I’m not sure if it was a terribly good idea for Judith to connect Gerry’s wild-eyed conspiracy theories to the rubbish that’s circulating on Facebook as she did on TVNZ this morning?
If you want to see what the dark heart of the establishment DNC looks like look no further than this interview…nothing more than a bunch of filthy war hawks whose ideology is pure and utter american exceptionalism, this lot are not all that different from ISIS, in other words fundamentalists..,,so don't fool yourselves, Biden/Kamala are really just pro choice Republicans.
And it is worth noting that this interview was done before it was exposed that the FBI had been caught lying in their Russiagate investigations..
Dem impeachment attorney on Mueller, Ukrainegate, and the case vs. Trump
"..that he altered a June 2017 email from the CIA in a way that suggested Page, an admitted CIA asset, was not a “source” for the agency.
Relying on the falsified document, the FBI then applied for its fourth surveillance warrant on Page, according to court documents."
I am not reheating Trumps anything, just stating the fact that the FBI has been caught red handed altering evidence to suit their investigation… an investigation that using the full might of one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the entire world proved nothing…well I guess they did prove that people on the Left ( including all it's media) are just as easily manipulated into believing unquestioningly any conspiracy theory fed to them as people on the Right are, as long as that conspiracy conforms too and strengthens their already deeply embedded bias and/or helps in vilifying their perceived enemy.
A great smoke and mirrors trick that has been used by those in power forever, and sadly as can be plainly seen, still works just as effectively.
This is nothing to do with voting joe, this is about the the DNC aided by the FBI concocting a elaborate conspiracy theory..ie Russia interference that altered the outcome 2016 US elections..and that Trump is somehow in the pocket of Putin, both allegations never proven because they are both just as ridiculous.
I am just as opposed to Trump as anyone on this site, but that doesn't mean I have to turn off the critical thinking part of my brain and get into bed with organizations like the FBI FFS!
I am just as opposed to Trump as anyone on this site
I don't see any evidence of that. None. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I can't bring to mind any instances of you being critical of any of the numerous outrages the stygian homunculus has perpetrated against the disadvantaged, against democracy, against fairness and equity in society, against the environment etc etc.
It appears your only interest is in attacking Democrats, often as a diversionary whine when someone else posts a criticism of an outrageous action perpetrated by Don of the Deadbrains or one of his minions. Indeed, often these diversionary attacks appear to be repackaged from the convergence wingnut area of the political spectrum. That is most easily interpreted as trying to boost the satsuma shitgibbon, not the actions of someone opposed to what he is doing.
I don't need to attack Trump, it is quite obvious to anyone with eyes what he is and what he stands for…what I am concerned about is idiots like you destroying the little credibility the Left has with the general public with your unhinged and fact free conspiracy theories.. I rarely if ever see you lot attacking Trumps foreign policies…wonder why that is? …I didn't see you lot lose you shit when he (with the DNC) signed off on the biggest largest military budget in history, or signed off the biggest upward movement of wealth to wall st recently…you and your beloved Dem anti Trump rhetoric is nothing but a sick joke and nothing more than that, rhetoric..you give that motherfucker Trump everything he wants when it comes to the super wealthy, US corporations and US military hegemony…like I said you are a joke, and Trumps laughing right into your face…. the sad thing is you are being used like a tool and you don’t even seem to want to know.
So you're just as opposed to the cheetodick as anyone else on the site, but without actually attacking him. /sarc
Do you really not remember any criticism of the dude's foreign policy? The pulling back from NATO, the trade confrontations, the free passes given to Putin, the repeated North Korea fuckups, the suggestion Japan and South Korea get nukes, the moving of the US embassy in Israel, his pathetic manipulation by dictators around the world?
… you give that motherfucker Trump everything he wants when it comes to the super wealthy, US corporations and US military hegemony …
Again, you obviously aren't paying attention if you've missed all the comments about tax cuts for the wealthy, cutting regulations and all the other shit America's Prolapsed Rectum has been doing to coddle the wealthy and the corporations. (these comments are a bit harder to search for due to my refusal to use the Mandarin Manutang's common name)
If I may, I observe (i.e. my PoV) that you two have much more in common than that separates you. Based on my belief, I’m at a loss as to why you two feel the need to rip into each other as you do. Please note that I’m not moderating here, just expressing my utter confusion and inability to grasp what’s going on between you. As such, it doesn’t invite or require an answer 😉
As I see it, the biggest difference is that as the choices narrow down, I shift my support to whichever remaining option is most likely to achieve changes I value.
Looks to me like Adrian does not, apparently preferring to attack even harder the remaining option that knocked out the one he had his heart set on, without realising that that is functionally the same as supporting the opponent of what he professes to value. There's a time for those attacks, while the choices remain open. But after the choice has been made, it's just destructive.
If you and Adrian cannot agree to disagree – although you seem to be united in your aversion against Trump and GOP – then why not give each other a wide berth? This behaviour is also destructive, IMHO.
For what it's worth Adrian I can hear where you are coming from. Perhaps the best way to understand the USA is to understand that their unique geography has meant that over centuries they've been able to build a powerful and prosperous nation without having to develop and especially competent or responsive political system. As a result when a real crisis strikes, they're left floundering.
Trump is a high functioning psychopath which makes him both a polarising figure and deeply unsuited to the modern office of POTUS. Yet more than a few have drawn comparison with another President … Andrew Jackson … who was similarly divisive, reckless and viscerally despised by his opponents. Yet oddly enough history regards him now as one of the more significant Presidents. In this I agree with you, obsessively attacking Trump is a fools errand. It ends with the old line about you getting dirty and the pig enjoying it.
As for the DNC, it's very hard to have respect for a political entity that produces Joe Biden as it's best effort. Truly the USA political system has become a ship of fools, but even this phase will pass. There is every reason to hope that after a decade of turmoil the USA will re-invent itself as it has done in the past.
And in this respect I’m also with Andre, that a reflexive anti-Americanism is a selective and unproductive view of their role in the world. We must be honest about their flaws and mistakes, but it’s folly to also discard their many achievements.
It wasn't "the DNC" that selected Biden as the candidate. It was probably the most democratic selection process of anywhere in the world at any time for choosing a candidate to contest for a country's highest office. Literally anyone eligible to vote in the general election could participate equally in the Democratic primary. At most, they would have to fill out a form saying they affiliated as a Democrat some time before their state's primary date, but in many states they just have to choose which primary they are are voting in at the time of casting their ballot. No joining the party, no membership fees, no giving a party personal data needed.
