There's still a strange reluctance to officially designate non-compliant folk Class B citizens. However the two-classes thing is now globalising:
Bruno Courcelle said he was not overly involved in politics before the pandemic — now the 72-year-old mathematics lecturer is a regular at demonstrations against the vaccine, lockdowns and other Covid control measures.
His stance has left him at odds with family, friends and colleagues. Speaking to CNN before Christmas, Courcelle was preparing for an uncomfortable festive family dinner.
"The rest of my family got vaccinated," he said, adding that he has had several arguments with relatives who fail to understand why he has joined the ranks of the anti-vaccination protesters.
"My wife said 'Please, do not say anything [at the table],'" he said. "I will not start such a discussion myself … [but] I will not stay silent letting leftists say their stupid things."
Binary division of societies is an ancient phenomenon, traditionally equating left with wrong and right with right, ruled vs rulers, and built into the structure of democracy as govt vs opposition. You can even cite it as natural, deriving from cell division.
Two years on, and with opinions becoming more entrenched by the day, some experts fear it may be too late to bridge the divide between the authorities and those who have become vociferously opposed to vaccination measures.
France's President Macron appears to have moved on from appealing to the refuseniks' sense of solidarity — instead he's now hoping to annoy reluctant French citizens into getting their shots by requiring proof of vaccination for access to a range of everyday activities.
Apartheid is a good model, eh? Harassment morphs into persecution at what point?
definitely something we should be sorting out sooner rather than later. And, this was happening before the mandates. Before the pandemic. It's just that we didn't care as much when it was only being done to beneficiaries or poor people.
The mandates are a new thing, I don't like the way they were done even though they were probably a necessary evil to get the vax rates high. In an ideal world we'd learn from that and put considerable effort into reducing the main drivers of marginalisation (poverty, colonisation) but the majority of NZ wants what Labour does, so we will have to adapt around that.
Robert G pointed out the other day that some people choosing to not vaccinate were finding creative ways to make their lives good. This is what I see in the people I know too. Not everyone, but it's a definite choice in how to respond. I see the potential for a lot of creative work to be done by this arising counter culture that is quite different than the ones aligning with Qanon etc. I also think it's the kind of response we need going into a climate/eco crisis world: being able to work creatively with restriction will be a highly valued skill as more and more people lose their security and the stability they normally rely on.
Not that that is new either, but I think we should be talking about it in proactive terms. I have a foot in both camps, being vaccinated and being ok with vaccination as a personal choice and keeping good relationships with people who have chosen not to rather than ostracising them. I listen to their concerns and often agree with them or understand them even though I disagree.
The liberals on twitter running round posting about which shops to boycott because they put up welcome everyone signs worry me more than the creative, non-complying counter culture. I worry there is a degree of fragility there that won't do well in the coming years.
The ones of course to really worry about are those without the resources (of all kinds) to manage a creative response to restriction. This is Labour's great failing in not addressing poverty and benefits in the past four years. This is obviously unfair on those people and will come back to bite us.
Like you, I've a foot in both camps & concur with your overview. Ardern's kindness needs to kick in a little more, perhaps. The danger with these divides arises when they are allowed to harden, polarising everyone more fervently. Labour probably feels that the vaccination rate measures the dissidents as a small minority who can be safely marginalised. I'm not so sure that their complacency is sensible.
Difficult situation last year, because being kind of non-vaccinating people would have undermined the fast uptake of vaccination. But I can't help but feel that alongside her personal conviction that everyone should want to vaccinate, she was actually ok with the marginalising because of her values not just the pragmatics of the situation.
But then, isn't this also what underlies Labour's inaction on benefits? People need incentives to go to work, right? Labour will create jobs, and people need to be coerced to take them.
People finding "creative ways" to get around necessary and sensible responses to a pandemic, are probably what will doom us to overwhelmed health systems and preventable deaths.
Unfortunately not just of those who refuse to do the equivalent of wearing seatbelts and lifejackets, but like the USA, others who can't get the healthcare they need, because hospitals are full of people who should be politely described as, fools.
People finding "creative ways" to get around necessary and sensible responses to a pandemic, are probably what will doom us to overwhelmed health systems and preventable deaths.
What does that mean? They're not finding creative ways to 'get around' public health measures, they made the entirely legal decision to not vax and are finding out how to adapt to the mandates.
Do you want the state to force them to be vaccinated.
I"ll throw your question back at you weka, do you want the state to force the vaccinated to pay for the unvaccinated's health care? time for all of the smart-arse fence-sitters here to fess up. I spent four months last year waiting for an operation, while the hospital kept beds sitting empty for possible covid sufferers. statistics show that most covid sufferers who end in hospital ARENT vaccinated. so, if you chose freedumb, and dont get vaccinated, go stand at the end of the longest line for healthcare.
Your hospital wait cannot definitively be laid at the door of the pandemic. There were pre-existing systemic failures before 2019.
You ire against the as yet unmanifested overwhelmed ICU units, should be diluted by the depreciated health system, the failure to take advantage of our successful elimination hiatus to forward plan, and despite the success of the vaccination messaging – no follow up messging as that is achieved and parameters change.
the people I was talking about, the ones finding creative responses, are generally ok with taking other precautions. I know there are hard core anti-vax, or anti-covid response people as well, but that's a different cohort (maybe there are overlaps).
From where I'm sitting the major reasons for the increasing blowbacks are:
When govts did lockdowns back in early 2020 the deal was 'flatten the curve for a few weeks or a month or so' – almost 2 years later and there is no end in sight. All these ‘temporary’ restrictions on travel, association and small businesses seem to have no end date contemplated.
The vaccines themselves turned out to be not very safe and not very effective. While at the same time many non-vaccine early treatments have been uniformly rejected by authorities – which is a medical nonsense.
While this doesn't mean the vaccines had zero utility, they certainly have not been the path out of this pandemic as originally promised. Instead govts are now demanding – against WHO advice as it happens – booster shots forever.
And here's the extraordinary thing – all this has been driven from within the powerful ranks of Big Pharma and it's captured regulatory agencies, particularly the US. Yet remarkably almost no-one pauses to look back with fresh eyes and scratch their heads over the opioid crisis in the USA and prevalence of iatrogenic disease worldwide.
Think about it this is the same medical profession that at the direct behest of a pharmaceutical company with a dodgy record – conspired for years to push a dangerous and lethal drug onto their patients by the millions. Resulting in death toll, often of young people with much life ahead of them, and a wicked suffering that continues today. Or that the medical profession’s own mistakes and errors are frequently reported as the fourth or even third leading cause of death. And this is not even scratching the surface.
But now we're required, coerced even, into following every dictate this highly questionable industry imposes on us – or get shamefully relegated to Class B citizens.
I'm triple-vaccinated against covid. That's due to comprehending the logic & track record of vaccination long ago & getting a grasp of the ecosystemic nature of immune systems in more recent decades.
However I agree we ought not to become overly dependent on artificial aids. The monetary incentives driving big pharma into coercing govt decisions are definitely a factor to keep in mind, so I agree with your point there.
booster shots forever
Will have to become optional – like flu shots – and I suspect this year govts will have to proclaim that officially (rather than the current tacit tolerance).
Likewise, with regard to your first two points, I'd like to see our govt stop lagging behind. They ought to be up the front of the learning curve, just behind the fast learners. I've got no problem with experts pushing the medical party line in the media but I get the feeling that the time for such zealotry is past…
That's due to comprehending the logic & track record of vaccination long ago
For people of our age there is a reasonable benefit to being vaccinated as I am as well. Just as for example when I was working in Latin America I was happy to take the Yellow Fever vaccine, because I was going to an at risk location. And I always had the option of not taking it and doing the quarantine thing on my return to Australia.
