Not at all, we have @ 4 million people over the age of 14 as of 2020. If we get to 90 percent double vaxxed that leaves @ 400000 people plus their children thats a significant number of people.
Putting them in a second tier class is a huge mistake that will have intergenerational consequences in terms of education, poverty, distrust in government etc etc.
Gypsy you should read your own links beyond the click bait headline.
Scoffed from AUT with out any evidence makes hysterical claims.
Which are rebutted by an actual public health expert professor Shaun Hendy who said scoffed is making up scenarios that don't exist. Gypsy your not very good at propaganda.
In that article he asked "Can we achieve [eradication]?" – in April 2020! And he replied to his rhetorical question, "The simple answer is no."
He was utterly and completely wrong. We did achieve it, and maintained it for a long period, likely saving many lives and avoiding many longterm illnesses. Our economy did better than most and socially we have been one of the most free societies in the world through the pandemic.
"We did achieve it, and maintained it for a long period, likely saving many lives and avoiding many longterm illnesses."
Where have you been?
We temporarily stopped Delta with draconian lockdowns and border controls that eventually and inevitably failed and Covid reappeared. Meanwhile, we are 100bn in debt, we have inflation at levels not seen in decades, and thousands of people taking to the streets.
ok, so you wanted the lots of dead and long covid people, along with overrun hospitals option?
You do know that the flu can have serious long-term effects, right? And we've already reduced life expectancy. I'm not sure when reducing life expectancy became a good thing.
Thus, the apparent kindness of locking down to limit Covid-19 deaths will, instead, be killing more people by making us poorer. Just as Douglas Allen concluded (for Canada), so too for New Zealand—lockdowns are one of our greatest peacetime policy failures.
It might well be their choice, but poverty and all that comes with it rapidly turns into societies problem and potentially an intergenerational one at that.
For other common vaccines, taking a vaccination or not hasn't put people in a "second tier". Surely it's the directive not their choice that's putting them in a second tier.
Yeah its a huge number of people I based my figures on NZ making it to 90 percent.
I really dont see how alienating the population of a large city from NZ society is a good idea if you think a little longer term than the next 6 months and as economic desperation sets in you will not doubt start seeing very extreme responses as previously productive members of society find themselves coming into contact with the likes of Winz.
Ivermectin is a member of the macrocyclic lactone class of endectocides which have a unique mode of action. Compounds of this class bind selectively and with high affinity to glutamate-gated chloride ion channels which occur in invertebrate nerve and muscle cells. This leads to an increase in the permeability of the cell membrane to chloride ions with hyperpolarization of the nerve or muscle cell, resulting in paralysis and death of the parasite. Compounds of this class may also interact with other ligand-gated chloride channels, such as those gated by the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
The margin of safety for compounds of this class is attributable to the fact that mammals do not have glutamate-gated chloride channels, the macrocyclic lactones have a low affinity for other mammalian ligand-gated chloride channels and they do not readily cross the blood-brain barrier.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Yeah maybe you can send the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Tokyo Medical Association an email and tell them they're actually doing Vet Science 😆
Ivermectin has been used with great effect on humans since the 1980s.
<blockquote>There are few drugs that can seriously lay claim to the title of ‘Wonder drug’, penicillin and aspirin being two that have perhaps had greatest beneficial impact on the health and wellbeing of Mankind. But ivermectin can also be considered alongside those worthy contenders, based on its versatility, safety and the beneficial impact that it has had, and continues to have, worldwide—especially on hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people.</blockquote>
Thalidomide is also used on humans, being a very effective drug against blood cancer.
Fuck me I hate this shit, Ivermectin is widely used in humans and has an excellent safety profile it has been so beneficial in treating parasite born disease it won the inventors a Nobel peace prize.
Whilst its efficacy against Covid is hotly contested it is not dangerous at the correct doses.
Another bonny young nephew welcomed to me Irish clan side around 7 am this morning. Took his time arriving but his granddad was a bit of a late arriver to some parties too.
Years ago Norm used to play for the Highland dancers and a pipe band, as did my grandfather on Mum's Scottish side. Irish pipes in my Father's family. However a heart problem made keeping the bag inflated rather a problem for hubbie Norm. He can still do the intricate fingering on the chanter so the guitar replaced all that.
Let us hope we beat this virus. I read briefly this a.m. that India have a possible better vaccine.? We also need better outcomes from COP. for your grand nephew and his peers. Did you read Andrea Vance on 3 waters? Cheers Gezza.
Norm used to play for the Highland dancers and a pipe band, as did my grandfather on Mum's Scottish side
Me too. Had to give up with a hiatus hernia. Keeping the bag inflated was just too much pressure on the diaphragm and the pain afterwards was just not worth the effort. Can't do much gardening for the same reason. 🙁
However Scottish Country dancing keeps me fit and feeds the cultural void.
Oh Macro thank you for a great laugh. We have been there many a time You must be a fit guy if you still do that.Pipes are not for everyone. As a friend said "I love pipes…over the water…. waaaay over the water.''
Hey Patricia I was out at the fence watching a new young male pukeko who was strolling past downstream & is trying to work out whether he should come closer when this thought suddenly occurred:
Do you mind asking Norm how Pipe Bands choose their tartan?
“New Zealand claims the highest number of pipe bands per capita in the world. ceilidh — are all are danced in New Zealand. The New Zealand Academy of Highland and National Dancing and the international Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing run the competitive sport, with children dancing from as young as three.”
They built a new War Memorial, Red. I went to the opening. It was very moving. People spoke and read about Tawa residents from the Boer, First & 2nd World War times, & conditions in the Tawa.Flat district in those years, what happened to men (& women) who came back damaged, the 1918 flu etc.
They’ve re-landscaped & redeveloped Grasslees Reserve & the children’s playground adjacent to the indoor Swimming Pool too. Put in a big Japanese-style curving bridge linking the play area to the park area & installed a pay-for barbecue there.
Quite an impressive job. Might take & post you a pic here sometime.
I love living in Tawa. Close to Porirua Shopping Complexes (free parking & good access to everything), Kenepuru Community Hospital services (same deal with parking), hardly ever need to go into the city proper.
. The paper is being circulated in anti-vaccination groups and some online publications.
There are, however, numerous problems with the paper: It contains unfounded speculation, and ignores a considerable body of evidence on the vaccine’s safety. Its conclusions also appear to be at odds with the authors’ own explanations of their work.
published in a journal founded and edited by an American anti-vaccination campaigner,
Cherry-picking miscarriages to go antivax seems somehow worse than just championing disease spread before we had a vaccine. Appropriating others' grief when many are already over-analysing their choices to blame themselves is brutal.
This maybe so but the city I live in, Porirua, has one of the poorest communities and yet the highest rates in the country, higher than measured against Auckland mansions. This is because we pay the city rates for Porirua and a proportion for Wellington. Go figure. The last increase was some 4 months ago, a whopping 8%. If the city has to pay even more with those reforms you sure will see some boots on the ground and some votes going south.
Covaxin, a vaccine developed in India, has been proven to have 77.8 per cent efficacy rate against the coronavirus, a study in the medical journal The Lancet has revealed.
A statement by the manufacturer Bharat Biotech International said: “the Lancet peer review confirms the efficacy analysis that demonstrates Covaxin to be effective against Covid-19.”
It added: “Covaxin is the only Covid-19 vaccine to have demonstrated efficacy data from Phase 3 clinical trials against the Delta variant at 65.2 per cent.”
full article here https: //www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/covid-india-covaxin-vaccine-lancet-b1956438.html
Washington Post considers why some are vaccine hesitant. Makes sense to me and offers a solution for combatting reluctance.
Many people are afraid that they’ll make a bad decision. They’re influenced by the psychology of anticipated regret. ……..
……The psychology of regret can also help explain why coronavirus vaccine mandates have generally been so effective. Despite the many assertions that mandates would lead to mass resignations, the employees of many organizations ultimately got on board. Consider New York City’s largest police union, which fought such mandates in court and argued that the police department would lose thousands of officers. In the end, out of a force of about 35,000 officers, fewer than three dozen refused the vaccine. Similarly, of the 67,000 employees at United Airlines facing a mandate, only 320 refused to get vaccinated.
When people don’t feel the weight of making their own choice, they aren’t as tormented by the anticipated negative outcomes of their decision. Mandates externalize responsibility for getting vaccinated — shifting it from the self to others — making it easier to go forward with getting a shot. (Confronting the reality of losing a job surely also has a persuasive effect.)
"When people don’t feel the weight of making their own choice, they aren’t as tormented by the anticipated negative outcomes of their decision. "
Yeah well – we've spent 35 years being told that people are poor, sick, unhappy, etc. through making "bad decisions" – and that if they'd only made good decisions they'd see how fair, just, optimistic and sunny the world really is. This toxic, anxiety-inducing trash ideology is everywhere – and it drives people mad.
As opposed to benevolent corporations Redilogical so when we have a war against an enemy we all go our separate ways and let the enemy win.Your Exclusive Brethren,Brian Tamaki,Gloriavale anti govt rhetoric is waving a white flag / giving up cowardly caving in to a very small group of powerless people sabotaging the fight against covid not surprising from Clive Palmer country.
I do know some people who are indecisive about ordinary choices. Yet when someone else decides for them their doubts fade away usually with a shrug.
We are talking about the hesitant to get vaccinated group not decisive ones. Be interesting to see just how many teachers drop out of the workforce next week.
To be fair my not so good financial position is due to my shit decisions, of course why I made those shit decisions could keep a psychiatrists and social scientist going for a while I expect,
Yeah but sometimes one persons shit decision can be another's principled decision.
I have no doubt that if I had purchased the cheap properties I had been offered over the years I would now be extremely wealthy. I however stuck to my principle that one only needs one house to live in and I would never live off someone else's earnings.
I've stuck to that and still only own the house I live in – financially much poorer.
There are those who would clearly believe that those decisions were poor decisions and even that I cut off my nose to spite my face.
I understand perfectly the trade-off but I'm comfortable with that. A capitalist I'll never be. I've lost jobs, promotions and income for standing on principles – Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
The thing I've learned over the years is to never regret the decisions you make – you don't know what would have happened if you had made a different one. I've had friends who chased the dollar – including renovating rental properties – some are millionaires, some lost their house and went bankrupt, I've had friends who went to better jobs who have done really well and friends who have had horrific on the job accidents in their first week leaving them permanently disabled.
What I do know is that luck plays an enormous part in what actually happens. It is never just about individual decisions. Even the family (and community) you were born into makes an enormous difference.
This individual self made man bullshit is so often just that.
Totally agree with your position DOS. My car is 21 years old. But we are wise and thoughtful. The "Indecisives" are an important group whose future in the community needs tolerance and understanding and hopefully a change of heart. Not you. Not me. They.
Yes but dont blame other people or "the system dude".
After my divorce I could have bought a cheap doer upper ,I had a brain fart bought a ute and stuck some in kiwisaver, if I'd been clever I'd own a house worth $100k more than what I paid for it ,even if I'd done nothing to last I less than 3 years, how I'll never own property again and hope the state will help me when I can no longer earn a roof over my head,
Yes but don't blame other people or "the system dude".
Of course other people and the system cause problems as well. Standing on principles means bucking the system often or disagreeing with people who are in leadership positions but are unaccepting of disagreement. Whether you get those people in charge of you is part of the "luck". I've had people try to help my career and others to destroy it – you're just trying to argue the self made man from the other side of the argument. What you are saying is that if you don't conform and support the system then you are responsible for the system spitting you out like a piece of trash – nah systems need changing – they are sexist and racist and classist – it is perfectly OK to put some responsibility for peoples circumstances, including your own, on those systems and on those people who make those decisions.
We are all products of the institutions and social paradigms we grow up with.
Funnily enough, I made shit decisions in my 20s that ended up me being employed in the same good place for a decade so far.
Plain luck that the (then) obscure stuff I did for enough points to qualify for allowances (rather than "studying for my career") cropped up in a vacancy that appeared just when I was looking to change careers.
That's one reason I put all this personal responsibility rhetoric in the bin.
Sure, if you choose to murder someone or embezzle, without any external coercion, that'll probably still screw you a decade from now. But most of the rest of it, most day to day choices, they don't do shit compared to the forces of luck and the forces of other people's decisions – government, corporate, inventors, dude who has a whim one day, branch that falls on your head.
But it's a great excuse to write people off and not help them: "poor decisions". As if everything one owns can't be lost overnight.
Given that there are some people who are reluctant to vaccinate, and we agree that vaccination is important, then I would have thought a possible solution could be reasonably considered.
Some people are scared of making a mistake by getting the jab.
If the helpers understood this and listened to the reluctant one explain why they feared making this mistake, maybe a few more might change their mind. Let's not cloud it with "let an always benevolent state do the thinking." Unhelpful.
"New Zealand won a Fossil award on the penultimate day of COP26, for Climate Change Minister James Shaw's refusal to update the country's National Determined Contribution to constraining global temperature rises."
The LGB Alliance UK was formed when some of the members of Stonewall who raised concerns about the obliteration of same sex attraction support within the organisation were ignored, and/or branded transphobic.
Stonewall, along with Mermaids attempted to brand this organisation a hate group, and opposed it receiving charitable status. They had their annual conference a couple of weeks ago.
For those interested, Allison Bailey's speech from the LGB Alliance has now been posted.
Yuk, can't even get past the first sentence. And it's not gender critical feminists that talk about sexual intimacy in terms of which hole to stick things in.
The big conversation yet to be had is whether society should majorly adapt language, concepts, laws, conventions around the mental illness of a small number of people. No idea if the author has gender dysphoria, but it's hard to not see the dehumanising language arising from a disturbed state in relation to human bodies and feelings.
Beyond that, there’s a question of why so many women want to do away with women’s culture, and the relationship between that and growing up and living in large scale misogyny.
Afraid to tell you but after a such promising start, the interweb degenerated into a disgusting, misogynistic place with a seemingly never ending stream of offensive vitriol and hate.
Aē, and part of the issue here is that social media in particular is rushing to uphold gender identity while at the same time actively practising misogyny. There are really good reasons why so many women are both afraid and really angry about the language changes being forced on women alongside that.
Talking about front holes and meat bodies was for a time completely acceptable in the pro-queer left. No idea if it still is or if they've come to their senses.
Yes, I'm afraid we have to turn taxonomy upside down , the old way of classifying plants and animals by the manner of their reproduction strategies,(binary sex)is not inclusive of how a minority of folk see themselves.
Bowdlerise the dictionaries, a new prudishness has come to town
Who we feel attracted to sexually has everything to do with sex organs
It's hardly fetishishism , it's how most of us work
Thanks,I set aside this morning to watch and very pleased I did.I'm in the process writing to Ingrid Leary Labour MP for Taieri,her electorate office Has suffered a graffiti attack,she purports it to be anti-transgender and when on to spread fur mis-information.I unable to link but it will be found in the November 4th edition of the ODT.
“All that was wrong with our system of justice was typified by the scene of a middle-aged, middle-class male Pākehā magistrate or judge sitting in judgement on a young Māori woman and deciding that her background and her family were so bad, so worthless, that she should be taken from them and locked up.”
A rather horrifying read. The worst is the final paragraph that makes clear that by still incacerating children the likelihood of continuing institutional racism is high. It also highlights the deepest dark side of democracy in that there is little to prevent a white majority turning on an ethnic minority and in particular, a minority that are our treaty partners. By always defending democracy as an absolute and without recognising its warts we give a free hand to the right to play the democracy card at any point where they consider Maori action is gaining too much. This is most evident at present in the 3 waters debate.
This deserves a post. But struggling to write coherent ones at present. I'll try.
Our “justice system” doesn’t work well for anyone. Even less well for Māori youth.
It would be good if we actually tried Democracy. Then we could sort out "the warts".
Minority rights are always dependent on the goodwill and fairness of the majority. No system of Government can fix that. Unless a repressive minority is in control. Who then tend to look after their own advantage, and not other minorities.
Noting that apart from a very vocal minority, most Pakeha New Zealanders have either accepted or supported Waitangi claims, amoung other things.
If we are looking after, all, our people, then the majority are much more likely to agree to extending rights to others. Very often poor people see that wealthy people are keen on extending rights to other people. But only if the poor, pay for it.
Pakeha that do not want three waters to be privatised or sold, may consider the fact that more Māori rights, may help prevent further selloffs.
I have always thought that Maori control of anything is the surest way to prevent selloff to foreign interests. The Treaty has been the only thing that has consistently stood in the way of indiscriminate foreign control. The right recognise this and fight tooth and nail to prevent it. They need everything to be for sale. Maori or Iwi control is the closest thing that NZ has to recreating a commons and we should therefore embrace and support it.