The vote-counting rules were also closer to one person-one vote than anything else I'm aware of. The only significant deviation was the 15% threshold for getting awarded delegates, but that distortion is much smaller than even Repug rules that ranged up to winner-take-all in some states. Let alone rules like reserving a proportion of votes to unions and caucus members as happens here.
Literally anyone could also put themselves forward for selection. No prior party affiliation needed. In fact, the runner-up pointedly dissociated himself from the Democratic party several years earlier, and only grudgingly re-associated himself with the party once he decided to try for the nomination.
I'm not aware of any other political organisation anywhere else in the world that is anywhere near that open to all comers when it comes to choosing its leader. So painting the DNC as some nefarious organisation pulling hidden strings behind the scenes is really unfair and simply wrong. The choice was freely and fairly made by the segment of the voting public that were interested enough to make the relatively minimal effort required to participate in that choice.
It's a semantic quibble, the DNC may not have done the voting, but they certainly own and run the process. And to suggest that the party machine sits back and watches the primaries unfold with no attempt at influence seems a trifle naive … but it's your party and I'm not pissing on it.
I can understand Biden's stammer, I can get past his uninspiring past, I can even live with the fact that a more honest process would have just selected Kamala Harris from the outset. But that Biden somehow came through a field of far more credible candidates, any number of them much more interesting and charismatic, just leaves me cold.
And more than anything else the Dems need a charismatic, energising candidate to energise their disparate support base to ensure a strong win. Yet here we are with a relatively weak candidate, that despite promising polling, is by no means hands down to beat Trump. In US elections turnout is everything, and this the polls do not measure well.
The DNC doesn't have have a secret research lab where they manufacture candidates and they botched the recipe this year. The choice available is entirely at the mercy of the vagaries of who puts their hand up to have a go and catches the interest of the voting public.
This year, probably for fear of being accused of underhanded influence by rabid supporters of specific candidates, even people with long histories of solid contribution to the party were extremely circumspect about even making their views public. The party machine has been remarkably hands-off, more so than any other selection process anywhere anytime than I can bring to mind. Clyburn's endorsement before the South Carolina primary was just about the sum total of party machine involvement in making the choice, which is really almost nothing on the scale of these things.
So for this year, charisma maybe isn't what the voting public is looking for. Possibly the idea that Biden knows the ropes so thoroughly that he can step in on day one and start getting things working again without fuss is something that way overcomes his resemblance to a potted plant. Perhaps the potted plant thing is even a positive after all the "charisma" of the past four years.
For mine Biden was/is the nostalgia choice, he's the last of his generation, a generation of Democrats who did not realise much. They lost to Reagan, then to Bush junior and for the brief time Obama had Congress he was dealing with GFC and the legacy of PNAC in foreign policy (its hard to count Clinton when he was the tail of the Republican Congress) and in that brief window brought in the Affordable Care Act. For those of this era, a last chance at redemption, fulfillment of lost promise.
To the wider public, its packaged as a return to an old civility. Something even some of the older GOP members of Congress can appreciate. It's also in a bi-partisan sense a restoration of respect for the institutions of the state and the concept of public service. Albeit over the political corpse of Donald John Trump.
The Oval Office is no place for an angry old man, not Nixon nor Trump.
There was the direction not taken in 2000 (Florida chads and the Supreme Court). This is the chance for the USA to join the 21st C and the community of democratic nations. The mistake made in 2000 was to try to dominate the word as a lone super power. When empires end they turn to neglected domestic issues – they do justice, that fulfillment of lost promise.
Which is where the succession to Biden comes in (he would be a one term president), handing over to a new generation – albeit with some of the path set by Sanders and working with the DC hivemind
In terms of foreign policy, not being Trump is a low bar. Not trying destroy the WTO, rejoining WHO, funding the UN on time, not cozying up to strongman types and rejoining the Paris Accord is not as much as the world needs. Maybe the rest can come from the USA working with others on global security matters a little more.
I'm almost persuaded by your optimism Ad. But in essence the USA is a nation in the middle of both a social crisis and a failure of governance at the same time.
In blunt terms the US has split strongly between coastal communities dominated by 'zoom people' that earn a living typing on computer, and the rest of the nation that still bends steel and works with their hands for a living. They've bifurcated into two very different groups and it's not at all clear to me how Biden will be able to reach across this fault line.
And in terms of governance the COVID crisis has cruelly exposed weakness at every level both federal and state. Despite insanely complex layers of regulation, policy and agencies the system has fallen apart when faced with real crisis. Reforming this will be the work of a decade, and again I'm not hearing Biden talking to any of this.
Reply to every post of Adrian's where he's denounced them with proof that his claim is incorrect.
To continue claiming that any criticism of the Democrats proves support of Trump is tiresome and barely reaches the level of debate of your third form debater.
Every iteration of humourous, clever Trump pseudonym does not assist the debate very much.
It takes vastly more time and effort to refute bullshit than it does to spatter it out in the first place. Eventually the time comes to call out the orifice spewing bullshit for what it is rather than continue the really tiresome task of trying to clean up after it.
both allegations never proven because they are both just as ridiculous.
You may not accept the proof, but given the abundance of such reports in reputable media, they are hardly ridiculous. Ridiculous would be dismissing them without considering the evidence.
Getting involved in American politics is like getting involved in the demise of the Roman Republic. Nothing in it for anyone but with the most brilliant PR ever.
It's an historical moment. If Trump wins it's lights out for the USA. It will fall deeper into authoritarianism, paranoia, and corruption, as the pandemic and social unrest spread out of control. States like California and Texas might want to secede from the insanity in Washington and Wall St. Global treaties and defence arrangements will be in tatters.
Actually, I wonder about supporting an oligarchic Democratic Party. But just a FDR or LBJ would be enough to deliver capitalism there for another few years. Which would be better than the violence needed otherwise. I don't think the DP understands this.
Some day you might want to pop up from that rabbit hole you're in and come visit us where reality and rationality and big-pictures are occasionally visible.
I am sensing myself becoming more concerned about the origins of this current outbreak as I watch the scientists looking perplexed and hear and read bafflement in the media reports. The current virus doesn't match the RNA of the virus past or that in quarantine at our borders. The likelihood of it passing from a frozen surface through layers of protective clothing is really low. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this?
The good news is that all the new cases have been linked to the single cluster and there's no other clusters being found out there, after tons of new tests
Th best is maybe to accept that even experts are learning on the job, and we might all just be prepared at any given day to shut down and go home in order to minimize the fall out.