But this mass vax campaign being effectively coerced onto everyone, regardless of risk profile makes no sense. And especially not when the vaccines are not preventing transmission. We only have to look at the current situation in both Israel and Australia – the former the most highly vaccinated country on earth, to see the stark undeniable truth of this.
I too have had a foot in both camps, I was willing to give the vaccines a go and see how they worked out. Well it's a year later and I'm underwhelmed.
The comparison right in front of you, between NZ where effective public health responses combined with high vaccination rates, has almost eliminated Delta, again, with the States of Australia, that had increased rates of infection even before Omicron, shows you are talking nonsence.
It's reasonable to think of a population in three broad categories; people who are immune, people who will catch it but will recover quickly and gain an immunity, and those who are vulnerable to serious illness or worse. The first two categories constitute a large majority.
Over and again we see in many countries with relatively low vaccination rates waves of variants pass through, rising and declining pretty much regardless of public health policy. What we are not seeing is any variant run away exponentially consuming all before it. This can only be due to a much maligned herd immunity being generated relatively sooner than is being acknowledged by authorities.
And untangling this from the impact of the vaccines is a non-trivial data analysis task that I'd not rush to judgement on.
Again nonsence. I’ve first hand information from people that are there, of the disasters that continue in low vaccination rate US States. Anyone who wants that here, is an idiot.
In NZ, The "large majority" have sensibly voted with their feet, and got vaccinated, wear masks and follow public health measures.
Because, like wearing a lifejacket, you can't say if you will be the one that needs it.
A small and very vocal "minority" have persuaded themselves, against the evidence that they know better.
Coastguard rescue those sorts on the Manukau bar, regularly.
"After accounting for the vaccination rates and stratifying by age groups, from these same data we can see that the vaccines retain high effectiveness (85-95%) vs. severe disease, showing that when it comes to preventing severe disease, the Pfizer vaccine is still performing very well vs. Delta, even in Israel from whence the most concerning data have arisen".
RedLogix: You say, "….. regardless of risk profile makes no sense.". How do you imagine risk profile would be measured? Otherwise, until the successful NZ strategy falls apart, why would the country change what it is doing because of the failures of Israel and Australia. Don't know about Israel, apart from the fact that it is selectively vaccinating only one demographic but the Aussies are as slack as …… when it comes to dealing with Covid.
Of course, if you have particular expertise, in public health strategies, tell MOH how to strategise risk profile analysis. I'm sure your knowledge would be appreciated.
"The third barrier is Rose’s Prevention Paradox: for a lot of diseases, most of the cases don’t happen in high-risk people. There are people at very high risk of heart attack (what Rose was interested in), but they account for a relatively small fraction of all heart attacks. "
RedLogix: It seems the experts may know more than you do about tailoring public health policy. Of course, if you are able to confirm that the 75% of hospitalized cases between the ages of 20 and 60 fit your profiles, then you may have a point. As a further observation, it seems the 15% over 60 doesn't overwhelmingly support your criteria either.
Red-the WHO's main objection to booster shots is because their use in the rich countries means that there will not be sufficient vaccine supply available for third world countries in the near future (see the article below).
It is widely accepted that a third booster shot will help significantly to protect against Omicron. I did read somewhere that a fourth shot (2 boosters) was ineffective though.
Unlike many people here I'm not prone to dissing a link just because I don't like it – so you're safe from me on that front.
But here's the rub, it's now very clear that these vaccines have a pretty short window on effective usefulness. Somewhere between 2 – 6 months per shot seems to be the range. You really have to start considering the cost benefit trade offs here.
WHO are effectively saying the benefits of mass boosting everyone in the developed world are not great enough to justify denying the basics to those in the developing world. There must be hundreds of millions of vulnerable people in poorer nations who should be well ahead of the queue in front of healthy relatively low risk people in NZ.
Bruno Courcelle shows where the real problem lies when he prepares to sit at the Christmas table stating, "I will not stay silent letting leftists say their stupid things."
Hopefully he dined well at Christmas with only those who are right about everything in attendance – himself.
I’m with you Bruno. He lost me with his diatribe on leftists. Possibly he’d like to reflect on the political movement that provided him with his maths degree and his subsequent employment without having to pay the headmaster 20k for his job. However, if he really wants crazy he should join the slobbering baying hounds over on Kiwiblog.
Did the British PM break the law? Or was it just rule-breaking performed by underlings on the basis that a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse?
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer accused Johnson of breaking the law, and of lying to parliament when first challenged about the reports of parties. He said the public could no longer take the prime minister seriously when it came to the pandemic response.
The British Conservative Party chairman rejected calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign but said he must address the culture within his government that resulted in multiple staff gatherings at his residence during coronavirus lockdowns.
Addressing political culture ought to be a load of fun & I do hope Boris takes his chairman's advice & has a go at it. We need all the entertainment we can get.
Dowden said: "I'm very hopeful and optimistic but clearly, we will await the data at the point of the decision before making that final decision."
With an attitude like that, the chairman has a glorious future in front of him should be ever decide to become a bureaucrat. Meanwhile, the civil servant tasked with unearthing the data will be involved in calculating how many years it will take…
Opportunity to become monarch of your own island in Britain, right now!
Applicants can now apply for a 10-year lease to run the pub and manage the island, which features a ruined 14th Century castle and a campsite. Barrow Borough Council said the person would be "crowned" by having alcohol poured over their head.
On its tourism website: "One of the most enduring aspects of the Ship Inn is the tradition of the king and knights of Piel. The tradition holds that each new landlord is crowned King of Piel in a ceremony of uncertain origin, in which they sit in an ancient chair, wearing a helmet and holding a sword while alcohol is poured over their head. By the 19th Century it had become an important aspect of the island's history to such an extent that responsibility for looking after the helmet and chair fell within the tenancy agreement."
We will need to do all we can to help Tonga through this disaster and probably for quite a while. Meanwhile prepare for two or three very cold years much like 1992/3 after Pinatubo and this could be worse as it is very much in our hemisphere.
I saw the "Opportunity to become monarch of your own island in Britain, right now!" and thought it'd be a great idea to throw Brian Tamaki's way. An island where he could be King and ruler, saviour and saint and whatever else he wanted to be. I checked it out and it seems a bit small though. There isn't enough space to have hundreds and thousands to be employed earning money to give him. Or enough roading for lots of motor bikes.
He and his lot want their own laws and rules and his own kingdom would seem to be the best way to achieve that.
Sitting at my local vaccination centre, having just had my booster. Busy as cause first days for kids. We were booked so able to skip the queue. But a big queue with people all masked up.
efficient, well run. Congratulations and thanks to all the health workers involved
Brian Tamaki now claiming to be a political prisoner having been arrested for yet another breach of bail? What a load of drivel. How many stern warnings from the Judiciary does it take to penetrate his thick hide? If he ends up being remanded in custody this time, it is the consequence of his Quixotic self-promotional acts of contempt of Court, not victimisation for his political actions.
I suspect the police were also giving him plenty of rope to hang himself with.
I was one of those who was annoyed with them for seemingly letting him him off the hook. I was wrong. They knew he was going to breach his bail conditions again and they would be in a better position to throw the book at him which they are now doing.
yeah, the four percent of anti-vaxxers could overthrow the gov AND the 96% of vaxxed kiwis. really blade, you need to sharpen up if you are going to troll.or did you learn maths at the same school as joyce ,goldsmith etc?
