with no progress on many of the key measures that matter for Australians. Unemployment will stay above 5% and ...3 hours ago
- More than skin deep, beauty salons are places of sharing and caringSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah McCann, Lecturer in Cultural Studies, University of Melbourne What happens when people visit beauty and hair salons? Are trips to the salon simply about shaping how one looks on the outside, or can these spaces involve something deeper? Research shows that ...3 hours ago
- The Bulletin: What impacts will coronavirus have?
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Impacts of coronavirus in focus, claims of NZDF coverup of indecent assaults, and will NZ and Europe get a trade deal this year?
I realise that the lead story in Friday’s Bulletin was also about the coronavirus, so apologies ...
3 hours ago - Is Trump’s Iran strategy working?
This article is republished with permission from Project Syndicate US President Donald Trump’s authorisation of the targeted killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani is, in many ways, similar to his administration’s approach to ...4 hours ago - Congestion charges: we have the tech, we have the proof
When it comes to congestion charging, we can learn from those that got it right - like Singapore - and those, like London, that got it wrong. ...5 hours ago - Will we find out Auckland’s light rail builder in 2020?
There’s a possibility nobody will be selected to build light rail this year, but we will have, apparently by mid-year, a decision on who pays for it. ...5 hours ago - Construction’s levy-free waste ride
How did hundreds of used plastic deck chairs and used mattresses from an overseas cruise ship become New Zealand’s problem? It could be because landfill levies are cheap, or non-existent. ...5 hours ago - Bringing out the best in the bureaucracy
Heartless, inflexible, officious – three words that sum up many people’s experiences of dealing with big government-run departments. Could there be a better way? ...5 hours ago - Kiwi smashing gender barriers
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- The Wuhan coronavirus is highly likely to arrive in NZ, but please don’t freak outWhen it comes to emerging infectious diseases and outbreaks, so much can happen in a week. In the case of the coronavirus outbreak in China, I’ve gone from not being too alarmed, to thinking, oh, crap! But that still doesn’t mean we should all panic, writes Siouxsie Wiles. The ...11 hours ago
- The Real Pod: Art Green dissects episode one of The Bachelorette NZIn this very special episode of The Real Pod, Art Green joins us to yarn about The Bachelorette NZ premiere. Brought to you by our friends at Nandos. It’s been five years in the making, but we finally got Art Green on our podcast. Joining us fresh out of episode one ...14 hours ago
- The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: Send in the ladsAlex Casey delivers her first impression power rankings after episode one of The Bachelorette NZ.Isn’t it incredible what a difference five years makes? Since the first season of The Bachelor NZ, Art Green has found the love of his live, written a book, married the love of his life, launched ...14 hours ago
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- Hawke’s Bay councils get $1.5m to assess ‘three waters’ agency viabilityFive Hawke's Bay councils are getting government funding to investigate setting up a water agency to manage drinking, storm and sewage water across the whole region. ...15 hours ago
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- After Ihumātao, Māori Party calls for Treaty overhaul
The Māori Party says all stolen land should be up for negotiation, even if it's now privately owned. ...17 hours ago - The importance of promoting mining for the benefit of NZers27 January 2020 (Wellington): Public policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative opposes changing the purpose of the Crown Minerals Act from the promotion of mining for the benefit of New Zealanders. ...18 hours ago
- Govt’s new plan seeks to tackle construction sector issues
Leading construction figures acknowledge a degree of cynicism in the sector at a newly touted Transformation Plan, but say it's the best shot of tackling long-standing problems. ...18 hours ago - Bernard’s Pick of the links- Jan 27
Simon Bridges defends Philippines trip: 'There is a lot of common ground'; and BNZ sale price likely to top $10b, experts predict. ...19 hours ago - Grounds established to reassess neonicotinoidsThe Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has determined that grounds exist to reassess approvals of substances containing neonicotinoids used in New Zealand. ...19 hours ago
- Withdrawal agreement – done; Brexit – happening; now for the EU – UK trade deal …
As Britain ticks closer to its formal departure from the European Union on 31 January, attention is focusing on negotiations for a trade and economic treaty. Britain’s PM, Boris Johnson, has said a deal has to be done before transitional arrangements expire at the end of 2020. European leaders are ...19 hours ago - Adulttoymegastore supports Australian bushfire reliefAdulttoymegastore is proud to have supported a major fundraiser for Red Cross Australia’s bushfire relief efforts. ...20 hours ago
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Business confidence has improved in the central provinces despite ongoing labour shortages. ...20 hours ago - Synlait increases forecast milk payout
Dairy company Synlait has increased its forecast payout for the current production of milk solids on the back of strong market prices. ...20 hours ago - SPVs are hailed as a way of funding infrastructure for housing – but will they be open to public s...
Readers who haven’t encountered the concept should brace to hear more about the use of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV). An SPV is a legal entity created for a specific purpose, such as raising capital – the SPV then can be a funding structure, through which all investors (or investors under ...20 hours ago - Government’s new plan seeks to tackle construction sector issuesLeading construction figures acknowledge a degree of cynicism in the sector at a newly touted Transformation Plan, but say it's the best shot of tackling long-standing problems. ...21 hours ago
- What’s on RNZ News at midday – Jan 27
The Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis has declined to comment on the impact of the virus on the country’s biggest export industry. ...22 hours ago - Ihumātao deal looks dirtier by the dayThe New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Winston Peters and Auckland Councillors to veto the rumoured dirty deal at Ihumātao. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “If Grant Robertson funnels $45 million through Auckland Council ...24 hours ago
- Wholesome, witty and woke: The unproblematic comedy of John MulaneyJean Sergent writes about her comedy crush John Mulaney, and what makes his brand of wholesome yet sharp comedy so special.Who is John Mulaney and why do people love him so dang much? John Mulaney is a white, middle class, American stand up comedian. He’s a former Saturday Night Live ...1 day ago
- Five issues company directors can’t ignore this year
Action on climate change is top of the list of matters company directors will need to grapple with in 2020. ...1 day ago - On the far-right soldier charged with disclosing intelBy Tom Peters, Socialist Equality Group 25 January 2020, original url: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/25/fasc-j25.html ...1 day ago
- Seafood may be among first trade casualties of coronavirus
The deadly new virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan will affect New Zealand exporters, a top seafood official says. ...1 day ago - What’s on RNZ News at 8am – Jan 27
The Police Minister Stuart Nash says it is investing in a long term plan to fight gangs and stop them recruiting new members. ...1 day ago - What’s in the newspapers – Jan 27
New Zealand authorities have stepped up measures to combat the deadly coronavirus as it spreads to more countries and the global death toll climbs. ...1 day ago - How smart were our ancestors? Turns out the answer isn’t in brain size, but blood flowSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger S. Seymour, Professor Emeritus of Physiology, University of Adelaide How did human intelligence evolve? Anthropologists have studied this question for decades by looking at tools found in archaeological digs, evidence of the use of fire and so on, and changes in ...1 day ago
- Yes, this continent was invaded in 1788 – an international law expert explainsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rowan Nicholson, Associate Lecturer and Co-director of the Sydney Centre for International Law, University of Sydney Should we remember January 26 1788 as “Invasion Day”? The colonisation of Australia was an invasion from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective. But critics ...1 day ago
- 29,000 cancers overdiagnosed in Australia in a single yearSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Barratt, Professor of Public Health, University of Sydney Almost one in four cancers detected in men were overdiagnosed in 2012, according to our new research, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia. In the same year, we found that approximately ...1 day ago
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Much action has already been taken globally to address the Wuhan-originated Coronavirus, the University of Auckland's Dr Helen Petousis-Harris explains. ...1 day ago - Dick Scott, RIP: the Pakeha of Parihaka, part 1
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- Indonesia releases US Mongabay journalist held on visa chargePacific Media Watch An American environmental journalist accused of violating the terms of his visa has been freed after three days in jail and is likely to be deported soon, a top Indonesian government minister said, reports The New York Times. The journalist, Philip Jacobson, 30, who works for ...2 days ago
- Samoan PM Tuilaepa attacks Observer over criticism of media banBy Mata’afa Keni Lesa in Apia Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has attacked the Samoa Observer, accusing the nation’s only daily newspaper of being “nosy,” spreading “lies” and employing “kids” whose writing, he says, are misleading the public. Tuilaepa issued his attack in response to the Samoa Observer’s ...2 days ago
- The Wuhan coronavirus is now in Australia – here’s what you need to knowSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sanjaya Senanayake, Associate Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Physician, Australian National University New South Wales Health has confirmed three men in their 30s, 40s and 50s in Sydney have tested positive to the new Wuhan coronavirus after returning from China. This follows ...2 days ago
America in denial: Gabor Maté on the psychology of Russiagate
Ever wondered why some of your good friends and comrades seems to lose all rational thought and any capacity for critical thinking since Trump was elected?