As for how does it travel, other then that certain corona viruses do well in cold and can survive freezing and thawing, and that supposedly the people at he coldstore were kept safe by their superious (ha!) we know nothing. So we might get comfortable wit the idea that this is something that will keep us on our toes for a few years until it has either run its course, has been supplanted by something worse, or we have found a way to treat/stop/prevent it.
MoH are good, but they're by default working from a conservative position. I doubt they will be wanting to make public statements about what George is raising. I haven't been following enough to know George's comment is even useful or meaningful, but I think dismissing such comments doesn't help.
Thinking about where a virus has come from should include extraterrestrial sources and being aware how abundant and ubiquitous they are.
"On Earth, viruses are thought to outnumber cellular life forms by a factor of 10. And our planet is teeming with virions. In fact, a teaspoon of sea water can contain up to 50 million virions."
That was unwatchable…" the skill of its orchestration " …I won't be taking any movie recommendations from you in future that's for sure!
Anyway I think this clip would be little more informative to anyone interested in Biden political past…i mean who gives a fuck about his personal life..it is what has he done as a politician is all that matters…
…Andrew Cockburn, Washington editor for Harper’s magazine, talks about Biden’s record…
From Crime Bill to Iraq War Vote, Biden’s Legislative History Under Scrutiny as He Enters Race
Have a proper look at his full legislative record, and executive record, over 35 years. Fair to say that not many others will, but it's better than silly cherry-picking that your linked interviewers do.
Did you know if you look up "The Lincoln Project" that it has this info on Wikipedia;
The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee formed in late 2019 by several prominent current and former individuals associated with the Republican Party.
So that ad is by a Republican run group that is trashing Trump and supporting a Democrat.
The lackluster ticket of Biden/Kamala starts to look a bit shaky… I have to say I could see no reason why Biden would choose Kamala as running mate, it seemed to me a serious strategic mistake that brought no new voters into the fold, while it no doubt offended many..but what do I know.
Biden and Trump matchup tightens
"Overall, 50% of registered voters back the Biden-Harris ticket, while 46% say they support Trump and Pence, right at the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points"
No it just means don't try and tell yourself that Biden is anything more than the piece of shit that he is, and I guess if you are in the US it means just eating a little less shit than the pile of shit that Trump is…but one thing is for sure, nothing will really change under Biden…as he said himself….
As Kamala Harris Joins Biden Ticket, Wall Street Sighs in Relief
Wall Street’s warm welcome to Joe Biden’s running mate reflects a belief that tougher financial regulation isn’t a top priority
With Warren, there's the issue of her Senate seat. Right now, Massachusetts laws say the governor gets to pick the replacement with no restrictions. Right now, the governor is Republican Charlie Baker, who could appoint a Repug replacement. There will also have to be a special election held for the seat within 180 days, so that appointment is only a short term thing.
If the incoming senate split turns out to be 50/50, losing Warren's vote for 3 to 6 months until the special election, plus the risk of another Scott Brown outcome, might be quite an obstacle to appointing Warren to be Secretary of Treasury.
The only defence of Biden is perhaps there won't be another even slightly fair election if he's defeated. Which by itself is an indictment. The throne needs to be overthrown. Look forward to seeing Bill Maher cursing out people who don't see that as a good reason to vote for Biden. The US leadership has no contacts to the people. Either way …
To avoid nervousness, I think we need to see these sorts of margins maintained in the polls. Especially given the criticality of swing states (versus popular vote) and the Republicans' expertise in voter suppression. If the narrowing indicated in the one poll Adrian mentioned becomes reflected in other polls, it will be scary.
Clinton won the popular vote in 2016 by a couple of points, so best practice is to look at the battleground states where the real shit is going to go down.
In the link I posted above, at the top of the page there's a drop down menu titled 'battleground states', the results for all of these can easily be found.
It's also worth comparing the state-by-state polls from 2016 to 2020. The 2020 polls of the battleground states are much more stable than 2016, and Biden is often over 50% whereas Clinton hardly ever cracked 50% in a battleground state.
. Poll puts Labour as the preferred party for business owners for first time
Labour is now the preferred party for the owners of small and medium-sized businesses, a poll by MYOB indicates.
It was the first time owners of small and medium businesses had preferred Labour over National since MYOB, which provides online accounting services, began polling in 2011.
“Up until now, while satisfaction with the performance of successive Governments has ebbed and flowed, the SME [small and medium-sized enterprises] sector has been a reliable voting bloc for the National Party,” said MYOB’s New Zealand manager, Ingrid Cronin-Knight.
Labour was the preferred party for 38 per cent of the 401 business owners MYOB surveyed, with 35 per cent favouring National.
Cronin-Knight said, over the years National had been the front-runner among the owners of small and medium-sized businesses, although its support waxed and waned ranging from 63 per cent in 2014 to 44 per cent in 2017.
“At this time in the last election cycle, Labour sat on just 29 per cent support,” she said.
She said 45 per cent of business owners surveyed believed the current Government deserved to be re-elected, while 37 per cent thought it was time for a change.
That was a fascinating article – I looked at it last night. I tend to be a somewhat sceptical of the methodology – which wasn’t shown in the article and I can’t see on the MYOB site. If anyone has time could they find it and link to some with a bit of data in it?
However the trend was interesting. I’ve always been of the opinion that SMEs tend to lean to incumbents rather than ideology. They have enough risk in their own markets and operations. What they’re mostly interested in from government is to not screw up too much.
Clearly they don’t seem to have seen that from this government.
More DNC dodgy behaviour revealed today, exposing yet again that the Pelosi lead establishment DNC is more interested in fighting and defeating any movement to the Left within the party than it is in defeating the Right..because it has more in common with the Right than the progressive Left, that is a plain and indisputable fact…
Party Leaders Investigating Origin of Anti-Morse Campaign Helped Orchestrate It, Documents Reveal
That is a good point, firstly I believe that like it or not the US and it's ideology influence western (and global) politics to an extreme degree, so any movement there right or left will spill over into our domestic scene to a small or large extent, so I am interested in it for that reason, and that is also why I am less interested in it's domestic politics.
Secondly, there hasn't been anyone in the last couple of years on the NZ Left that have looked like they could pull Labour Left in the way Corbyn and Sanders where looking like they could do..especially since the passing of what could have been one of NZ's greatest Labour leaders Helen Kelly, so I have been pretty despondent about the local political scene since then.