It takes a relatively small group to upset the parliamentary conventions and disrupt what little democracy still exists within our governing systems. It didn't take 4% of Americans to make the Capitol riot, and, had they been only slightly better supported, they might have slain a considerable number of Democrats.
the percentage of disaffected anti-gov americans (with guns, and little education) is waaay higher than here. do you think a few noisy farmers and some destiny church bootboys are going to storm the beehive? nah. fun fact. I was at a bbq just before christmas and watched some anti-vaxxer protesters have a bitchfight with some groundswiller protesters, both then had a moan about “their” protests for freedom(?)being taken over by density church bootboys. hah! it has the makings of a good mocumentary film. throw in a few loonies waving nazi and trump flags for extra chuckles.
I'm not sure the disaffected are much lower here than in the US – our suicide rate at least tends to suggest that all is far from well. But we don't really have that culture that grew out of stories like True Grit, of taking firearms against a sea of troubles to by opposing end them.
So yes, an NZ version of occupying parliament would likely be more comedy than tragedy – but it would only take one or two deculturated persons in a mob, to turn it ugly, and to do irreparable damage.
These astroturfers are rubbish – but our homeless – a large and rising fraction, should occupy that building. They've got to sleep somewhere, and displacing the clowns that unhomed them is as close to economic justice as we're likely to see in my lifetime.
I don't think poor Woodart gets it, Stuart. If he stopped trolling me and thought things through he might realise the good Bishop doesn't only attract anti vaxxers. He also attracts people with a variety of gripes against the government. And that could keep growing with him as a focal point.
Just like the government/police didn't decide to go ahead with road blocks, I get the impression they didn't want to arrest Tamaki, but had no choice given his intransigence.
It must be remembered an attempt to storm the
Beehive in the early 2000s was talked down by Maori elders( not only Maori were involve). The guy leading the group was army trained.
It's a puzzle, this dealing with incitement. Previous generations, the Watersiders for instance, would have been read the riot act, and required to disperse. Some of the antivaxxers at least have been encouraged by the clemency of the police response thus far.
I think that for the moment we must call the police response a win, they have avoided escalating the protests by fruitless confrontation. But we are only a loon or a fool away from that response being tested, and generating harm, publicity, and a backlash.
Woodart is a fellow of good character, which makes it harder for him to imagine the darker places of the human heart. I was on a Russian boat that mutinied once (the Bratya Stoyanovy) – I have seen crowds on the point of turning nasty. It is… memorable.
Ah, the mob mentality or group instability principle. All of a sudden a myriad of individuals become one with one intent. Sweet reason is hopeless against a mob that has literally lost their minds.
That said we can be thankful Kiwis are a weird mob. We are too laidback (lazy?) to mount some Yanky style insurrection. I mean we would need smoko breaks, set times for a haka and karakia…and we would have to knock off at 5pm each day for a good feed and a sleep. As you say…a comedy.
Got my first booster shot a few days ago. No problems with it.
just got a text asking me if I had any side effects from the vaccine, answered NO but it makes you wonder are they trying to get a more accurate number of those with side effects?
Are they trying to get a more accurate number of those with side effects? Probably. Why? because they want to know what's happening. And because the information will be needed for when Chris Bishop foolishly tries to make some point and claim.
24 hours after I started to feel a little rough, cold, tired, shakey and a cracking forehead/sinus nut ache. The usual bot protocol, paracetamol/decongestant, lots to drink and hit the sack with a couple of hotties to sleep it off. Good as next morning. My SO was the same but it took a full two days to recover.
A couple of hours after the first I felt a little off for a bit and the second knocked me around. All listed side effects so nothing out of the ordinary.
You bet. It's a wonder Shadbolt hasn't already taken credit for it!
The resource consent application would allow the data centre to consume up to 150 megawatts of power, which is more than a quarter of the power currently used by Southland’s Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.
Good news, that. Will employ a few dozen people – wonder how many will be foreign imports? No mention of robots but don't rule out the possibility that they'll hire Ruth Richardson to do pr!
I presume a sunset clause. Strategy would be to go online when Rio Tinto pulls out. Any earlier, supply & demand would kick in, get the market a-flutter, get power prices shooting up, and Labour honchos looking angrily at each other saying "Who the hell got us into this neoliberal mess anyway??"
Tiwai will have competition for the power they use now, so the price will go up. And that will probably be the end of Tiwai.
Then we might see the hydrogen thing happen. Along with a lot more wind generation and a downstream industrial cluster.
You might end up with a green steel mill, and maybe carbon negative cement produced in Southland
The fuel side of hydrogen is probably a tad overblown, but when you look at it as an industrial feedstock resulting in industries that are currently huge producers of CO2 becoming carbon zero then it all makes more sense.
The words in the link made me start. "Land bought for 1 billion". Then I read the whole story and found that that was the cost of the whole project. From the numbers quoted in the story it might have been about $2 million.
It sounds like a great idea. I particularly liked the bit that the cold climate there would reduce the cost of power to cool the facility. I believe that is a major reason why Iceland is in favour for this sort of place.
[you were banned (until 11th Feb), and while I’m not quite sure how you’re navigating your way around it, for every future comment you make, your ban will be extended by one month] – B
Tricledrown didn't navigate around the ban. They weren't told there was a ban nor for how long. Nor where they given a warning.
The issue is in the backend. It's grossly unfair to blame and punish a commenter who doesn't know they were banned for moderation mistakes that were completely outside of their control. Let alone for how long.
? I don't know what you're on about. I haven't extended the ban. And tricledrown was notified in just the same way as above in the original comment. Granted, I originally forgot to mention the time scale, but that's been rectified 😉
TD often doesn't go back and reread their comments, so it is very unlikely he saw your original note. That's why we mostly reply to a comment letting people know there is a mod note.
TD often doesn't even read replies, this has been discussed in the back end recently, I assume you knew because you referred to RL's warning.
Afaik this ban was never loaded into the ban list. You can check that but I looked on the day and it wasn't there.
There is minimal information in the Moderation list about what is going on.
As far as I can see no formal warning of a ban was given of what the problem was with the comments. We use bold to give warnings for a reason (and reply saying there is a mod note). This is why some people perceive the moderations as OTT and unfair. They come out of nowhere and people don't have the chance to change their behaviour.
Yes, you forgot to give a timeframe and now you've just threatened TD for commenting sooner than a timeframe which was never publicly notified and they couldn't have known about even if they had seen the moderation. An apology is in order there.
To Weka at6.1, my iPad won’t let me answer to posts directly. Quite cold probably, more than 1+ degree below normal for two years at least, like Pinatubo served up in 1992/3 after eruption in June 91, but may be worse as that was in the Northern Hemisphere. Expect lots of late and early frosts, ( spring/autumn ) big snow falls, 100s of thousands of sheep killed in 92 in very big snowfalls. But before there are global cooling celebrations, millions of tonnes of all sorts of shit we don’t want have been injected in to the upper atmosphere which will stay around for a long time. It may also depend on the makeup of the ejection materials, Pinatubo seeded very fine super heated silica which became glass like and resulted in gorgeous pearl coloured skies but kept the sun out for two summers.
Now 1 degree less doesn’t sound like much but a down to -14 degree frost killed almost 90% of the young olive trees in Marlborough in the spring which pretty much killed off the industry. We may get away with out effects now for a few weeks or so but when you see those skies a lot of agriculture will be buggered, from avocados to tomatoes and every thing in between and big losses to almost all farming industries.
Heres hoping almost all of that big cloud is just steam, but somehow I don’t think so.
I would like to link the NZ 1992 and 3 weather stats but it’s either me or this shitty iPad that won’t do it, probably me.
My heart goes out to all the 5 through 12 year olds today who are now going to be 'delivered up' to pointless but "safe and effective" injections by parents and guardians who've been misled and sunk in fear by over two years of 'official narrative' nonsense.
I wonder what all the gatekeepers, and those who have been anxious to censor and smear in order to shut down intelligent conversation and debate are going to say when the side effects of those injections emerge into the public awareness?
The links here are 'interesting' to say the least.