If so then watch this maybe not all your questions will be answered, but at least maybe some will be.
Starts out by mischaracterizing Mueller's report – Mueller was quite careful not to 'deliver a verdict', leaving a number of issues to be resolved by Congress. His findings certainly did not exculpate Russia – they merely failed to establish conclusively that the abundant Russian meddling was state backed.
If your critical thinking is giving Putin a free pass, it probably isn't critical at all.
I don't think anyone is arguing that the Russians didn't do a little meddling, but it is also common knowledge now that that was very insignificant, we all know that this is what many major governments seem to do..it is also common knowledge that the USA is by far and away the worst offender…so whats your point?
"giving Putin a free pass" seriously? man you Russia conspiratory people just keep on moving the goal posts don't you…it's over, finished, finito, no collusion, no Russian bogeymen, we are only left with a Democratic party unable to deal with the fact that it’s ideology has been rejected, and they lost the most winnable election in living memory.
A bunch more successful prosecutions from Russian electoral interference than Watergate.
Trump isn't out of the woods legally yet either, but, as with Al Capone, it's the taxes that get you in the end.
Democrats are doing just fine electorally, and on track to do even better. They are dong better in fact than most of the centre-left parties in the world except ours.
The only ones in the US Democratic Party who are disappointed are the hard left, but disappointment is inherent to their very nature.
@Ad, It says a lot about you that would consider just wanting fair wages, health care, and getting educated without a mountain of debt to be 'hard left'.
The Democrats are doing fine, really, and what centrist Dem do you think they have who will beat Trump?..and please don't say Biden, cos then I really will know that you are living in fantasy land.
You can define 'hard left' on your own time.
You can also tell us who you want win the Democratic nomination and why.
Firstly you obviously implied who the ‘hard left’ are in the Democratic party so don’t play all cute on it now, there are not really that many options.
Secondly I asked first so how about you answer first then I will be glad to give you my opinion.
You are the one proposing America's Democrats in denial from your first post. So go ahead and defend that position yourself.
You don't like Biden despite him being the clear favorite. I will form an opinion on who I prefer based on how they perform in the primaries. A lot of my opinion will ride on whether the Democratic candidate can actually beat Trump. There are not many of those.
@Ad, " A lot of my opinion will ride on whether the Democratic candidate can actually beat Trump. There are not many of those."
Well at least we can agree on something, which suits me fine because I would suggest that none of the centrist 'establishment' candidates the Dems are hoping will be their saviour will have a chance of beating Trump, which only leaves Progressives, and really only one of them can hope to pull off the win, and I think we all know who that is…
Of course that would mean that the Democratic party machine would need to fall in behind that candidate, and that is not a given at this point…it hardly needs to be said, that their are many establishment Dems who would rather lose to Trump than win with a real Progressive.
Fools like Ad would have dismissed Norm Kirk and Bill Rowling as "hard left."
Yeah I know, but it is slightly amusing to me to get these 'liberals' to actually say it out loud, usually they just don't respond though.
Norm Kirk achieved very little and lasted two years.
Bill Rowling simply lost.
Both were darlings of the hard left.
For the record I prefer Helen Clark to Jacinda Ardern, Bill Rowling, Norm Kirk, or Nordmeyer. Because Clark has a track record of delivery over the long term, which has lasted very well.
Yep her free trade deals really did wonders for small business and manufacturing in New Zealand…but hey, at least everyone ended up with flatscreen tv's and houses full of shit plastic toys for their kids, and crap clothes made by kids in slave conditions that none of us are meant to give a shit about, yes siree that is a real Labour leader right there.
Of course it dosn't surprise me at all that you would find her brutal free market ideology so very appealing.
You are mischaracterizing the report. The verdict was no collusion was found, even though it was written as if collusion was everywhere.
Tulsi Gabbard's views … in her own words..
https://theintercept.com/2019/05/09/watch-interview-with-democratic-congresswoman-and-2020-presidential-candidate-tulsi-gabbard/
i don’t believe she is polling even in the margin of error so a pointless follow Looks like Biden has got this by default as the rest of the pack try to out left loon each other
@Bewildered ‘Biden has got this by default as the rest of the pack try to out left loon each other'…oh you mean loony as in demanding fair pay, access to health care to all, curtailing US bloody interventions and bullying around the world, and by extension cutting the obscene amounts spent on useless weapons and warfare, stopping corporations and the super wealthy buying political favour….you mean those loons who would try and aim high instead of grovelling for the crumbs that you seem happy to eat (or for other people to eat) off the floor, you mean those loons?
BTW, if you really think Biden has got it in the bag, then you are going to be seriously disappointed…never happen, he represents everything most US citizens are sick and disgusted by, that bump in the polls he has now got is the highest he will ever get, only downward for him now going forward, just like that other corporatist Dem, the hated H.Clinton who started high and then tanked all the way in.
BTW Tulsi Gabbard has just been endorsed by Joe Rogan, probably one of the most popular figures on You Tube and
Ron Paul, so it will be interesting to see what that does to her numbers.
The Democratic nomination really is a competition. So far even the mayor of a small Indiana town is relegating her to the dust.
Gabbard has lost already, and is of zero consequence to US politics at all.
Thanks francesca, that is a very good interview, quite timely too after yesterdays little back and forth with some other Standard commenters, that degenerated quite quickly into ad hominem slurs I thought, while (as usual and of course) never once actually addressing the original core topic.
Entrapment
At the risk of upsetting the August Brainful Greywarshark Troll, I am suggesting to normal people that the Entrapment Technique in Parliament is itself a very risky thing.
National to a man and a woman, have taken to the idea that any Minister of the Crown can be entrapped easily, and his "crime" can be forwarded to Granny Herald, and Lisa Owen, instantly. Gotcha!
It uses a "LIE to Catch a non LIAR".
So The Right Honourable, Professor, Doctor, Nick Smith brought into Parliament a Lady who sadly had lost a child in a Motor Accident. Dr Smith and the Lady were of the opinion that it was not the driver of the vehicle that killed her son, but the drugs the driver had taken.
The Police had not known that the Driver who killed the Lady's son was on the road.
Apparently, the people of Nelson expect every driver who steps into any vehicle to be immediately Breath and Drug tested. All the way there, and all the way back.
Now, Dr Smith knows Nelson is very special. I am not privvy to what Smith knows. The Lady Dr Smith brought into Parliament was speaking out without being asked. During which time The Minister of Police was asked if he recalled saying that the Government would look into Drug Driving. The Minister said he could not recall saying that.
