TVNZ News reports that hospitals in the UK and the USA are over crowded with Covid 19 patients and the film cameras show 1 patient. In all the reports I still have not seen a single image of a hospital over full with Covid 19 patients.
They also report 100's of dead per day and recently in the USA a 1000 dead per day from Covid 19 and the film cameras show 0 bodies. I still have not seen any evidence of this many dead.
What is the point of film camera's? They just say all this shit and don't show any of it. I feel like I'm still a child being forced to attend church, they just say all this random unbelievable shit and expect me to believe it?
Why does anyone believe this shit when they can't even show it? Seeing is believing, show what's going on or shove your mandatory mask wearing and contact tracing up your arse.
Why don't you go look for yourself and tell us all what you find? After all, video can be faked too. Truthers of all kinds of things like moon landings and the shape of the earth tell us so all the time.
Meanwhile in Salt Lake City, my cousin and her husband and all their medical colleagues are putting in everything they can every single day, and when they finally lay down to get a bit of rest, they're all hoping like hell they'll be able to summon whatever it takes to do it again the next day. With no relief anywhere on the horizon.
It's been following medical people online that's been the most instructive for me in terms of grasping the seriousness of the situation. News reports are useful too, but that frontline stuff has been essential to understand. I limit it more now, but it's alarming seeing the places which are reaching hospital overload *again. Did people in positions of power forget that one of the prime reasons for containing the pandemic was because of all the effects when the health system gets overloaded.
There's some common factors and some widely varying factors for the resurgence.
Common factors include CovidCamacho rage-tweeting nonsense from La Cage aux Fuckups that couldn't have been better designed to make the pandemic worse even if it was a planned strategy (rather than the spur-of-the-moment ad-hoc idiocy it probably was). That's likely a factor for why Repug areas are in general are getting it worse for this wave than earlier. As expected, the surge in infections also coincides with classes starting up and people spending more time indoors as the weather gets colder and daylight shorter.
Variable factors include a lot of places either didn't really get a first wave or only a small one, so they never really got the message about how seriously it needed to be taken. Utah and nearby states like the Dakotas are in this category.
Other states like California and New York that got hit hard in the early stages of the pandemic have possibly suffered from lockdown fatigue, and were slow to respond to upticks in cases. To be sure, they have responded to the upticks, just a day late and a dollar short.
edit: just eyeballing the curves for New York City and New York state certainly looks like the statewide cases are shooting up a lot faster than city cases, compared to the first wave. Make of that what you will, given than the rest of New York is fairly Repug-leaning compared to New York City.
Did people in positions of power forget that one of the prime reasons for containing the pandemic was because of all the effects when the health system gets overloaded.
As NZ has a shortage of ICU beds,which struggle in times of crisis such as CHCH eq,mosques, or white island,mobility had to be constrained as well as physical interaction such as sports etc.
The outcome was a mortality deficit in NZ over the winter months,fewer admissions,deaths, etc.
The significant decrease in accidents, also had the paradox of reducing funding to DHB by ACC.
It apparently hasn't occurred to you that they are not showing the evidence because they know the images will distress people…. especially those who have lost loved ones to Covid.
Do you remember the film footage of people jumping off the roof of the World Trade Centre in 2001 because they preferred death by falling than being burnt alive? Health officials were so alarmed at the psychological consequences of such images they called for media outlets to be banned from showing them.
"Do you remember the film footage of people jumping off the roof of the World Trade Centre in 2001 because they preferred death by falling than being burnt alive? "
I remember catching a bit of that before they started the delayed editing.
I found the written reports (sometimes first hand) of covid hitting Italy in March traumatic enough, no way did I want images or video.
911 was the last time I watched live emergencies where people were dying or suffering extremely. Unless there is a good reason to watch I don't see the point. Some people get traumatised, others develop cognitive dissonance and/or increased tolerance to violence.
When somebody is on life-support or has died, the media have the rightful duty to barge in, poke and prod the body and film up-close, interrogate staff and get their personal contact details and publish it, live, preferentially, in lieu of us checking for ourselves with our own eyes. Do you like Zen kōan?
Perhaps first hand experience of Covid-19 one way or the other, will get you to change your mind quick smart re the awful reality of the existence of the virus!
There is one fact that proves it happened…it was the height of the cold war…so russia/china..plus everyone else on the planet with a telescope tracked the fucken thing through the skies..both there and back…unless of course…they were all in the conspiracy too…to believe the moon-landing was faked is the mark of a true idiot..
Earth-based telescopes at the time and even at present are not powerful enough to make out any detail of the landings on the actual Moon itself. If they had used a monster-truck with giant wheels, it would have been different or a huge flag …
This is from a nurse who will tell you – yes it is real!
I have a night off from the hospital. As I’m on my couch with my dog I can’t help but think of the Covid patients the last few days. The ones that stick out are those who still don’t believe the virus is real. The ones who scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is Going to ruin the USA. All while gasping for breath on 100% Vapotherm. They tell you there must be another reason they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that “stuff” because they don’t have COViD because it’s not real. Yes. This really happens. And I can’t stop thinking about it. These people really think this isn’t going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. It’s like a fucking horror movie that never ends. There’s no credits that roll. You just go back and do it all over again.
You using the width box in the window for embedding the image? I never got that to work for me.
What works for me is not bother with any of the other boxes, and just put in the image URL. Then submit the comment. Then immediately edit the comment to add in width="500" just before the />
Yep I've tried all those work arounds. But for some reason it is not working tonight. Had another image wrt to the tangerine ***** driving past his base today and observing just how much that showed how much he cared.