Germany is coming off the back of a Delta wave, and hospital admissions, ventilated patients and deaths are dropping even as Omicron infections soar.
The UK has a small uptick in admissions and confirmed deaths as Omicron infections now plummet.
There are charts for Israel and Spain too. The point being that hospitalisations, deaths and ventilated patients, depending what one of those three you look at, at worst barely register 50% of what was seen in the original wave of Covid.
ourworldindata reckons that shows the effectiveness of vaccines, even though there are skyrocketing infection rates, and are silent on Omicron being less aggressive or the fact that the vulnerable oldest demographics who account for the overwhelming majority of deaths have been (sorry for the term) harvested by previous waves.
And yet, here we are in NZ stuffing an experimental injectable into the arms of kids who face somewhere between 5/8ths of fuck all, and fuck all risk from infection.
On a side note. The CEO of OneAmerica (an insurance company) is reporting a 40% increase in non-covid deaths in the under 60s through the 3rd and 4th quarter. I guess that might be longer term effects of covid, or the aftermath of people not being seen for conditions because of Covid restrictions, or….well, the medium/long term effects of injection. Maybe there's a possible fourth explanation.
Humans aren't very good at getting that far. Most go for the easiest explanation (low-hanging fruit). Discerning folk will go for #2, the likeliest explanation. Those capable of cogniting nuance as well as having discernment will go for explanations arising from complex contexts, #3.
Politicians get elected by majorities, so will reach for #1. Their advisors will point out that it's almost certainly wrong & alert them to reputational consequences. They will gulp, then go for #2. To get it right in complex circumstances they need to go to #3 but neither they nor their advisers know that.
What I take away from him is that yanks are more vulnerable than normal people due to most of them being obese plus their junk food habit means their immune system's working too hard all the time trying to eliminate toxins so the pandemic just tips them over the threshold – causing their bodies to file them in the too hard basket.
Oh, and capitalism is going to cost a lot more to operate. All good…
so, with all your statistics, I dont see any regarding employee absentieism re covid. why not? worried that it might not line up with all your other posts?
I wonder what all the gatekeepers, and those who have been anxious to censor and smear in order to shut down intelligent conversation and debate are going to say when the side effects of those injections emerge into the public awareness?
Maybe they’ll do the honourable thing.
This is an incredible position from someone who can't even talk about long covid, let alone integrate it into their arguments. What's the honorable thing there?
Vaccines have side effects. Covid-19 has direct effects, multiple. The pandemic as a whole has lots of unwanted effects, multiple and compounding. There are no easy answers here. I've yet to see a solid argument against population wide vaccination when comparing those three aspects.
Yeah na fuck you bill, my baby was born during the time that cunt was pushing his autism caused by vaccines lie. , it took me a while to overcome the fear and protect my baby from measles mumps rubella, if any kid suffers from severe covid issues due to your anti vax shit then double fuck you you sad cunt. [I’m really sorry you fell for spurious anti-vaccination propaganda. I’m not anti-vaccination and never have been. That said, the wrongheaded abuse you’re directing at me with its undertones of violence – is way beyond the pale, and beyond what I’m willing to accept as an author on this site. I’m banning you for six months. (17th July)] – B
My heart goes out to all the 5 through 12 year olds today who are now going to be 'delivered up' to pointless but "safe and effective" injections by parents and guardians who've been misled and sunk in fear by over two years of 'official narrative' nonsense.
My heart goes out to all parents and guardians of 5 – 11 year-olds who have the welfare of those children at heart – I'm relieved that it's their decision.
"There is a perception that COVID-19 is only a very mild infection in children," said Prof Dalziel. "However, as the pandemic has progressed, we are seeing greater numbers of children being infected and presenting to hospital worldwide. Unfortunately, for some of these children, COVID-19 results in severe disease."
As Omicron surges, effort to vaccinate young children stalls
[14 January 2022] Pediatricians say the slow pace and geographic disparities are alarming, especially against the backdrop of record numbers of cases and pediatric hospitalizations.
COVID-19 vaccine and children: Information for parents and caregivers Children aged 5 years and over are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. Learn about the effects COVID-19 could have on unvaccinated young people, the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and what to expect during the appointment.
For the best CC use of Tiwai electricity it should stay as an aluminium smelter, closure will mean the shortfall will be filled by a coal powered one in China or India or elsewhere.
My heart went out to the same cohort many years ago when I appreciated they were lining up for MMR shots. And once upon a time a TB shot. Oh no, a prick in the arm.
Those that suffered that are still here, alive and well, engaging in intelligent conversation, debate and action. And getting shots for Covid and welcoming their children and grand children having the chance to do the same. Nothing to do with being the honourable thing to do, just the most sane.
I've heard it said those generations have been driven by 'fear-mongering.'
I remember my high school mates and I lined up outside the sick bay to get our TB shots. Those who'd survived the trauma, the horror, walking back past the ones waiting "Oh God, it's terrible, my arm feels like its going to fall off," and getting round the corner to head for class pissing themselves laughing about the fear.
Now? If covid vaxx were done the same way and the doom merchants were believed we'd have every single kid lined up freaking out that the vaccines was going to kill them. and genuinely believing it.
I'm still trying to work out how the MOH and politicians are fear merchants ruling by fear by having daily updates are the demons yet others who preach "if you have the vaccine you're going to die" and, "it hasn't been researched" are heroes for looking out for public heath.
Firstly, I've precisely zero objection to vaccinations. And these injectables (not vaccinations), although they do not work as advertised and are not safe (no medicine is) do seem to have a role to play in protecting vulnerable people from the more severe consequences of infection.
Secondly, children face next to no risk from Covid. On bar charts of deaths where age range is included, it's basically quite difficult to discern the deaths in the under 40s.
What we have is people lining up to be jabbed, and lining others up to be jabbed, and people losing their jobs and careers because they're not jabbed, and anyone not jabbed being ostracized from society, because government led propaganda has resulted in people freaking out that Covid's going to kill them.
The IFR for under 70 years old is 0.05% ffs! And that lessens as age lowers.
Labour's plan to use kids as a science experiment is probably due to them being unaware that the plan does so. Labour folk have never been much good at integrating the big picture. Historically, they exemplify thinking driven by a syndrome which produced a special type of human called a do-gooder. It also produced the old saying the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Both of these feature in Labour's pandemic strategy.
Looks to me like Ani O'Brien's tweet, that the article is based on, was misleading. As Henare said,
The Defence Minister, when asked on Monday if the post was appropriate, told reporters he was sorry if it caused offence. He said he posted it to encourage his more than 3000 followers to watch a 3pm press conference he was to participate in on Sunday.
"I apologise if my picture offended anyone," he said on Monday, standing next to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a press conference in Auckland.
"What was advertised on that picture too was that I encouraged people to tune in to the 3pm which was where the Prime Minister, myself and minister Sio gave more details and more updates on the situation in Tonga."
It's been removed so I can't see it, but if Henare wrote a post as well as the photo, then AO left out important information.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
There's still a strange reluctance to officially designate non-compliant folk Class B citizens. However the two-classes thing is now globalising:
Binary division of societies is an ancient phenomenon, traditionally equating left with wrong and right with right, ruled vs rulers, and built into the structure of democracy as govt vs opposition. You can even cite it as natural, deriving from cell division.
Apartheid is a good model, eh? Harassment morphs into persecution at what point?
definitely something we should be sorting out sooner rather than later. And, this was happening before the mandates. Before the pandemic. It's just that we didn't care as much when it was only being done to beneficiaries or poor people.
The mandates are a new thing, I don't like the way they were done even though they were probably a necessary evil to get the vax rates high. In an ideal world we'd learn from that and put considerable effort into reducing the main drivers of marginalisation (poverty, colonisation) but the majority of NZ wants what Labour does, so we will have to adapt around that.