Then Dr Smith implied that Minister of Police was not speaking the Truth. However, The same Minister tried to assist a national member of Parliament to manage Submitting a Bill about Drug Driving, and spent some time with him. If that is not Truth – what is ?
But the national member told the Minister of Police to sod off.
How come Dr Smith knew about what bits of paper The Police Minister had forgotten, and what he didn't have? Does Dr Smith have night time access to the Government's Chambers ?
Dr Smith and the Lady wrang their Knuckles out. The Speaker thought it was very distasteful – which it was. The Dr kept raving that the Government had done nothing about Drug Driving.
The stangeness of this whole incident that led to Dr Smith's punishment is: That the Stupid Member for Nelson has had 29 years in Parliament to stop Drug Driving in Aoteroa and has not lifted a finger ! He has made a fool of himself and of the bereaved Lady and of Nelson
But neither Lisa Owen – or the sick Aurty Herald will know about that !
Today on our own publicly owned media – we had to be shamed again by the Australians about our "lack luster efforts to tackle climate change, when UK has already enshrined in their law that climate change is a crisis – said Peter Garrett (of midnight oil fame) on TV one while interviewed by John Campbell breakfast show..
NZ is slipping beneath the sea.
peter garret? the frontman to the world touring midnight oil. I bet he didn't travel by train or sail boat.
But he's a celebrity so I guess we should be ashamed by his condemnation
https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha
Right, so in your bizarre magical kingdom, anyone who has ever travelled via commercial airliner can never, ever say anything about climate change… ever.
Good to know.
classic overreach in your argument.
Celebrities like bono and peter garret made a bucket burning carbon now moralise. It’s pathetic
Yeah, they did. But I'm fairly sure we can do something about climate change without reverting back to tall ships and wagon trains.
I Agree. It’s just a bit rich when Bono, Clooney et al thinks it’s just for others to do as they say and not as they do.
Fair point there Tuppence Shrewsbury,
They used to say “Lead by example”
Grrr….frustrated at long last I am by the Herald paywall….https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12229332
Ho hum. It is winter (despite record high temperatures, but who's cares?) so if I buy an actual paper paper….at least it'll do to light the fire.
The headline shrieks…
Radical, promising, and totally unaffordable: Government's $24m disability experiment !!! and goes on to say that…
In a radical experiment, disabled people are choosing who cares for them and how they want to live. But as Government has found out, the ambitious programme is totally unaffordable.
Non ACC disabled people being bulk funded for their assessed supports so they can choose their own carers (within boundaries) and timetable their own supports is nothing new, so I guess what they're on about is this..https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/transformed-disability-support-system-begin-midcentral
…off to buy a paper.
Yes, be interested to see who is feeding journos that angle. The pilots are probably verifying how much of the cost has previously been borne by the family and others around each person, is all.
WEAG mentions in passing the need to update the scant research about the extra costs of being disabled in NZ to go with the extensive work they drew on about the overall population.
If only we could pay by the story..
….pay by the story..
I was about to send them an email to ask just that…
The article (having risked life and petrol bowser squeezing my Bus into a tiny gap at the petrol station to buy the damn herald) says little other than folks have actually moved to Mid Central to take advantage of the System Transformation/Enabling Good Lives scheme that is being trialed there after the two previous trials in Canterbury and Waikato.
Our friends from the New Zealand Disability Support Network are not happy….the article describes NZDSN as 'advocates', but does not make it clear that they are advocates for those who receive funding from the government for providing disability support services. A pity, because that would have given an otherwise flimsy story some teeth. Every single dollar that the eligible disabled person has choice and control over how it is spent is potentially another dollar that fails to go through the NZDSN's members' bank accounts. Many of whom pay no tax on that income because they are registered charities…
I'm pretty sure the 24million over two years (not even a flag referendum) is operating costs for the trial rather than increases in cost of providing supports.
Later I'll dig out the EGL/EIF evaluation.
Saw a copy. Article reflects lack of knowledge about disability support funding in general. And yes, conflating providers with advocates. Grrr.
Main problem for the family they hang the story from is their local assessment agency capping support eligibility at only 20 hours per week for a youg man whose family say requires 24×7 support – not how provision is contracted after that.
24 mill? That's like a metre of road in auckland isn't it?
Depends how tall the disabled people are that we pave it with.
White supremacism at Auckland museum?
http://eyecontactsite.com/2019/05/auckland-museums-lost-civilisation
Thoughtful read – I rate Scott very highly indeed and nearly always agree with him.
Ditto. He writes beautifully and excels at demolishing conventional pieties.
He concludes that pre-colonial Melanesian and Papuan society sustained a political utopia that has somehow been erased by the Auckland Museum. That's impressive museological work from 7 curators.
He could at least cite some evidence, any evidence at all. He's just looking for a source of righteousness ………. it just isn't there.
Congratulations JA on becoming Australia's most trusted politician.
😀
Last time she was in England, someone wrote to the BBC asking them to ask her … would she stay and be their PM.
The note was read out by the BBC interviewer.
Fairly low bar…
Interesting on Rachel Stewart.
https://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-perscution-of-rachel-stewart.html
and TDB
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/05/07/twitter-watch-the-lynching-of-rachel-stewart/ The last para:
It seems to me that just focussing on climate change eliminates people and their vulnerabilities and needs completely from empathetic consideration for the human race. If Bradbury is finding fault with identity politics' narrow concerns, the answer is to widen concern to everyone who is struggling to keep their heads up in the rush of change monetising everything and replacing humanity with technology. Keep thinking about people with kindness linked to what is practical, to what is needed by each group in society, and attention will shift to the young, and their future which will require a turn of alarge degree in people's moral compass.
I can manage to think with kindness about people who are taking a fundamentally irrational stance on the meaning of the words 'woman' and 'man,' but can not find any kindness in me for the ones trying to get people sacked for failing to share the delusion. Those guys can go fuck themselves.
That sounds fair and a more practical suggestion than that of the people you state.
what's the word…
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48205523
schadenfreude?
Two possible conclusions:
1. God doesn't exist, therefore religion-based anti-vaxx beliefs are superfluous.
2. God does exist, but just passed a fairly damning verdict on his follower's anti-vaxx beliefs.
There is a remote third possibility, my personal favourite
That all the other kids who were vaccinated gave the non-vaccinated kid the chicken pox. Which is a catch 22 for all anti-vaxxers
Or, the kid got chickenpox.
Grizzly, grumpy, itchy, spotty kids. Nothing that lashings of TLC, calamine lotion, soda bic baths and mummy milos won't fix.
My youngest is in her mid twenties and somehow she and her bros survived the pox…just as well as there was no vaccine then. If I recall correctly they shared the mumps as well. Good times.
And if you read the article rather than just the headlines you'd know that the fellow and his family knew there was a chance of him getting the pox and are ok with it.
They're also ok with infecting other people.
Wikipedia says chicken pox killed 6,400 people in 2015. So not everyone survives with "mummy milos". 🙄
I also had a colleague a couple of years ago who had shingles attacks. Not something to wave off like you did, apparently.
They're also ok with infecting other people.
But, but the other people have all been Good and have had the vaccine and are safe from Plague Boy's pox.
Serious questions McFlock.
1.Do you see it as a failing of Medical Science that not all infectious diseases can be vaccinated against yet?
2. What do you think god/nature/evolution intended when she/she/it designed the human immune system?
You really are a malicious pro-diseaser, aren't you. I'm actually disgusted.