Famous Painter George Bush Canceled After Early 2000s War Crime Allegations Resurface
McLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Prolific artist and former U.S. President George W. Bush is facing a firestorm of controversy today after numerous videos emerged online of his alleged war crimes between 2003 to 2009.
“I’ve known him for years and he’s always been nice. He never once declared war crimes on my family, so I have a hard time believing any of these credible accusations are true,” said former First Lady Michelle Obama. “What’s next? Today, we’re cancelling Bush for unjust wars; tomorrow, we’re cancelling my husband just for bombing a hospital? If things keep going this way, everyone will be too afraid to order drone strikes on civilians.”
Jubilant Reaction To Trump Defeat Quickly Soured By News Of Biden Win
"Seconds after the room had erupted into cheers, applause, and a few big sighs of relief, sources confirmed Tuesday that a local group of friend’s jubilant reaction to Donald Trump’s defeat had soured quickly upon the announcement of Joe Biden’s victory. “One moment we’re celebrating our nation’s repudiation of Trump, and the next Biden is declared the winner—what a buzzkill,” said 29-year-old Ryan Lopez"
Unlike you Andre, I actually have a firm set of moral and ethical principles that I live by that are not negotiable, I know that this concept is quite foreign to you…but there you have it.
Yes..satire is a wonderful thing..but I don't think satirists would claim to be telling the truth…so posting from the onion as tho' it is the 'truth'..and using it as a launching pad for an 'i reckon'…is kinda strange…and funny in itself…
Nah it's true because many people voted for Biden as the lessor of two evils – because Biden was not Trump. Basically a lose:lose situation or a Pyrrhic victory.
It's satirical cause it's poking fun at that very notion and at a US society / political system that basically gives you but two choices and it is clearly exaggerating the effect.
unfortunately it is a lesser known bird gets my vote, as out of the sight of the public very soon there will be no chance for those birds at all.
so every year I look for those less known for my vote and to hopefully increase its profile- saying that they all need attention, DOC resources and habitat protection
MatukuBittern
I am pleased to say that I had to dodge a makutu whilst driving down Henderson Bay Road a wee while ago. Rare indeed, and a delight to see one out and about.
Went for the Grey Warbler. Love a description of it I read somewhere – that it cleverly inverts the Victorian maxim that children should be seen and not heard.
Always feel sorry for the grey warbler. It gets parasitised by the lazy shining cuckoos. They lay their eggs in the warbler nests and then their chicks kick out the warbler chicks and make the warbler mum and dad work like crazy feeding them.
I'm fairly sure I saw a pair of Crested Grebe here in Auckland this week, and wonder if the stormy weather might have displaced them (their distribution is in the South Island).
I took a real good look as it was my first encounter with the species. They were on MOTAT land, beside an estuary/stream system.
So we have a $9 billion Hort industry relying on about 15,000 low wage RSE workers. MIQ facilities quite rightly accepting returning NZ passport holders first. NZ workers choose not to do the hard work at minimum pay rates in an industry rife with reports of exploitation by “labour contractors.” It sounds ripe ground for a unionised workforce with much better worker rights and protection. Growers simply have to face the new reality, negotiate with the Kiwi workforce and their representatives or go broke. Employment contract laws are out dated and very one sided. Time for change?
Definitely time for a change. Actually I think it could do with even wider framing. I really don't understand why Labour won't assist workers to empower themselves by making workforces part of the business conversation. We miss out on so much when we don't harness all the ability of the total workforce. We education people then when they join the workforce, rather than creating and contributing, they are told to sit down and listen only to the current managerial cult.
As to the fruit picking – at the minimum this time around I'd like to see an accreditation scheme – just to let potential workers know such things as whether the employer is compliant with labour and tax laws, are they overseas owned because I don't think anyone needs to be slave labour for overseas profit.
We have had plenty of commentary about water bottling and not being about to benefit from mining the resource yet we also have this hort. industry and don’t forget fishing. IMO little different from water bottling 🤬
The use of offshore labour to prop up successful industrial sectors.
Growers simply have to face the new reality, negotiate with the Kiwi workforce and their representatives or go broke.
It may be that they'll do both. NZ labour simply cannot compete with the cheap labour offshore.
Time for change?
Definitely time for a change but the change is actually in trade laws. We, as a nation, need to step up and say that we will only trade with countries that have the same or similar laws and enforcement as ours. This is to ensure that costs are properly accounted for.
Of course, the end result of that will be the minimising of international trade.
The wages in the local (HB) HORT industry are a joke (a bad one) even if you go on contract and prune or pick well above the average, and believe me a worker has to work fucking hard to make that happen, once you take rain days into account that worker will be earning less than minium wage at the end of most months of the season..and then to add insult to injury, getting topped up by winz is far from straight forward, and even if you do make it through their obvious "thinning out process", they will only top up a workers wage to the level of the unemployment benefit, not the wages they lost over those days!
The New Zealand Labour won't be batting for these workers any time soon….no that party of middle class wankers stopped being even pretending to be a workers party long long ago.
The New Zealand Labour won't be batting for these workers any time soon….no that party of middle class wankers stopped being even pretending to be a workers party long long ago.
I posted a few years back about the Labour Party having the cheek to have prominently on their website the 8 hour working day 40 hour working week pointing out that it was ridiculous they highlighted something they no longer believe in.
Coincidently or not it disappeared within a few weeks. That re-inforced their non-belief in it.
They also no longer believed in the right to strike as they have left that to be only at the expiry of a contract and no other time.
Like increasing benefit rates they have done nothing about giving workers a legal right to strike – the unions are just as useless negotiating multi-year agreement which reduce the right to strike to once every three years. Unions are just as fucked up as the Labour Party.