There’s a potential issue with tribal elites perhaps ending up replacing the old landed gentry or corporate rich listers & them actually flogging off or leasing previously common (state) property – but as Māori hapu iwi & marae Committees (& members themselves) become better informed & quakified & skilled in the actual management & development of Māori-controlled assets – and this IS happening – there’s an inbuilt control mechanism for those marae & hapu iwi whose rangatira authority is still strongly derived from ongoing nga tangata consent, & which can be removed should consent be denied by enuf of those who feel their collective mana is being harmed by unwise leadership decisions.
But ownership & kaitiakitanga in this Kiwiland of ours needs to be fairly shared betwen generations-resident Pākehā & we need to get much better at how Māori & Pākehā hui & kōrero to best achieve restoring & honouring the mana of the land, the forests, the beaches, fisheries, waterways, ngahere, & of all those who feel part of this land.
Brilliant article in todays Stuff, by two Gender Critical feminists. This is the first time since about 2018 -19 the msm have carried such article. This discussion needed to be had in the media well before bills such as BMDRR and Conversion Practices.
I would encourage anyone who rights off women with concerns about this bill as transphobic to read the article.
The Human Rights Commission has interpreted the Human Rights Act provisions that protected women as also applying to people observed male at birth who identify as women, effectively nullifying the provisions
Equal pay is now determined by gender identity, not sex; statistical data is likewise collected by gender identity instead of sex.
People born male who identify as women are being appointed to jobs previously designated by law as available only to natal women, such as roles in sexual abuse counselling.
Oh well, its a brave new world, and it pays to be a man or a man who identifies as a women, just have the good sense not to be born a non male or have the good sense to trans into a man for a chance of a career and decent pay.
Vote Labour/Green -we will protect you from the phobes. 2023
This is good news the MSM finally have a counterpoint published….but I think it will be the only one.
Coming from the UK, I see NZ turbo-charged on identity politics. The UK now has some pushback on Stonewall and other transgender activists in the mainstream. The US has a strong Republican power and alternative media (neither of which, for the record, I'm not a fan of – but simply highlighting their narrative disruption).
NZ is an echochamber of identity politics with no real institutional pushback and very very very little media counterpoints. As Bryce Edwards has said, the cultural institutions are dominated by the progressive Left.
A big part of me can't help but say – you earnt it. Transgender activism is the close cousin of applied-CRT in schooling, the mad rush to deify Maori culture and language and promote quite a radical interpretation of the Treaty, the unthinking spread of White Privilege as some beyond-debate fact, the demonisation of masculinity, the gleeful ignorance as humanities studies ever expanding into new areas of grievance by academics who see their primary role as left-wing activism.
These strands all have a common link in identity politics and critical theories that now dominate academic and mainstream discussions. They inhere in the basic concept that language (for example "woman") is all power, and society is either oppressed or oppressor.
So when gender-critical feminists now say, hold on, there are some serious issues now, you'll forgive me if I hear the crowing of roosters coming home.
Critical Race Theory. Currently a trigger point for some "Freedom Fighters" in the US. Currently travelling to our shores where it will be translated into 'Tribunal Gravy Train' and pushback against NZ history being taught in primary schools.
Currently travelling to our shores where it will be translated into 'Tribunal Gravy Train' and pushback against NZ history being taught in primary schools.
Regrettably so. Very pertinent article on The Guardian today – excerpt from a new book on this very problem and how social media has been fostering this transfer of nutty far right dis/mis information world wide.
the US is a shit show, with women and trans people alike being harmed.
2. it's not the progressive left in charge of institutions in NZ, it's liberals.
3. bloody maaris, there is no racism in NZ, what about the menz. When you put up some actual analysis rather than right wing talking points, you'll probably get some respect.
4. I take it you've not been a supporter of second wave feminism then. Colour me surprised.
Neo-liberals may head economic institutions, and old-school liberals may nominally head cultural institutions, but the progressive Left dominate the cultural institutions.
4. Actually, it's more complex. Largely, I support second-wave feminism. Every human, including women, should have the equal opportunity to freely fulfil their life and they sure as hell didn't have that opportunity (everyone should read The Bell Jar).
However, I can't help but feel the kids have taken over kindergarten now, and some of the adults (including gender-critical feminists, who aren't necessarily all second-wave) sat by or endorsed the Frankfurt school, identity politics, and Left-wing domination of academia happening but are now are facing the consequences and feel aggrieved that they are now the ones on the sharp end of the "bigot/oppressor/etc" stick. When you redefine "harm" in such a tortured fashion, don't be surprised when it comes back to bite your own actions in the bum.
But to be honest, I feel sick at what is happening and the idea a Women's Refugee would, for example, have to accept a man. But we can't pretend this all magically fell from the sky.
3. Left-wing tropes of how non-Left wing people think is also no substitute for analysis, But since you asked, I can provide a few stats I have researched previously to provide a counter-weight for some of that, including that for example, male life is not all honey and milk:
Men in NZ:
2.2 times more likely than a female to die of heart disease times more likely than a female to die in a car accident
7 times more likely than a female to die of a work injury (males were 87.5% of workplace deaths)
Worldwide, be 1.39 times more likely to die of COVID-19 worldwide and 2.84 times to more likely to admited to ICU, than a female
Live, on average, 3.4 years less than a female
Be 2.57 times more likely to commit suicide.
(In 2017) Have only 6 cents for every dollar of health funding researching that goes to female-only issues
Be less likely than females to leave school with University Entrance
Be less likely than females to hold a Bachelor’s Degree or higher
Be more likely than females to be without shelter or in temporary accommodation
Be more likely than females to be murdered (62% of homicide victims) and suffer injuries from an assault
For male perpetrators, consistently both in NZ and overseas, be treated significantly more harshly than females in the criminal judicial process, especially sentencing, and including for sexual assault offences.
I've got references to back all that up, largely from Stats NZ. The Covid-19 figures may be more different now as that was early this year, but as far as I've seen it still remains strongly a male-fatality virus – which we hear zero about. If had been females with exactly the same statistics on Covid-19 fatalities, you can guarantee we would have howl upon howl of "femicide".
2.2 times more likely than a female to die of heart disease – nothing to do with women, we don't make you eat bad shit, don't work out, don't go to the doctors, don't take care of yourselfs. Own your own bad habits.
times more likely than a female to die in a car accident – nothing to do with women, we don't make you drive fast, or drunk, or under the influence of medication etc. Own your own accidents and bad driving.
.7 times more likely than a female to die of a work injury (males were 87.5% of workplace deaths) –also not the fault of women, own your bad driving – logging truck accidents as an exapmple, nor any othe accidents that you might suffer at a workplace because either you as the worker don't abide by the rules and regulations or your boss don't give a shit and you don't do anything about it. BTW, there might be a good chance that prositution is the most dangerous profession of them all, but they don't really do OSH studies on that atm, but surely it will come soon enough when Prostitution is considered a career choice. https://theconversation.com/is-sex-work-still-the-most-dangerous-profession-the-data-suggests-so-81854
Worldwide, be 1.39 times more likely to die of COVID-19 worldwide and 2.84 times to more likely to admited to ICU, than a female – again, women are not responsible for men smoking, for men being obese for being heavy drinkers, or for otherwise not taking care of their bodies, which in many cases is what leads to more death for men. Women are equally not responsible for having a better immune system, or for being better at social distancing and mask wearing https://www.healthline.com/health-news/men-more-susceptible-to-serious-covid-19-illnesses
Live, on average, 3.4 years less than a female – again, women are not responsible for the bad choices of men leading to earlie death by accindents and failing health. Again, we are also not responsible for your weaker immune system, something that men seem to ignore.
Be 2.57 times more likely to commit suicide. – women are not at fault for the abysmal funding of mental healthcare the world over, feel free to donate to Gumbooths Friday as they are very much trying to help out there.
(In 2017) Have only 6 cents for every dollar of health funding researching that goes to female-only issues – please link to that so that we can read up on it.
Be less likely than females to leave school with University Entrance – Girls and women have been told for millenia that we can't be as smart as man, having been denied access to education until well the 1970 of the last century for many working class women and girls the world over and still being denied education in many countries altogether.
Be less likely than females to hold a Bachelor’s Degree or higher – see my point above, it is not the fault of women that actually they are not only cabable of learning, and higher learning ,but actually at outperforming men. Maybe that is the reasons why for millenia women were told they could not learn, that their little lady brains are only good enough to knit, sew, breed, n make sandwiches.
Be more likely than females to be without shelter or in temporary accommodation -again nothing that women have caused or are causing.
Be more likely than females to be murdered (62% of homicide victims) and suffer injuries from an assault – it must really suck for men to see that not only are they killed and maimed by mainly male violence, but that they die in greater numbers as women at the hand of men. Maybe have a chat with fellow men and ask them to not fight, not kill – men and women, and just maybe don't be so effn violent?
For male perpetrators, consistently both in NZ and overseas, be treated significantly more harshly than females in the criminal judicial process, especially sentencing, and including for sexual assault offences. – again, sorry for the suckitude that is male violence, but men kill more often, do more harm, commit most of violents crimes and thus get treated often times harsher then a women who gets to go to prison for benefit fraud. But rejoice, if male prison is too much for the poor misunderstood and abused male offender, he can now identify as a women and get locked up with women. Equity!
Sabine's points are the perfect example of why more recent, and more militant, feminism is problematic.
My examples were never to show:
– females are to blame for all men's problems (they're not)
– females don't also suffer (they do)
– men can't do better (they can)
They were to illustrate that a blanket view of males as inherently privileged and which is pervading current discourse is both wrong and unhelpful. History has shat on the vast majority of men AND women for centuries.
So we all face different struggles and I'm all for constructive ways to allow different groups to flourish. But Sabine is playing the zero-sum game of current feminism whereby if females are in a bad position, it must be 'because (sexist) men' and the way to lift up females is by putting down males.
I also find it hilarious that biological (brain?) differences now exist to explain disparity in secondary school achievement between the differences…..but, 'because (sexist) men/society' why there are more male CEOs, engineers, etc than females.
And even if its true there is a biological basis for differential educational achievement, why are we not considering offering a more male centred approach to schooling? Or do we not want young men to succeed? Or is because we are now bias against traits and behaviours generally associated with males, such as competition and physicality?
The funny thing about female educational and economic success is it can lead to more inequality as study after study show women are far less likely to marry with lower socio-economic stuatus.
Young men are so rarely given positive encouragement these days. The saying is "girls can do anything" – boys, well, you're all potential rapists who need to change.
(Also, I completely agree with the ridiculousness of Self-ID, but I can assure you it is not men like me demanding the right to magically identify as women.)
Sabine's points are the perfect example of why more recent, and more militant, feminism is problematic.
Feminism isn't a hive mind, just as I suppose your comment indicates that masculism isn't as well. (Don't worry, I had to look it up so I could put you under some largeumbrella of a term as well.)
You just put down a list of life events that men statistically are higher represented, as if that has no context.
Did I upset you by not taking any responsability for the things that man do to themselves and others. Oh well. I can't help that either.
Did I ever state that i am a feminist? heck no. But i am a women, in a female body, that has scars to proof of its own issues with the things men do to those that they can abuse.
Did I ever claim that you or any other man would identify themselves into a place where women – the natal ones – used to congregate without male supervision? No i did not. I am in fact quite open abut calling them 'opportunists', or bearded men in robes, or AGP, or Cross dressers or just well other words that may be considered banable.
Do i know that man can suffer from male violence, totally, my stepfather abused my brother with the same gusto that he abused me. 🙂 I think they call men like him now, "minor attracted person" or MAP in short.
The funny thing about female education is that they don't need to marry at all anymore just so that they have a roof over their head and a square meal to eat. They also don't have to perform marital duties anymore in order to have that roof over their heads and that meal to eat. Neither do these women with education and jobs need to ask their husbands for pin money. Nor do they need to suffer silently trough the beer infused friday night bash.
Young man get the same opportunities as women, they get teh same education, the same student loans and can then apply for the same jobs. And yet, the wage disparity is still there with women with the same education and doing the same job earning less.
But fear not dear James, these stats will soon be all meaningless as anyone who wants can opt into womenhood, you don't even need to put lipstick on, and then Equity! Men still don't need to hire women, they can now hire men who identify as women, and thus diversity and equity is achieved.
Maybe go out yourself, find yourself some young men and teach them about self respect, consent, conflict resolution that does not involve drugs, booze, or fights.
And lastly, women are not therapy for men. It is not our duty to affirm men either as men or as women just because they need affirmation.
We have our own lifes to life, our own human experiences to live, and we'd like to so without fear of rape and death, without having to worry about being filmed in dressing rooms and toilets, and without men in our womens only spaces. Not that that matters to anyone, clearly.
In fact i have had some really good discussion with Maori about violence, drug abuse, consent, further education, and the likes. And i have compared with Maori – women of course, our own stress reactions to certain situations. Heck, i don't watch Once we were Warriors anymore, did it one time, and needed a cry a shower and stiff drink half way through. The rape of the daughter in that movie is my rape – i just managed to survive.
Is it really that uncomfortable to understand that violence is everywhere, that people die of it, in large numbers, and that more often then not the violence comes from men, specifically the sexual violence.
Men are hard wired from 100 000 plus years of evolution to be aggressive risk takers when young, that's not an excuse btw, working out how to educate and raise them so its controlled or channeled to harmless area is what's needed, rugby is good for that.
Where did James say these bad stats are the fault of women, & if he didn’t, why are you so seemingly obsessed with pointing out for every one of them that these indicated problems are not the fault of women?
Nice to someone’s looking to address the downsides of being a man, something that often gets lost in the all men are bastards rhetoric of (some quite genuinely) oppressed women.
Some men oppress other men too. The pricks that have & like to wield power don’t just threaten & abuse females.
And there’ve been plenty of times & places where I wouldn’t venture into just carrying on walking on the same footpath past dodgy-looking males (or groups of them) at night too.
Seriously please do. Most of us here that discuss issues that center the male being of men above the well being of women – i.e. men in places were we consider us vulnerable, i.e. changing rooms – are quite careful to point out that not all the issues committed by all man, or by any random man at any random time , but that generally until we have an issue with a particular bloke we don't know if they are dangerous or not. See the women in England who got arrested, kidnapped, raped, killed and dumped by a senior Cop this year in March. And thus our threat assessment is that if i don't know you and i consider you a potential danger, i am crossing the street or alter may way home completely.
Women are also not responsible for holding men to account for the violence they inflict on men. Men should do that. Keep a lid on your own. Start raising boys to be less violent and find other means of conflict resolution and teach them the concept of consent.
And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?
Sabine:
“please point to a ‘all men are bastards’ claim?”
G: I haven’t seen any such claim made here
“Seriously please do. Most of us here that discuss issues that center the male being of men above the well being of women – i.e. men in places were we consider us vulnerable, i.e. changing rooms – are quite careful to point out that not all the issues committed by all man, or by any random man at any random time , but that generally until we have an issue with a particular bloke we don’t know if they are dangerous or not. See the women in England who got arrested, kidnapped, raped, killed and dumped by a senior Cop this year in March. And thus our threat assessment is that if i don’t know you and i consider you a potential danger, i am crossing the street or alter may way home completely.”
G: Of course. That is completely understandable & sensible. Women have been forced to do that in numerous societies for millenia probably.
“Women are also not responsible for holding men to account for the violence they inflict on men. Men should do that. Keep a lid on your own.”
G: Sure. I’m a 55 kilo slim chap being monstered by a 200 kilo gang member gorilla who thinks I looked the wrong way at him and his thug mug mates. How do you reckon my telling him it’s not a good idea to be violent with me becos he’ll get into trouble & one day he might look back & regret being a bully is going to turn out?
“Start raising boys to be less violent and find other means of conflict resolution and teach them the concept of consent.”
G: Me & my late wife weren’t able to have any kids, sadly – & to our lifelong regret. But if I did I couldn’t have given birth to them. That requires a woman. I was raised not to be violent by a father AND a mother. 3 boys, 1 girl, the youngest, in our whanau. There were two rules we boys were all taught as toddlers – 1. Don’t fight, & 2. Boys, you NEVER hit a girl. Ever. Even if she hits you.
Boys learn at school, in the street, at various places yep, peaceful ways of conflict resolution are the absolute best way to go. But you learn pretty quickly also that if some prick starts to constantly insult & pick on you physically, sometimes the fastest & most permanent solution is to punch him in the nose. A bloody nose is still a good, fast way of concluding negotiations with bullies, I gather.
Can’t imagine ever wanting to have sex with a non-consenting woman. Where’s the mutual enjoyment in that?
“And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?”
G: They do the same or they find another way home. I know I would, in their shoes.
Photographed on a wall in a corridor a few years ago at Welly Hospital. The other thing no one – including the victims – seems to want to talk about. Men who are subjected to regular violence by women.
Apparently the numbers are suprisingly large, but men of course don't want to admit it.
Maybe someone else will. It'd be an interesting, informative and possibly helpful discussion.
We have a young man living on our property who woke up to his female partner holding a newly boiled kettle over him. She was eventually treated for psychosis. He remains single.