Plague Boy could be infecting other people that for whatever sound medical reasons cannot be safely vaccinated. Those unfortunates are reliant on vaccination rates in the general population being high enough to get herd immunity for their protection. Plague Boy is deliberately choosing to put those people at totally unnecessary risk. If any of those who cannot be vaccinated gets infected by Plague Boy, I hope they sue Plague Boy's ass off.
Stop the name calling Andre, and the faux disgust…your comment is full of holes as a result of your inadequate levels of understanding on the subject…
1. The varacella vaccine does not prevent transmission of CP at either one or two doses
2. herd immunity is an unproven maths formula as it relates to manufactured vaccine immunity..
3. Your entire comment fails due to points 1,2
As for the ‘medical reasons’… name them and provide details of the demographics at the school…and ill expose that myth as well…
Stop the name calling.
There's a whole big list of medical reasons why a few unfortunate people shouldn't get the chickenpox vaccine. Plague Boy could be spreading his disease to anyone he comes into contact with in the general population, not just at his school. Including mums with their infants too young to be vaccinated.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/hcp-contraindications.htm
Chickenpox is transmitted by persons suffering an active infection. The vaccine is from 85% (single dose) to 98% (double dose) effective in preventing active infection. If the vaccine prevents someone from getting an active infection, it's prevented them from spreading the disease.
https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/transmission.html
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/hcp-effective-duration.htm
That herd immunity is an actual thing is demonstrated by the way measles outbreaks are extremely rare in populations that are highly vaccinated against measles (double dose 97% effective), but mumps outbreaks still happen even in highly vaccinated populations (88% effective double dose).
Leaving aside your failure to provide demographics at the school illustrating numbers of children with the big list of medical reasons…
Germs are everywhere eh…everywhere…microbes, bacterium, viruses…
But sure…forget all about those…and forget about the so called efficacy rates you linked to…
None of the FDA approved CDC scheduled vaccines were tested against an inert placebo control group using the actual gold standard…
One was…but the results were merged with the toxic control groups thus covering up the fraud by committing research fraud…
In case you can't follow that bouncing ball from the starting point of the fraud…
Double doses triple doses etc…all an open admission of vaccine failures…
Fraudulent methodologies and protocols devised by corrupted industry and endorsed by captured regulatory agencies…
When all else has failed. Mandate through force.
Vaccine Industry . Vaccine Science.
Some don't support vaccination, and for the life of me I don't understand why. It's an ever-improving medical therapy much older than any of us. Vaccinations against diseases that are rarely fatal may be an apparent waste of time and money, but that opinion won’t deter me from getting my annual flu jab next Monday.
The smallpox vaccination program was a success.
https://ourworldindata.org/smallpox
I do admire efforts to develop and deploy vaccines against other diseases. Maybe you can have too much of a good thing, but we’re not there yet.
Some don't support vaccination, and for the life of me I don't understand why.
Millions, and rapidly growing numbers, including medical professionals don't support all vaccines…and with a burgeoning medical science archive of evidence why they should not…
Higher numbers than that again do not support forced vaccinations…
If you don't understand why, then you are not at all well read or informed on the subject…wiki-p link tells me that you are not..
But your comments in general are some of the better reading on this site…in my opinion…
It's an ever-improving medical therapy much older than any of us
Not least by removing all liability from the manufacturers in 1986.
Closely followed by the DHHS breaking federal law by failing to ensure that biannual vaccine safety and improvement reports were filed. Sixteen times that federal law was broken by the regulators themselves…
I've posted ample (searchable) material over recent months highlighting some of the core issues with vaccine science and the vaccine industry as a whole…
Believing ‘we’ can out-smart nature is pure folly..and it is showing in the increasing illness and disease rates globally…
My statement was factual (did you read it carefully?) – vaccination therapies have been used for hundreds of years. Medical therapies have extended human life spans, but no-one is that old.
Researchers are currently working towards developing new or more effective vaccines against the zika virus, against specific cancers, against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and any number of other ‘diseases’. Surely an effective vaccine against M. tuberculosis would be useful addition to the ensemble of medical therapies.
I acknowledge that immune systems are (hyper)variable (that's an in joke), and not fully understood. But our partial understanding has enabled highly effective public health initiatives – I for one would not want to see those gains lost.
For example, vaccination programmes led to the global eradication of smallpox in 1977, so no-one is vaccinated against smallpox these days (Wyeth stopped making the vaccine in the early 1980s). I imagine that smallpox would thrive in our present-day high-density cities – what benefits do you imagine might accrue from reintroducing this disease?
Settle Andre…you're going to blow your foo foo valve!
Goodness gracious me…chickenpox is not the plague. It has a death rate of one in 60000 cases. With good care, one in sixty thousand children who get chickenpox will recover completely.
Not being vaccinated against a disease that until very recently had no vaccine is not a crime.
How is there anything malicious in what I wrote?
Nah, don't answer that, you'll just use it as an excuse to level more vitriol.
A death rate of one in 60000 from something that's completely preventable is absolutely unacceptable. But you seem to think it's something to joke about, even embrace. That is malicious.
Now, I happen to think that adults should have sufficient right to bodily autonomy that they should be able to refuse vaccination if they so wish. And I'll take a Darwinian view of any subsequent suffering or death they suffer. But they should also be held fully accountable for the consequences of their decision. Just like people are held accountable for other idiot negligence they indulge in that causes harm to others.
But when it comes to kids, I don't view kids as their parents' property to do with as they please. Parents have an obligation to make decisions for the best interests of the child, not to impose whatever personal idiocies they may have on the child. A child that becomes ill with a vaccine-preventable disease and wasn't vaccinated but could have been has just suffered horrific child abuse, and the parents should be held accountable for that.
Stop spewing logical fallacies, Andre…
I've previously addressed every falsehood you write on this subject…
You're still repeating mysogenistic and bigoted falsehoods..
And you need to stop.
Except people with contraindications don't have the option of getting vaccinated, even if all vaccines were 100% permanently effective.
Anyway, answers:
1: No, that's a goal to work towards.
2: The immune system probably wasn't designed and is merely the evolved product of our ancestors' survival and reproduction over aeons. But if it was designed, then the same designer made ebola and is a complete bastard, so I care not for their intentions.
Final question McFlock….what then will our immune system do when it does not have to initiate an immune response naturally because vaccination has taken over that role?
If it doesn't have to "initiate an immune response naturally" (I assume that means reacting to viruses etc it encounters in the course of our daily lives), then it's not encountering those germy-jims, is it.
If "naturally" means that its first encounter with the bug is from an interaction in our normal daily life, and it hits a live, fully armed and operational
battlestationgerm, then we get sick, and hope that between our immune system and medicine it doesn't really fuck us up.But if we get vaccinated for everything, then at highest efficacy we don't notice a "natural" immune response, because our immune systems have an effective counter to that particular germ. We'd never get a cold, or the flu, or ebola. Heck, no infectious diseases ever, if we vaccinated against all viruses and bacteria. No gangrene, no tetanus, no staph.
Causes of death would almost entirely be injury and debilitation.
Rosemary, another question is…
How many artificial activations can an individual immune system tolerate…before it breaks…
Clues and evidence are in the rapidly expanding statistics of illness, allergies and auto immune diseases in young human beings…
Modern medicine doesn’t have the answers…and the vaccine industry doesn’t want the answers to be found…
Be explicit: are you claiming that vaccines cause people to have allergies and related conditions (e.g. asthma)?
Explicit.
I'm explicitly stating there are rapidly increasing numbers of young human beings in the developed nations, who are becoming ill, diseased and mentally damaged by a number of environmental factors, which undeniably includes vaccines…
Manufacturers, trial data, vaccine program deployment data and legal decisions explicitly state that vaccine cause illness, disease and death…
The VAERS data sets explicitly show the same.
lol
So you're shying away from claiming that the rising yadda yadda is due vaccines to any substantive level.