Trotter's book No Right Turn shares your melancholy, setting out how leftwards turns in New Zealand politics have been regularly sabotaged. I'd recommend it to you.
"Amusingly, the loudest calls for the government to step in and reduce the pain that employers are feeling, is coming from the same corporates (and libertarian political parties) that, for the past 20 years, have railed against the evils of state intervention, while also touting the virtues of small government. Clearly, there’s nothing like the advent of personal pain to enable a rethink, and a view of state support in a more kindly light. For the wider good, of course.
Like any new converts, these new enthusiasts for corporate socialism tend to be dependent to an extent unimaginable by dole recipients or solo parents. With nary a blush, business has been demanding “Where’s the plan?” of the Ardern government – as if sustainable planning for economic recovery was solely the government’s problem, with no parallel obligation on business to look in the mirror. In fact, the wage subsidy scheme was originally intended to give troubled sectors (eg tourism, international education, and hospitality) time to reconfigure their operations It was not meant to be a pause button until whenever normal service would resume."
Indeed…so many dont appear to have grasped the reality that these subsidies are a breathing space to reevaluate AND ACT with regard to the changed business environment….the cliff approaches and too many appear oblivious.
I just hope the number of schools opening up for the second week at Level 3 in Auckland is just a few, the entitled ones preparing students for their Cambridge exams, because if the outbreak spreads via schools it will go on longer and impact the NCEA period, election and survival of many businesses.
Waiting to hear whether our local state school is going to open up early for Years 12 and 13. The boy is quite keen to get back early – he thinks remote learning moves too slowly, puts him at a disadvantage compared to schools outside Auckland, and doesn't sufficiently mimic the classroom environment. Setting aside the point that a 17 year old shouldn't be so competitively stressed, these seem like reasonable comments about a slightly lacklustre implementation of remote learning.
The 'elite' schools pushing this are meeting the needs of their real customers – not the students, the parents. These parents have paid a premium (fees or expensive real estate) to buy their children an advantage over other people's children. They don't want that investment wasted.
Interesting to hear some young people complaining about not being able to cope without the enforced organisational rigours of their secondary schools and want to be there to improve their school marks so they can go to whichever course at whichever university.
Our youngest, not so long out of that world, said on hearing the complaints, "What? Soon they're going to be out on their own, controlling their own study, responsible for their own tracks. Sounds like they're not up to facing the real world of being a real student."
She is one who observed numbers from cosseted backgrounds and fancy schools having difficulty coping with independence and poor ability at organising themselves.
My sons who went to a decile 2 school and subsequently obtained good degrees, used to remark on how hopeless many of the students from elite schools were at organising themselves at university level. It suggests there is a lot of spoon-feeding happening; maybe more concerned about the pass rates for the schools concerned than developing the abilities of their students.
The schools using the Oxford and Cambridge system..I can't remember the other name for it…these students have to earn more credits in order to gain entry to university now than NCEA based courses because the students weren't coping with the environment which was less structured.
A beautiful, detailed and lengthy dismantling of the error-ridden and dangerous arguments put up by pandemic-deniers; Simon Thornley, Ryan Bridge, Damien Grant, Matthew Hooton, and Mike Hosking.
Some economist will know what all this means. Has Sweden borrowed less than us? Maybe:
As a share of GDP, central government debt increases from 22 percent to 31 percent.
I think we are looking at 45-50% or something. But then:
The Maastricht debt is expected to increase from around 35 per cent of GDP in 2019 to 45 per cent at the end of next year. That measure includes the general government consolidated debt and is usually used in international comparisons.
I have no idea what Maastricht debt is with respect to how we measure government debt.
They are going to look a bit stupid if they end up with a) massive death rate, b) high unemployment (already over 9%), c) a shrivelled economy (GDP to fall 6.5% this year) and d) huge government debt.
Worldometer is using their supplied data, if you look closely at the main graph you can see the N/A for info regarding recovered and active cases.
I have been watching Swedens graph stats almost daily and their was an abrupt stop to statistical records for recording new infections, deaths, recovered and active cases.
They had been recording daily infections in their hundreds prior to that, if you look closely at the infected graph they went from several hundred infections one day to nearly none 3 or 4 days later, we know that that is Highly unlikely given what we know in NZ.
Their stats don't add up, they're suppilied by the Swedish Govt.
The data are there, on the Worldometer website, and they’re updated daily, as far as I can tell. You just need to click a little further/deeper than the main table on the landing page.
Did you click on the two links I provided? All daily data can be found there. In fact, the Worldometer data seem to be a little ahead of its source!?
Another article completely smashing the lame, primitive, poorly researched and dangerous reckons of Hooton, Seymour, Bridge, Hosking, Grant, Thornley and co.
That's an interesting link! I like them both but never saw the similarities. Bloody obvious really. The other link is the Doors "light my fire" and the Stranglers "Walk on by"
Cmon Trump. The longer your in, the more likely the downfall of the US as a world power. That can be only be good for the free world, free of yankee war crap.
It depends how quickly another aspiring hegemon or pair of them move in to fill their shoes. An ineffectual US is likely much more benign than either an expanding kleptostate or aggressive state capitalism under a wannabe dynastic leader.
Q2. Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: What advice, if any, has she received on the most likely way COVID-19 entered Auckland, causing the lockdown which began on 12 August, and what weaknesses, if any, have officials identified in border procedures which may have left New Zealand vulnerable to fresh outbreaks of COVID-19?
Determined to link the outbreak to a government Failure at the border. Wonder if we will ever know where the infection came from.
Only 11 questions today?
I'm more interested about how it was then professionally repackaged on Facebook- and with the media know etc (which is like a QAnon type mem now, inferring the MSM are not informing the people but these peddlers of fake news are).
Just being transparent. A case involving a different strain of the virus is a major development.
This case looks like a case of surface transmission to a maintenance worker, rather than person to person, these things do happen. China had a cluster they could not explain for some time. Apparently someone returned from overseas and went to their apartment to isolate. Another person in the building spread to others afterwards – the only known link is a button in an elevator.
As far as I know, the sequencing is partial and I wonder if they have ruled out that this B.1.1.1 sub-lineage developed independently here in NZ from a B.1.1 lineage. AFAIK, it only takes one nucleotide difference to become ‘eligible’ to qualify as a sub-lineage. All sub-lineages started somewhere but there’s no fundamental reason to exclude the (slim?) possibility that the same change happened in more than one place. I’d think the probability is higher than winning the Lotto Jackpot and this was won by ten lucky punters on Saturday. Anybody able to answer this knowledgably?