Can’t imagine ever wanting to have sex with a non-consenting woman. Where’s the mutual enjoyment in that?
Gezza, I know you are probably just on a roll. But rape is an act of violence not intimacy. There is no mutual enjoyment, because that is not the point of a violation.
“And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?”
G: They do the same or they find another way home. I know I would, in their shoes.
And they get raped anyway, like my friend and many others have been, with no evidence of 'mutual enjoyment'.
“Gezza, I know you are probably just on a roll. But rape is an act of violence not intimacy. There is no mutual enjoyment, because that is not the point of a violation.”
G:.Far canal, Molly. How frackin dense do you think I am? Of course it’s an act of blimmin violence, (or grossly disrespectful sexual assault based on selfish self-gratification, if she’s so drunk out of her tree she doesn’t know wtf’s really happening) not intimacy.
What I am saying is that the notion of raping a woman – having sex with without her cognisant consent – would never even enter my head. Like it wouldn’t for any normal, decent male with a good upbringing & no antisocial/sexual psychological or personality disorders.
““And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?”
G: They do the same or they find another way home. I know I would, in their shoes.
And they get raped anyway, like my friend and many others have been, with no evidence of ‘mutual enjoyment’.”
G: I am very sorry that happened to your friend. I hope they caught the bastard & that he paid for it. It happens to men too, as several cases reported in the news have noted.
It was you who clumsily joined sexual intimacy with rapre.
Go back. Re-read.
Can’t imagine ever wanting to have sex with a non-consenting woman. Where’s the mutual enjoyment in that?
Consider this. Your first sentence is a definition of rape, why follow it up with any reference to enjoyment mutual or otherwise?
A related sentence might have been:
"Where does that idea of sexual violence come from for some?"
G: I am very sorry that happened to your friend. I hope they caught the bastard & that he paid for it. It happens to men too, as several cases reported in the news have noted.
You make the assumption my friend was female, and so are the many others. And of course you should know by now, rape victims of any sex do not often find justice in our legal system. It's a work in very slow progress.
@ Molly
“Frank Canal, Gezza. It was you who clumsily joined sexual intimacy with rapre.
Go back. Re-read. “Can’t imagine ever wanting to have sex with a non-consenting woman. Where’s the mutual enjoyment in that?”
G: Absolute BS, Molly. I made a simple statement in two sentences that indicated clearly that I enjoy sex with women who want to enjoy it too, thus consent. YOU read into that what you wanted to. And decided to harangue for reasons I have reason to want to know.
“Consider this. Your first sentence is a definition of rape, why follow it up with any reference to enjoyment mutual or otherwise? A related sentence might have been: “Where does that idea of sexual violence come from for some?””
G: Already covered. But. What would be the point of my making any comments if I were to seek your guidance beforehand on what points or questions I might address? Bizarre attitude.
“G: I am very sorry that happened to your friend. I hope they caught the bastard & that he paid for it. It happens to men too, as several cases reported in the news have noted.
You make the assumption my friend was female, and so are the many others. And of course you should know by now, rape victims of any sex do not often find justice in our legal system. It’s a work in very slow progress.”
Yes, I did, because Sabine’s comment – to which I was initially responding – was about women in that situation, & there was nothing in your comment to indicate that you had departed from that reference frame.
I’ll bid you good evening at this point, I think, Molly. There are other topics that interest me now far more than your bad attempts at mind-reading & directing the conversation to your requirements. .
I’ll bid you good evening at this point, I think, Molly. There are other topics that interest me now far more than your bad attempts at mind-reading & directing the conversation to your requirements. .
I asked you to consider maybe not discussing rape in the context of consensual sex. It muddies already difficult conversations. You are unwilling to do that, but it remains a problem in public discourse. I think we can do better if we take care to choose the right words to get our point across.
I asked you to change and said why, you considered it and said No.
“I asked you to consider maybe not discussing rape in the context of consensual sex. It muddies already difficult conversations. You are unwilling to do that, but it remains a problem in public discourse. I think we can do better if we take care to choose the right words to get our point across.
I asked you to change and said why, you considered it and said No.”
G: You did NO SUCH THING. Go back & re-read what you wrote. Had you said this earlier, then the conversation would have gone completely differently. I am no better a mind-reader than you are. I can only see & respond to what is written, I cannot try to divine some alternate or deeper meaning from the ether or the lines between what you wrote.
No harm done. I tend to post saying just what I mean & no more. If you ever find me unclear, or ambiguous, please just ask questions to get me to clarify my intention or meaning. I will answer asap to avoid misunderstandings.
Gezza, it sounds you and i area bout the same size. Can you understand why i am tired of trying to keep myself safe from men that you too would props not entertain? Can you understand that women are equally tired?
I also don't have children, can't, like so many. But i am aunty to many, and I talk abut consent, control of ones fertility – for men and women btw, and that is what we can do and should do more often, because violence is everywhere.
so here we are, both trying to just navigate a world that is violent.
Maybe that is what is needed to be understood. That this type of world is good for no one.
Yes, I can understand your situation & tiredness with it, Sabine.
But the solution doesn’t just lie with men, unfortunately, as some would seem to have it.
Women have contributed to this state of affairs with violent men being too prevalent in our society.
Until more women accept & understand that the problem will not be solved by #men#, because it’s not just caused by men, we are pissing into the wind trying to employ various male role models to mentor essentially fatherless violent adolescent & older males – probably the most potentially dangerous animal on the planet.
That’s how I see this problem at the moment anyway – based on observation & some direct whanau experiences.
Women have contributed to this state of affairs with violent men being too prevalent in our society.
Can you clarify that for me here, because i am not sure what you are saying.
Until more women accept & understand that the problem will not be solved by #men#,
and also can you clarify why you think that male violence will not be solved by men, and who do you think will solve the problem?
Or are we to go back to the good old times when women knew their place, their limitations, and were seen but not heard? And if they got the bash they know why?
I had a couple of her books and she had some practical, effective, workable solutions, particularly amongst the prison population where she had such success.
My only critique is that she had a fairly narrow idea of healthy male expression, which might have meant those who didn't fit within have to look elsewhere..
and one thing that i will add to this before its end of day procedures.
Not all man are violent of rapists.
Not all man are disrespectful to women or men for that matter.
But while not all man are rapists, Most rapists are men.
And these rapists are prolific, and in many cases serial offenders until they get stopped and locked up.
And pretending that this is not true, or just coming from a place of misandry is lazy thinking.
And we can not fault women alone for the failure of men to control themselves. Women are not therapy. We do not exist to mother any man who has issues. We are not a therapeutic outlet for men.
“‘Women have contributed to this state of affairs with violent men being too prevalent in our society.’
Can you clarify that for me here, because i am not sure what you are saying.
“Until more women accept & understand that the problem will not be solved by #men#,”
and also can you clarify why you think that male violence will not be solved by men, and who do you think will solve the problem?”
……………………………..
G: Another day perhaps, Sabine. I can see it’s going to be a hard slog with potential for very terse & perhaps even angry exchanges as you seem to have a very narrow & fixed position on this / these issues.
“Or are we to go back to the good old times when women knew their place, their limitations, and were seen but not heard? And if they got the bash they know why?”
G: See what I mean? Do you seriously think my parents, & my equally-beloved “adopted” parents-in-law, lived their lives like THAT! We can possibly discuss this another time when you are in a less ridiculously hostile & silly mood.
And until if/when we do discuss this again, please have a think about why, if it’s men’s fault youths & men are so violent, then whose fault is it that young females are so viciously attacking each other these days – even on school grounds – & why some of them are even videoing these vicious head-kicking aassaults & putting it on social media so often that they’ve been reoorted &/ or commented on in msm print & tv media at times.
Deeply disturbing that this US style menacing of politicians and political opposites, prominent in the UK and Europe for awhile, is here and in Australia.
At a conservative rally in western Idaho last month, a young man stepped up to a microphone to ask when he could start killing Democrats.
“When do we get to use the guns?” he said as the audience applauded. “How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” The local state representative, a Republican, later called it a “fair” question.
In Ohio, the leading candidate in the Republican primary for Senate blasted out a video urging Republicans to resist the “tyranny” of a federal government that pushed them to wear masks and take F.D.A.-authorized vaccines.
And in Congress, violent threats against lawmakers are on track to double this year. Republicans who break party ranks and defy former President Donald J. Trump have come to expect insults, invective and death threats — often stoked by their own colleagues and conservative activists, who have denounced them as traitors.
From congressional offices to community meeting rooms, threats of violence are becoming commonplace among a significant segment of the Republican Party. Ten months after rioters attacked the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, and after four years of a president who often spoke in violent terms about his adversaries, right-wing Republicans are talking more openly and frequently about the use of force as justifiable in opposition to those who dislodged him from power.
[…]
But historians and those who study democracy say what has changed has been the embrace of violent speech by a sizable portion of one party, including some of its loudest voices inside government and most influential voices outside.
In effect, they warn, the Republican Party is mainstreaming menace as a political tool.
Omar Wasow, a political scientist at Pomona College who studies protests and race, drew a contrast between the current climate and earlier periods of turbulence and strife, like the 1960s or the run-up to the Civil War.
“What’s different about almost all those other events is that now, there’s a partisan divide around the legitimacy of our political system,” he said. “The elite endorsement of political violence from factions of the Republican Party is distinct for me from what we saw in the 1960s. Then, you didn’t have — from a president on down — politicians calling citizens to engage in violent resistance.”
I'm not going to defend any noose talk or symbolism – for anyone, regardless of whether it's metaphorical or not. But one nutter doth not make a crowd nor doth establish the counter-point. And shall we talk about the Left too? Such as Hamish Keith's twitter in response to the very recent attempted cancellation (slash drowning?) of Bryce Edwards:
Hamish Keith: Could you pop Bryce Edwards in the bin with the other contrarian nutters
alex: Be a bloody big bin – I sort of like the idea of a chain an engine block and a lake
Hamish Keith: concrete shoes!
Joe90, I think you're falling for the US-style left-leaning media who parrot anyone protesting anything remotely Right-wing or centrist = bad and violent, and anyone protesting BLM or anything progressive-Left = good and non-violent. Just yesterday, Weka and others had good comments challenging Left-leaning US media obsession with (anti-)Trump and the bad journalism this bias and unthinking can lead to, aka the Steele Dossier.
Just as we defend the human rights of criminals, we can defend the rights and freedom of people whose views or actions we may otherwise disagree with. Stuff has let loose today on the protestors – I see a clear narrative framing being developed that they're all QAnon loonatics importing Trumpism violence directly to NZ and anybody anti-mandate is a rabid anti-vaxxer.
But actually no, there's a huge cross-section of teachers, parents, nurses, and ordinary people fed up with continual knee-jerk reaction of "more state coercion, more!". Take a look at France – the home of the Paris commune and socialist presidents – who has huge protests against mandates and lockdowns. Many other countries have also had significant, broad protests against mandates and passports.
It suits the desired narrative to gaslight such protests as reflecting only a weirdo, 5G-Is-Cancer fringe, and supported by only a tiny sliver of Kiwis. It suits the desired narrative to dismiss concerns that aren't articulated in the highly-educated vocabularly preferred by the chardonnay socialists of Labour.
I'm waiting for about 5 months time when the Government is "persuading" everyone to get a boost (or lose their vaccine passport) because the vaccine is no longer effective…..and then every says hold on, wasn't the vaccine mandated because it's so effective and you promised "freedom" in return? Just one example of the problems with the vaccine mandate and passports – but that's right, we're all just weirdos and violent loonatics to question it.
I said a huge "cross-section of teachers, parents, nurses, and ordinary people". Please don't purposely misquote me.
And yes, I believe there is a cross-section from what I've seen, first hand accounts, and interviews with people attending. For me, I'm an educated professional, non-religious, double vaxxed, but hugely against mandates and passports. I know of numerous people of different walks of life who feel the same, even if they didn't protest.
But the point is what is the right and best action? We have rights specifically to guard against the tyranny of the majority, and to requite strong and clear justification if we would seek to do so.
Except when it doesn't suit? 3 Waters should go ahead apparently, despite the majority of councils and voters strongly opposed, because the Minister of Local Government thinks its best.
So the minority is right sometimes…or only when it's a Labour-supporting minority?
3 Waters needs to go ahead in my burg because the farmer dominated regional council is unwilling or unable to enforce the conditions of a consent to dispose of dairy effluent.
The point of what is the right and best action? Is the right and best action what someone genuinely believes having weighed up multiple factors? Is that determined by polls and feedback?
The right action to deal with covid from the beginning according to some was whatever was different to what actions were decided on.
No border closures, no lockdowns, no MIQ would have been the choices of (probably) a minority. Those thinking that way certainly saw themselves as right.
If noisy protest groups and individuals through history 'bucking the system' were proven to be right in the long run and became lauded for their courage, is it possible a government acting against the demands of noisy protest groups might be proven to be right in the long run?
Three waters was polling about 50/50 before the well funded and very loud "anti" campaign started.
You have to wonder why the anti three waters campaign is getting so much money, if not from those with an eye on making money from future privatisation. Something which most New Zealanders tend to oppose. After our past experience. Privatisation which will be difficult if three waters goes ahead.
Over 80% opposed Keys asset sales, which National did regardless.
If you go by numbers protesting. TPPA, which also polled more than 80% against, asset sales, Generation zero etc, had a lot more people on the street than the latest Pro Pollution, anti-vacc and “freedom” protests.
Despite having LGNZ in it's pocket, despite spending large on dishonest propaganda, despite lying about Council's being able to 'opt out', 60 of 67 councils oppose 3 Waters, and only 19% of the public support it. If it barks like a dog…
No trickledrown, "less is not more in politics" I don't agree because…
We have been there where sweeping changes were made to laws to assist the rich, and when questioned "Akshually it creates jobs" Trouble was the low paid part time contract jobs… We were not even given a choice. Minister of Tourism Key "Huge earnings for NZ" That has been proven to be bunkim. 4000 000 visitors a year, stretching our infrastructure, and costing more than tourism earned the country.
Endless migrants and overseas students able to be brought in as "Cheap labour" which lowered wages even further.
Small Government meant poorly funded infrastructure to support all that, so poorly paid nurses teachers and state buildings in poor repair oh and tax cuts for the well off. We don't want more of that.
But I agree with the rest of your comment.
James 2 Tickledrown is saying you are inflating your case with generalisations. "A Labour supporting minority" is rubbish. The 3 waters was an election pledge. Labour got a majority. Polls have been held by Labour to check the majority were in favour of covid decisions. The press were allowed to ask endless questions. Now people are being asked to vaccinate to lower pressure on staff in hospital, and staff overseeing home self isolation. James2 mandates have been used since the 1940's. There is a choice. Nobody will hold anyone down. Some intelligent people are fearful for a number of reasons, some do not want the vaccine, many marched drove and protested for their own beef with the Government. 1080 argument, American gun Lobby, Right wing groups Religious groups. As nearly 90% of the eligible are vaccinated with one or two doses there is little resistance, and vaccinating children will bring our eligible to an excellent percentage. Civil disobedience is not new, what is new is the toxic nature of the exchanges through the internet. However listening to some exchanges in the Australian parliament.. we are a tame bunch. Quote "You are a lily livered snake with legs on your pot belly" being a colourful one that comes to mind. Finally marching or disagreeing does not always make the participants right. Boosters have also been around for a long time for obvious reasons. Take your blue glasses off James2.
Northwestern University researchers have developed a new injectable therapy that harnesses “dancing molecules” to reverse paralysis and repair tissue after severe spinal cord injuries.
In a new study, researchers administered a single injection to tissues surrounding the spinal cords of paralyzed mice. Just four weeks later, the animals regained the ability to walk.
By sending bioactive signals to trigger cells to repair and regenerate, the breakthrough therapy dramatically improved severely injured spinal cords in five key ways: (1) The severed extensions of neurons, called axons, regenerated; (2) scar tissue, which can create a physical barrier to regeneration and repair, significantly diminished; (3) myelin, the insulating layer of axons that is important in transmitting electrical signals efficiently, reformed around cells; (4) functional blood vessels formed to deliver nutrients to cells at the injury site; and (5) more motor neurons survived.
Thank you for this. If this therapy pans out it's will be a miracle.
I know full well the world is not perfect, and I have no expectation it ever will be. To some irreducible degree life is suffering. Every love story that goes on long enough will end in tragedy.
But perfections are without limit – we can take unconstrained hope from not only how far we have come, but how much further we might go.
My younger brother got a cochlear implant about a decade ago and he's still immensely grateful. So I'm reasonably sure that if this means disabled people get to have a life beyond their wheelchairs or beds – they won't regard it as 'ephemeral'.
I think the key things a parent should remember are, it’s not a choice and hardly ever a “phase”. You don’t have to be an expert you just have to be there; and that it is invaluable to love, be accepting, and provide a safe place.