You're just saying "this increases", "this occasionally causes that" (an arguable position, depending on how broad "this" is), and following it up with… nothing explicit.
You've already conceded once to me today, McFlock…you're a very long way behind, overall..
When you've read and understood the subjects and materiala I've pointed you to…and to a sufficient level…perhaps we could have this conversation again…
If the manufacturers, trial data, vaccine program data, legal rulings data and vaers data are not explicit enough for you…
Then you're being intentially disingenuous…which of course you are…
A difference between yourself and some of the bigots and misogynists who comment on this subject…in my opinion…
Is that you're likely to be clued up enough to get a grasp of some of the gaping flaws in vaccine industry science…
Or perhaps not.
Have a good weekend.
If vaccines were responsible to any decent fraction of the rise in allergies etc, basically not just the drug companies and FDA but every single regulatory agency, collective health purchaser (insurance company, MoH, general practise corporation) and medical surveillance body (down to all individual researchers) would have to be in on the cover-up, around the entire globe. Frequently to their own detriment.
Is that your claim?
Do you not understand how top down centralised structures function , McFlock ?
Especially an entire industry with zero…zero liability…that's zero, McFlock…
Zero liability with decades of malpractice, fraudulant, corrupted activities…tens of billions in settlements…and regulatory agencies that are racked with conflicts and were captured decades ago…
The CDC is the vaccine industry …so is the FDA….congress is brought by the vaccine industry lobbyists…and DOJ defends vaccine manufacturers against the same people their products damage, injure and kill…
Individual researchers…yeah sure…those whose very career is paid for by vaccine manufacturers…who perform research inside of strictly controlled, narrow confines paid for by the manufactures…
Whose research is reviewed by captured peers and published in pharma medical journals… which were outed years ago by their former editors saying the data is mostly <em>untrustworthy …</em>
Where researchers who break ranks are crucified by the pharma advertising dependent and compliant media..
Where independent researchers are denied access to trial data…
So yes…there are undeniably cover-ups going on… including at the present time…numerous court cases around the world .. even their own employees are taking manufacturers to court…for fraudulant trial methodologies and outright statistical fraud…among others…
It is all there..unless you don't want to see it…
I'm explicitly stating there are rapidly increasing numbers of young human beings in the developed nations, who are becoming ill, diseased and mentally damaged by a number of environmental factors, which undeniably includes vaccines…
"Environmental factors" undeniably includes everything that exists in your environment. It "includes" vaccines to the extent that it "includes" approximately infinity other things.
Thank goodness we have experts like you operating on a higher level than the rest of humanity. Save us from this global conspiracy of millions of people! /sarc
Sarcasm is low grade wit..it's late though.. so I get it…
And I've explained some of my perspective as to how top down industry can easily corner entire markets including research data…which is precisely what is happening…
Like I said…I reckon you actually grasp just enough that even the self confessed dickhead that you are…can see it..
Bit shocking…yeah I get that too…but denying it doesn't stop it… or alter the documented truth of whats going on…a simple concept…
Millions upon millions around the world…some not even at your level…getting it…and growing by the day..
Unstoppable.
dude, it's not shocking, it's farcical.
You can say "top down" all you want, but the fact is that if vaccines were responsible for what you claim, there is no way to keep it under wraps. As each vaccine is introduced in each country and region, you'd have to disguise (somehow) the resulting step-change in immune conditions as it occurs. You'd have to control every researcher directly, not just ones involved with vaccine development but case studies and cohort studies run by physicians who want to identify causes of the uptick in the cases they get. "Top down" control requires instructions and memos – there would be literally millions of copies of these floating around, but all gept secret because… conspiracy.
There have been some vaccines and other treatments that had inflated efficacy or disguised adverse reactions. But a global conspiracy to coverup a major problem with the concept of vaccination itself? That's a fucking big call to make on the basis of "higher level" thinking and a few individual cases almost exclusively from the yanks.
You're ignoring the size and dominance of the pharma/vaccine industry…
And you're ignoring the zero liability…
It's far simpler than you believe..and of course there is conspiracy…but you reckon you're smarter than falling for missing it…eh..
Except it's happening in front of your closed eyes…
Simpler than that…just a good corporate take over of regulatory agencies and a repeat of tabacco science once 100% liability was removed…
Leading to removal of incentive to improve safety or quality…
Leading to increased incentive to perform poorer quality research and trials…while producing more and more vaccines…
Then get your colleagues at the FDA to approve the new low grade products.. and your colleagues at the CDC to schedule them and buy billions of dollars worth annually..and the DOJ to fight the damages on your behalf…
All taxpayer funded of course…
So to your point..it's not global…it is the opposite..it's all local…don't be fooled…and then exported around the world…rinse and repeat…
Because…central authority…which you're a long time advocate of…
Despite admitting there has been serious problems…still ongoing and worsening…
Delusional… is what that is…
So all the cohort studies in NZ are covering up massively reduced levels of immune disorders in their unvaxed people because of big pharma?
Everyone working for those studies are defending big pharma by falsifying results?
The adverse events reporting systems that show adverse events for medications do not show the same level of events for vaccines because big pharma would rather vaccinate than sell opioids or NSAIDs?
Think about it. I’m off to bed.
You would need to provide examples of studies to which you refer…
That said, the studies (assuming you mean vaccine related) are 100% of the time initiated with faulty entry point criteria…
Which results in 100% faulty and fraudulent exit point criteria and statistics…
Why…because every FDA approved and licenced vaccine was approved using highly unscientific methodologies…
Of the current CDC schedule , therefore those vaccines on the NZ schedule…every single type/brand post licensure trial data is flawed…because the of the pre-licensure trials fraud…
No need to falsify…the data was already false to begin with…
I've explained it with examples previously…more than once…
VAERS data is underreported by a factor of 10 – 100 possibly more so…regardless of the type…pharma drugs or vaccines…the data is deeply misleading…
I've evidenced that also…
As for pharma…any globally dominant industry…will seek to cover all bases to ensure the greatest levels of profit and stakeholder returns…
Whatever it has to sell within the product catalogue…will be sold…no matter what…
Fully endorsed by the regulators and health authorities…
I mean not just vaccine trials and studies, but longitutinal cohort trials such as the Dunedin Study. These pick a starting cohort, gather information about them, and follow participants for decades. Between them, hundreds of thousands of kids have been followed from birth, vaccination status logged along with every other social and medical criteria imaginable. Hundreds of publications from each study, cross-comparing different factors and utcomes in participants' lives. Every single one of those studies would need to have been compromised by "big pharma", too, just to avoid the alleged contribution of vaccination to allergies. And yet many of those studies get zero funding from pharma and are careers in themselves for the researchers, so how does big pharma compromise them?
Even if all vaccine adverse event reporting systems around the world underreported adverse events by 90% (and how does US big pharma compromise Russia's or China's medical reporting systems?), that would still leave a difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated kids in the general population. So every single allergy researcher who observes that difference needs to be compromised by big pharma to shut them up.
I really don't think you understand just how large your alleged conspiracy would have to be, spanning multiple disciplines across the entire globe, regardless of self-interest or geopolitical enmity. All with barely any "leaks", if any. For 70 years or more. No deathbed confessions, whistleblowers dumping to wikileaks, memos sent to journalists by accident, civil servants failing to redact OIA requests, nothing.
All just for vaccines, but not for any of the other drugs big pharma is distributing. When they couldn't even disguise oxy's harm for a decade.
I’m only talking vaccines…
Link to the Dunedin Study ..I've no idea what it is youre referring to…so I can review it..