The unemployment rate in Marlborough has been the among lowest in NZ for quite a few years and was 2.6% in June this year or about a few hundred people. At those number you are down to only those who can do quite sedentary work because of age, injury, addiction and other causes. In effect anybody that can work in Marlborough has a job.
RSE workers are about 3000 and those jobs are a huge benefit to the mostly Pacific Islands that they come from. Stop denigrating RSE workers, they are no different from workers coming from Wellington or Auckland, except in one respect, they are a lot more capable and a hell of a lot more motivated.
To label them in a derogatory manner simply because they come from the Pacific to where the work is, is racist.
They are paid at least the minimum wage and mostly a lot more and are housed in good accomodation that has to pass muster by the Department. They are almost without exception bloody nice people.
They are also the highest paid people by a very, very long margin in their own country, equivilant to probably a Cabinet Minister in NZ.
The payments of RSE workers is a drain on NZs balance of payments. Better for NZs economy for that money to be circulated back within NZs internal economy.
If the growers have to take less dividends from the profits to avoid tax in order to pay more to NZers to entice them to pick fruit and grapes and what have you, then that's hardly going to send them to the poor house.
After all, Francine Perry has a house worth 3million, multiple shareholdings, and likely a trust with multiple properties in it too. Can't forget her late model Audi.
Yeah, nah, the growers complaining aren't complaining at the fact they can't get RSE workers. They're complaining about the fact they might not be able to buy an extra rental property or three, or upgrade the Audi to the latest model, this year, if they had to hire NZers at a rate that enables NZers to travel to work, and recognises the hard physical labour involved in horticulture pruning and picking. I mean, it took female care workers years to fight for the fact their work was just as skilled and demanding as other physical labour – horticulture is just behind the 8 ball. In fact, it's so far behind the 8 ball, that the 8 ball hasn't even been made in the factory yet, for horticulture to get behind.
"If the growers have to take less dividends from the profits to avoid tax in order to pay more to NZers to entice them to pick fruit and grapes and what have you, then that's hardly going to send them to the poor house."…too fucking right!
The RSE scheme has been used to undermine wage growth in the horticultural industry that is just a fact, why on earth do you think there hasn’t been a significant rise in picking bin rates for nearly twenty years? and most especially during the past decade when the industry has been booming, every year their returns would increase while wages stayed stagnant…exploiting one labour force ( pacific Islanders) against another(NZ workers) in a text book operation of class war pure and simple.
Because the one rule of growing stuff is that the price you get for it falls just a little bit every year. Consumers expect everything to be on special pretty much all the time and they set the price. Try selling something to a supermarket chain and get a grasp of what producers are facing everyday.
"The packing house provides accommodation too, with four roommates to one bedroom. Two double bunks where there used to be one, a lean pillow on each mattress. An acquaintance of Mum’s, who used to run the administration at the packing house, confirmed that only two people are supposed to sleep in each room. The four-to-one bedrooms are a recent addition for which the workers are charged $117 each per week. Mum’s disgusted by this. She says they have to share the bunks, and some barely fit on the mattress. The springs creak whenever they turn over in the metal bunk beds."
"Work slows down for a fortnight and the packers only work three or four days a week. As a result the Tongans are not earning much money to send back to their families, and they’re hungry. Groups of Tongan packers sit near Mum and Grant’s table, looking at their food while they’re eating. When Mum takes out an apple, Ana asks for a bite"
I can’t see anyone in the above train of comments denigrating RSE workers. They are exploited to the same or worse extent, by Hort NZ, as Kiwis. RSE workers have even less choice and a recent charge of modern day slavery, in Hawke’s Bay, led to a “Labour contractor” being gaoled. The point is, collective bargaining is a real need and a union is the only way to do this.
Whatever is negotiated with the orchards should definitely be the same for the RSE workers. No way should we be exploiting them in our labour market. And the accommodation charging is just a version of the company store and it needs to stop.
They were called slaves, that is derogatory and their ethnicity is often mentioned.
Were Kiwis going to Aussie mines for the last 40 years "slaves ".
It's a dog whistle to make a political point using some of the nicest people you could meet who are, like the Kiwis to Australia before them delighted to be making what amounts to huge money back home.
But then yesterday Elon Musk showed up. He wants to be in the NASA control room, a very reasonable desire, when his Dragon capsule is launched with real people in it. NASA requires a negative Covid test to be there. That seems somewhat reasonable too; this is a high-security area and the people in there are very important to NASA, so if they want a swab up your nose, well, here it comes.
He popped positive. No soup for you, sir, says NASA!
Except…. Musk is richer than God and he also doesn't give a **** about shoving government bull**** right up their ass. So he demanded a re-test, right there, right now. I assume he offered to pay for it too; the privilege of not caring about money helps in a situation like this, you see.
And, because he's not stupid and, as I said, he's perfectly happy to shove bull**** up their ass, he didn't just do this once.
He did it three more times. All on the same day, same nurse, in sequence.
He got two positive and two negative results.
Now Musk is either positive or negative, obviously. But whichever way it is he just dropped a nuclear weapon in the middle of the Covid19 testing industry and blew it to beyond the orbit of Mars. Exactly nobody in the media is reporting that, but that's what he did — conclusively.
Seriously, what is it with this unhinged idea that media don't report stuff? It's reached that point that making that assertion has become a fairly reliable indicator of an idiot conspiracy theorist.