Camden Council, after consultation with the public decided to replace ordinary pedestrian crossing with a transflag to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week.
As you can see from the replies below, they didn't consult with members of the public that also used the crossing that had special needs, or drivers that didn't understand what the new markings represented.
Instead of thinking through this and putting the flags on vertical public spaces, they came up with a stupid idea. Passed it by those within the trans representatives, and did not consider the impact on other road users.
Including police horses who although trained, do not like walking on unfamiliar markings…
Fortunately, "Doughnut" hung up her Sten long ago.
Wearing a military beret and a Polish wartime resistance armband, 94-year-old Wanda Traczyk-Stawska stunned the crowd at a pro-EU rally when she thundered "Be quiet, stupid boy! You lousy bastard" at a member of a far-right group attempting to disrupt the gathering over a loudspeaker.
Netherlands going in to a partial lockdown as cases surge past 16,000 a day!
But its not much of a lockdown.
"The new restrictions are not a hard lockdown; shops and restaurants will stay open but must adhere to curfews as well as social distancing and vaccine certificates while four guests are still allowed in the home. Cinemas and theatres will remain fully open."
And the local pro-pla*ue mob think they're hard done by.
Austria is to introduce a lockdown for unvaccinated people in two of Europe’s worst-hit coronavirus regions from Monday and could extend it across the country, the chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, has said.
Millions of people not fully vaccinated against Covid in the regions of Upper Austria and Salzburg will be allowed to leave their homes only for reasons considered essential to life, such as going to work, grocery shopping or visiting the doctor, Schallenberg said – measures believed to be unprecedented in Europe.
I don't understand curfews – Netherlands aren't the only place to do them, as I recall.
I mean, how are they supposed to work to limit disease, getting everyone to rush out in the same 10 hour period? It just seems weird action for action's sake, while still spreading the disease.
But I guess actually controlling the disease and saving lives might put a hairdresser's into liquidation, and we can't have that.
Radio waves and mobile phone signals relies on electromagnetic radiation for communication but in a new development, engineers from Lancaster University in the UK, working with the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, transferred digitally encoded information using “fast neutrons” instead.
The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors.
Modulated emissions were measured using a detector and recorded on a laptop.
But, but, but I got one of those in my vaccination. The Slovene language was a bit difficult at first but my on arm language translator has been great. I won't bore you with the upside of this research in practice on my arm and inside me but hopefully some of the laggards will get this as well.
Canadian John Richardson looks at similarities and differences between Jules Verne's novel Paris in the Twentieth Century, which was unknown before his great grandson found the manuscript in 1989, and John Ralston Saul's Voltaire's Bastards, a book still as important as when it appeared in the early 1990s – more so now perhaps, if we still have time to learn.
Both Verne and Saul describe a world which has lost human meaning, in which individuals carry on within the system they’ve inherited, unquestioning, never imagining the possibility of a different way, let alone a better one, deriving little joy from their petty advancements. Verne’s novel is disturbing because it is at once absurd and prescient. Such a society in fiction seems impossible, but our own society is a pea in the same pod. Saul’s sensibly argued examination is terrifying because he is brutally correct. Modern society is an organism which serves only its meaningless self, not the humans who service it and are indifferently sloughed like so many skin cells or fingernail clippings.
A technocratic, systematic society always has answers, whether or not those answers are helpful. But, as Saul concludes of societies such as ours
If the Socratic question can still be asked, it is certainly not rational. Voltaire pointed out that for the Romans, sensus communis meant common sense but also humanity and sensibility. It has been reduced to only good sense, “a state half-way between stupidity and intelligence.” We have since reduced it still farther, as if appropriate only for manual labour and the education of small children. That is the narrowing effect of a civilization which seeks automatically to divide through answers when our desperate need is to unify the individual through questions. (p. 630)
"Act would change the law so setting health and safety measures, such as requiring vaccine certificates, is permitted, and cannot be subject to claims of a breach of privacy or discrimination. That could be done with a change to health and safety laws, though if it was possible through a public health order, it could be implemented more quickly."
Seymour said the Government, as any other employer, should be able to decide which public sector employees needed to be vaccinated, while private sector employers should decide for their workforces and clients.
This story will no doubt find itself quickly buried & forgotten … not least because it's at odds with the Upper-Middle Woke Establishment's preferred 'narrative' … but gives me at least a modicum of hope that the relentless nightmare of violent intimidation endured by neighbours (often very elderly, like my parents) of the new breed of underclass state house tenant (many so violently anti-social that no landlord would ever rent to them) … will finally, finally receive a much needed dose of sunlight.
But won't be holding my breath.
Housing crisis created by the Key Govt … then turned into a living hell for a swathe of Labour's core supporters [as well as more than a few Green voters, incidentally] by the Ardern Govt's tacit No Eviction policy.
Police ineffective, and actually less than useful as we later found out that their regular and continued breaking of lockdown was classed as anti-social behaviour that could be used for immediate eviction. The abuse, threats of violence, intimidating practices (chasing family members cars, sitting outside on a makeshift seat staring at our front door for several hours muttering and smoking), were not considered by the police to be anti-social unless they made physical contact. I think the description has been changed now.
Kainga Ora needs to update its policy. Living next to such neighbours is hellish.
A few years back we had a similar problem here in Australia – a woman neighbour in the complex started up all manner of intimidating behaviour toward my partner. Now my partner is no pushover but eventually it got to the point where we were starting to be worried whenever I had to work away from home for any period.
The cops were actually very good. They immediately took action and spoke with her, and then suggested we buy a little security camera – either real or fake – that recorded what was going on in the common area. They assured us this was entirely legal. The cop told us 'either she's mad or bad, if it's the latter the behaviour will stop'. And it did for almost a year.
Then she manipulated one of her sons into threatening us – and we immediately took the video evidence to the Police. Which very quickly landed up in the local Magistrates Court. In the end the landlord was issued a removal order by the Court and that was that. It was so smoothly handled I've more or less forgotten about it until now.
We've rented the entire 8 years that we've been living in Australia now – in general the business is much more closely regulated than NZ and there are very clear obligations on both landlords and tenants – that are enforced.
One of the really difficult things to witness was the coercive control this middle-aged (34 yrs) man had over his 17 year old partner. Leaving for days on end without telling her and with no transport, taking her phone, constant reprimanding – we could hear – that went on for several hours.
She was on the police register for a youth support programme, but they had nothing to offer. She needed a job.
An unpleasant experience, was witnessing his mother (who employed them both) using her employer status to also control this young woman, so that he would be placated. Almost like watching someone throw a treat to a rabid dog to get him to stop snarling.
I do believe that state housing has to be available, but there has to be a place where those unsuitable to be housed in neighbourhoods are provided with a place to stay, rather than a blanket ruling that all the obligation belongs to Kainga Ora.
It isn't unique. The article that originated the discussion was in regard to Kainga Ora's policy of not evicting tenants. IIRC, in this case the neighbouring couple who had resided in the area for years were offered a different tenancy as a solution, rather than Kainga Ora dealing with the disruptive behaviour.
As you have experienced, an abusive and disruptive neighbour can really damage the wellbeing of others, whether they are tenants or homeowners.
Bit much to be blaming this on National don't you think:
'The woman said a Kāinga Ora tenancy manager admitted the agency was powerless to evict antisocial tenants due to a "directive" that protected state housing clients.'
Who issued the directive and where did it come from?
I believe the policy is that once you are a tenant in a state home, you cannot be moved on unless they offer you another place. In a case such as this, they will be shifting the problem to another neighbourhood and have the same complaints.
If they want to maintain such a policy, then Kainga Ora needs to have a solution to these situations, that is not just that the neighbours put up with it. The accommodation offered may not be within a neighbourhood, but a specific accommodation unit for troublesome tenants. I don't know if that is a workable proposal.
The problem to be solved is either does Kainga Ora retain the policy or not?
If it does, how do we ensure tenants (even if troublesome) are not homeless, when they are removed from a tenancy where they are causing harm to the neighbourhood?
Do we solve that with a different type of accommodation for those tenants?
I just don't trust the government to do it in a way that improves things.
I can't even come up with an alternative proposal, so I'm of little help either. Just thought someone else might be able to.
Although I am happy that the abusive neighbour next door is gone, he still exists and needs somewhere to live, as does his partner. (I also think they both need support, particularly in regards to his mental health, aggression and drug use.)
For all the talk of wrap-around models, I can't think of how this has been practically rolled out, and maybe accommodation that includes such services nearby or on-site would be a start.
If that accommodation is located in a low residential density area, that might work. ie. on the edge of commercial or industrial zones but still close to transport and amenities.
No, not at all. Just Kainga Ora housing where the harm they can inflict on others is reduced, but still healthy homes standards. I would hope there would not be that many of them really, but I know that it only takes one badly behaved resident to impact on a street or neighbourhood.
The current approach is to leave them there, and that isn't working.
I know it wasnt your suggestion but there needs to be some serious consideration of how these types of issues are dealt with….regardless of the cause(s) there are some who have no desire to be 'helped'….the (limited) resources are better devoted to those who do.
I dont know how to deal with the damage already done but I do know that it makes sense not to continue to keep creating more damaged members of society….we need to do both at the same time, and that may mean conflicting approaches
Mental healthcare would be the most obvious help that would need to be provided.
We lived in social housing when i was a kid, and to be honest anti social behaviour was the norm in many households. Alcohol dependency was one big issue, over crowding another one. Drugs. Petty crime. Prostitution. All the issues that come with people having no money and the need for money.
So maybe a full wrap around service as a condition to a flat. So counseling, maybe some job training – to get people out of the property during the day, courses and such. But i don't think Winz would be able to provide any of these services.
I think you would have more chance getting funds holding a fundraiser.
But i think the worst cases before they are being housed in public housing need to stay in housing that will offer wrap around services, and then find appropriate housing for them. Not just assign a house, but appropriate housing near a supportive community. And make it clear that housing is also a privilege and that sometimes you have to evict someone if they terrorize their community.
I'm sure it must have been John Key. After all, according to the idiots who claim to be our Government he is responsible for everything, Ignore the fact that he left the job 5 years ago.
I heard a rumour that they are looking at all the CCTV footage at the Whangarei Hospital to find images of him diverting the main sewer pipe to put it into the walls.
Did you whisper that rumour into your cupped hand so that you could hear it?
I thought the policy was a state housing policy since inception, and has remained under successive changes of government, but I could have this all wrong. Just what I understood to be true from growing up in a state housing neighbourhood back in the day.
The Black Caps play their third cricket final in quick succession this morning.
Win, lose or draw this a team that everyone can be proud of, from the spirit in which they play the game to the results they earn they have proven the adage of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
But is this fair, after all a 50 over final loss, a test match final win and a T20 final can't be all down to luck or a fluke?
I think not, this team can stand head and shoulders with the other great teams of world cricket (yes really)
Overall the finest team NZ has ever fielded, a team that defines the virtues of NZ and an example for everyone to aspire to
One more game to go and my moneys on the Black Caps, can we do it?
Of course wing nut pro-pla*uers are treating this as proof of something…
Facts First: The viral video is a staged scene from a professional film. The tantrum-throwing woman is an actor, as is the supposed pilot who challenges her at the end of the video. The video was produced by a man known as Prince Ea, an entertainer and creator of online content who has a history of using authentic-sounding titles about hot-button social issues to get people to watch his scripted footage.
Prince Ea added a vague three-word disclaimer, "For entertainment purposes," to his initial Nov. 1 Facebook post of the plane tantrum video — under the title "SHE MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A BAD DAY." But through at least November 11, he kept posting additional versions of the video, under titles like "WHEN THE PILOT CAME OUT" and "WHEN SHE ASKED FOR HIS VACCINE CARD," that included no disclaimer.
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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There are over 1 million unvaccinated kiwis, probably more than "a few thousand" there who don't like being treated as cattle.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
The vast bulk of whom are children under 12.
Not at all, we have @ 4 million people over the age of 14 as of 2020. If we get to 90 percent double vaxxed that leaves @ 400000 people plus their children thats a significant number of people.
Putting them in a second tier class is a huge mistake that will have intergenerational consequences in terms of education, poverty, distrust in government etc etc.
Wide spread mandates are just not worth it.
Well said.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-vaccine-mandates-cause-harm-and-division-public-health-expert-claims/OXW3B6IFZSJ5J46GEU6WF7TBGE/?fbclid=IwAR3wu6u1Vm1NEQNKXLb474UOfNr5reCGqTvOwxw2bDEiHy31sOIuwnEKKlY
Gypsy you should read your own links beyond the click bait headline.
Scoffed from AUT with out any evidence makes hysterical claims.
Which are rebutted by an actual public health expert professor Shaun Hendy who said scoffed is making up scenarios that don't exist. Gypsy your not very good at propaganda.
I recommend you always fact check Hendy.
"But University of Auckland Professor and Covid-19 modelling expert Shaun Hendy said only a small proportion of the population was not vaccinated."
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-11-2021/#comment-1833344
This public health expert (Grant Schofield) is/was a "Plan B" proponent – likely would be a lot more people dead already under his recommendations.
Uncooked in that article scoffed makes false claims about the accuracy of the PCR test.
He asks this question: "So can we achieve this?"
His response: "The simple answer is no."
Time has proved him to be correct, but only after a world of social and economic pain.
In that article he asked "Can we achieve [eradication]?" – in April 2020! And he replied to his rhetorical question, "The simple answer is no."
He was utterly and completely wrong. We did achieve it, and maintained it for a long period, likely saving many lives and avoiding many longterm illnesses. Our economy did better than most and socially we have been one of the most free societies in the world through the pandemic.
I'd give him about 0/10 for that one.
"We did achieve it, and maintained it for a long period, likely saving many lives and avoiding many longterm illnesses."
Where have you been?
We temporarily stopped Delta with draconian lockdowns and border controls that eventually and inevitably failed and Covid reappeared. Meanwhile, we are 100bn in debt, we have inflation at levels not seen in decades, and thousands of people taking to the streets.
Schofield was right then and he's right now.
The article was written in April, we didn't have delta then.
Sorry, meant to say "covid". Argument still applies.
ok, so you wanted the lots of dead and long covid people, along with overrun hospitals option?
"All in the name of eradicating Covid-19. Unite against Covid-19!"
I don't think we've ever had a goal of eradicating covid. Elimination was the goal.
It seems to me there's always been some confusion around the terminology.
ok, so you wanted the lots of dead and long covid people, along with overrun hospitals option?
You do know that the flu can have serious long-term effects, right? And we've already reduced life expectancy. I'm not sure when reducing life expectancy became a good thing.
Thus, the apparent kindness of locking down to limit Covid-19 deaths will, instead, be killing more people by making us poorer. Just as Douglas Allen concluded (for Canada), so too for New Zealand—lockdowns are one of our greatest peacetime policy failures.
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/john-gibson-lockdowns-again
@ross:
really? Citation, pls. And then tell statsnz.
And? You want covid in addition to that?
how have we reduced life expectancy?
Putting them in a second tier? That's one perspective.
Another is that they have elected to go into a different tier.
If a golf club says only vaccinated can enter their clubrooms the individual chooses whether they are in or out.
Removing the ability to access employment does very quickly put people in a second tier.
Not when all they have to do to "access employment" is have a vaccination. Being in the "second tier", is entirely "their choice".
It might well be their choice, but poverty and all that comes with it rapidly turns into societies problem and potentially an intergenerational one at that.
you do realise that the egalitarian society has gone in NZ and even tho we desire it it ain't coming back.
For other common vaccines, taking a vaccination or not hasn't put people in a "second tier". Surely it's the directive not their choice that's putting them in a second tier.
Actually, your choice to avoid other vaccines can already prevent you from travelling to some countries, prevent you from studying most health related subjects at Otago University, prevent you from training to be a nurse at Auckland University.
Plumbing, too.
http://www.nzpdg.org.nz/news/details/do-your-plumbers-have-the-necess.html
A little different from having your (successful) career and livelihood ended and effective removal from society.
Nope.
Population of NZ = 5,084,000
Eligible Population = 4,210,000
Fully vaxxed as of today = 80% of eligible population.
So, under vaxx age = 874,000.
Vaxx eligible, not vaxxed = 20% of 4,210,000 = 842,000.
So there are 1,716,000 unvaxxed kiwi's, of which the children are only just over half.
Yeah its a huge number of people I based my figures on NZ making it to 90 percent.
I really dont see how alienating the population of a large city from NZ society is a good idea if you think a little longer term than the next 6 months and as economic desperation sets in you will not doubt start seeing very extreme responses as previously productive members of society find themselves coming into contact with the likes of Winz.
And yet! They would rather take a drug (which acts like a nerve agent ) used as a cattle pour on drench.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Yeah maybe you can send the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Tokyo Medical Association an email and tell them they're actually doing Vet Science 😆
Team can we PLEZE not do vaccine bullshit on this post.
There's over a dozen good links provided about economic change and impact to go through first.