Either way makes no difference as all and any studies are subject to the same controls and limitations placed on them by authorities…
Just quickly to the rest of your comment because you and I have covered the same ground before.
I’m not talking about Russia or China…
Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated human beings are everywhere…
Expected, unexpected, specific, non specific, reactivation, protein sensitization…etc
Leaks are global, whistleblowers become walking targets, confessions including alive people, high up insiders. Zimmerman et al
FOIA everywhere Ive been linking to the details repeatedly here..but folks dont;like Kennedy / Bigtree et al…
Pharma drugs are subject to far more stringent regulation…and companies can be sued for damage…same companies cant be sued for biologicals damage…vaccines NVICP…
Harm is global and not hidden. Its coming out and can't be stopped…hence censorship and force are being used…
You’re showing a respectful interest…thats cool…
Ill be posting more…just not in this convo…
But that's the point: you're not talking about other treatments, and you're not talking about Russia and China.
Why would vaccines be the only treatment big pharma decide to cover up any adverse events from on a global scale? Surely something addictive would be a better product for them to implement a decades long coverup over?
Why don't Russian and Chinese authorities say shit like "we would vaccinate, but it's too dangerous, you guys are crazy"?
I'm not talking about just the Dunedin study – Any long term cohort study could pick up the discrepancy, if it existed.
You'r arguing that researchers not directly tied to the pharmaceutical industry are covering up a demonstrable association between vaccination and immune disorders in NZ, USA, Britain, Africa, Asia…
I get the theory that a vaccine researcher might be cherry-picked or influenced to not make their career or employer obsolete, but so many unconnected researchers? Come on.
<i>Link to the Dunedin Study ..I've no idea what it is youre referring to…</i>
Seriously? You study this stuff and you're unfamiliar with the best-known longitudinal study in the country?
You chaps do know you're debating with Phil Ure ?
His only notable skill is in the use of ellipsis, with some secondary merit in outlandish conclusions drawn from a general misunderstanding of just about everything, certainly his only knowledge of things scientific and medical is dubious sites on the interwebs and I fear he learnt nothing from the good teachers at Rosmini all those years ago.
Immune systems don't wear out and they don't break. Like other biological systems, continually use them and they get stronger.
For quite a few years, my social circle included a lot of wildlife researchers and aid workers. They were continually getting jabs for whatever was a risk wherever they were going next. They also suffered the least from flu and colds and whatever other lurgies were going around at the time. Didn't stop a few of them coming down with real nasties they couldn't get vaccinated against, tho. Malaria was kinda common.
The problems with allergies and asthma and auto-immune diseases that are becoming more common are more plausibly linked to our modern obsession with cleanliness. That our immune systems don't get enough external challenges to keep them busy, and they turn on us instead. Read up about the "hygiene hypothesis".
The human immune system did not evolve by injecting chemicals directly into the human body…
Short circuiting and bypassing the precicely evolved systems which you believe can be strengthened through a bypass of medical and chemical injections…
No. They can't. They become weekend and the system becomes damaged..
Which is why your home country has the highest number of vaccinations in any schedule… and the sickest cohort populations in the OECD…
You don't respect anecdotes..so stop repeatedly using them yourself…
The final part of your comment is a likely contributer…I do agree with that..
‘No. They can’t. They become weekend and the system becomes damaged..’
More errant nonsense from philu.
That would be your most useless contribution to recent discussions…
A really pathetic and defeated comment…
You seem to have trouble recalling the fact I've told you who I'm not…
And you need to stop doing that…and probably see a professional about your reading and recall issues…
Are you a drinker?
Weekends on this site get noticeably more abusive and incoherent from a number of regulars…drink will be playing a key role in that…
One Two
I would rather have a polio vaccine & a "weakend immune system", than suffer polio itself. I knew a lady that years ago caught polio with a young friend in pre-vaccine times. The young boy died from the polio & she eventually recovered but had years of bouts of excrutiating pain. You seem to paint a picture of natural immunity as a wonder of nature to behold, but it is a lack of understanding of the history of diseases that your ignorance shows.
'That would be your most useless contribution to recent discussions…'
Not reading your own leavings then……..eh ?
Are you a drinker?
Yes indeed….just had a lovely cup of tea…..jolly lovely…..eh
"The human immune system did not evolve by injecting chemicals directly into the human body…" All natural biological molecules (simple or complex) are chemicals.
Replace "injecting" with 'introducing' and you're describing selection pressures which did indeed ‘guide’ the evolution of the human immune system.
For example, the innate immune system (non-specific, no 'memory') has evolved to detect certain chemical structures (PAMPs, pathogen-associated molecular patterns) and initiate responses to kill/destroy those pathogens.
The adaptive immune system mediates a stronger, specific immune response – individual pathogens are "remembered" courtesy of (chemical) antigens unique to the pathogen. Vaccines must contain antigens (chemicals) that are either derived from or mimic natural antigens (chemicals/molecules – often proteins) of the target pathogen – how else could a vaccine prime the immune system to recognise that pathogen?
Free hit if you like, One Two – I'll not reply as we would probably end up talking at cross-purposes.
No thanks. Thats not what I'm about…
Given the comment about replacing injecting with introducing, it seems you're already at cross purposes… and potentially seeking to play word games with what is a clear differential regarding human evolutionary timeframes and modern medicines vaccine era…
As for your comment about all natural biological molecules are chemicals…yes quite…except vaccines are an industrialized factory manufactured chemical process including distribution and storage logistics…
Little of nothing to compare against the [how ever many] millenia of human evolutionary development…or introduction…
Vaccines are primarily about injecting laboratory and factory modified, contaminated compounds (many of which are unidentifiable) into human beings therefore bypassing the entirety of human immune and biological evolution…skin..mouth…nose..et al…
Have a good weekend…
I believe I will have a good weekend – thank you.
No, the role of pathogen-derived vaccine antigens is to activate/prime the human immune system against that specific pathogen – vaccines absolutely do not bypass the immune system. They do, however, largely bypass/avoid the symptoms of the disease.
If vaccine antigens “bypassed” the immune system, then they would be completely ineffective, whereas we know that vaccines can be highly effective, to the point of eradicating a deadly disease such as smallpox.
To be frank, with the incidence of antibiotic resistance on the rise, our immune systems are going to need all the help they can get.
Why are you ignoring the vaccine primary delivery mechanism of intramuscular needle injection?
Injection bypasses the innate structure of the immune systems lines of defence…or do you not understand the construct of the immune system…seems that you don’t…
Vaccine theory suggests a priming effect…
However… measuring a temporary increase in anti-body production does not confer immunity…and it never will when compared to life long full cell immunity from contracting a version wild virus…
Wild versions of virus which are mutating and becoming problematic in cohorts not previously observed..
Similar to antibiotics…vaccine overuse is leading to more failure and waning…while causing other illness and disease…
In short…we've screwed with nature…and we will be screwed back multi fold…as can be seen around the developed world…
Sick and disease ridden kids everywhere you go…
Undeniable…and vaccines are a contributing factor.
I’m no expert, but I have a fair grasp of the theory of how immune systems function at the molecular level; do you? I mean, you get how pathogen molecules interact with proteins and cells of the immune system, not just the macroscopic stuff, right?
You would rather innoculate yourself with a microscopic pathogen, than be vaccinated (protected) against that pathogen by injecting pathogen-derived antigens. Your choice – not mine. If you don't think vaccination is worth whatever risk you perceive, then don't get vaccinated. I'll continue to advocate for the vaccination of me and mine, regardless.
On balance, innoculation entails more risk than vaccination, so I'll stick with vaccination. Best of luck innoculating yourself with this year's influenza strains.