I claim zero expertise in viral mutations, but a somewhat feeble grasp of probabilities, so I'll have a crack:
I guess the first step would be finding out if we've seen the B.1.1 lineage previously here in New Zealand.
If all nucleotide substitutions are equally probable (no idea whether that's true, I'd guess a lot of theoretically possible substitutions create non-viable virus), then the chances of independently getting that B.1.1.1 mutation here would surely be 1/3 (chances of substituting in the same new nucleotide) times 1/30,000 (the number of nucleotides in the SARS-CoV-2 genome and therefore the chance of substituting into the exact same location) times the number of instances a mutation of that original B.1.1 has occurred here in NZ (call it x, unknown), for a total odds of x/90,000. Times whatever scale-up factor needed to account for all the non-viable mutations in that 90,000 denominator that would never appear.
The odds of winning from a single line of Powerball are 1/38,383,800. The cheapest ticket is for 8 lines, so that's 1/4,797,975 chance of winning from the cheapest ticket. But the 10 winners all won off the second division since it was a must-win draw, so their odds of their win off one cheapest ticket were roughly 1/800,000.
But I'd guess there were vastly more tickets sold for the Powerball draw than opportunities for B.1.1 to become B.1.1.1, assuming B.1.1 actually was present here.
" But I'd guess there were vastly more tickets sold for the Powerball draw than opportunities for B.1.1 to become B.1.1.1, assuming B.1.1 actually was present here. "
Covid19 will be replicated many billions of times within a single patient – a single nasal swab can pick up 100,000,000 copies.
Yes, but that mutation also has to pass itself on to the new host.
There have to be bottlenecks somewhere in the process that winnow down the number of mutations that become detectable in the environment, otherwise the genomic tree would have waaaaay more branches than it does.
AFAIK, mutations don’t occur in the virus itself but during the process of integration and/or replication by the host cell; a virus cannot replicate itself. Again, an expert might be able to shed some light on this.
Determined to link the outbreak to a government Failure at the border.
There is a quarantine failure with a staff member ,who however has a different genome.
The new development here is a maintenance worker at the Rydges Hotel isolation facility in Auckland testing positive. He has no regular contact with guests and he isn't linked to the existing cluster.
Genome sequencing has shown a link between this worker and a returnee who travelled from the US at the end of July.
A review of CCTV clips show no obvious connection between the two.
There are six close contacts connected to the worker, all are in self-isolation and have tested negative. Three household contacts have been identified and tested.
I feel like this is the only case of a border worker (not even a border worker really) to have tested positive? So far at least. And it's not even one responsible for the Auckland cluster.
Doesn't this suggest the the border workers were taking care of themselves all along with good practice and that the opposition's drive to find a breach because of testing is a load of shite?
What I'm saying is, assuming all border workers have now been tested (I don't know if this is true) and come up negative apart from this one maintenance worker (I don't know if this is true either), doesn't that show border practice was fine?
Ruining my theory might be that a border worker in July may have become infected, not been symptomatic, has recovered without symptoms but not before transmitting the virus to case zero of the Auckland cluster. Seems unlikely.
The response to the ak cluster ( genomic difference) suggests there may be a maritime breach (which was always a soft border) such as stevedores,pilots,etc.
Yes, they have thrown a lot at ports and truckies recently (some of who are refusing tests, I hear). This suggests they are concerned about port workers mixing with foreign crew.
I would have said it is the responsibility of the ports themselves to adhere to MoH border guidelines. Maybe you could tag MPI a little bit but it differs from immigration and MIQ which are clearly government run. You could say baggage handlers are in the same boat (heh) as port workers.
I have been listening for the last 30 mins to parliament. Just as I expected Collins expects a different outcome (the impossible no Covid cases) to other countries.
As far as I know the Covid sick leave 14 day payment is still in place. Trucking firms need to be hauled into line if they are threatening drivers for taking sick-leave. If they are contractors wage subsidy is there.
I am aware of rumours some truck drivers are heavy amphetamine users.
I hope the truckies are not getting into the situation that they were in the USA years ago, taking uppers and downers, pushing themselves, not having proper stops and decent food. One got into that cycle and ran down some people and/or into a store. I think a dietitian considered it a sort of sugar high, putting out the person's body systems. Driving for too long hours.
Love this narrative about 'failure;…FFS this is the unknown and everybody is learning on the job…we have no idea about potential lines of transmission.
There have been some questionable acts but no failure of intent.
She took the unusual step of telegraphing the claims to the media this morning ahead of QT too. Which perhaps suggests she isn’t confident that the info she has will get her a big enough bang for her buck or that maybe events may overtake her as the day goes on?
It's expression of a fear that the MSM will fact check their political messaging, National are trying to warn the media off by sending in the one man who has no credibility left to lose.
I was talking to a Chch woman tonight about the stress of waiting for the election and getting Labour back in. She hasn't got good things to say about Brownlee. Was talking about the debacle about sweeping decisions about the red zone and how it hurt the people living there, still getting over it and trying to get settled. Apparently back then there was a rush to do this and that, resulted in one woman going shopping in the morning and came back and her house was demolished. Everything seems to have been lost, all her possessions, all the precious family photos etc. Pretty legal? Pretty incredible.
Light lunchtime relief. When reading the article every time the word "emu" or " Eric" or "he" is mentioned replaced it with my favourite name "Judith" or "she".
Judith flees rural Auckland paddock in search of love.
Says Foster an Animal Welfare officer, " I had never caught a Judith before, so I started Googling how to do it,” As Judith has sharp claws and a “forceful kick”, Foster and her colleagues had to be extra careful in their capture attempt.
Says the owner Goodley, " Even I’ve got to keep looking over my shoulder when she’s following me around the paddock.”
She is “strutting her stuff” with her 20 sheep friends.
“She loves roaming around the paddock showing off she’s the tallest thing in there,” Goodley said.
(Multiply population of 5 x 60 to get 300 million and multiply new cases of 13 x 60 for comparison to USA daily cases –
Our infection rate would give 208 cases for comparison to USA of 41,893.)
e&oe This is near-enough math done in my head.
We knew that though eh. They must be thick over there that they haven't found a way through their flexible laws to move him on somewhere. Somewhere over the rainbow because you can never get really close to a rainbow right!
I hope you're well Jum haven't seen your name for a while. Maybe haven't looked in the right posts.