As for the story itself. it's been known for a long time that COVID testing has varying degrees of positive and negative accuracy. Accuracy depends on the method used, current viral load, where the sample is taken from, and a bunch of other factors. The only slight bit of interest in the story is how it relates to Musk's desire to be in the control room, and his past controversial statements and actions with respect to COVID.
What's the accuracy of the test in question? Got a link to the ROC plot?
Dude narrowly failed a screening test. Could be a misdiagnosis, could be that his viral load at the time was borderline – maybe he was getting over it and didn't know.
But he still failed it twice. Would you rather a test that erred on the side of false negatives?
In his big speech the other day Trump once again spoke about the testing. The 'best' tests and the best testing. There was the acceptance and acknowledgement there that there are tests and there are tests.
:SIGH:
This has been known for some months. But in America where quicker is always better..
Fast Isn’t Always Better: What to Know About Rise of Rapid Coronavirus Testing
Earlier this month, shortly before Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was due to meet President Donald Trump at a Cleveland airport, the governor tested positive on a rapid antigen test for the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes the disease COVID-19.
Two follow-up tests, using a more accurate polymerase chain reaction, or PCR test, showed the governor didn’t have the virus.
This kind of false positive with an antigen test isn’t an isolated incident.
Dozens of people who took a rapid SARS-CoV-2 test developed by biotech company Quidel at a Manchester, Vermont, clinic in July were told they had the virus.
Subsequent PCR tests run by the state’s Department of Health found that only 4 out of those 65 were positive.
With people across the United States returning to work and school — and flying and eating out — companies, businesses, and universities are turning to rapid tests as a way to identify people who have the virus.
But no test is completely accurate, which means that some cases will be missed (false negatives) and some people will be told they have the virus even though they don’t (false positives).
This can create confusion, especially when people aren’t aware of what type of test they’ve had done.
But some experts say that widespread testing, even if it’s less accurate, can still help contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Although antigen tests are faster and the number of tests being run can be easily scaled up, they have a high false-negative rate — with as many as half of negative results inaccurate.
There's the old tradies' rule that work can be fast, good, or cheap, you pick two out of three.
Medical tests are similar, with the proviso that "good" can be "specific" or "sensitive".
NASA wanted sensitivity as a priority. That often means a trade-off against "specificity" – sometimes it will confuse something else for what you are testing for.
Meh. I had wondered why Musk was going apeshit over it. Apparently he can send people into space, but he can't watch it over zoom lol.
You can come up with all the excuses… it's neo-liberalism… it's free trade agreements taking away their jobs and… people are entitled to their views etc., but the truth is:
These people are one dirty great screw loose and they're dangerous.
Here we go again. The suits find it suits them to sign up to these constricting trade agreements and if we upset any of the ‘partners’ the suits will fly.
Fifteen countries in the Asia-Pacific region have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal.
It's the world's largest free trade agreement, has been eight years in the making and came into fruition today via a virtual summit hosted in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Australia went from relief that it had had several days without any community transmission to a certain smugness, with eyes cast over the ditch at NZs recent leakage from quarantine…..until today. A new cluster has emerged in Adelaide, the first in the community since April.The source is a worker at a quarantine hotel, who appears to have passed the virus on to family members who work in places where further transmission is likely – no room for complacency as the Chief Health Officer reminds everyone in SA. Mind you, compared to the horror figures coming out of the U.S. and Europe (and just about everywhere else) these little leaks seem pretty insignifcant on a world scale.
Tegnell is admitting that his PlanB-style non-lockdown infectious disease control plan did not mitigate the second wave. His math was a little bit off initially, fair enough. But he committed to the plan even when it others said it was going pear-shaped.
If it were fiction, he'd be a bit of a tragic figure – reminds me of Kodos the Executioner. Similar body count so far, too.
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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. ...
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 ...
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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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 ...
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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 ...
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TVNZ News reports that hospitals in the UK and the USA are over crowded with Covid 19 patients and the film cameras show 1 patient. In all the reports I still have not seen a single image of a hospital over full with Covid 19 patients.
They also report 100's of dead per day and recently in the USA a 1000 dead per day from Covid 19 and the film cameras show 0 bodies. I still have not seen any evidence of this many dead.
What is the point of film camera's? They just say all this shit and don't show any of it. I feel like I'm still a child being forced to attend church, they just say all this random unbelievable shit and expect me to believe it?
Why does anyone believe this shit when they can't even show it? Seeing is believing, show what's going on or shove your mandatory mask wearing and contact tracing up your arse.
Maybe the dead and dying aren't there for your entertainment purposes. Have you heard of the internet? It has lots of awful stuff you can fap to.
Why don't you go look for yourself and tell us all what you find? After all, video can be faked too. Truthers of all kinds of things like moon landings and the shape of the earth tell us so all the time.
Meanwhile in Salt Lake City, my cousin and her husband and all their medical colleagues are putting in everything they can every single day, and when they finally lay down to get a bit of rest, they're all hoping like hell they'll be able to summon whatever it takes to do it again the next day. With no relief anywhere on the horizon.
It's been following medical people online that's been the most instructive for me in terms of grasping the seriousness of the situation. News reports are useful too, but that frontline stuff has been essential to understand. I limit it more now, but it's alarming seeing the places which are reaching hospital overload *again. Did people in positions of power forget that one of the prime reasons for containing the pandemic was because of all the effects when the health system gets overloaded.
There's some common factors and some widely varying factors for the resurgence.
Common factors include CovidCamacho rage-tweeting nonsense from La Cage aux Fuckups that couldn't have been better designed to make the pandemic worse even if it was a planned strategy (rather than the spur-of-the-moment ad-hoc idiocy it probably was). That's likely a factor for why Repug areas are in general are getting it worse for this wave than earlier. As expected, the surge in infections also coincides with classes starting up and people spending more time indoors as the weather gets colder and daylight shorter.