Now your lack of understanding is really showing up…masked by the inoculate vs vaccinate angle…that's ok..I'm with you…
Not only are you apparantly missing fundamentals of the constituent parts of the whole human immune system…but you're missing vaccine ingredient functions as well…
You understand thats not what causes the reaction …surely?
As for your final paragraph…as I've explained many times to others…risk is impossible to assess…the fraudulant pre licensure trials methodology ensure it…
And citing the flu vaccine…one of the most toxic…lowest efficacy rated vaccines of all…
I assume you were signalling your decision to have it?
We're on the same page with choice…I'm just armed with more and seemingly a better level of information when I make one…
Good luck with your choices…
"I assume you were signalling your decision to have it?"
I more than signalled it in my comment at 7:56 pm, but that's OK.
For the record, I did my post-doc in the Biochemistry Department at Cambridge University. No immunology expert (and I've never worked in a commercial lab, or received research funding from any corporate), but I am familiar with pathogens, antigens, antibodies, immune cell types, etc. I'm most comfortable with the innate immune response, and defensins in particular.
I admire the passion and energy of your anti-vax advocacy. There's no way I can match it – but (like you), I know what I know. Unlike you, perhaps, I know that I could be wrong.
P.S. I have commented previously on this site about the use of aluminium-based adjuvants in vaccine formulations (with references), and am aware that vaccines contain components other than the primary antigens. Those components are there for good reasons, and yes, some of them do come with risks. Pharmaceutical companies are aware of these risk and, believe it or not, many scientists and technicians are working to minimise those risks.
Now give me my vaccination!
And despite your claimed background you exhibit, repeated and multiple misunderstandings..
As you said earlier… you can call it cross purposes…it's ok..
Molecular level is a component of the whole…you've been ignoring the external layers and entry point defenses..
I'd say it must be deliberate given the exchanges you were not going to continue on with…eh…but kept coming back…
Use of the derogatory smear , anti-vax belies your claimed background and signals a total misread of my comments…
Use of the term puts you inline with the other misogynistic bigots on this site. And like them…you should not use that terminology…
It is insulting, abusive and contrived.
But you're ok Drowsy…no need to self promote..leaves you open to critique when you get it wrong…which you have done…
Can’t disappear it now though. It’s on the record.
Apologies for using "anti-vax"; sincerely did not think this would offend you.
My admiration for the passion and energy of your advocacy (will not attempt to put a label on your 'cause') is genuine – it's your choice to believe that, or not.
Was a bit miffed at the “claimed background” jibe, but no offense taken.
Shutting down the computer now!
I'm not offended…but it is an offensive and belittling term which is deliberately divisive and misleading in many ways…
As I said…your comments are good reading here..I'll keep reading them if you keep posting..not just this subject..
Appreciate the engagement..
Enjoy the weekend…
The CP vaccine is causing an increase in shingles
Chickenpox vaccination does increase shingles cases, but mainly in young adults
The shingles vaccine is a huge growth business for GSK
Fair call, although it is based on the same “unproven maths formula” you complain about regarding herd immunity, lol.
But read the actual published article more closely. It might surprise you.
complain.
No. Thats you spinning having conceded to my comment…ungracefully…but you did concede…
Good for you.
Pointing put that vaccine induced herd immunity has no basis outside of mathematical theory is, factual.
Facts are not complaints.
Not only is the maths theory…just that… it was plageurized theory from nature..
I've previously read every article I link to, which is why I don't need to scramble search…
It is why I'm far ahead of you guys on the subject..and why I don't need wiki-p..
Wiki-p is for those who don't understand the issues and need to scramble search…
It is a low grade resource…
You didn't actually link to the published article, just a report on the article. Fact. Vaccination rate dips, measles comes back. Fact.
As for how far ahead you are… was Louis Plageur the first person to "plageurize" theories from nature? And do nature submit articles on its theory to Nature, or does it self-publish?
But they weren't ok with the education people in Kentucky objecting to him potentially infecting other people with his "it's ok coz god provides" fuckwittery. so they sued. and lost. thank god.
Which is where the anti-vax argument really falls down. Everyone apparently should respect anti-vax's wishes to not be immunised but woe betide society if it's wishes are to have nothing to do with you because your wishes lead to death and suffering.
Forgive me Tuppence Shrewsbury if I am of an age where a kid having chickenpox is quite normal.
Yes, it is inconveniencing and more that a little uncomfortable but it is/was, until very recently, a normal childhood illness.
A death rate of one in sixty thousand….according to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenpox ….is not really significant.
For the record…I am not anti vaccinations, I am pro informed consent and pro education and I also believe that vaccines will not prevent all the ills of the world.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was equal condemnation of parents who fail to provide warm dry housing for their children and fail to provide fresh and healthy food for their children?
In the New Zealand context we have third world rates of rheumatic heart disease and ever rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
But if we condemned the parents of those children we'd have to ask awkward questions about how on earth we've gone from being just about first in the world for producing healthy kids to where we are now.
And it has nothing to do with poor parenting.
But, however…just continue to deride parents who hesitate to vaccinate their children because they have genuine and well founded concerns… because that's easy.
genuine does not equal well-founded
Sigh. And this is why a conversation about vaccine hesitancy belongs on a political blog.
I am not going to link again to studies and media articles about instances where state funded vaccinations have caused actual harm and death of mostly children and the said state has either minimised these events or actually hidden them. Or continued using the faulty batch of vaccine until the drug company decides to withdraw it. Or the state uses the vaccine despite it's well known risks because it's cheaper. And then switches to damage control when kids die.
But some of us remember the kids who were harmed, and some of us have spoken with their mothers…who until the day they die will never forgive themselves for allowing their child to have that vaccine. And before you say it…no, not autism. And before you say 'prove it was the vaccine', do your own research into the early MMR and pertussis vaccines.
Politicians…a bit like our insurance companies who order clients to never admit fault or liability.
Vaccination is as much a part of citizenship as paying taxes and following the road code.
Ad…elaborate on that one…
At face value the reasoning appears flawed…
Share your thoughts?
A recent comment from marty mars on the commemoration of Captain Cook got me thinking – link below. (lprent Thanks for search function – so good.)
/open-mike-04-05-2019/#comment-1613313 Note: It’s #14.
marty mars is being ironic I think, when he says let's get the history right – because much of the concern is about whether Cook’s uniform is portrayed correctly!
Me thinking about history:
I am getting sick of expensive architecture to commemorate the past ie $16 million on WW1 and now Captain Cook – $20 million being suggested. https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/388808/20m-captain-cook-commemoration-ignores-maori-pain-critics
My certainty is that the money should be spent on developing (along with Maori input) a curriculum that teaches our history, a working understanding of our civil and civic matters, what has made us what we are today – all the striving for better conditions and understanding, much of it forgotten along with the people who put such matters to the fore in their lives, forsaking idle gossip and personal enjoyment and even time with families.
Instead they put their time, talents and skills to organise, go to meetings, keep pushing for something to be done by a responsible and civilised nation to rectify some wrong or poor practice.
I want people to remember the NZ dream, and what we achieved – honour it, continue it! Let's use this Captain Cook anniversary to kit up our minds and our determination to carry on our achievements. Or are the leaders and powerful of our country of a mind to shut down NZ, is it finished now, and these expensive commemorations are to say goodbye to that time – dreamthat has run its course, now defunct and all we can do is accept and wave it goodbye.
It's time for kia kaha and being as strong as Maori who have fought to retain the good things from their culture and a life for themselves despite the depredations of capitalist colonialism which bring some good, and then take out extensive payment for those advantages till the receivers are beggared. Historian James Belich showed us our tottering steps to greatness:
Just as the people in power did not recognise the situation as to the Maori strength and achievement in front of them, and proceeded with fatuous sentimentality to dismiss the vibrancy of the Maori people as they wished to expropriate their resources, so today's powerful have agendas that warp their vision about NZ and its reality.