Robert G pointed out the other day that some people choosing to not vaccinate were finding creative ways to make their lives good. This is what I see in the people I know too. Not everyone, but it's a definite choice in how to respond. I see the potential for a lot of creative work to be done by this arising counter culture that is quite different than the ones aligning with Qanon etc. I also think it's the kind of response we need going into a climate/eco crisis world: being able to work creatively with restriction will be a highly valued skill as more and more people lose their security and the stability they normally rely on.
Not that that is new either, but I think we should be talking about it in proactive terms. I have a foot in both camps, being vaccinated and being ok with vaccination as a personal choice and keeping good relationships with people who have chosen not to rather than ostracising them. I listen to their concerns and often agree with them or understand them even though I disagree.
The liberals on twitter running round posting about which shops to boycott because they put up welcome everyone signs worry me more than the creative, non-complying counter culture. I worry there is a degree of fragility there that won't do well in the coming years.
The ones of course to really worry about are those without the resources (of all kinds) to manage a creative response to restriction. This is Labour's great failing in not addressing poverty and benefits in the past four years. This is obviously unfair on those people and will come back to bite us.
Like you, I've a foot in both camps & concur with your overview. Ardern's kindness needs to kick in a little more, perhaps. The danger with these divides arises when they are allowed to harden, polarising everyone more fervently. Labour probably feels that the vaccination rate measures the dissidents as a small minority who can be safely marginalised. I'm not so sure that their complacency is sensible.
I don't think it's sensible either.
Difficult situation last year, because being kind of non-vaccinating people would have undermined the fast uptake of vaccination. But I can't help but feel that alongside her personal conviction that everyone should want to vaccinate, she was actually ok with the marginalising because of her values not just the pragmatics of the situation.
But then, isn't this also what underlies Labour's inaction on benefits? People need incentives to go to work, right? Labour will create jobs, and people need to be coerced to take them.
People finding "creative ways" to get around necessary and sensible responses to a pandemic, are probably what will doom us to overwhelmed health systems and preventable deaths.
Unfortunately not just of those who refuse to do the equivalent of wearing seatbelts and lifejackets, but like the USA, others who can't get the healthcare they need, because hospitals are full of people who should be politely described as, fools.
What does that mean? They're not finding creative ways to 'get around' public health measures, they made the entirely legal decision to not vax and are finding out how to adapt to the mandates.
Do you want the state to force them to be vaccinated.
I"ll throw your question back at you weka, do you want the state to force the vaccinated to pay for the unvaccinated's health care? time for all of the smart-arse fence-sitters here to fess up. I spent four months last year waiting for an operation, while the hospital kept beds sitting empty for possible covid sufferers. statistics show that most covid sufferers who end in hospital ARENT vaccinated. so, if you chose freedumb, and dont get vaccinated, go stand at the end of the longest line for healthcare.
Your hospital wait cannot definitively be laid at the door of the pandemic. There were pre-existing systemic failures before 2019.
You ire against the as yet unmanifested overwhelmed ICU units, should be diluted by the depreciated health system, the failure to take advantage of our successful elimination hiatus to forward plan, and despite the success of the vaccination messaging – no follow up messging as that is achieved and parameters change.
If you're willing to tolerate a leftist response to your fascist framing, everyone paying for everyone's healthcare is fine, thanks.
Don't have any problem with the choice not to be vaccinated.
I have a problem with the unvaccinated, inflicting the consequences of their choices on others.
And refusing to accept necessary measures, to stop their choices harming others.
And even more problem with their trying to persuade the credulous, with bs, to go along with their stupidity.
the people I was talking about, the ones finding creative responses, are generally ok with taking other precautions. I know there are hard core anti-vax, or anti-covid response people as well, but that's a different cohort (maybe there are overlaps).
From where I'm sitting the major reasons for the increasing blowbacks are:
And here's the extraordinary thing – all this has been driven from within the powerful ranks of Big Pharma and it's captured regulatory agencies, particularly the US. Yet remarkably almost no-one pauses to look back with fresh eyes and scratch their heads over the opioid crisis in the USA and prevalence of iatrogenic disease worldwide.
Think about it this is the same medical profession that at the direct behest of a pharmaceutical company with a dodgy record – conspired for years to push a dangerous and lethal drug onto their patients by the millions. Resulting in death toll, often of young people with much life ahead of them, and a wicked suffering that continues today. Or that the medical profession’s own mistakes and errors are frequently reported as the fourth or even third leading cause of death. And this is not even scratching the surface.
But now we're required, coerced even, into following every dictate this highly questionable industry imposes on us – or get shamefully relegated to Class B citizens.
I'm triple-vaccinated against covid. That's due to comprehending the logic & track record of vaccination long ago & getting a grasp of the ecosystemic nature of immune systems in more recent decades.
However I agree we ought not to become overly dependent on artificial aids. The monetary incentives driving big pharma into coercing govt decisions are definitely a factor to keep in mind, so I agree with your point there.
booster shots forever
Will have to become optional – like flu shots – and I suspect this year govts will have to proclaim that officially (rather than the current tacit tolerance).
Likewise, with regard to your first two points, I'd like to see our govt stop lagging behind. They ought to be up the front of the learning curve, just behind the fast learners. I've got no problem with experts pushing the medical party line in the media but I get the feeling that the time for such zealotry is past…
That's due to comprehending the logic & track record of vaccination long ago
For people of our age there is a reasonable benefit to being vaccinated as I am as well. Just as for example when I was working in Latin America I was happy to take the Yellow Fever vaccine, because I was going to an at risk location. And I always had the option of not taking it and doing the quarantine thing on my return to Australia.
But this mass vax campaign being effectively coerced onto everyone, regardless of risk profile makes no sense. And especially not when the vaccines are not preventing transmission. We only have to look at the current situation in both Israel and Australia – the former the most highly vaccinated country on earth, to see the stark undeniable truth of this.
I too have had a foot in both camps, I was willing to give the vaccines a go and see how they worked out. Well it's a year later and I'm underwhelmed.
The comparison right in front of you, between NZ where effective public health responses combined with high vaccination rates, has almost eliminated Delta, again, with the States of Australia, that had increased rates of infection even before Omicron, shows you are talking nonsence.
It's reasonable to think of a population in three broad categories; people who are immune, people who will catch it but will recover quickly and gain an immunity, and those who are vulnerable to serious illness or worse. The first two categories constitute a large majority.
Over and again we see in many countries with relatively low vaccination rates waves of variants pass through, rising and declining pretty much regardless of public health policy. What we are not seeing is any variant run away exponentially consuming all before it. This can only be due to a much maligned herd immunity being generated relatively sooner than is being acknowledged by authorities.
And untangling this from the impact of the vaccines is a non-trivial data analysis task that I'd not rush to judgement on.
Again nonsence. I’ve first hand information from people that are there, of the disasters that continue in low vaccination rate US States. Anyone who wants that here, is an idiot.
In NZ, The "large majority" have sensibly voted with their feet, and got vaccinated, wear masks and follow public health measures.
Because, like wearing a lifejacket, you can't say if you will be the one that needs it.
A small and very vocal "minority" have persuaded themselves, against the evidence that they know better.
Coastguard rescue those sorts on the Manukau bar, regularly.
Again an irrelevant waste of pixels.
Israel?
I thought you were knowledgeable on statistics. For example remember, Simpsons paradox?
"https://www.covid-datascience.com/post/israeli-data-how-can-efficacy-vs-severe-disease-be-strong-when-60-of-hospitalized-are-vaccinated"
"After accounting for the vaccination rates and stratifying by age groups, from these same data we can see that the vaccines retain high effectiveness (85-95%) vs. severe disease, showing that when it comes to preventing severe disease, the Pfizer vaccine is still performing very well vs. Delta, even in Israel from whence the most concerning data have arisen".