Ta.
And yet! They would rather take a drug (which acts like a nerve agent ) used as a cattle pour on drench.
Ivermectin has been used with great effect on humans since the 1980s.
<blockquote>There are few drugs that can seriously lay claim to the title of ‘Wonder drug’, penicillin and aspirin being two that have perhaps had greatest beneficial impact on the health and wellbeing of Mankind. But ivermectin can also be considered alongside those worthy contenders, based on its versatility, safety and the beneficial impact that it has had, and continues to have, worldwide—especially on hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people.</blockquote>
Thalidomide is also used on humans, being a very effective drug against blood cancer.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043740/
[RL: This is off topic. Any further comments in this direction will be moved to OM. Be more careful.]
This is not the post for more bullshit about vaccines.
Take it elsewhere.
Warned
Fuck me I hate this shit, Ivermectin is widely used in humans and has an excellent safety profile it has been so beneficial in treating parasite born disease it won the inventors a Nobel peace prize.
Whilst its efficacy against Covid is hotly contested it is not dangerous at the correct doses.
[RL: Not the thread for this discussion.]
Ireland!
When my wife asked "Who won?" I replied "We did." "Who's we?" she asked. Mac1 just smiled…..
I dare not look, lest the grief & post-match autopsies of the sportswriters are too overwhelmingly gruesome.
What was the score?
As expected COP26 against fossil fuels is down to the wire.
COP26 latest: India and China push back on fossil fuels | Financial Times (ft.com)
India and China quite rightly wondering how all he concrete and steel the world demands is going to get made if they can't use coal.
On the other hand, the Saudis appear to back the current text.
Wait for Russia and Australia to weigh in within minutes.
We should do this more often. Just for the moral scrumming.
Good to see those moral leaders the Saudis such have a high regard for humanity; shame about Jamal Khashoggi tho. 😠
🙄 *have such
On the button…
What about someone with a …'split personality'?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Another bonny young nephew welcomed to me Irish clan side around 7 am this morning. Took his time arriving but his granddad was a bit of a late arriver to some parties too.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bxguidIvTcQ
All well. Texts n pix will be flyin round te whanau today. 😊
Warm congratulations.
Kia ora for that, e kuia.
I should have said another grand-nephew added to the clans – he’s of Irish & Scottish heritage.
Any kilt-wearers there yesterday, Patricia?
Any pipes?
Years ago Norm used to play for the Highland dancers and a pipe band, as did my grandfather on Mum's Scottish side. Irish pipes in my Father's family. However a heart problem made keeping the bag inflated rather a problem for hubbie Norm. He can still do the intricate fingering on the chanter so the guitar replaced all that.
Let us hope we beat this virus. I read briefly this a.m. that India have a possible better vaccine.? We also need better outcomes from COP. for your grand nephew and his peers. Did you read Andrea Vance on 3 waters? Cheers Gezza.
Yep – have read Andrea’s excellent OP.
Even commented on it below.
Me too. Had to give up with a hiatus hernia. Keeping the bag inflated was just too much pressure on the diaphragm and the pain afterwards was just not worth the effort. Can't do much gardening for the same reason. 🙁
However Scottish Country dancing keeps me fit and feeds the cultural void.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1msu8iQT3kw
Oh Macro thank you for a great laugh. We have been there many a time You must be a fit guy if you still do that.Pipes are not for everyone. As a friend said "I love pipes…over the water…. waaaay over the water.''
.
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/645628488
.
Drat. Hopefully this time…
https://vimeo.com/645628488
Norm says "The Battle's O'er" Very good.
A Scottish Soldier's comparatively contemporary I guess, but I love how they play that here, personally.
Hey Patricia I was out at the fence watching a new young male pukeko who was strolling past downstream & is trying to work out whether he should come closer when this thought suddenly occurred:
Do you mind asking Norm how Pipe Bands choose their tartan?
Not sure Gezza. Norm says 'probably by committee' lol
“New Zealand claims the highest number of pipe bands per capita in the world. ceilidh — are all are danced in New Zealand. The New Zealand Academy of Highland and National Dancing and the international Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing run the competitive sport, with children dancing from as young as three.”
https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/weekend-herald/20131123/283558038367960
https://www.mackilts.com/tartan_questions.htm
https://wellingtonredhackle.co.nz/a-bit-of-history
Tawa Pipe Band’s name is now the Wellington Red Hackle Pipe Band
Their tartan is Red Hackle
Ha. That's a tad nostalgic – I recognise the exact location being not very far at all from our building site.
They built a new War Memorial, Red. I went to the opening. It was very moving. People spoke and read about Tawa residents from the Boer, First & 2nd World War times, & conditions in the Tawa.Flat district in those years, what happened to men (& women) who came back damaged, the 1918 flu etc.
Were you still here when it was built?
No. We lived in Tawa from 2002 to 2009, and left for Aus in 2013.
They’ve re-landscaped & redeveloped Grasslees Reserve & the children’s playground adjacent to the indoor Swimming Pool too. Put in a big Japanese-style curving bridge linking the play area to the park area & installed a pay-for barbecue there.
Quite an impressive job. Might take & post you a pic here sometime.
I love living in Tawa. Close to Porirua Shopping Complexes (free parking & good access to everything), Kenepuru Community Hospital services (same deal with parking), hardly ever need to go into the city proper.
Gezza. Norm says you are right. He asked to hear it again and the 1st 3 notes are the same, and a similar tune. lol He is quite nonplussed
Tell Norm he’s a real man. Real men have no probs having another think & deciding they were wrong becos their egos don’t get in the way.
From what you’ve posted recently, Norm sounds like my kind of bloke. 👍🏼
Well worth read
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126906088/covid19-a-paper-on-vaccination-in-pregnancy-coauthored-by-simon-thornley-has-been-panned-by-experts-around-the-world
. The paper is being circulated in anti-vaccination groups and some online publications.
There are, however, numerous problems with the paper: It contains unfounded speculation, and ignores a considerable body of evidence on the vaccine’s safety. Its conclusions also appear to be at odds with the authors’ own explanations of their work.
published in a journal founded and edited by an American anti-vaccination campaigner,
Thornley and Brock’s paper is said to be a reanalysis of an influential study published in April by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), which was based on a database of pregnant people given an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine between December 2020 and February 2021.
That study found the rate of miscarriages among the vaccinated group was within the expected range.
That article in Stuff is detailed and explains things well.
Thornley is a key "Plan B" person – thank heavens we didn't follow their advice.
Yes i thought that too US
Dude's almost gone full Wakefield, huh.
Cherry-picking miscarriages to go antivax seems somehow worse than just championing disease spread before we had a vaccine. Appropriating others' grief when many are already over-analysing their choices to blame themselves is brutal.
Andrea Vance even handed and sensible about 3 Waters Reform.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/126933172/three-waters-opposition-sees-some-of-the-worst-political-impulses-to-leak-out
Kia ora for that, Stephen.
You’re right. An excellent, informative, measured & thoughtfully-constructed article.
100%
I had to double check the author of that article. Bryan Cadogan, Clutha Distict Mayor, also wrote about the rhetoric . .
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/300452405/rancid-racial-rhetoric-mean-were-missing-the-actual-problem-with-three-waters
This maybe so but the city I live in, Porirua, has one of the poorest communities and yet the highest rates in the country, higher than measured against Auckland mansions. This is because we pay the city rates for Porirua and a proportion for Wellington. Go figure. The last increase was some 4 months ago, a whopping 8%. If the city has to pay even more with those reforms you sure will see some boots on the ground and some votes going south.
And here comes a new vaccine from India.
full article here https: //www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/covid-india-covaxin-vaccine-lancet-b1956438.html
peer reviewed results : https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2821%2902000-6
Washington Post considers why some are vaccine hesitant. Makes sense to me and offers a solution for combatting reluctance.
Paywalled but https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/11/vaccine-hesitancy-psychology-regret/
"When people don’t feel the weight of making their own choice, they aren’t as tormented by the anticipated negative outcomes of their decision. "
Yeah well – we've spent 35 years being told that people are poor, sick, unhappy, etc. through making "bad decisions" – and that if they'd only made good decisions they'd see how fair, just, optimistic and sunny the world really is. This toxic, anxiety-inducing trash ideology is everywhere – and it drives people mad.
+1
Yeah – just STFU and let an always benevolent state do the thinking.
As opposed to benevolent corporations Redilogical so when we have a war against an enemy we all go our separate ways and let the enemy win.Your Exclusive Brethren,Brian Tamaki,Gloriavale anti govt rhetoric is waving a white flag / giving up cowardly caving in to a very small group of powerless people sabotaging the fight against covid not surprising from Clive Palmer country.
I do know some people who are indecisive about ordinary choices. Yet when someone else decides for them their doubts fade away usually with a shrug.
We are talking about the hesitant to get vaccinated group not decisive ones. Be interesting to see just how many teachers drop out of the workforce next week.
To be fair my not so good financial position is due to my shit decisions, of course why I made those shit decisions could keep a psychiatrists and social scientist going for a while I expect,
Yeah but sometimes one persons shit decision can be another's principled decision.
I have no doubt that if I had purchased the cheap properties I had been offered over the years I would now be extremely wealthy. I however stuck to my principle that one only needs one house to live in and I would never live off someone else's earnings.
I've stuck to that and still only own the house I live in – financially much poorer.
There are those who would clearly believe that those decisions were poor decisions and even that I cut off my nose to spite my face.
I understand perfectly the trade-off but I'm comfortable with that. A capitalist I'll never be. I've lost jobs, promotions and income for standing on principles – Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
The thing I've learned over the years is to never regret the decisions you make – you don't know what would have happened if you had made a different one. I've had friends who chased the dollar – including renovating rental properties – some are millionaires, some lost their house and went bankrupt, I've had friends who went to better jobs who have done really well and friends who have had horrific on the job accidents in their first week leaving them permanently disabled.
What I do know is that luck plays an enormous part in what actually happens. It is never just about individual decisions. Even the family (and community) you were born into makes an enormous difference.
This individual self made man bullshit is so often just that.
Totally agree with your position DOS. My car is 21 years old. But we are wise and thoughtful. The "Indecisives" are an important group whose future in the community needs tolerance and understanding and hopefully a change of heart. Not you. Not me. They.
to DOS at 10.1.4.1 : I applaud the frame-of-reference on which you make your decisions. How different society would be if more worked from same.
At least you can live and rest in peace with yourself.
Regarding advancement, I heard my father (pressed to apply for promotion by peers) say he could never do that on backs of others.
Yes but dont blame other people or "the system dude".
After my divorce I could have bought a cheap doer upper ,I had a brain fart bought a ute and stuck some in kiwisaver, if I'd been clever I'd own a house worth $100k more than what I paid for it ,even if I'd done nothing to last I less than 3 years, how I'll never own property again and hope the state will help me when I can no longer earn a roof over my head,
But it certainly isnt the systems fault.
Yes but don't blame other people or "the system dude".
Of course other people and the system cause problems as well. Standing on principles means bucking the system often or disagreeing with people who are in leadership positions but are unaccepting of disagreement. Whether you get those people in charge of you is part of the "luck". I've had people try to help my career and others to destroy it – you're just trying to argue the self made man from the other side of the argument. What you are saying is that if you don't conform and support the system then you are responsible for the system spitting you out like a piece of trash – nah systems need changing – they are sexist and racist and classist – it is perfectly OK to put some responsibility for peoples circumstances, including your own, on those systems and on those people who make those decisions.
We are all products of the institutions and social paradigms we grow up with.
well said +1000
At one point in my teaching I had a pupil who would totally stress until we could bring the decision to a binary. This? or that?
Funnily enough, I made shit decisions in my 20s that ended up me being employed in the same good place for a decade so far.
Plain luck that the (then) obscure stuff I did for enough points to qualify for allowances (rather than "studying for my career") cropped up in a vacancy that appeared just when I was looking to change careers.
That's one reason I put all this personal responsibility rhetoric in the bin.
Sure, if you choose to murder someone or embezzle, without any external coercion, that'll probably still screw you a decade from now. But most of the rest of it, most day to day choices, they don't do shit compared to the forces of luck and the forces of other people's decisions – government, corporate, inventors, dude who has a whim one day, branch that falls on your head.
But it's a great excuse to write people off and not help them: "poor decisions". As if everything one owns can't be lost overnight.
In the end, out of a force of about 35,000 officers, fewer than three dozen refused the vaccine.
The simpler explanation is they had bills to pay next week.
So. Obviously not that anti.
Or they would stick to "their choice" to refuse the vaccine and abandon their job.
Given that there are some people who are reluctant to vaccinate, and we agree that vaccination is important, then I would have thought a possible solution could be reasonably considered.
Some people are scared of making a mistake by getting the jab.
If the helpers understood this and listened to the reluctant one explain why they feared making this mistake, maybe a few more might change their mind. Let's not cloud it with "let an always benevolent state do the thinking." Unhelpful.
Wrong 'fossil fuel' for NZ
"New Zealand won a Fossil award on the penultimate day of COP26, for Climate Change Minister James Shaw's refusal to update the country's National Determined Contribution to constraining global temperature rises."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro-talks-nz-awarded-humiliating-fossil-status-at-cop26
.
Eek❗️
Embarrassing for Shaw & The Greens, caught between a rock & a hard place by political pragmatism. ☹️
Having a campfire will win you an earth murderer award from that lot. Wouldn’t worry too much about it
"that lot"are aligned with the Green Movement….Shaws constituency.
The LGB Alliance UK was formed when some of the members of Stonewall who raised concerns about the obliteration of same sex attraction support within the organisation were ignored, and/or branded transphobic.
Stonewall, along with Mermaids attempted to brand this organisation a hate group, and opposed it receiving charitable status. They had their annual conference a couple of weeks ago.
For those interested, Allison Bailey's speech from the LGB Alliance has now been posted.
https://youtu.be/Otbfv45TRK0
This is the kind of ideology that inspired the LGB Alliance formation:
The Diary of a Hole.
I'm struck by the lack of self-awareness, the coercive language, and the dismantling of the sex classes even while discussing genitals.
I have no hesitation in saying that I would not seek an intimate physical relationship with a transman, as a heterosexual women.
Yuk, can't even get past the first sentence. And it's not gender critical feminists that talk about sexual intimacy in terms of which hole to stick things in.
The big conversation yet to be had is whether society should majorly adapt language, concepts, laws, conventions around the mental illness of a small number of people. No idea if the author has gender dysphoria, but it's hard to not see the dehumanising language arising from a disturbed state in relation to human bodies and feelings.
Beyond that, there’s a question of why so many women want to do away with women’s culture, and the relationship between that and growing up and living in large scale misogyny.
Afraid to tell you but after a such promising start, the interweb degenerated into a disgusting, misogynistic place with a seemingly never ending stream of offensive vitriol and hate.
And links like that get passed around constantly.
/
Aē, and part of the issue here is that social media in particular is rushing to uphold gender identity while at the same time actively practising misogyny. There are really good reasons why so many women are both afraid and really angry about the language changes being forced on women alongside that.
https://twitter.com/ariana_erbon/status/1459248111575080960
Talking about front holes and meat bodies was for a time completely acceptable in the pro-queer left. No idea if it still is or if they've come to their senses.
Andreia Nobre had posted a good thread back in 2020 about the global reality of women. It's a good thread but too long to post here directly.
Yes, I'm afraid we have to turn taxonomy upside down , the old way of classifying plants and animals by the manner of their reproduction strategies,(binary sex)is not inclusive of how a minority of folk see themselves.
Bowdlerise the dictionaries, a new prudishness has come to town
Who we feel attracted to sexually has everything to do with sex organs
It's hardly fetishishism , it's how most of us work
@Molly,
Thanks,I set aside this morning to watch and very pleased I did.I'm in the process writing to Ingrid Leary Labour MP for Taieri,her electorate office Has suffered a graffiti attack,she purports it to be anti-transgender and when on to spread fur mis-information.I unable to link but it will be found in the November 4th edition of the ODT.
Haven’t read this yet, posting for later.
https://twitter.com/reutersfacts/status/1444036349015826435?s=21
Oliver Sutherland: Justice and Race – E-Tangata
“All that was wrong with our system of justice was typified by the scene of a middle-aged, middle-class male Pākehā magistrate or judge sitting in judgement on a young Māori woman and deciding that her background and her family were so bad, so worthless, that she should be taken from them and locked up.”
Thanks for posting. The article is a worthwhile read.
A rather horrifying read. The worst is the final paragraph that makes clear that by still incacerating children the likelihood of continuing institutional racism is high. It also highlights the deepest dark side of democracy in that there is little to prevent a white majority turning on an ethnic minority and in particular, a minority that are our treaty partners. By always defending democracy as an absolute and without recognising its warts we give a free hand to the right to play the democracy card at any point where they consider Maori action is gaining too much. This is most evident at present in the 3 waters debate.