Let's learn about what we are and where we are and how we are going into the future. Turn that commemoration money into memory cells that we use to go forward and build a resilient country, a coping country, one that is self-sufficient and exports goods and good ideas that we have proved to be of value. Not the good ideas of neo lib that Roger Douglas and his ilk took to the world.
No I wasn't being ironic. I agree with Tina
What do you think then of my idea of starting a thorough-going curriculum of cultural and historical education for school children , as important as maths and science for secondary school kids. It would come into the sphere of having a broad education, not narrow concentrating on science as means for getting business growth.
It would draw on information that Maori have, bring people-centred matters to the fore, look at conflicting cultural ideas, talk about problem solving and attempting to find acceptable solutions that wold help in working through cultural differences.
We are so used to the huge complaints about the "failure" of Kiwibuild.
It is a bit strange that the Media is echoing the complaints but it seems unwarranted to me. So it takes longer to get underway. Come back in 10 years with a figure be it 5,000 or 50,000 or 100,000 houses. So what? The current Government is pushing hard to get housing built. The last Government did zilch yet escapes censure. Politics. Bah!
The preachiness and condemnation by the Opposition about everything Labour is so deeply hypocritical. You know that all the people who vote National will be absorbing it like blotting paper showing their deeply dysfunctional mentality, that they are incapable of establishing their real position in the world without using a GPS, and their sad dependence on the Great Man theory ie some Shining Leader who will always arise to assist them, and further their interests.
They look for a government that will aid them so they can avoid paying anything but a modicum of tax which leaves them in a satisfying net positive position, receiving more from the state than they have invested. Good business they consider, similar to Trump Trump did-not-pay-income-taxes-for-eight-years-according-to-new-report Trump is their present Shining Leader in the absence of some charismatic capital accretor here in NZ
Police are initiating a useful service for NZrs with non-urgent matters that will connect nationwide. You still call 111 for immediate need and urgency.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1905/S00144/police-announces-non-emergency-number-its-105.htm
We can believe that it is under way now and has been since 10.05 am today 10th of May.
Word play from Radionz end of week comedy 11.45 am.
Scene – being hit in the ankle by Lime Scooter.
Result: Apologetic – Apoplectic.
Phil Twyford does not come out of this report looking very good at all
https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018694354
You are a clever chap Gosman. Please provide context for me. What was the target for the previous 9 years of the National Government?
What was the target and how many were built?
If the answer is many thousands then I bow to their cleverness. If the answer is nil then the hypocrisy is mind boggling but predictable.
Where is the hypocrisy? No National minister staked their career on a policy to build 100,000 houses over 10 years.
No. They just claimed there was a crisis in 2008, and did nothing about it for 9 years.
Can't be blamed for not achieving enough if you never even try!
Agreed. Their inaction was inexcusable.
So phil might not meet targets he at least made and attempted to hit. Still better than inexcusable inaction.
Nice that Phil made an attempt. Perhaps he can get the Best Effort award. The trouble is he didn't state he was just going to try. He stated he was going to deliver or he would resign.
Well, if you say he said it, it must be true. Goneburger by August.
Still got 8 years to get there.
He'd be better off if he looked after Transport, or Housing, not both.
Both Ministries and both agencies would appreciate the specific devotion, rather than the persistent over-promise-under-deliver within both of them.
The hypocrisy Gosman is that Nats did nothing for 9 years and they/you demand action of Labour after 18 months. I heard you shouting at those kids.
You yelled, “You bloody little shits stop your f……..g swearing or I’ll tan your arses, you little bastards!”
Can we do this here, too.
What is the point of Marama Davidson being in Parliament?
https://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2019/05/why-is-marama-davidson-in-parliament.html
Very good. That was said last week. So what has she done this week to progress that "push"?
Had a look at the Greens website and her Twitter account and there was nothing touted.
Your position as far left activist (further left than Marama Davidson apparently!) doesn't fit with your position in favour of spending hundreds of millions on a four lane highway between Otaki and Levin.
Would the real Chairman please stand up?
Labour deferred it, thus spending on it now will cost less than spending on it further down the road
Moreover, think of the bigger picture – i.e. housing. Housing in Levin is far cheaper than housing in Wellington, thus people need the better access making the cheaper home via the shorten travel time a more viable reality.
You're a walking contradiction from the Pete George school.
But as you can see, there is no contradiction in that left stance.
There's more than just a whiff of Pete George about The Chairman.
There's a train
One each way Monday to Friday only. Far from being sufficient.
Well, it seems I've spoken out more about welfare reform (in the public domain) in the last week than Marama has. And it's not my job.
Not your job maybe, but you're an eager volunteer at every opportunity to criticise Labour or the Greens.
Never encourage them, no. Just criticise.
Especially this May, the first month of a Green year.
Pot referendum, carbon Bill.
As I've explained, I don't create the opportunity/let downs and there is good reason to hold them to account.
At least Marama owned (on the Hui) only 3 recommendations being taken on wasn't a good start. But she needs to better detail what she is doing about pushing for more.
Jacinda Ardern has written an opinion piece for Magic Talk.
Jacinda Ardern: Delivering on our priorities for 18 months.
https://www.magic.co.nz/home/news/2019/05/jacinda-ardern–delivering-on-our-priorities-for-18-months.html
I give credit to Ardern as pm and leader of my former beloved labour party for March 15 because that was exactly wanted from a leader I live a few hundreds of meters away from the mosque in linwood and she was a beacon of light but let's be real socially the only thing jacinda has delivered is a baby and free hugs.
On mental health, welfare and housing this govt quite frankly cold hearted and slightly less vicious than national.
Why couldn't this govt raise disability and get rid of the solo mother sanction this year? Why do we have to wait 5-10 years for disabled people to get treated with some humanity.they don't need hugs they need cash to be able to get out and about.
When the pm quoted key the other night and said "work is the only way out of poverty" it made me sick labour and national always act like everyone on welfare is unemployed but some like my brother can't work… Ever … I guess he should just die because neither the labour nor national party's value his existence.
Winters here and we've had quite enough of hugs and empathy thanks t, but we need immediate action there's more homeless people , More begging more suicide in my area than ever before and I'm sorry we don't have ten years to wait for incrementalism.
So much for let's do this. If Savage or Kirk were around today I doubt they'd vote for any of the party's in parliament.
At this stage jacinda appears to be another Trudeau. Internationally celebrated but became less and less popular domestically for not keeping his promises and now is headed for certain defeat. For all our sakes I hope I'm wrong.
Start addressing poverty or piss off back to opposition.
This^^^
I have a couple of suggestions for her priorities, being that I'm very helpful and all
heres one: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2019/04/child_poverty_measures_released.html
'Child poverty under National dropped on seven of the nine measures, stayed static for one, and increased for one.
Child poverty in Labour’s first year increased on seven of the nine measures and dropped on only two of them.'
She also might want to look at that or maybe this: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/112565769/kiwibuild-government-no-longer-guaranteeing-100000-homes
'Housing Minister Phil Twyford will no longer guarantee that KiwiBuild will be made up of 100,000 affordable homes, but won't say whether that target has been scrapped either.
The Government's flagship housing policy is being "recalibrated" after an admission this year that it was unlikely to meet its first target of 1000 affordable homes built by July 1 2019. Just 80 have been built so far.'
I'd bring something up about planting some trees but that seems to have fallen by the wayside…
Stupidity, thy name is Maddow.