Variable factors include a lot of places either didn't really get a first wave or only a small one, so they never really got the message about how seriously it needed to be taken. Utah and nearby states like the Dakotas are in this category.
Other states like California and New York that got hit hard in the early stages of the pandemic have possibly suffered from lockdown fatigue, and were slow to respond to upticks in cases. To be sure, they have responded to the upticks, just a day late and a dollar short.
edit: just eyeballing the curves for New York City and New York state certainly looks like the statewide cases are shooting up a lot faster than city cases, compared to the first wave. Make of that what you will, given than the rest of New York is fairly Repug-leaning compared to New York City.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data-trends.page
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/new-york/
Did people in positions of power forget that one of the prime reasons for containing the pandemic was because of all the effects when the health system gets overloaded.
As NZ has a shortage of ICU beds,which struggle in times of crisis such as CHCH eq,mosques, or white island,mobility had to be constrained as well as physical interaction such as sports etc.
The outcome was a mortality deficit in NZ over the winter months,fewer admissions,deaths, etc.
The significant decrease in accidents, also had the paradox of reducing funding to DHB by ACC.
https://mpidr.shinyapps.io/stmortality/
It apparently hasn't occurred to you that they are not showing the evidence because they know the images will distress people…. especially those who have lost loved ones to Covid.
Do you remember the film footage of people jumping off the roof of the World Trade Centre in 2001 because they preferred death by falling than being burnt alive? Health officials were so alarmed at the psychological consequences of such images they called for media outlets to be banned from showing them.
"Do you remember the film footage of people jumping off the roof of the World Trade Centre in 2001 because they preferred death by falling than being burnt alive? "
I remember catching a bit of that before they started the delayed editing.
It was f-ing awful
I found the written reports (sometimes first hand) of covid hitting Italy in March traumatic enough, no way did I want images or video.
911 was the last time I watched live emergencies where people were dying or suffering extremely. Unless there is a good reason to watch I don't see the point. Some people get traumatised, others develop cognitive dissonance and/or increased tolerance to violence.
When somebody is on life-support or has died, the media have the rightful duty to barge in, poke and prod the body and film up-close, interrogate staff and get their personal contact details and publish it, live, preferentially, in lieu of us checking for ourselves with our own eyes. Do you like Zen kōan?
@Non-Personal
Are the dying non-personal persons?. When are the dead non-persons – just before, or the moment after? Do you need to see the nail-holes in the hands?
Because, my conspiracist leaning friend, sick people and dead people have rights of privacy! Duh!!
I have seen evidence of over full hospitals on Aljazeera TV channel 16 and the storing of bodies. As well the pressure health care workers are under.
Just on AJ TV 180,000 Covid infections in the US in the last 24 hrs. Britain has a high as well.
I will not comment
I will not comment
I will not comment
I will not comment
I will not
aaarrrrgghhhhhhh!
@ Non Personal … Are you for real?
Perhaps first hand experience of Covid-19 one way or the other, will get you to change your mind quick smart re the awful reality of the existence of the virus!
I realise I am wasting my own good time by responding to you. Your level of ignorance defies belief. Please get some help
D'yareckon the moon-landing was faked..?
Heh! Had the same thought but concluded that the fake was faked, which kinda makes the real thing real in a surreal kinda way, for real.
I remember many a happy hour at Vic in our Philosophy III tutorials with Prof Hughes discussing that very moot "What is 'real'?"
Hangovers are real and the good nights before are surreal. Like a good Groundhog, we keep repeating the same type of behaviour over and over again.
There is one fact that proves it happened…it was the height of the cold war…so russia/china..plus everyone else on the planet with a telescope tracked the fucken thing through the skies..both there and back…unless of course…they were all in the conspiracy too…to believe the moon-landing was faked is the mark of a true idiot..
Earth-based telescopes at the time and even at present are not powerful enough to make out any detail of the landings on the actual Moon itself. If they had used a monster-truck with giant wheels, it would have been different or a huge flag …
This is from a nurse who will tell you – yes it is real!
I have a night off from the hospital. As I’m on my couch with my dog I can’t help but think of the Covid patients the last few days. The ones that stick out are those who still don’t believe the virus is real. The ones who scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is Going to ruin the USA. All while gasping for breath on 100% Vapotherm. They tell you there must be another reason they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that “stuff” because they don’t have COViD because it’s not real. Yes. This really happens. And I can’t stop thinking about it. These people really think this isn’t going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. It’s like a fucking horror movie that never ends. There’s no credits that roll. You just go back and do it all over again.
https://twitter.com/JodiDoering/status/1327771329555292162
You sound like Billy T the fuckwit.
[Image resized]
Tried to adjust this image to fit (eg with 450) – it appears ok in the preview, but when submitted it always reverts to the original size 🙁
You using the width box in the window for embedding the image? I never got that to work for me.
What works for me is not bother with any of the other boxes, and just put in the image URL. Then submit the comment. Then immediately edit the comment to add in width="500" just before the />
Yep I've tried all those work arounds. But for some reason it is not working tonight. Had another image wrt to the tangerine ***** driving past his base today and observing just how much that showed how much he cared.
Ha! Fixed it – I'd been missing a space :blush:
Add this before the end of tag: width="100%"
Heh..!…very good..!…
[Removed stray letter from e-mail address]
Famous Painter George Bush Canceled After Early 2000s War Crime Allegations Resurface
McLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Prolific artist and former U.S. President George W. Bush is facing a firestorm of controversy today after numerous videos emerged online of his alleged war crimes between 2003 to 2009.