This deserves a post. But struggling to write coherent ones at present. I'll try.
Our “justice system” doesn’t work well for anyone. Even less well for Māori youth.
It would be good if we actually tried Democracy. Then we could sort out "the warts".
Minority rights are always dependent on the goodwill and fairness of the majority. No system of Government can fix that. Unless a repressive minority is in control. Who then tend to look after their own advantage, and not other minorities.
Noting that apart from a very vocal minority, most Pakeha New Zealanders have either accepted or supported Waitangi claims, amoung other things.
If we are looking after, all, our people, then the majority are much more likely to agree to extending rights to others. Very often poor people see that wealthy people are keen on extending rights to other people. But only if the poor, pay for it.
Pakeha that do not want three waters to be privatised or sold, may consider the fact that more Māori rights, may help prevent further selloffs.
I have always thought that Maori control of anything is the surest way to prevent selloff to foreign interests. The Treaty has been the only thing that has consistently stood in the way of indiscriminate foreign control. The right recognise this and fight tooth and nail to prevent it. They need everything to be for sale. Maori or Iwi control is the closest thing that NZ has to recreating a commons and we should therefore embrace and support it.
That’s food for thought, there, Subliminal.
There’s a potential issue with tribal elites perhaps ending up replacing the old landed gentry or corporate rich listers & them actually flogging off or leasing previously common (state) property – but as Māori hapu iwi & marae Committees (& members themselves) become better informed & quakified & skilled in the actual management & development of Māori-controlled assets – and this IS happening – there’s an inbuilt control mechanism for those marae & hapu iwi whose rangatira authority is still strongly derived from ongoing nga tangata consent, & which can be removed should consent be denied by enuf of those who feel their collective mana is being harmed by unwise leadership decisions.
But ownership & kaitiakitanga in this Kiwiland of ours needs to be fairly shared betwen generations-resident Pākehā & we need to get much better at how Māori & Pākehā hui & kōrero to best achieve restoring & honouring the mana of the land, the forests, the beaches, fisheries, waterways, ngahere, & of all those who feel part of this land.
That’s how I see things at this point, anyway.
@Sub..
I hope the penny will drop (for a number around here)with that last sentenence.
La Nina persists.
https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1459398829141282816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1459398829141282816%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FBOM_au2Fstatus2F1459398829141282816widget%3DTweet
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300453493/gender-selfid-raises-complex-questions-its-not-transphobic-to-ask-them
Brilliant article in todays Stuff, by two Gender Critical feminists. This is the first time since about 2018 -19 the msm have carried such article. This discussion needed to be had in the media well before bills such as BMDRR and Conversion Practices.
I would encourage anyone who rights off women with concerns about this bill as transphobic to read the article.
Oh well, its a brave new world, and it pays to be a man or a man who identifies as a women, just have the good sense not to be born a non male or have the good sense to trans into a man for a chance of a career and decent pay.
Vote Labour/Green -we will protect you from the phobes. 2023
This is good news the MSM finally have a counterpoint published….but I think it will be the only one.
Coming from the UK, I see NZ turbo-charged on identity politics. The UK now has some pushback on Stonewall and other transgender activists in the mainstream. The US has a strong Republican power and alternative media (neither of which, for the record, I'm not a fan of – but simply highlighting their narrative disruption).
NZ is an echochamber of identity politics with no real institutional pushback and very very very little media counterpoints. As Bryce Edwards has said, the cultural institutions are dominated by the progressive Left.
A big part of me can't help but say – you earnt it. Transgender activism is the close cousin of applied-CRT in schooling, the mad rush to deify Maori culture and language and promote quite a radical interpretation of the Treaty, the unthinking spread of White Privilege as some beyond-debate fact, the demonisation of masculinity, the gleeful ignorance as humanities studies ever expanding into new areas of grievance by academics who see their primary role as left-wing activism.
These strands all have a common link in identity politics and critical theories that now dominate academic and mainstream discussions. They inhere in the basic concept that language (for example "woman") is all power, and society is either oppressed or oppressor.
So when gender-critical feminists now say, hold on, there are some serious issues now, you'll forgive me if I hear the crowing of roosters coming home.
CRT in schooling?
I bet the farming lobby is pleased.
Critical Race Theory. Currently a trigger point for some "Freedom Fighters" in the US. Currently travelling to our shores where it will be translated into 'Tribunal Gravy Train' and pushback against NZ history being taught in primary schools.
Regrettably so. Very pertinent article on The Guardian today – excerpt from a new book on this very problem and how social media has been fostering this transfer of nutty far right dis/mis information world wide.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/14/qanon-how-the-far-right-cult-took-australians-down-a-rabbit-hole-of-extremism
IFAIK CRT is an academic theory exclusive to higher education.
Clueless nazi fucks label any attempt by schools to examine the role of inequities in outcomes with a catchphrase.
https://twitter.com/TheGoodLiars/status/1455243036795998212
When did that ever stop those who abhor any reference to historical injustices?
2. it's not the progressive left in charge of institutions in NZ, it's liberals.
3. bloody maaris, there is no racism in NZ, what about the menz. When you put up some actual analysis rather than right wing talking points, you'll probably get some respect.
4. I take it you've not been a supporter of second wave feminism then. Colour me surprised.
4. Actually, it's more complex. Largely, I support second-wave feminism. Every human, including women, should have the equal opportunity to freely fulfil their life and they sure as hell didn't have that opportunity (everyone should read The Bell Jar).
However, I can't help but feel the kids have taken over kindergarten now, and some of the adults (including gender-critical feminists, who aren't necessarily all second-wave) sat by or endorsed the Frankfurt school, identity politics, and Left-wing domination of academia happening but are now are facing the consequences and feel aggrieved that they are now the ones on the sharp end of the "bigot/oppressor/etc" stick. When you redefine "harm" in such a tortured fashion, don't be surprised when it comes back to bite your own actions in the bum.
But to be honest, I feel sick at what is happening and the idea a Women's Refugee would, for example, have to accept a man. But we can't pretend this all magically fell from the sky.
3. Left-wing tropes of how non-Left wing people think is also no substitute for analysis, But since you asked, I can provide a few stats I have researched previously to provide a counter-weight for some of that, including that for example, male life is not all honey and milk:
Men in NZ:
times more likely than a female to die in a car accident
I've got references to back all that up, largely from Stats NZ. The Covid-19 figures may be more different now as that was early this year, but as far as I've seen it still remains strongly a male-fatality virus – which we hear zero about. If had been females with exactly the same statistics on Covid-19 fatalities, you can guarantee we would have howl upon howl of "femicide".
I'm off to play tennis now. Enjoy your day.
"Identity Politics" is bad, except if your identity is White Dude.
My comments in cursive 🙂
Well done Sabine. I hope James 2 gets to read your reply when he gets back from tennis.
Sabine's points are the perfect example of why more recent, and more militant, feminism is problematic.
My examples were never to show:
– females are to blame for all men's problems (they're not)
– females don't also suffer (they do)
– men can't do better (they can)
They were to illustrate that a blanket view of males as inherently privileged and which is pervading current discourse is both wrong and unhelpful. History has shat on the vast majority of men AND women for centuries.
So we all face different struggles and I'm all for constructive ways to allow different groups to flourish. But Sabine is playing the zero-sum game of current feminism whereby if females are in a bad position, it must be 'because (sexist) men' and the way to lift up females is by putting down males.
I also find it hilarious that biological (brain?) differences now exist to explain disparity in secondary school achievement between the differences…..but, 'because (sexist) men/society' why there are more male CEOs, engineers, etc than females.
And even if its true there is a biological basis for differential educational achievement, why are we not considering offering a more male centred approach to schooling? Or do we not want young men to succeed? Or is because we are now bias against traits and behaviours generally associated with males, such as competition and physicality?
The funny thing about female educational and economic success is it can lead to more inequality as study after study show women are far less likely to marry with lower socio-economic stuatus.
Young men are so rarely given positive encouragement these days. The saying is "girls can do anything" – boys, well, you're all potential rapists who need to change.
(Also, I completely agree with the ridiculousness of Self-ID, but I can assure you it is not men like me demanding the right to magically identify as women.)
Sabine's points are the perfect example of why more recent, and more militant, feminism is problematic.
Feminism isn't a hive mind, just as I suppose your comment indicates that masculism isn't as well. (Don't worry, I had to look it up so I could put you under some largeumbrella of a term as well.)
You just put down a list of life events that men statistically are higher represented, as if that has no context.
Here's one for you.
https://twitter.com/ariana_erbon/status/1212427311083130880
Did I upset you by not taking any responsability for the things that man do to themselves and others. Oh well. I can't help that either.
Did I ever state that i am a feminist? heck no. But i am a women, in a female body, that has scars to proof of its own issues with the things men do to those that they can abuse.
Did I ever claim that you or any other man would identify themselves into a place where women – the natal ones – used to congregate without male supervision? No i did not. I am in fact quite open abut calling them 'opportunists', or bearded men in robes, or AGP, or Cross dressers or just well other words that may be considered banable.
Do i know that man can suffer from male violence, totally, my stepfather abused my brother with the same gusto that he abused me. 🙂 I think they call men like him now, "minor attracted person" or MAP in short.
The funny thing about female education is that they don't need to marry at all anymore just so that they have a roof over their head and a square meal to eat. They also don't have to perform marital duties anymore in order to have that roof over their heads and that meal to eat. Neither do these women with education and jobs need to ask their husbands for pin money. Nor do they need to suffer silently trough the beer infused friday night bash.
Young man get the same opportunities as women, they get teh same education, the same student loans and can then apply for the same jobs. And yet, the wage disparity is still there with women with the same education and doing the same job earning less.
But fear not dear James, these stats will soon be all meaningless as anyone who wants can opt into womenhood, you don't even need to put lipstick on, and then Equity! Men still don't need to hire women, they can now hire men who identify as women, and thus diversity and equity is achieved.
Maybe go out yourself, find yourself some young men and teach them about self respect, consent, conflict resolution that does not involve drugs, booze, or fights.
And lastly, women are not therapy for men. It is not our duty to affirm men either as men or as women just because they need affirmation.
We have our own lifes to life, our own human experiences to live, and we'd like to so without fear of rape and death, without having to worry about being filmed in dressing rooms and toilets, and without men in our womens only spaces. Not that that matters to anyone, clearly.
Maori are higher than all white man in most of those negatives your screeched out of your keyboard, do you say the same about them Sabine??
Yes I do, i am pretty much outspoken that way.
In fact i have had some really good discussion with Maori about violence, drug abuse, consent, further education, and the likes. And i have compared with Maori – women of course, our own stress reactions to certain situations. Heck, i don't watch Once we were Warriors anymore, did it one time, and needed a cry a shower and stiff drink half way through. The rape of the daughter in that movie is my rape – i just managed to survive.
Is it really that uncomfortable to understand that violence is everywhere, that people die of it, in large numbers, and that more often then not the violence comes from men, specifically the sexual violence.
Men are hard wired from 100 000 plus years of evolution to be aggressive risk takers when young, that's not an excuse btw, working out how to educate and raise them so its controlled or channeled to harmless area is what's needed, rugby is good for that.
Where did James say these bad stats are the fault of women, & if he didn’t, why are you so seemingly obsessed with pointing out for every one of them that these indicated problems are not the fault of women?
Nice to someone’s looking to address the downsides of being a man, something that often gets lost in the all men are bastards rhetoric of (some quite genuinely) oppressed women.
Some men oppress other men too. The pricks that have & like to wield power don’t just threaten & abuse females.
And there’ve been plenty of times & places where I wouldn’t venture into just carrying on walking on the same footpath past dodgy-looking males (or groups of them) at night too.
🙄 * Nice to see…
please point to a 'all men are bastards' claim?
Seriously please do. Most of us here that discuss issues that center the male being of men above the well being of women – i.e. men in places were we consider us vulnerable, i.e. changing rooms – are quite careful to point out that not all the issues committed by all man, or by any random man at any random time , but that generally until we have an issue with a particular bloke we don't know if they are dangerous or not. See the women in England who got arrested, kidnapped, raped, killed and dumped by a senior Cop this year in March. And thus our threat assessment is that if i don't know you and i consider you a potential danger, i am crossing the street or alter may way home completely.
Women are also not responsible for holding men to account for the violence they inflict on men. Men should do that. Keep a lid on your own. Start raising boys to be less violent and find other means of conflict resolution and teach them the concept of consent.
And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?
Gezza,me and many others are probably unaware of your unique…
'
It's Sabine employing rhetoric. Don't take it literally and get to know her style, because she's saying important things.'
Sabine:
“please point to a ‘all men are bastards’ claim?”
G: I haven’t seen any such claim made here
“Seriously please do. Most of us here that discuss issues that center the male being of men above the well being of women – i.e. men in places were we consider us vulnerable, i.e. changing rooms – are quite careful to point out that not all the issues committed by all man, or by any random man at any random time , but that generally until we have an issue with a particular bloke we don’t know if they are dangerous or not. See the women in England who got arrested, kidnapped, raped, killed and dumped by a senior Cop this year in March. And thus our threat assessment is that if i don’t know you and i consider you a potential danger, i am crossing the street or alter may way home completely.”
G: Of course. That is completely understandable & sensible. Women have been forced to do that in numerous societies for millenia probably.
“Women are also not responsible for holding men to account for the violence they inflict on men. Men should do that. Keep a lid on your own.”
G: Sure. I’m a 55 kilo slim chap being monstered by a 200 kilo gang member gorilla who thinks I looked the wrong way at him and his thug mug mates. How do you reckon my telling him it’s not a good idea to be violent with me becos he’ll get into trouble & one day he might look back & regret being a bully is going to turn out?
“Start raising boys to be less violent and find other means of conflict resolution and teach them the concept of consent.”
G: Me & my late wife weren’t able to have any kids, sadly – & to our lifelong regret. But if I did I couldn’t have given birth to them. That requires a woman. I was raised not to be violent by a father AND a mother. 3 boys, 1 girl, the youngest, in our whanau. There were two rules we boys were all taught as toddlers – 1. Don’t fight, & 2. Boys, you NEVER hit a girl. Ever. Even if she hits you.
Boys learn at school, in the street, at various places yep, peaceful ways of conflict resolution are the absolute best way to go. But you learn pretty quickly also that if some prick starts to constantly insult & pick on you physically, sometimes the fastest & most permanent solution is to punch him in the nose. A bloody nose is still a good, fast way of concluding negotiations with bullies, I gather.
Can’t imagine ever wanting to have sex with a non-consenting woman. Where’s the mutual enjoyment in that?
“And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?”
G: They do the same or they find another way home. I know I would, in their shoes.
And last I looked the every single one of these boys that apparently so badly need 'fixing' – has a mother.
While at the same time one of the most reliable predictors of a being in prison is fatherlessness.
Really…'immaculate conception!
Citation needed.
Photographed on a wall in a corridor a few years ago at Welly Hospital. The other thing no one – including the victims – seems to want to talk about. Men who are subjected to regular violence by women.
Apparently the numbers are suprisingly large, but men of course don't want to admit it.
@Gezza
Apparently the numbers are suprisingly large, but men of course don't want to admit it.
No-one is allowed to admit it.
This is not tongue-in-cheek suggestion, but I'm sure many would support a men's only post talking about this if you men wanted to discuss it.
@Molly
I accept you've made that suggestion in good faith, but I'm not in a position to accept it.
Maybe someone else will. It'd be an interesting, informative and possibly helpful discussion.
We have a young man living on our property who woke up to his female partner holding a newly boiled kettle over him. She was eventually treated for psychosis. He remains single.
Came across this googling, Red. Of relevance, imo.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/domestic-violence-campaigners-accused-of-bias/T3P6Z7OWF2AJDG6VBCNKXC7BHM/?c_id=1&objectid=10410452
@Gezza.
That study is often cited.
There are some justified criticisms of their use of the CTS (Conflict Tactics Scale) which measures all acts of violence as equal.
eg. A violent act that puts someone in hospital is weighted equally with that patient having thoughts of revenge.
I looked into this with some time a few years back, but a quick search today found a good starting point is this article:
Not All Domestic Violence Studies Are Created Equal
I think their criticisms hold up to scrutiny, you may too if you look.
Yes, and were are the fathers?
In prison? Why is that? Who is at fault for that?
The mother? Really women are at fault for men behaving badly?
Gezza, I know you are probably just on a roll. But rape is an act of violence not intimacy. There is no mutual enjoyment, because that is not the point of a violation.
And they get raped anyway, like my friend and many others have been, with no evidence of 'mutual enjoyment'.
“Gezza, I know you are probably just on a roll. But rape is an act of violence not intimacy. There is no mutual enjoyment, because that is not the point of a violation.”
G:.Far canal, Molly. How frackin dense do you think I am? Of course it’s an act of blimmin violence, (or grossly disrespectful sexual assault based on selfish self-gratification, if she’s so drunk out of her tree she doesn’t know wtf’s really happening) not intimacy.