Progressive Party policies include maximising NZ’s self-reliance. We fully accept that NZ’s standard of living is built on its trade with the rest of the world, so maximising our self-reliance is not a call for protectionism.
What it does mean, in the first instance, is ensuring our ability to meet our basic needs so that we can relate to the rest of the world from a position of strength.
We invite you to browse our website and discover a little more about who we are and what we are advocating
The Progressive party currently aren’t on the register.
The Heartland party has no constitution and rules. They may have to hurry up.
Nor does The Advance New Zealand Party.
What in the hell is the Tea party? Umm their constitution has as the second clause..
The Party may also be known as the New Zealand Taxpayers and Entrepreneurs Alliance, still
abbreviated as “TEA Party”, for the purposes of the Electoral Act 1993.
Umm The ONE party. Oh their constitution appendix has (with tabs between the words?)…
ONE PARTY FAITH STATEMENT:
1. We believe in only one God, eternally existent in three persons;
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Matt 28:19 1 John 5:7
The Vision New Zealand Party sounds awfully similar with this as their first principle
Believe there is only one God, who is undivided and inseparable in
essence, and within this one essence there are three eternal
distinctions, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.
They recognize the Holy Bible to be the Word of God, which is infallible
and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and morals, upon
which governing mandates should be founded and measured.
I know all of the rest of the parties. Ok that was an amusing few minutes looking at the new kids on the block.
Now enough procrastination – back to finding out why NetworkManager thinks that the wifi module is unavailable.
Both registered and unregistered parties can stand electorate candidates at general elections. But only parties registered with the Electoral Commission can:
contest the party vote
have their registered logo on the voting paper
access broadcasting funds for advertising on television and radio.
Thanks for this refreshing reflection Greywarshark. This alternative thinking/vision has been an area on my mind.
For the knockers the Party's manifesto is worthy of space and discussion
"
• All people can fulfil their basic needs for food, clothing, housing, medical care and education,
• All human beings can freely develop their physical, mental and spiritual potentials,
• All human beings experience human rights such as physical integrity, equality and freedom,
Moving together and for each other we can develop our individual and collective potential. "
Even today watching Parliament live angered me. In this unparalleled reconvening it should have been a precious space for meaningful conversations about all our forward wellbeing. Instead the time was hijacked for point scoring. Parliamentary time today was an expensive rort on taxpayer's money when the questions today had already been answered through various channels.
It is hard to describe a type of angst or is it fury that I feel about a void of action, a void of policy and little voicing of even near future solutions for addressing entrenched injustices that contunue to cause longterm misery for so many.
What do other main Parties offer?
"Homo economicus, the everyman postulated by economic theorists, is an atomized individual who is relentlessly driven to maximize his material advantages through the market not matter what the social costs. "
"NOW is the starting point upon which we can build a political framework of access, sharing, equality and social well-being."
Another perspective is, IMO , an inabilty to let go of "ego" . Missing in the main is even a hint of decolonisation policies, systems thinking other than measures I have seen in the Green's platform.
"Decolonisation goes beyond diversity and inclusion. It is the commitment to make marginalised communities un-marginalised by recognising them as part of the whole and welcoming them as agents of change."
"The most effective visions will show people the better world in meaningful concrete ways, lay out a clear process for change and be clear on who can make the change within a system and structure."
The dominant feeling I have is that change will not happen with this election's offerings because a type of criminal act has taken place. That act has been the stealing of space for the voices of the people to be addressed. The crime is a theft of democracy by the likes of those with a self interest agenda to gain Power. The greatest vile collaborator is the MSM.
Your view and dismissal belittling a view with " it's not rocket science" about sums up 2020. Today in Parliament was the same said in multiple ways, " Any view but mine is all shit." And repeat.
Btw. The links provided were some of many similar ‘expert’ voices.
In an instant barely enough time to even tead a link, you were the disparaging one.
"… it's not rocket science" , you might as well have stated your superior view by calling me a " dumbass" .
Your statement
" too many dont wish it so". Who ? Explain please this writing off of the masses of people enduring injustice.
Irony is your action is what was reflected in my post.
Could be you might be one of the causes of people giving up TS.
Conflating opinion with “rocket science” is silly, I agree. But there have been quite a few opinion polls recently.
Taking things personal when they’re not, is setting yourself up for a shit fight.
There are many reasons why people come and go from TS. Unless you have done an exit poll, you don’t know their reasons and can only speculate. The vast majority of page views (visits) of TS are silent readers.
It is the action and intent of his putdown on other's that is detrimental.
I have read Pat's posts today and applying the same post under his own views or anyone's is corrosive to any dialogue.
Put Pat's comment under his long post made with considerable effort today and see the effect- 18 August 2020 at 10:58 am
"… if sustainable planning for economic recovery was solely the government’s problem, with no parallel obligation on business to look in the mirror…."
Then apply the action of 'instantly stomp on it .. you dumbass.'
So for reflection, if I posted this same comment instantly under your well considered input of posts I believe you would find it unacceptable.
Or let this comment stand as a model for other commentators and 'just give up on change you dolts'
"change will not happen because too many dont wish it so…its not rocket science."
"I have read Pat's posts today and applying the same post under his own views or anyone's is corrosive to any dialogue.
Put Pat's comment under his long post made with considerable effort today and see the effect- 18 August 2020 at 10:58 am
"… if sustainable planning for economic recovery was solely the government’s problem, with no parallel obligation on business to look in the mirror…."
You are aware that you have quoted Gordon Campbell?…and the post is brief as almost all my posts are…I dont do verbose.
If you can be a bit tolerant – everyone who comes and blogs about politics is special – all concerned to get change, better things, but how? And all have particular gifts and knowledge and perceptions. Gradually an understanding of that person's mind is gained and then when they seem faulty you know where they are coming from.
Ok, the written word lacks intonation and is often (?) perceived differently, in a qualitative sense, than intended. This can lead to endless misunderstandings.
If you reply to one of my comments that it is not rocket science, I would most likely ask you why or simply let it go.
OTOH, if you were to call me a dumbass, I would take that as a personal insult, in the first instance.
It all depends on the context (e.g. topic, thread, commenter, etc.) and on the mood I am in at the time.
i will confess i have not yet read the links (though I shall) but make the observation that the greens have been promoting progressive policies for decades and to date capture (?) around 6 -7% of the voting publics support…there is a disconnect between what people say they want and what they are prepared to support.