“I’ve known him for years and he’s always been nice. He never once declared war crimes on my family, so I have a hard time believing any of these credible accusations are true,” said former First Lady Michelle Obama. “What’s next? Today, we’re cancelling Bush for unjust wars; tomorrow, we’re cancelling my husband just for bombing a hospital? If things keep going this way, everyone will be too afraid to order drone strikes on civilians.”
https://thehardtimes.net/culture/famous-painter-george-bush-canceled-after-early-2000s-war-crime-allegations-resurface/
Anyone else gong to EcoDay? Trackmeet of all activist beings in western Auckland?
https://www.ecomatters.org.nz/event/ecohub-market-day-2/
Jubilant Reaction To Trump Defeat Quickly Soured By News Of Biden Win
"Seconds after the room had erupted into cheers, applause, and a few big sighs of relief, sources confirmed Tuesday that a local group of friend’s jubilant reaction to Donald Trump’s defeat had soured quickly upon the announcement of Joe Biden’s victory. “One moment we’re celebrating our nation’s repudiation of Trump, and the next Biden is declared the winner—what a buzzkill,” said 29-year-old Ryan Lopez"
https://politics.theonion.com/jubilant-reaction-to-trump-defeat-quickly-soured-by-new-1845551327
…the reaction of every single person I have talked to about the US election, Trump and Biden both universally despised by all right thinking citizens.
You do realise that The Onion is a satirical comedy dhow don't you?
…you do understand that most good satire and especially political satire are based within unsaid truths..don't you?
Like the unsaid truth (in liberal press) that Biden is corporate whore and well known war monger amongst other things..
Politically, poor Mr Thornton is like a vegan stuck in a town where the only place to get a feed is Carnivore Carl's House of Dripping Bloody Steaks.
Unlike you Andre, I actually have a firm set of moral and ethical principles that I live by that are not negotiable, I know that this concept is quite foreign to you…but there you have it.
And relying on the onion for yr political news/information is one of them..?…heh..!
I'm on Adrian's side here.
Good satire is so often truthful at the same time as being satirical.
Yes..satire is a wonderful thing..but I don't think satirists would claim to be telling the truth…so posting from the onion as tho' it is the 'truth'..and using it as a launching pad for an 'i reckon'…is kinda strange…and funny in itself…
Nah it's true because many people voted for Biden as the lessor of two evils – because Biden was not Trump. Basically a lose:lose situation or a Pyrrhic victory.
It's satirical cause it's poking fun at that very notion and at a US society / political system that basically gives you but two choices and it is clearly exaggerating the effect.
Closing 5:00 pm today Bird of the Year Vote: Exercise your rights 😉🤔
https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/
As a bird lover I want to vote for all of them. 🙁
Do you reckon the Fairy Tern would be a good pick?
Surely it's its turn?
Done.
unfortunately it is a lesser known bird gets my vote, as out of the sight of the public very soon there will be no chance for those birds at all.
so every year I look for those less known for my vote and to hopefully increase its profile- saying that they all need attention, DOC resources and habitat protection
MatukuBittern
I am pleased to say that I had to dodge a makutu whilst driving down Henderson Bay Road a wee while ago. Rare indeed, and a delight to see one out and about.
Yes, I think it is the bittern's turn.
Went for the Grey Warbler. Love a description of it I read somewhere – that it cleverly inverts the Victorian maxim that children should be seen and not heard.
Always feel sorry for the grey warbler. It gets parasitised by the lazy shining cuckoos. They lay their eggs in the warbler nests and then their chicks kick out the warbler chicks and make the warbler mum and dad work like crazy feeding them.
Hutton's Shearwater for me, obviously.
I'm fairly sure I saw a pair of Crested Grebe here in Auckland this week, and wonder if the stormy weather might have displaced them (their distribution is in the South Island).
I took a real good look as it was my first encounter with the species. They were on MOTAT land, beside an estuary/stream system.
So we have a $9 billion Hort industry relying on about 15,000 low wage RSE workers. MIQ facilities quite rightly accepting returning NZ passport holders first. NZ workers choose not to do the hard work at minimum pay rates in an industry rife with reports of exploitation by “labour contractors.” It sounds ripe ground for a unionised workforce with much better worker rights and protection. Growers simply have to face the new reality, negotiate with the Kiwi workforce and their representatives or go broke. Employment contract laws are out dated and very one sided. Time for change?
Definitely time for a change. Actually I think it could do with even wider framing. I really don't understand why Labour won't assist workers to empower themselves by making workforces part of the business conversation. We miss out on so much when we don't harness all the ability of the total workforce. We education people then when they join the workforce, rather than creating and contributing, they are told to sit down and listen only to the current managerial cult.
As to the fruit picking – at the minimum this time around I'd like to see an accreditation scheme – just to let potential workers know such things as whether the employer is compliant with labour and tax laws, are they overseas owned because I don't think anyone needs to be slave labour for overseas profit.
We have had plenty of commentary about water bottling and not being about to benefit from mining the resource yet we also have this hort. industry and don’t forget fishing. IMO little different from water bottling 🤬
The use of offshore labour to prop up successful industrial sectors.
It may be that they'll do both. NZ labour simply cannot compete with the cheap labour offshore.
Definitely time for a change but the change is actually in trade laws. We, as a nation, need to step up and say that we will only trade with countries that have the same or similar laws and enforcement as ours. This is to ensure that costs are properly accounted for.
Of course, the end result of that will be the minimising of international trade.