I was talking about transmission. Your sneering comment is irrelevant to that point.
RedLogix: You say, "….. regardless of risk profile makes no sense.". How do you imagine risk profile would be measured? Otherwise, until the successful NZ strategy falls apart, why would the country change what it is doing because of the failures of Israel and Australia. Don't know about Israel, apart from the fact that it is selectively vaccinating only one demographic but the Aussies are as slack as …… when it comes to dealing with Covid.
Of course, if you have particular expertise, in public health strategies, tell MOH how to strategise risk profile analysis. I'm sure your knowledge would be appreciated.
How do you imagine risk profile would be measured?
By age and co-morbidity. I didn't think this needed elaboration.
Have a read of
Why screening is hard
https://www.statschat.org.nz/2022/01/11/why-screening-is-hard/
"The third barrier is Rose’s Prevention Paradox: for a lot of diseases, most of the cases don’t happen in high-risk people. There are people at very high risk of heart attack (what Rose was interested in), but they account for a relatively small fraction of all heart attacks. "
RedLogix: It seems the experts may know more than you do about tailoring public health policy. Of course, if you are able to confirm that the 75% of hospitalized cases between the ages of 20 and 60 fit your profiles, then you may have a point. As a further observation, it seems the 15% over 60 doesn't overwhelmingly support your criteria either.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-case-demographics
Red-the WHO's main objection to booster shots is because their use in the rich countries means that there will not be sufficient vaccine supply available for third world countries in the near future (see the article below).
It is widely accepted that a third booster shot will help significantly to protect against Omicron. I did read somewhere that a fourth shot (2 boosters) was ineffective though.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10400077/WHO-warns-repeated-booster-shots-not-sustainable.html
[BTW I have not become a closet Daily Mail reader-perish the thought. This was just a convenient link to use.]
Unlike many people here I'm not prone to dissing a link just because I don't like it – so you're safe from me on that front.
But here's the rub, it's now very clear that these vaccines have a pretty short window on effective usefulness. Somewhere between 2 – 6 months per shot seems to be the range. You really have to start considering the cost benefit trade offs here.
WHO are effectively saying the benefits of mass boosting everyone in the developed world are not great enough to justify denying the basics to those in the developing world. There must be hundreds of millions of vulnerable people in poorer nations who should be well ahead of the queue in front of healthy relatively low risk people in NZ.
Vaccine effectiveness drops by percentage points after months.
To around 75%!
It doesn't reduce to zero!
The restrictions on rolling out vaccination to third world countries because of refusals to waive patent rights, is a valid point.
But. Why bother if "vaccination has a very short window of effectiveness s" and "herd immunity is working"? Sic.
Bruno Courcelle shows where the real problem lies when he prepares to sit at the Christmas table stating, "I will not stay silent letting leftists say their stupid things."
Hopefully he dined well at Christmas with only those who are right about everything in attendance – himself.
I’m with you Bruno. He lost me with his diatribe on leftists. Possibly he’d like to reflect on the political movement that provided him with his maths degree and his subsequent employment without having to pay the headmaster 20k for his job. However, if he really wants crazy he should join the slobbering baying hounds over on Kiwiblog.
The fantasy anti-communism of British Toryism is further evidence of the decline of modern conservatism into delusonal crypto-fascism.
Rupert Murdoch will go down in history as the man who destroyed democracy.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10406587/Nadine-Dorries-allies-warn-BBC-days-state-run-television-OVER.html
The Lords want their fief back.
https://twitter.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1481323946943389696
Agreed Sanc-for instance people forget that Blair was wined and dined on Murdoch's yacht before he was elected in 1997.
Rupert's not done it alone, these politicians are easily owned in return for favourable coverage.
Did the British PM break the law? Or was it just rule-breaking performed by underlings on the basis that a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse?
Addressing political culture ought to be a load of fun & I do hope Boris takes his chairman's advice & has a go at it. We need all the entertainment we can get.
With an attitude like that, the chairman has a glorious future in front of him should be ever decide to become a bureaucrat. Meanwhile, the civil servant tasked with unearthing the data will be involved in calculating how many years it will take…
Starmer and Johnson…. entitled twats who like the sound of their own voice.
Opportunity to become monarch of your own island in Britain, right now!
Have a look at those cool pictures! You could renovate the castle too. Don’t need a moat.
We will need to do all we can to help Tonga through this disaster and probably for quite a while. Meanwhile prepare for two or three very cold years much like 1992/3 after Pinatubo and this could be worse as it is very much in our hemisphere.
how cold?
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/04/science/northeast-s-strange-weather-don-t-blame-it-all-on-the-volcano.html
I saw the "Opportunity to become monarch of your own island in Britain, right now!" and thought it'd be a great idea to throw Brian Tamaki's way. An island where he could be King and ruler, saviour and saint and whatever else he wanted to be. I checked it out and it seems a bit small though. There isn't enough space to have hundreds and thousands to be employed earning money to give him. Or enough roading for lots of motor bikes.
He and his lot want their own laws and rules and his own kingdom would seem to be the best way to achieve that.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-destiny-churchs-brian-tamaki-arrested-for-protest-bail-breach/2OTAM3LPBYQN2PFMWFB6ZHMIDM/
Wow. The police actually arrested him.
This will be interesting.
efficient, well run. Congratulations and thanks to all the health workers involved
Get your booster.
https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1482501951065661440
Thanks Joe 90 for some responsible facts.
It looks identical to NSW's experience.
And New Zealands vaccination figures pertaining to Delta.
Brian Tamaki now claiming to be a political prisoner having been arrested for yet another breach of bail? What a load of drivel. How many stern warnings from the Judiciary does it take to penetrate his thick hide? If he ends up being remanded in custody this time, it is the consequence of his Quixotic self-promotional acts of contempt of Court, not victimisation for his political actions.
I note how aggressively his minions kept the media away from his unauthorized public gathering so they couldn't record it.
About time as he's been taking the piss.
I suspect the police were also giving him plenty of rope to hang himself with.
I was one of those who was annoyed with them for seemingly letting him him off the hook. I was wrong. They knew he was going to breach his bail conditions again and they would be in a better position to throw the book at him which they are now doing.
His PR strategy is coming along well. This type of genesis can lead to things getting out of hand big time. The government should be careful.
yeah, the four percent of anti-vaxxers could overthrow the gov AND the 96% of vaxxed kiwis. really blade, you need to sharpen up if you are going to troll.or did you learn maths at the same school as joyce ,goldsmith etc?
It takes a relatively small group to upset the parliamentary conventions and disrupt what little democracy still exists within our governing systems. It didn't take 4% of Americans to make the Capitol riot, and, had they been only slightly better supported, they might have slain a considerable number of Democrats.
the percentage of disaffected anti-gov americans (with guns, and little education) is waaay higher than here. do you think a few noisy farmers and some destiny church bootboys are going to storm the beehive? nah. fun fact. I was at a bbq just before christmas and watched some anti-vaxxer protesters have a bitchfight with some groundswiller protesters, both then had a moan about “their” protests for freedom(?)being taken over by density church bootboys. hah! it has the makings of a good mocumentary film. throw in a few loonies waving nazi and trump flags for extra chuckles.
I'm not sure the disaffected are much lower here than in the US – our suicide rate at least tends to suggest that all is far from well. But we don't really have that culture that grew out of stories like True Grit, of taking firearms against a sea of troubles to by opposing end them.
So yes, an NZ version of occupying parliament would likely be more comedy than tragedy – but it would only take one or two deculturated persons in a mob, to turn it ugly, and to do irreparable damage.