Hi PaddyOT I was talking to someone who has studied philosophy tonight and we agreed that the education system needs to teach how to analyse, simplify, check something with critical analysis to get to the basis of what it's about. She mentioned Plato, I've got a book about his thoughts, but as I haven't read it I haven't experienced anything but the satisfaction of having got it available.
Tonight I think Socrates , Plato's teacher might be in the lead on 'thinking about thinking' studies.
" The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but building on the new."- Socrates.🤪
Plato had constraints on how much he should explore as his mentor Socrates was executed for his views.
🤭
Thanks for the advice on tolerance, if you go back I wasn't. I replied to your post initially and got an intolerant responder. Life's served up some massive doozies on me and mine that other's would crumble under. I moved from some decades of teaching children through to adults onto looking at real change for voiceless victim's . I put my own money where my mouth is, sound research and widespread investigation from those at grassroots both workers and victims, to hear their voices. Overwhelming was the oppression that leads to silencing and misery of many. I worked with some amazing experts and put a Charitable Trust Deed together and my money at a time where political powers upheld 'top down' approaches.
Bittersweet, is that over the next 15 years from inception 'we the collective' now of thousands of victims, are now one of the largest NGO charitable organisations in New Zealand that drives its business from the clients voices up. A switcheroo is that Government agents now refer their too hard to Us. It is also credit to a massive collaboration of like agencies that founders worked tirelessly to network with. Face to face audaciously with the BigWigs worked a treat too. As does being nimble in predictions of where political winds will blow for Strategic Plans.
So I walk the talk and intolerance is not really my vice.
Cynicism is not intolerance. Though some are intolerant of cynics.
And its not cyncism against proponents of change, its cyncism about whether people trapped in a battle for economic survival in a market rigged against many/most have the energy or hope left to buy into it. And that is based on the politics of a generation.
But then generations come and go. And sometimes all that is required for the older generation to get out of the way.
There you go again SPC putting your own spin and nasty twists in to uphold false views. Shades of last week when you pissed all over people with your dangerous plague theorizing and then failed to answer for your targetting people maliciously.
SPC go back on all my input, read and then apologise for this,
" I’ve been on blogs a long time, and you are one the quickest to make personal attacks on others that I have seen." Show where there was personal attacks on anyone, as you have continued to do even in your putdowns continuously.
On your cannabis users and employers ? theory talking past a commentor it ends with, "The current discriminatory regime is bad for our economy."
No foundation given.
And on denouncing someone's post re population change this small portion of your way out there theory and no sources cited-:
"All pre pandemic thinking (old people at risk) … and with no awareness of the risk of super bugs (antibiotics into Chinese pigs still) on the ability of hospitals to provide old people with new knees hips etc."
(( WTF?))
"Global warming impact on old age health … nothing …"
"Sure contracpetion and education reduce the amount of children women have, but egg storage and looser rules about surrogacy may mitigate that."
Onto pissing on a credible well researched opinion you expound this-
"Given breaking Oz and US into economically dependent satellites is part of their three circles ambition for the Pacific, which they have barely tried to hide, there is nothing manufactured about it.
For mine it is going to be hilarious, when the West embraces Russia as part of containment of China, how many people are going to turn on a dime."
Still no reference for your ' findings' .
Just screeds and screeds of your theories with no foundations offered to overide what others say.
Best ever, your own pithy theory to put down another researched commentary you felt had no evidence when it did – :
"saying something does not exist if it does not have a creation date is spurious." Then you had once more put your made up theory in and still NO evidence.
The pattern is like observing ' little boy dashing in from across the playground' to put the biff in. Still no accountability for trollie type false statements. Go you !
Thanks PaddyOT but you have sounded off sharply at people writing here. I think that is intolerant. I should know because I have caught myself doing that. And sometimes showing intolerance is needed otherwise you get to be just a limp rag.
We all bring our own experiences and perceptions to the mix. Yours may be more knowledgable about problems that others seem to brush off. But If you can't discuss and describe then you don't get the best out of a forum.
Unless two or more of them knew each other personally before this, I reckon it went like this:
Dubai property lawyer Lunjevich writes to Collins about what the bus driver said (why did he ask the bus driver that question anyway?)
Collins senses an opportunity to bag Ardern and writes to Garner asking him to put Dubai property lawyer Lunjevich on the show to bag Ardern.
Garner dutifully sets up the zoom call and broadcasts.
If they did know each other previously, it looks like a well planned attack with Dubai property lawyer Lunjevich being coached on what questions to ask and what to look for in MIQ in order to cause MoH and Ardern as much trouble as possible.
There are some poor types around NZ who can't be shamed, always have an excuse, some odd reason. It seems that they will never 'go straight' – why release them amongst the public to start off some new criminal pursuit? Have an open prison managed farm where you can keep them busy with a pleasant life provided they stay in custody, or else they are in deep custard, or is that porridge.
Depends who the Snapchat private group was I suppose?
One thing though, this breaking story and the Rydges Hotel maintenance worker testing positive mean that Judith’s gotcha-that-wasn’t in the House today will be lucky to survive the news cycle let alone dominate it.
A defence force worker could have done the repair. Possibly having a pool of defence force workers is the way to go. There could be some sort of isolating system away from other defence force employees and families. A bit like a deployment for a month at a time and then 2 weeks in isolation.
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What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
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Tova O'Brien tweets to Collins "is the October 17th poll going to be rogue?". Burn! (paraphrased, my memory).
[Fixed typo in e-mail address]
I haven't seen social contract theory set out clearly in an election advertisement before, so top marks to Ed Markey:
I’m not sure if it was a terribly good idea for Judith to connect Gerry’s wild-eyed conspiracy theories to the rubbish that’s circulating on Facebook as she did on TVNZ this morning?
Doubling down in place of any policies.
Carry on Jude, suits you well.
If you want to see what the dark heart of the establishment DNC looks like look no further than this interview…nothing more than a bunch of filthy war hawks whose ideology is pure and utter american exceptionalism, this lot are not all that different from ISIS, in other words fundamentalists..,,so don't fool yourselves, Biden/Kamala are really just pro choice Republicans.
And it is worth noting that this interview was done before it was exposed that the FBI had been caught lying in their Russiagate investigations..
Dem impeachment attorney on Mueller, Ukrainegate, and the case vs. Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ogICXNbB8
Former FBI Lawyer Involved in Russia Investigation Pleads Guilty
https://www.voanews.com/usa/former-fbi-lawyer-involved-russia-investigation-pleads-guilty
.
Your drawing a very long bow just reheating Trumps propaganda.
Reading your article it doesn't match your implications.