What I am saying is that the notion of raping a woman – having sex with without her cognisant consent – would never even enter my head. Like it wouldn’t for any normal, decent male with a good upbringing & no antisocial/sexual psychological or personality disorders.
““And last but least, i would like to point out that if you cross footpath when you see dodgy guys, what do you think women do?”
G: They do the same or they find another way home. I know I would, in their shoes.
And they get raped anyway, like my friend and many others have been, with no evidence of ‘mutual enjoyment’.”
G: I am very sorry that happened to your friend. I hope they caught the bastard & that he paid for it. It happens to men too, as several cases reported in the news have noted.
Frank Canal, Gezza.
It was you who clumsily joined sexual intimacy with rapre.
Go back. Re-read.
Consider this. Your first sentence is a definition of rape, why follow it up with any reference to enjoyment mutual or otherwise?
A related sentence might have been:
"Where does that idea of sexual violence come from for some?"
You make the assumption my friend was female, and so are the many others. And of course you should know by now, rape victims of any sex do not often find justice in our legal system. It's a work in very slow progress.
@ Molly
“Frank Canal, Gezza. It was you who clumsily joined sexual intimacy with rapre.
Go back. Re-read. “Can’t imagine ever wanting to have sex with a non-consenting woman. Where’s the mutual enjoyment in that?”
G: Absolute BS, Molly. I made a simple statement in two sentences that indicated clearly that I enjoy sex with women who want to enjoy it too, thus consent. YOU read into that what you wanted to. And decided to harangue for reasons I have reason to want to know.
“Consider this. Your first sentence is a definition of rape, why follow it up with any reference to enjoyment mutual or otherwise? A related sentence might have been: “Where does that idea of sexual violence come from for some?””
G: Already covered. But. What would be the point of my making any comments if I were to seek your guidance beforehand on what points or questions I might address? Bizarre attitude.
“G: I am very sorry that happened to your friend. I hope they caught the bastard & that he paid for it. It happens to men too, as several cases reported in the news have noted.
You make the assumption my friend was female, and so are the many others. And of course you should know by now, rape victims of any sex do not often find justice in our legal system. It’s a work in very slow progress.”
Yes, I did, because Sabine’s comment – to which I was initially responding – was about women in that situation, & there was nothing in your comment to indicate that you had departed from that reference frame.
I’ll bid you good evening at this point, I think, Molly. There are other topics that interest me now far more than your bad attempts at mind-reading & directing the conversation to your requirements. .
🙄 And decided to harangue ME for reasons I have NO reason to want to know.
Apologies for the poor proof-reading; I’m trying to watch the news on tv.
I asked you to consider maybe not discussing rape in the context of consensual sex. It muddies already difficult conversations. You are unwilling to do that, but it remains a problem in public discourse. I think we can do better if we take care to choose the right words to get our point across.
I asked you to change and said why, you considered it and said No.
Happy to leave it.
“I asked you to consider maybe not discussing rape in the context of consensual sex. It muddies already difficult conversations. You are unwilling to do that, but it remains a problem in public discourse. I think we can do better if we take care to choose the right words to get our point across.
I asked you to change and said why, you considered it and said No.”
G: You did NO SUCH THING. Go back & re-read what you wrote. Had you said this earlier, then the conversation would have gone completely differently. I am no better a mind-reader than you are. I can only see & respond to what is written, I cannot try to divine some alternate or deeper meaning from the ether or the lines between what you wrote.
Good evening, Molly. I suggest we leave it there.
@Gezza Did go back and look, and you are right I did not ask you to change, just stated I had a problem with it.
Any suggestion during this thread was not implicit.
It might have gone better, and I'm sorry it didn't.
Thank you Molly.
I appreciate your response.
No harm done. I tend to post saying just what I mean & no more. If you ever find me unclear, or ambiguous, please just ask questions to get me to clarify my intention or meaning. I will answer asap to avoid misunderstandings.
I better go get my dinner.
Gezza, it sounds you and i area bout the same size. Can you understand why i am tired of trying to keep myself safe from men that you too would props not entertain? Can you understand that women are equally tired?
I also don't have children, can't, like so many. But i am aunty to many, and I talk abut consent, control of ones fertility – for men and women btw, and that is what we can do and should do more often, because violence is everywhere.
so here we are, both trying to just navigate a world that is violent.
Maybe that is what is needed to be understood. That this type of world is good for no one.
Yes, I can understand your situation & tiredness with it, Sabine.
But the solution doesn’t just lie with men, unfortunately, as some would seem to have it.
Women have contributed to this state of affairs with violent men being too prevalent in our society.
Until more women accept & understand that the problem will not be solved by #men#, because it’s not just caused by men, we are pissing into the wind trying to employ various male role models to mentor essentially fatherless violent adolescent & older males – probably the most potentially dangerous animal on the planet.
That’s how I see this problem at the moment anyway – based on observation & some direct whanau experiences.
An NZ expert who understood this:
Can you clarify that for me here, because i am not sure what you are saying.
and also can you clarify why you think that male violence will not be solved by men, and who do you think will solve the problem?
Or are we to go back to the good old times when women knew their place, their limitations, and were seen but not heard? And if they got the bash they know why?
I had a couple of her books and she had some practical, effective, workable solutions, particularly amongst the prison population where she had such success.
My only critique is that she had a fairly narrow idea of healthy male expression, which might have meant those who didn't fit within have to look elsewhere..
and one thing that i will add to this before its end of day procedures.
Not all man are violent of rapists.
Not all man are disrespectful to women or men for that matter.
But while not all man are rapists, Most rapists are men.
And these rapists are prolific, and in many cases serial offenders until they get stopped and locked up.
And pretending that this is not true, or just coming from a place of misandry is lazy thinking.
And we can not fault women alone for the failure of men to control themselves. Women are not therapy. We do not exist to mother any man who has issues. We are not a therapeutic outlet for men.
“‘Women have contributed to this state of affairs with violent men being too prevalent in our society.’
Can you clarify that for me here, because i am not sure what you are saying.
“Until more women accept & understand that the problem will not be solved by #men#,”
and also can you clarify why you think that male violence will not be solved by men, and who do you think will solve the problem?”
……………………………..
G: Another day perhaps, Sabine. I can see it’s going to be a hard slog with potential for very terse & perhaps even angry exchanges as you seem to have a very narrow & fixed position on this / these issues.
“Or are we to go back to the good old times when women knew their place, their limitations, and were seen but not heard? And if they got the bash they know why?”
G: See what I mean? Do you seriously think my parents, & my equally-beloved “adopted” parents-in-law, lived their lives like THAT! We can possibly discuss this another time when you are in a less ridiculously hostile & silly mood.
And until if/when we do discuss this again, please have a think about why, if it’s men’s fault youths & men are so violent, then whose fault is it that young females are so viciously attacking each other these days – even on school grounds – & why some of them are even videoing these vicious head-kicking aassaults & putting it on social media so often that they’ve been reoorted &/ or commented on in msm print & tv media at times.
Sorry for typos in there. Too tired from my condition. Time for me to retire from this arena.
Thanks to KJT's post above, have spent sometime reading articles from E-Tangata, which should be a regular activity.
Catherine Delahunty's October 10th article "Fighting Poison", brought to mind the 2011 Green Chain documentary. Available to watch on NZ on Screen.
Both article and documentary are a recommendation for a rainy Sunday morning.
yes, they are consistently a good resource.
Deeply disturbing that this US style menacing of politicians and political opposites, prominent in the UK and Europe for awhile, is here and in Australia.
https://twitter.com/byroncclark/status/1457901902264365056
https://twitter.com/Sarah_Alice_X/status/1459399421565669382
At a conservative rally in western Idaho last month, a young man stepped up to a microphone to ask when he could start killing Democrats.
“When do we get to use the guns?” he said as the audience applauded. “How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” The local state representative, a Republican, later called it a “fair” question.
In Ohio, the leading candidate in the Republican primary for Senate blasted out a video urging Republicans to resist the “tyranny” of a federal government that pushed them to wear masks and take F.D.A.-authorized vaccines.
And in Congress, violent threats against lawmakers are on track to double this year. Republicans who break party ranks and defy former President Donald J. Trump have come to expect insults, invective and death threats — often stoked by their own colleagues and conservative activists, who have denounced them as traitors.
From congressional offices to community meeting rooms, threats of violence are becoming commonplace among a significant segment of the Republican Party. Ten months after rioters attacked the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, and after four years of a president who often spoke in violent terms about his adversaries, right-wing Republicans are talking more openly and frequently about the use of force as justifiable in opposition to those who dislodged him from power.
[…]
But historians and those who study democracy say what has changed has been the embrace of violent speech by a sizable portion of one party, including some of its loudest voices inside government and most influential voices outside.
In effect, they warn, the Republican Party is mainstreaming menace as a political tool.
Omar Wasow, a political scientist at Pomona College who studies protests and race, drew a contrast between the current climate and earlier periods of turbulence and strife, like the 1960s or the run-up to the Civil War.
“What’s different about almost all those other events is that now, there’s a partisan divide around the legitimacy of our political system,” he said. “The elite endorsement of political violence from factions of the Republican Party is distinct for me from what we saw in the 1960s. Then, you didn’t have — from a president on down — politicians calling citizens to engage in violent resistance.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/us/politics/republican-violent-rhetoric.html
https://archive.li/QDzTX
I'm not going to defend any noose talk or symbolism – for anyone, regardless of whether it's metaphorical or not. But one nutter doth not make a crowd nor doth establish the counter-point. And shall we talk about the Left too? Such as Hamish Keith's twitter in response to the very recent attempted cancellation (slash drowning?) of Bryce Edwards:
Hamish Keith: Could you pop Bryce Edwards in the bin with the other contrarian nutters
alex: Be a bloody big bin – I sort of like the idea of a chain an engine block and a lake
Hamish Keith: concrete shoes!
Joe90, I think you're falling for the US-style left-leaning media who parrot anyone protesting anything remotely Right-wing or centrist = bad and violent, and anyone protesting BLM or anything progressive-Left = good and non-violent. Just yesterday, Weka and others had good comments challenging Left-leaning US media obsession with (anti-)Trump and the bad journalism this bias and unthinking can lead to, aka the Steele Dossier.
Just as we defend the human rights of criminals, we can defend the rights and freedom of people whose views or actions we may otherwise disagree with. Stuff has let loose today on the protestors – I see a clear narrative framing being developed that they're all QAnon loonatics importing Trumpism violence directly to NZ and anybody anti-mandate is a rabid anti-vaxxer.
But actually no, there's a huge cross-section of teachers, parents, nurses, and ordinary people fed up with continual knee-jerk reaction of "more state coercion, more!". Take a look at France – the home of the Paris commune and socialist presidents – who has huge protests against mandates and lockdowns. Many other countries have also had significant, broad protests against mandates and passports.
It suits the desired narrative to gaslight such protests as reflecting only a weirdo, 5G-Is-Cancer fringe, and supported by only a tiny sliver of Kiwis. It suits the desired narrative to dismiss concerns that aren't articulated in the highly-educated vocabularly preferred by the chardonnay socialists of Labour.
I'm waiting for about 5 months time when the Government is "persuading" everyone to get a boost (or lose their vaccine passport) because the vaccine is no longer effective…..and then every says hold on, wasn't the vaccine mandated because it's so effective and you promised "freedom" in return? Just one example of the problems with the vaccine mandate and passports – but that's right, we're all just weirdos and violent loonatics to question it.
"There's a huge cross section of teachers?" Is there? How do you know?
I said a huge "cross-section of teachers, parents, nurses, and ordinary people". Please don't purposely misquote me.
And yes, I believe there is a cross-section from what I've seen, first hand accounts, and interviews with people attending. For me, I'm an educated professional, non-religious, double vaxxed, but hugely against mandates and passports. I know of numerous people of different walks of life who feel the same, even if they didn't protest.
But the point is what is the right and best action? We have rights specifically to guard against the tyranny of the majority, and to requite strong and clear justification if we would seek to do so.
Except when it doesn't suit? 3 Waters should go ahead apparently, despite the majority of councils and voters strongly opposed, because the Minister of Local Government thinks its best.
So the minority is right sometimes…or only when it's a Labour-supporting minority?
3 Waters needs to go ahead in my burg because the farmer dominated regional council is unwilling or unable to enforce the conditions of a consent to dispose of dairy effluent.
The point of what is the right and best action? Is the right and best action what someone genuinely believes having weighed up multiple factors? Is that determined by polls and feedback?
The right action to deal with covid from the beginning according to some was whatever was different to what actions were decided on.
No border closures, no lockdowns, no MIQ would have been the choices of (probably) a minority. Those thinking that way certainly saw themselves as right.
If noisy protest groups and individuals through history 'bucking the system' were proven to be right in the long run and became lauded for their courage, is it possible a government acting against the demands of noisy protest groups might be proven to be right in the long run?
Three waters was polling about 50/50 before the well funded and very loud "anti" campaign started.
You have to wonder why the anti three waters campaign is getting so much money, if not from those with an eye on making money from future privatisation. Something which most New Zealanders tend to oppose. After our past experience. Privatisation which will be difficult if three waters goes ahead.
Over 80% opposed Keys asset sales, which National did regardless.
If you go by numbers protesting. TPPA, which also polled more than 80% against, asset sales, Generation zero etc, had a lot more people on the street than the latest Pro Pollution, anti-vacc and “freedom” protests.
You've nailed it.
"Three waters was polling about 50/50 before … "
What Poll was that? I'm sure you will provide a link, won't you.
Despite having LGNZ in it's pocket, despite spending large on dishonest propaganda, despite lying about Council's being able to 'opt out', 60 of 67 councils oppose 3 Waters, and only 19% of the public support it. If it barks like a dog…
James2 France is a completely different country to NZ same with the US.
If your not happy with NZ why not just move to a country that suits your agenda.
Your long winded rant was more of a reflection of your disappointment that not everything goes your way in our democracy.
Less is more in politics.
No trickledrown, "less is not more in politics" I don't agree because…
We have been there where sweeping changes were made to laws to assist the rich, and when questioned "Akshually it creates jobs" Trouble was the low paid part time contract jobs… We were not even given a choice. Minister of Tourism Key "Huge earnings for NZ" That has been proven to be bunkim. 4000 000 visitors a year, stretching our infrastructure, and costing more than tourism earned the country.
Endless migrants and overseas students able to be brought in as "Cheap labour" which lowered wages even further.
Small Government meant poorly funded infrastructure to support all that, so poorly paid nurses teachers and state buildings in poor repair oh and tax cuts for the well off. We don't want more of that.
But I agree with the rest of your comment.
James 2 Tickledrown is saying you are inflating your case with generalisations. "A Labour supporting minority" is rubbish. The 3 waters was an election pledge. Labour got a majority. Polls have been held by Labour to check the majority were in favour of covid decisions. The press were allowed to ask endless questions. Now people are being asked to vaccinate to lower pressure on staff in hospital, and staff overseeing home self isolation. James2 mandates have been used since the 1940's. There is a choice. Nobody will hold anyone down. Some intelligent people are fearful for a number of reasons, some do not want the vaccine, many marched drove and protested for their own beef with the Government. 1080 argument, American gun Lobby, Right wing groups Religious groups. As nearly 90% of the eligible are vaccinated with one or two doses there is little resistance, and vaccinating children will bring our eligible to an excellent percentage. Civil disobedience is not new, what is new is the toxic nature of the exchanges through the internet. However listening to some exchanges in the Australian parliament.. we are a tame bunch. Quote "You are a lily livered snake with legs on your pot belly" being a colourful one that comes to mind. Finally marching or disagreeing does not always make the participants right. Boosters have also been around for a long time for obvious reasons. Take your blue glasses off James2.
Long winded is what I am criticising less is more a more focused argument is more effective.
Oh I misunderstood my bad
Good news.
Northwestern University researchers have developed a new injectable therapy that harnesses “dancing molecules” to reverse paralysis and repair tissue after severe spinal cord injuries.
In a new study, researchers administered a single injection to tissues surrounding the spinal cords of paralyzed mice. Just four weeks later, the animals regained the ability to walk.
The research will be published in the Nov. 12 issue of the journal Science. The study is now available online.
By sending bioactive signals to trigger cells to repair and regenerate, the breakthrough therapy dramatically improved severely injured spinal cords in five key ways: (1) The severed extensions of neurons, called axons, regenerated; (2) scar tissue, which can create a physical barrier to regeneration and repair, significantly diminished; (3) myelin, the insulating layer of axons that is important in transmitting electrical signals efficiently, reformed around cells; (4) functional blood vessels formed to deliver nutrients to cells at the injury site; and (5) more motor neurons survived.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2021/11/dancing-molecules-successfully-repair-severe-spinal-cord-injuries/
Wonderful news and could be life changing. The repair of the myelin may be great for pain relief as well. Real breakthrough territory.