These astroturfers are rubbish – but our homeless – a large and rising fraction, should occupy that building. They've got to sleep somewhere, and displacing the clowns that unhomed them is as close to economic justice as we're likely to see in my lifetime.
I don't think poor Woodart gets it, Stuart. If he stopped trolling me and thought things through he might realise the good Bishop doesn't only attract anti vaxxers. He also attracts people with a variety of gripes against the government. And that could keep growing with him as a focal point.
Just like the government/police didn't decide to go ahead with road blocks, I get the impression they didn't want to arrest Tamaki, but had no choice given his intransigence.
It must be remembered an attempt to storm the
Beehive in the early 2000s was talked down by Maori elders( not only Maori were involve). The guy leading the group was army trained.
It's a puzzle, this dealing with incitement. Previous generations, the Watersiders for instance, would have been read the riot act, and required to disperse. Some of the antivaxxers at least have been encouraged by the clemency of the police response thus far.
I think that for the moment we must call the police response a win, they have avoided escalating the protests by fruitless confrontation. But we are only a loon or a fool away from that response being tested, and generating harm, publicity, and a backlash.
Woodart is a fellow of good character, which makes it harder for him to imagine the darker places of the human heart. I was on a Russian boat that mutinied once (the Bratya Stoyanovy) – I have seen crowds on the point of turning nasty. It is… memorable.
Ah, the mob mentality or group instability principle. All of a sudden a myriad of individuals become one with one intent. Sweet reason is hopeless against a mob that has literally lost their minds.
That said we can be thankful Kiwis are a weird mob. We are too laidback (lazy?) to mount some Yanky style insurrection. I mean we would need smoko breaks, set times for a haka and karakia…and we would have to knock off at 5pm each day for a good feed and a sleep. As you say…a comedy.
But there's always that chance…
How fitting, Tamaki was remanded in custody by Judge Evangelos Thomas.
The Bishop put away by an Evangelist.
that would be checkmate . hah!
Got my first booster shot a few days ago. No problems with it.
just got a text asking me if I had any side effects from the vaccine, answered NO but it makes you wonder are they trying to get a more accurate number of those with side effects?
Are they trying to get a more accurate number of those with side effects? Probably. Why? because they want to know what's happening. And because the information will be needed for when Chris Bishop foolishly tries to make some point and claim.
had a bit of an owie on my arm for about a day, that was it.
I think we have a pretty good idea already.
The proportion of vaccination causing side effects is not difficult to quantity.
The anti vaccers recording every sneeze after the vaccine, is actually helpful in that regard.
Quantifying the proportion of vaccination caused and coincidental side effects.
24 hours after I started to feel a little rough, cold, tired, shakey and a cracking forehead/sinus nut ache. The usual bot protocol, paracetamol/decongestant, lots to drink and hit the sack with a couple of hotties to sleep it off. Good as next morning. My SO was the same but it took a full two days to recover.
Are you describing the side effects of the vaccine?
Sounds like the symptoms and treatment for someone…. infected.
A couple of hours after the first I felt a little off for a bit and the second knocked me around. All listed side effects so nothing out of the ordinary.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-side-effects-and-reactions
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/127020332/land-bought-for-1-billion-bid-to-turn-southland-into-global-it-hub#comments
Thats some good news for Southland, if it comes to fruition.
You bet. It's a wonder Shadbolt hasn't already taken credit for it!
Good news, that. Will employ a few dozen people – wonder how many will be foreign imports? No mention of robots but don't rule out the possibility that they'll hire Ruth Richardson to do pr!
'but don't rule out the possibility that they'll hire Ruth Richardson to do pr!'
Its an intriguing offer however being that I'm happily married I'll have to decline
Aw, nothing wrong with feminism. Be staunch!
Where do you think they expect to get all that electricity from?
Rio Tinto's still at Tiwai.
I presume a sunset clause. Strategy would be to go online when Rio Tinto pulls out. Any earlier, supply & demand would kick in, get the market a-flutter, get power prices shooting up, and Labour honchos looking angrily at each other saying "Who the hell got us into this neoliberal mess anyway??"
Tiwai will have competition for the power they use now, so the price will go up. And that will probably be the end of Tiwai.
Then we might see the hydrogen thing happen. Along with a lot more wind generation and a downstream industrial cluster.
You might end up with a green steel mill, and maybe carbon negative cement produced in Southland
Yay! A steel mill!
And a cement factory!
Great news for Southland!
I think hydrogen-for-fuel is a pipe-dream.
But it sure is exciting, eh!
Humans gonna human, best hope science can cleanup after us..
The fuel side of hydrogen is probably a tad overblown, but when you look at it as an industrial feedstock resulting in industries that are currently huge producers of CO2 becoming carbon zero then it all makes more sense.
The words in the link made me start. "Land bought for 1 billion". Then I read the whole story and found that that was the cost of the whole project. From the numbers quoted in the story it might have been about $2 million.
It sounds like a great idea. I particularly liked the bit that the cold climate there would reduce the cost of power to cool the facility. I believe that is a major reason why Iceland is in favour for this sort of place.
27º in Southland today.
32°c last week.
[you were banned (until 11th Feb), and while I’m not quite sure how you’re navigating your way around it, for every future comment you make, your ban will be extended by one month] – B
That sounds like bullying, Bill.
[take the day off Robert]- B
it's worth understanding that this is how Bill moderates.
I think for the first time I agree with Robert.
Tricledrown didn't navigate around the ban. They weren't told there was a ban nor for how long. Nor where they given a warning.
The issue is in the backend. It's grossly unfair to blame and punish a commenter who doesn't know they were banned for moderation mistakes that were completely outside of their control. Let alone for how long.
? I don't know what you're on about. I haven't extended the ban. And tricledrown was notified in just the same way as above in the original comment. Granted, I originally forgot to mention the time scale, but that's been rectified 😉
TD often doesn't go back and reread their comments, so it is very unlikely he saw your original note. That's why we mostly reply to a comment letting people know there is a mod note.
TD often doesn't even read replies, this has been discussed in the back end recently, I assume you knew because you referred to RL's warning.
Afaik this ban was never loaded into the ban list. You can check that but I looked on the day and it wasn't there.
There is minimal information in the Moderation list about what is going on.
As far as I can see no formal warning of a ban was given of what the problem was with the comments. We use bold to give warnings for a reason (and reply saying there is a mod note). This is why some people perceive the moderations as OTT and unfair. They come out of nowhere and people don't have the chance to change their behaviour.
Yes, you forgot to give a timeframe and now you've just threatened TD for commenting sooner than a timeframe which was never publicly notified and they couldn't have known about even if they had seen the moderation. An apology is in order there.
Next the govt should build a micro chip factory in the South,as with global warming is causing shortages of water in Taiwan slowing production
Pretty sure thats the premise to A View To A Kill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp4CR2HcHLQ
To Weka at6.1, my iPad won’t let me answer to posts directly. Quite cold probably, more than 1+ degree below normal for two years at least, like Pinatubo served up in 1992/3 after eruption in June 91, but may be worse as that was in the Northern Hemisphere. Expect lots of late and early frosts, ( spring/autumn ) big snow falls, 100s of thousands of sheep killed in 92 in very big snowfalls. But before there are global cooling celebrations, millions of tonnes of all sorts of shit we don’t want have been injected in to the upper atmosphere which will stay around for a long time. It may also depend on the makeup of the ejection materials, Pinatubo seeded very fine super heated silica which became glass like and resulted in gorgeous pearl coloured skies but kept the sun out for two summers.
Now 1 degree less doesn’t sound like much but a down to -14 degree frost killed almost 90% of the young olive trees in Marlborough in the spring which pretty much killed off the industry. We may get away with out effects now for a few weeks or so but when you see those skies a lot of agriculture will be buggered, from avocados to tomatoes and every thing in between and big losses to almost all farming industries.