Love to read your 'pungent' comments on the recently signed RECEP (or whatever it's called) 'free' trade agreement.
Nothing in it for the average kiwi, but the big players will make some bucks!
Yes. Time for a change. I think though that the Hort industry will hold out expecting the government to come to their rescue.
The wages in the local (HB) HORT industry are a joke (a bad one) even if you go on contract and prune or pick well above the average, and believe me a worker has to work fucking hard to make that happen, once you take rain days into account that worker will be earning less than minium wage at the end of most months of the season..and then to add insult to injury, getting topped up by winz is far from straight forward, and even if you do make it through their obvious "thinning out process", they will only top up a workers wage to the level of the unemployment benefit, not the wages they lost over those days!
The New Zealand Labour won't be batting for these workers any time soon….no that party of middle class wankers stopped being even pretending to be a workers party long long ago.
QFT
I posted a few years back about the Labour Party having the cheek to have prominently on their website the 8 hour working day 40 hour working week pointing out that it was ridiculous they highlighted something they no longer believe in.
Coincidently or not it disappeared within a few weeks. That re-inforced their non-belief in it.
They also no longer believed in the right to strike as they have left that to be only at the expiry of a contract and no other time.
Like increasing benefit rates they have done nothing about giving workers a legal right to strike – the unions are just as useless negotiating multi-year agreement which reduce the right to strike to once every three years. Unions are just as fucked up as the Labour Party.
No use having power you can't actually exercise.
@a.t…Yep..!
The unemployment rate in Marlborough has been the among lowest in NZ for quite a few years and was 2.6% in June this year or about a few hundred people. At those number you are down to only those who can do quite sedentary work because of age, injury, addiction and other causes. In effect anybody that can work in Marlborough has a job.
RSE workers are about 3000 and those jobs are a huge benefit to the mostly Pacific Islands that they come from. Stop denigrating RSE workers, they are no different from workers coming from Wellington or Auckland, except in one respect, they are a lot more capable and a hell of a lot more motivated.
To label them in a derogatory manner simply because they come from the Pacific to where the work is, is racist.
They are paid at least the minimum wage and mostly a lot more and are housed in good accomodation that has to pass muster by the Department. They are almost without exception bloody nice people.
They are also the highest paid people by a very, very long margin in their own country, equivilant to probably a Cabinet Minister in NZ.
Whomst labelling RSE workers in racial epithets?
The payments of RSE workers is a drain on NZs balance of payments. Better for NZs economy for that money to be circulated back within NZs internal economy.
If the growers have to take less dividends from the profits to avoid tax in order to pay more to NZers to entice them to pick fruit and grapes and what have you, then that's hardly going to send them to the poor house.
After all, Francine Perry has a house worth 3million, multiple shareholdings, and likely a trust with multiple properties in it too. Can't forget her late model Audi.
Yeah, nah, the growers complaining aren't complaining at the fact they can't get RSE workers. They're complaining about the fact they might not be able to buy an extra rental property or three, or upgrade the Audi to the latest model, this year, if they had to hire NZers at a rate that enables NZers to travel to work, and recognises the hard physical labour involved in horticulture pruning and picking. I mean, it took female care workers years to fight for the fact their work was just as skilled and demanding as other physical labour – horticulture is just behind the 8 ball. In fact, it's so far behind the 8 ball, that the 8 ball hasn't even been made in the factory yet, for horticulture to get behind.
@ James Thrace +1
"If the growers have to take less dividends from the profits to avoid tax in order to pay more to NZers to entice them to pick fruit and grapes and what have you, then that's hardly going to send them to the poor house."…too fucking right!
You have missed the point that there are no workers to do the work . And who the fuck is francine Perry /
The RSE scheme has been used to undermine wage growth in the horticultural industry that is just a fact, why on earth do you think there hasn’t been a significant rise in picking bin rates for nearly twenty years? and most especially during the past decade when the industry has been booming, every year their returns would increase while wages stayed stagnant…exploiting one labour force ( pacific Islanders) against another(NZ workers) in a text book operation of class war pure and simple.
Because the one rule of growing stuff is that the price you get for it falls just a little bit every year. Consumers expect everything to be on special pretty much all the time and they set the price. Try selling something to a supermarket chain and get a grasp of what producers are facing everyday.
"The packing house provides accommodation too, with four roommates to one bedroom. Two double bunks where there used to be one, a lean pillow on each mattress. An acquaintance of Mum’s, who used to run the administration at the packing house, confirmed that only two people are supposed to sleep in each room. The four-to-one bedrooms are a recent addition for which the workers are charged $117 each per week. Mum’s disgusted by this. She says they have to share the bunks, and some barely fit on the mattress. The springs creak whenever they turn over in the metal bunk beds."
"Work slows down for a fortnight and the packers only work three or four days a week. As a result the Tongans are not earning much money to send back to their families, and they’re hungry. Groups of Tongan packers sit near Mum and Grant’s table, looking at their food while they’re eating. When Mum takes out an apple, Ana asks for a bite"
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/hard-labour-in-paradise
How many ex P.I. Cabinet Ministers you think amongst that lot?
I can’t see anyone in the above train of comments denigrating RSE workers. They are exploited to the same or worse extent, by Hort NZ, as Kiwis. RSE workers have even less choice and a recent charge of modern day slavery, in Hawke’s Bay, led to a “Labour contractor” being gaoled. The point is, collective bargaining is a real need and a union is the only way to do this.
Whatever is negotiated with the orchards should definitely be the same for the RSE workers. No way should we be exploiting them in our labour market. And the accommodation charging is just a version of the company store and it needs to stop.