Thank you for this. If this therapy pans out it's will be a miracle.
I know full well the world is not perfect, and I have no expectation it ever will be. To some irreducible degree life is suffering. Every love story that goes on long enough will end in tragedy.
But perfections are without limit – we can take unconstrained hope from not only how far we have come, but how much further we might go.
An ephemeral moment.
All we need to do is get through to the end of this century…and all will be..well..according to?-Uncle Sam?
My younger brother got a cochlear implant about a decade ago and he's still immensely grateful. So I'm reasonably sure that if this means disabled people get to have a life beyond their wheelchairs or beds – they won't regard it as 'ephemeral'.
Love trumps fear. https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300453090/let-transgender-people-know-we-belong-thats-really-all-we-want
Sacha, most people love and support their children. Most members of the public support transgender people.
The discussion is not about acceptance, it is about the foreseeable but not discussed negative impacts of legislative and institutional change.
(I find this comment somewhat disingenuous, since you have repeatedly and publicly removed yourself from this discussion).
Given that it's Transgender Awareness Week tomorrow, it seemed relevant. No discussion needed.
Why bother then!
Not everybody who visits here feels the urge to discuss things.
Why do you think they come here..then?
To read. Like a really large proportion of people have always done on all blogs. #lurkers
Smooth.
What is your problem?
I thought it was a smooth reply to my original comment, that's all.
They'd have 0 to read if people weren't here to discuss.
Some of us have always posted stuff without expecting a discussion. For years. Nothing new.
*some stuff.
where did the edit option go?
Camden Council, after consultation with the public decided to replace ordinary pedestrian crossing with a transflag to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week.
https://twitter.com/CamdenCouncil/status/1458037122632388614?s=20
As you can see from the replies below, they didn't consult with members of the public that also used the crossing that had special needs, or drivers that didn't understand what the new markings represented.
Instead of thinking through this and putting the flags on vertical public spaces, they came up with a stupid idea. Passed it by those within the trans representatives, and did not consider the impact on other road users.
Including police horses who although trained, do not like walking on unfamiliar markings…
https://twitter.com/i/status/1446541868246908934
and certainly Trump does fear love
Fortunately, "Doughnut" hung up her Sten long ago.
Wearing a military beret and a Polish wartime resistance armband, 94-year-old Wanda Traczyk-Stawska stunned the crowd at a pro-EU rally when she thundered "Be quiet, stupid boy! You lousy bastard" at a member of a far-right group attempting to disrupt the gathering over a loudspeaker.
https://news.yahoo.com/still-fighting-wwii-warsaw-uprising-062707290.html
Netherlands going in to a partial lockdown as cases surge past 16,000 a day!
But its not much of a lockdown.
"The new restrictions are not a hard lockdown; shops and restaurants will stay open but must adhere to curfews as well as social distancing and vaccine certificates while four guests are still allowed in the home. Cinemas and theatres will remain fully open."
And the local pro-pla*ue mob think they're hard done by.
Austria is to introduce a lockdown for unvaccinated people in two of Europe’s worst-hit coronavirus regions from Monday and could extend it across the country, the chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, has said.
Millions of people not fully vaccinated against Covid in the regions of Upper Austria and Salzburg will be allowed to leave their homes only for reasons considered essential to life, such as going to work, grocery shopping or visiting the doctor, Schallenberg said – measures believed to be unprecedented in Europe.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/12/austria-province-to-place-millions-of-unvaccinated-people-in-covid-lockdown
I don't understand curfews – Netherlands aren't the only place to do them, as I recall.
I mean, how are they supposed to work to limit disease, getting everyone to rush out in the same 10 hour period? It just seems weird action for action's sake, while still spreading the disease.
But I guess actually controlling the disease and saving lives might put a hairdresser's into liquidation, and we can't have that.
Wait until the 5g loons hear about this.
Engineers have successfully transferred digitally encoded information wirelessly using nuclear radiation instead of conventional technology.
Radio waves and mobile phone signals relies on electromagnetic radiation for communication but in a new development, engineers from Lancaster University in the UK, working with the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, transferred digitally encoded information using “fast neutrons” instead.
The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors.
Modulated emissions were measured using a detector and recorded on a laptop.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/nuclear-radiation-used-to-transmit-digital-data-wirelessly
But, but, but I got one of those in my vaccination. The Slovene language was a bit difficult at first but my on arm language translator has been great. I won't bore you with the upside of this research in practice on my arm and inside me but hopefully some of the laggards will get this as well.
If it's a rainy Sunday where you are, or if it isn't, this is good:
https://behindthehedge.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/saul-verne/
Canadian John Richardson looks at similarities and differences between Jules Verne's novel Paris in the Twentieth Century, which was unknown before his great grandson found the manuscript in 1989, and John Ralston Saul's Voltaire's Bastards, a book still as important as when it appeared in the early 1990s – more so now perhaps, if we still have time to learn.
Both Verne and Saul describe a world which has lost human meaning, in which individuals carry on within the system they’ve inherited, unquestioning, never imagining the possibility of a different way, let alone a better one, deriving little joy from their petty advancements. Verne’s novel is disturbing because it is at once absurd and prescient. Such a society in fiction seems impossible, but our own society is a pea in the same pod. Saul’s sensibly argued examination is terrifying because he is brutally correct. Modern society is an organism which serves only its meaningless self, not the humans who service it and are indifferently sloughed like so many skin cells or fingernail clippings.
A technocratic, systematic society always has answers, whether or not those answers are helpful. But, as Saul concludes of societies such as ours
October Seymour:
Dictate the mandate …
"Act would change the law so setting health and safety measures, such as requiring vaccine certificates, is permitted, and cannot be subject to claims of a breach of privacy or discrimination. That could be done with a change to health and safety laws, though if it was possible through a public health order, it could be implemented more quickly."
Seymour said the Government, as any other employer, should be able to decide which public sector employees needed to be vaccinated, while private sector employers should decide for their workforces and clients.
NZ Herald link
But …
November Seymour:
https://twitter.com/David_Cormack/status/1459720581977284608
A great response too.
https://twitter.com/Sapphire__Steel/status/1459698070212337669
National flip flops.
ACT flop flips.
Both floundering!
NZ study on people's relationship with misinformation over time: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/study-to-track-why-kiwis-fall-down-conspiracy-misinformation-rabbit-hole/YFCKU44AUF7NO64T6QKRVYXCCY/
.
This story will no doubt find itself quickly buried & forgotten … not least because it's at odds with the Upper-Middle Woke Establishment's preferred 'narrative' … but gives me at least a modicum of hope that the relentless nightmare of violent intimidation endured by neighbours (often very elderly, like my parents) of the new breed of underclass state house tenant (many so violently anti-social that no landlord would ever rent to them) … will finally, finally receive a much needed dose of sunlight.
But won't be holding my breath.
Housing crisis created by the Key Govt … then turned into a living hell for a swathe of Labour's core supporters [as well as more than a few Green voters, incidentally] by the Ardern Govt's tacit No Eviction policy.
Death threats and abuse: Whangārei pensioners terrorised by gang member, Kāinga Ora neighbours – NZ Herald
Thought of your parents straight away when I read that.
It's almost the same damned story but for the names and addresses changed.
We had a similar case during lockdown last year.
Police ineffective, and actually less than useful as we later found out that their regular and continued breaking of lockdown was classed as anti-social behaviour that could be used for immediate eviction. The abuse, threats of violence, intimidating practices (chasing family members cars, sitting outside on a makeshift seat staring at our front door for several hours muttering and smoking), were not considered by the police to be anti-social unless they made physical contact. I think the description has been changed now.
Kainga Ora needs to update its policy. Living next to such neighbours is hellish.
A few years back we had a similar problem here in Australia – a woman neighbour in the complex started up all manner of intimidating behaviour toward my partner. Now my partner is no pushover but eventually it got to the point where we were starting to be worried whenever I had to work away from home for any period.
The cops were actually very good. They immediately took action and spoke with her, and then suggested we buy a little security camera – either real or fake – that recorded what was going on in the common area. They assured us this was entirely legal. The cop told us 'either she's mad or bad, if it's the latter the behaviour will stop'. And it did for almost a year.
Then she manipulated one of her sons into threatening us – and we immediately took the video evidence to the Police. Which very quickly landed up in the local Magistrates Court. In the end the landlord was issued a removal order by the Court and that was that. It was so smoothly handled I've more or less forgotten about it until now.
We've rented the entire 8 years that we've been living in Australia now – in general the business is much more closely regulated than NZ and there are very clear obligations on both landlords and tenants – that are enforced.
One of the really difficult things to witness was the coercive control this middle-aged (34 yrs) man had over his 17 year old partner. Leaving for days on end without telling her and with no transport, taking her phone, constant reprimanding – we could hear – that went on for several hours.
She was on the police register for a youth support programme, but they had nothing to offer. She needed a job.
An unpleasant experience, was witnessing his mother (who employed them both) using her employer status to also control this young woman, so that he would be placated. Almost like watching someone throw a treat to a rabid dog to get him to stop snarling.
I do believe that state housing has to be available, but there has to be a place where those unsuitable to be housed in neighbourhoods are provided with a place to stay, rather than a blanket ruling that all the obligation belongs to Kainga Ora.
Why does everyone assume the problem is unique to poor people, and/or State house tenants.
After two lots of extremely abusive neighbours, who owned their homes. Second in an area that was well into the upper class side……
To the extent we had to move from the second.
It isn't unique. The article that originated the discussion was in regard to Kainga Ora's policy of not evicting tenants. IIRC, in this case the neighbouring couple who had resided in the area for years were offered a different tenancy as a solution, rather than Kainga Ora dealing with the disruptive behaviour.
As you have experienced, an abusive and disruptive neighbour can really damage the wellbeing of others, whether they are tenants or homeowners.
Highlights the issue…what is to be done about the dysfunctional/anti social while any policy change takes a generation or two to take effect?
Bit much to be blaming this on National don't you think:
'The woman said a Kāinga Ora tenancy manager admitted the agency was powerless to evict antisocial tenants due to a "directive" that protected state housing clients.'
Who issued the directive and where did it come from?
I believe the policy is that once you are a tenant in a state home, you cannot be moved on unless they offer you another place. In a case such as this, they will be shifting the problem to another neighbourhood and have the same complaints.
If they want to maintain such a policy, then Kainga Ora needs to have a solution to these situations, that is not just that the neighbours put up with it. The accommodation offered may not be within a neighbourhood, but a specific accommodation unit for troublesome tenants. I don't know if that is a workable proposal.
I agree.
Tenants shouldn't have to put up with this behaviour.
"The accommodation offered may not be within a neighbourhood, but a specific accommodation unit for troublesome tenants."
AKA prison?
No. That wasn't my suggestion.
The problem to be solved is either does Kainga Ora retain the policy or not?
If it does, how do we ensure tenants (even if troublesome) are not homeless, when they are removed from a tenancy where they are causing harm to the neighbourhood?
Do we solve that with a different type of accommodation for those tenants?
ghetto?
your idea makes sense to me, I just don't trust the government to do it in a way that improves things.
Maybe Māori know what to do?
I can't even come up with an alternative proposal, so I'm of little help either. Just thought someone else might be able to.
Although I am happy that the abusive neighbour next door is gone, he still exists and needs somewhere to live, as does his partner. (I also think they both need support, particularly in regards to his mental health, aggression and drug use.)
For all the talk of wrap-around models, I can't think of how this has been practically rolled out, and maybe accommodation that includes such services nearby or on-site would be a start.
If that accommodation is located in a low residential density area, that might work. ie. on the edge of commercial or industrial zones but still close to transport and amenities.
No, not at all. Just Kainga Ora housing where the harm they can inflict on others is reduced, but still healthy homes standards. I would hope there would not be that many of them really, but I know that it only takes one badly behaved resident to impact on a street or neighbourhood.
The current approach is to leave them there, and that isn't working.
effectively would need to be houses that had no neighbours.
Yes. It would really depend on how many you are talking about I guess, in terms of coming up with a workable solution.
I know it wasnt your suggestion but there needs to be some serious consideration of how these types of issues are dealt with….regardless of the cause(s) there are some who have no desire to be 'helped'….the (limited) resources are better devoted to those who do.
Thanks, pat. I read that wrong.
I was wondering if there was a solution that someone here could come up with. For some reason I still retain faith in the collective brain…
I dont know how to deal with the damage already done but I do know that it makes sense not to continue to keep creating more damaged members of society….we need to do both at the same time, and that may mean conflicting approaches
Mental healthcare would be the most obvious help that would need to be provided.
We lived in social housing when i was a kid, and to be honest anti social behaviour was the norm in many households. Alcohol dependency was one big issue, over crowding another one. Drugs. Petty crime. Prostitution. All the issues that come with people having no money and the need for money.
So maybe a full wrap around service as a condition to a flat. So counseling, maybe some job training – to get people out of the property during the day, courses and such. But i don't think Winz would be able to provide any of these services.
Good ideas, and I agree that WINZ not likely to be a good provider,
Possibly local community provider framework funded by government?
I think you would have more chance getting funds holding a fundraiser.
But i think the worst cases before they are being housed in public housing need to stay in housing that will offer wrap around services, and then find appropriate housing for them. Not just assign a house, but appropriate housing near a supportive community. And make it clear that housing is also a privilege and that sometimes you have to evict someone if they terrorize their community.
I think that's a workable solution.
I'm sure it must have been John Key. After all, according to the idiots who claim to be our Government he is responsible for everything, Ignore the fact that he left the job 5 years ago.
I heard a rumour that they are looking at all the CCTV footage at the Whangarei Hospital to find images of him diverting the main sewer pipe to put it into the walls.
Did you whisper that rumour into your cupped hand so that you could hear it?
I thought the policy was a state housing policy since inception, and has remained under successive changes of government, but I could have this all wrong. Just what I understood to be true from growing up in a state housing neighbourhood back in the day.
Maybe the government could come up with a plan to Build more houses for Kiwis…
put the gang houses in a paddock so there are no neighbours?
I'd be ok with that
people would get jealous.
Not the paddock I'm thinking…
I know some pretty nice paddocks. But yeah, I was thinking the space and the tranquility.
Just because he talked a lot of crap doesn't mean it ended up at the Whangarei Hospital.
lol.
Positivity time
The Black Caps play their third cricket final in quick succession this morning.
Win, lose or draw this a team that everyone can be proud of, from the spirit in which they play the game to the results they earn they have proven the adage of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
But is this fair, after all a 50 over final loss, a test match final win and a T20 final can't be all down to luck or a fluke?
I think not, this team can stand head and shoulders with the other great teams of world cricket (yes really)
Overall the finest team NZ has ever fielded, a team that defines the virtues of NZ and an example for everyone to aspire to
One more game to go and my moneys on the Black Caps, can we do it?
Yes we can!
Please don't get too upset if they lose. It really doesn't matter as it is just some silly game of no real importance.
It isn't as if it is a Rugby match. Some of them are really important. Not the Test of course. I mean to say, who cares?
No the true disaster of the weekend was Hawkes Bay being robbed by that lot from Tasman. How could that have happened?
Doesn't matter if they lose, making three finals in a row in three different disciplines is winning enough
Showing kids a different, better and successful way to play sport is winning enough
Earning the respect of the cricketing world is winning enough
Upset about the result, not at all. Its how you play the game and the Black Caps play like winners
'No the true disaster of the weekend was Hawkes Bay being robbed by that lot from Tasman. How could that have happened?'
The South is superior, in all aspects. Especially rugby coaches.
Well, they did lose, PR, but I agree with your comments. Absolutely.
"Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat'
Couldn't be more proud of the Black Caps right now, sometimes you just come up against a better team on the day.
I guess you wouldn't be a fan of Vince Lombardi then? The great NFL Coach, after whom the Super Bowl trophy is named put it quite succinctly.
"Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser."
Vince Lombardi only had to prepare for one variation.
The Black Caps had to prepare for three different variations and made all three finals.
Of course wing nut pro-pla*uers are treating this as proof of something…
Facts First: The viral video is a staged scene from a professional film. The tantrum-throwing woman is an actor, as is the supposed pilot who challenges her at the end of the video. The video was produced by a man known as Prince Ea, an entertainer and creator of online content who has a history of using authentic-sounding titles about hot-button social issues to get people to watch his scripted footage.
Prince Ea added a vague three-word disclaimer, "For entertainment purposes," to his initial Nov. 1 Facebook post of the plane tantrum video — under the title "SHE MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A BAD DAY." But through at least November 11, he kept posting additional versions of the video, under titles like "WHEN THE PILOT CAME OUT" and "WHEN SHE ASKED FOR HIS VACCINE CARD," that included no disclaimer.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/13/politics/fact-check-vaccinated-plane-tantrum-video-prince-ea/index.html.
Big Matthew energy.
https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1459506721718734855
https://twitter.com/SHEsus__Christ/status/1459643419039567872