Heres hoping almost all of that big cloud is just steam, but somehow I don’t think so.
I would like to link the NZ 1992 and 3 weather stats but it’s either me or this shitty iPad that won’t do it, probably me.
My heart goes out to all the 5 through 12 year olds today who are now going to be 'delivered up' to pointless but "safe and effective" injections by parents and guardians who've been misled and sunk in fear by over two years of 'official narrative' nonsense.
I wonder what all the gatekeepers, and those who have been anxious to censor and smear in order to shut down intelligent conversation and debate are going to say when the side effects of those injections emerge into the public awareness?
Maybe they'll do the honourable thing.
Denial of the relation between cause & effect normally works well. Also expect them to use "It's just a coincidence."
The links here are 'interesting' to say the least.
Germany is coming off the back of a Delta wave, and hospital admissions, ventilated patients and deaths are dropping even as Omicron infections soar.
The UK has a small uptick in admissions and confirmed deaths as Omicron infections now plummet.
There are charts for Israel and Spain too. The point being that hospitalisations, deaths and ventilated patients, depending what one of those three you look at, at worst barely register 50% of what was seen in the original wave of Covid.
ourworldindata reckons that shows the effectiveness of vaccines, even though there are skyrocketing infection rates, and are silent on Omicron being less aggressive or the fact that the vulnerable oldest demographics who account for the overwhelming majority of deaths have been (sorry for the term) harvested by previous waves.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-metrics-previous-waves?utm_source=OWID+Newsletter&utm_campaign=57cd25901b-biweekly-digest-2022-01-14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2e166c1fc1-57cd25901b-536960754
And yet, here we are in NZ stuffing an experimental injectable into the arms of kids who face somewhere between 5/8ths of fuck all, and fuck all risk from infection.
On a side note. The CEO of OneAmerica (an insurance company) is reporting a 40% increase in non-covid deaths in the under 60s through the 3rd and 4th quarter. I guess that might be longer term effects of covid, or the aftermath of people not being seen for conditions because of Covid restrictions, or….well, the medium/long term effects of injection. Maybe there's a possible fourth explanation.
Maybe there's a possible fourth explanation.
Humans aren't very good at getting that far. Most go for the easiest explanation (low-hanging fruit). Discerning folk will go for #2, the likeliest explanation. Those capable of cogniting nuance as well as having discernment will go for explanations arising from complex contexts, #3.
Politicians get elected by majorities, so will reach for #1. Their advisors will point out that it's almost certainly wrong & alert them to reputational consequences. They will gulp, then go for #2. To get it right in complex circumstances they need to go to #3 but neither they nor their advisers know that.
Number 3 and CEO Scott Davison's radar….nope. 🙂
https://twitter.com/Mr_Mackei/status/1478008259474862081?s=20
What I take away from him is that yanks are more vulnerable than normal people due to most of them being obese plus their junk food habit means their immune system's working too hard all the time trying to eliminate toxins so the pandemic just tips them over the threshold – causing their bodies to file them in the too hard basket.
Oh, and capitalism is going to cost a lot more to operate. All good…
so, with all your statistics, I dont see any regarding employee absentieism re covid. why not? worried that it might not line up with all your other posts?
This is an incredible position from someone who can't even talk about long covid, let alone integrate it into their arguments. What's the honorable thing there?
Vaccines have side effects. Covid-19 has direct effects, multiple. The pandemic as a whole has lots of unwanted effects, multiple and compounding. There are no easy answers here. I've yet to see a solid argument against population wide vaccination when comparing those three aspects.
Yeah na fuck you bill, my baby was born during the time that cunt was pushing his autism caused by vaccines lie. , it took me a while to overcome the fear and protect my baby from measles mumps rubella, if any kid suffers from severe covid issues due to your anti vax shit then double fuck you you sad cunt.
[I’m really sorry you fell for spurious anti-vaccination propaganda. I’m not anti-vaccination and never have been. That said, the wrongheaded abuse you’re directing at me with its undertones of violence – is way beyond the pale, and beyond what I’m willing to accept as an author on this site. I’m banning you for six months. (17th July)] – B
My heart goes out to all parents and guardians of 5 – 11 year-olds who have the welfare of those children at heart – I'm relieved that it's their decision.
COVID-19 vaccine and children: Information for parents and caregivers
Children aged 5 years and over are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. Learn about the effects COVID-19 could have on unvaccinated young people, the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and what to expect during the appointment.
Unite against
COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz
For the best CC use of Tiwai electricity it should stay as an aluminium smelter, closure will mean the shortfall will be filled by a coal powered one in China or India or elsewhere.
maybe we should stop making so many throwaway items from aluminium.
Aluminium is demanding a premium atm and quite likely to for…some time.
Has been constraints on bauxite supplies appsarantly.
My heart went out to the same cohort many years ago when I appreciated they were lining up for MMR shots. And once upon a time a TB shot. Oh no, a prick in the arm.
Those that suffered that are still here, alive and well, engaging in intelligent conversation, debate and action. And getting shots for Covid and welcoming their children and grand children having the chance to do the same. Nothing to do with being the honourable thing to do, just the most sane.
I've heard it said those generations have been driven by 'fear-mongering.'
I remember my high school mates and I lined up outside the sick bay to get our TB shots. Those who'd survived the trauma, the horror, walking back past the ones waiting "Oh God, it's terrible, my arm feels like its going to fall off," and getting round the corner to head for class pissing themselves laughing about the fear.
Now? If covid vaxx were done the same way and the doom merchants were believed we'd have every single kid lined up freaking out that the vaccines was going to kill them. and genuinely believing it.
I'm still trying to work out how the MOH and politicians are fear merchants ruling by fear by having daily updates are the demons yet others who preach "if you have the vaccine you're going to die" and, "it hasn't been researched" are heroes for looking out for public heath.
Firstly, I've precisely zero objection to vaccinations. And these injectables (not vaccinations), although they do not work as advertised and are not safe (no medicine is) do seem to have a role to play in protecting vulnerable people from the more severe consequences of infection.
Secondly, children face next to no risk from Covid. On bar charts of deaths where age range is included, it's basically quite difficult to discern the deaths in the under 40s.
What we have is people lining up to be jabbed, and lining others up to be jabbed, and people losing their jobs and careers because they're not jabbed, and anyone not jabbed being ostracized from society, because government led propaganda has resulted in people freaking out that Covid's going to kill them.
The IFR for under 70 years old is 0.05% ffs! And that lessens as age lowers.
Labour's plan to use kids as a science experiment is probably due to them being unaware that the plan does so. Labour folk have never been much good at integrating the big picture. Historically, they exemplify thinking driven by a syndrome which produced a special type of human called a do-gooder. It also produced the old saying the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Both of these feature in Labour's pandemic strategy.
Oxford English dictionary. 2b is the relevant definition. Using an example quote from 1983.
788k NZers aged 70+ in 2018 census. 393 dead at 100% infection and 0.05%IFR.
2b or not 2b, that is the question…
Well, it's soft and can smudge, but HB might tear the answer sheet when you try to fill in the little circles.
https://preview.redd.it/9qygg8wvfiv51.png?width=553&format=png&auto=webp&s=84ae70dd01134304ae9931e28a00a1ea8389b680
Tonga says: "Thanks for thinking of us between sets"
'Tasteless and insensitive': Defence Minister's gym selfie tribute to Tonga sparks outrage (msn.com)
Looks to me like Ani O'Brien's tweet, that the article is based on, was misleading. As Henare said,
It's been removed so I can't see it, but if Henare wrote a post as well as the photo, then AO left out important information.
The apostle finally remanded in custody after bail breach.
Fuck that guy.
good.