And the cost of airflights,visas etc?
denigrating?…perhaps not…justifying exploitation definitely.
15 November 2020 at 2:38 pm
They were called slaves, that is derogatory and their ethnicity is often mentioned.
Were Kiwis going to Aussie mines for the last 40 years "slaves ".
It's a dog whistle to make a political point using some of the nicest people you could meet who are, like the Kiwis to Australia before them delighted to be making what amounts to huge money back home.
It's been happening all day ref.
This is an i trresting development in testing accuracy….
From https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?blog=Market-Ticker
But then yesterday Elon Musk showed up. He wants to be in the NASA control room, a very reasonable desire, when his Dragon capsule is launched with real people in it. NASA requires a negative Covid test to be there. That seems somewhat reasonable too; this is a high-security area and the people in there are very important to NASA, so if they want a swab up your nose, well, here it comes.
He popped positive. No soup for you, sir, says NASA!
Except…. Musk is richer than God and he also doesn't give a **** about shoving government bull**** right up their ass. So he demanded a re-test, right there, right now. I assume he offered to pay for it too; the privilege of not caring about money helps in a situation like this, you see.
And, because he's not stupid and, as I said, he's perfectly happy to shove bull**** up their ass, he didn't just do this once.
He did it three more times. All on the same day, same nurse, in sequence.
He got two positive and two negative results.
Now Musk is either positive or negative, obviously. But whichever way it is he just dropped a nuclear weapon in the middle of the Covid19 testing industry and blew it to beyond the orbit of Mars. Exactly nobody in the media is reporting that, but that's what he did — conclusively.
… Exactly nobody in the media is reporting that …
Except Wall Street Journal, USA Today, NBC, Reuters, Washington Post … and that's just half the media that just show up in the first page of a search.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=musk+covid+positive+negative&tbm=nws&source=univ&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-067J9YPtAhVbyjgGHdFeCnEQt8YBKAF6BAgKEB0&biw=1920&bih=966
Seriously, what is it with this unhinged idea that media don't report stuff? It's reached that point that making that assertion has become a fairly reliable indicator of an idiot conspiracy theorist.
As for the story itself. it's been known for a long time that COVID testing has varying degrees of positive and negative accuracy. Accuracy depends on the method used, current viral load, where the sample is taken from, and a bunch of other factors. The only slight bit of interest in the story is how it relates to Musk's desire to be in the control room, and his past controversial statements and actions with respect to COVID.
On Friday, he had questioned the veracity of rapid antigen testing, tweeting: "Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse."
Fake
outragenews.I think you may have slightly miss interpreted the final paragraph,
How much would you pay for that test….and how badly poor accuracy test results are giving a false picture of what is actually happening,
That is the issue he is commenting on as not being reported, not the news that Musk test results were so random.
"Poor accuracy"?
What's the accuracy of the test in question? Got a link to the ROC plot?
Dude narrowly failed a screening test. Could be a misdiagnosis, could be that his viral load at the time was borderline – maybe he was getting over it and didn't know.
But he still failed it twice. Would you rather a test that erred on the side of false negatives?
In his big speech the other day Trump once again spoke about the testing. The 'best' tests and the best testing. There was the acceptance and acknowledgement there that there are tests and there are tests.
:SIGH:
This has been known for some months. But in America where quicker is always better..
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/fast-isnt-always-better-experts-worry-about-rise-of-rapid-covid-19-testing
That was reported on 26 August. The inaccuracy of the antigen tests has been well understood within the health community for some time before that.
There's the old tradies' rule that work can be fast, good, or cheap, you pick two out of three.
Medical tests are similar, with the proviso that "good" can be "specific" or "sensitive".
NASA wanted sensitivity as a priority. That often means a trade-off against "specificity" – sometimes it will confuse something else for what you are testing for.
Meh. I had wondered why Musk was going apeshit over it. Apparently he can send people into space, but he can't watch it over zoom lol.
Oh Dear! How Sad! lol Maybe he could take a ride in his Tesla up there
I hope the UK does it, and I wish the NZ govt. would do it too. In fact I wish all countries would do it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/54893437
You can come up with all the excuses… it's neo-liberalism… it's free trade agreements taking away their jobs and… people are entitled to their views etc., but the truth is:
These people are one dirty great screw loose and they're dangerous.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/430670/opposition-as-nz-joins-world-s-largest-free-trade-agreement
Here we go again. The suits find it suits them to sign up to these constricting trade agreements and if we upset any of the ‘partners’ the suits will fly.
When is our new government supposed to actually start work?
I mean great to see the new Minister of Civil Defence out there with a shovel and all, but seriously team where's the momentum?
They just kept moving so you won’t sense a change of momentum.
Sunday, 15 November 2020. Auckland.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/430670/opposition-as-nz-joins-world-s-largest-free-trade-agreement
Australia went from relief that it had had several days without any community transmission to a certain smugness, with eyes cast over the ditch at NZs recent leakage from quarantine…..until today. A new cluster has emerged in Adelaide, the first in the community since April.The source is a worker at a quarantine hotel, who appears to have passed the virus on to family members who work in places where further transmission is likely – no room for complacency as the Chief Health Officer reminds everyone in SA. Mind you, compared to the horror figures coming out of the U.S. and Europe (and just about everywhere else) these little leaks seem pretty insignifcant on a world scale.
Tegnell is admitting that his PlanB-style non-lockdown infectious disease control plan did not mitigate the second wave. His math was a little bit off initially, fair enough. But he committed to the plan even when it others said it was going pear-shaped.
If it were fiction, he'd be a bit of a tragic figure – reminds me of Kodos the Executioner. Similar body count so far, too.