"..that he altered a June 2017 email from the CIA in a way that suggested Page, an admitted CIA asset, was not a “source” for the agency.
Relying on the falsified document, the FBI then applied for its fourth surveillance warrant on Page, according to court documents."
I am not reheating Trumps anything, just stating the fact that the FBI has been caught red handed altering evidence to suit their investigation… an investigation that using the full might of one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the entire world proved nothing…well I guess they did prove that people on the Left ( including all it's media) are just as easily manipulated into believing unquestioningly any conspiracy theory fed to them as people on the Right are, as long as that conspiracy conforms too and strengthens their already deeply embedded bias and/or helps in vilifying their perceived enemy.
A great smoke and mirrors trick that has been used by those in power forever, and sadly as can be plainly seen, still works just as effectively.
One item out of tonnes of evidence.sycophantic Minions will take a tiny bit of Truth to push propaganda.
Trump = children in cages, lies about Coronavirus, destroying US democracy, cuddling up to dictators, winks to white supremacists.
Vote Joe
This is nothing to do with voting joe, this is about the the DNC aided by the FBI concocting a elaborate conspiracy theory..ie Russia interference that altered the outcome 2016 US elections..and that Trump is somehow in the pocket of Putin, both allegations never proven because they are both just as ridiculous.
I am just as opposed to Trump as anyone on this site, but that doesn't mean I have to turn off the critical thinking part of my brain and get into bed with organizations like the FBI FFS!
I am just as opposed to Trump as anyone on this site
I don't see any evidence of that. None. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I can't bring to mind any instances of you being critical of any of the numerous outrages the stygian homunculus has perpetrated against the disadvantaged, against democracy, against fairness and equity in society, against the environment etc etc.
It appears your only interest is in attacking Democrats, often as a diversionary whine when someone else posts a criticism of an outrageous action perpetrated by Don of the Deadbrains or one of his minions. Indeed, often these diversionary attacks appear to be repackaged from the convergence wingnut area of the political spectrum. That is most easily interpreted as trying to boost the satsuma shitgibbon, not the actions of someone opposed to what he is doing.
I don't need to attack Trump, it is quite obvious to anyone with eyes what he is and what he stands for…what I am concerned about is idiots like you destroying the little credibility the Left has with the general public with your unhinged and fact free conspiracy theories.. I rarely if ever see you lot attacking Trumps foreign policies…wonder why that is? …I didn't see you lot lose you shit when he (with the DNC) signed off on the biggest largest military budget in history, or signed off the biggest upward movement of wealth to wall st recently…you and your beloved Dem anti Trump rhetoric is nothing but a sick joke and nothing more than that, rhetoric..you give that motherfucker Trump everything he wants when it comes to the super wealthy, US corporations and US military hegemony…like I said you are a joke, and Trumps laughing right into your face…. the sad thing is you are being used like a tool and you don’t even seem to want to know.
Adrian Thornton.You should take a long look at your post as they say the longer the diatribe the biggly your lying
If you don't like Trump just say so .we don't some mansplaining.
[Point out a clear and obvious lie.
Address comments with something substantial, not just gesticulating, thanks – Incognito]
I don't see any lies in that post, if you do please point them out…I thought it read quite well.
See my Moderation note @ 11.10 AM.
I'm not sure what you meant by Wall Street and recently, but here is one account of the tax change in 2018.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/408631-how-the-trump-tax-cuts-passed-bipartisanship-wasnt-an-ingredient
On defence spending, they gave way and without conditions.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/democrats-gave-trump-everything-he-wants-738-billion-defense-bill-2019-12?r=US&IR=T
So you're just as opposed to the cheetodick as anyone else on the site, but without actually attacking him. /sarc
Do you really not remember any criticism of the dude's foreign policy? The pulling back from NATO, the trade confrontations, the free passes given to Putin, the repeated North Korea fuckups, the suggestion Japan and South Korea get nukes, the moving of the US embassy in Israel, his pathetic manipulation by dictators around the world?
What an unreliable memory you have.
I rarely if ever see you lot attacking Trumps foreign policies
That's because you're too self-involved in your own public political masturbation to take on board what anyone else has to say.
eg this entire post: https://thestandard.org.nz/that-1914-feeling/
ranging to details as fine as this comment: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-02-2018/#comment-1453421
plus all the topics McFlock mentioned
… you give that motherfucker Trump everything he wants when it comes to the super wealthy, US corporations and US military hegemony …
Again, you obviously aren't paying attention if you've missed all the comments about tax cuts for the wealthy, cutting regulations and all the other shit America's Prolapsed Rectum has been doing to coddle the wealthy and the corporations. (these comments are a bit harder to search for due to my refusal to use the Mandarin Manutang's common name)
eg https://thestandard.org.nz/the-chaos-of-the-trump-white-house/
Dear Adrian Thornton and Andre,
If I may, I observe (i.e. my PoV) that you two have much more in common than that separates you. Based on my belief, I’m at a loss as to why you two feel the need to rip into each other as you do. Please note that I’m not moderating here, just expressing my utter confusion and inability to grasp what’s going on between you. As such, it doesn’t invite or require an answer 😉
they need to get a room.
Will it have a jelly wrestling pit in it?
As I see it, the biggest difference is that as the choices narrow down, I shift my support to whichever remaining option is most likely to achieve changes I value.
Looks to me like Adrian does not, apparently preferring to attack even harder the remaining option that knocked out the one he had his heart set on, without realising that that is functionally the same as supporting the opponent of what he professes to value. There's a time for those attacks, while the choices remain open. But after the choice has been made, it's just destructive.
If you and Adrian cannot agree to disagree – although you seem to be united in your aversion against Trump and GOP – then why not give each other a wide berth? This behaviour is also destructive, IMHO.
For what it's worth Adrian I can hear where you are coming from. Perhaps the best way to understand the USA is to understand that their unique geography has meant that over centuries they've been able to build a powerful and prosperous nation without having to develop and especially competent or responsive political system. As a result when a real crisis strikes, they're left floundering.
Trump is a high functioning psychopath which makes him both a polarising figure and deeply unsuited to the modern office of POTUS. Yet more than a few have drawn comparison with another President … Andrew Jackson … who was similarly divisive, reckless and viscerally despised by his opponents. Yet oddly enough history regards him now as one of the more significant Presidents. In this I agree with you, obsessively attacking Trump is a fools errand. It ends with the old line about you getting dirty and the pig enjoying it.
As for the DNC, it's very hard to have respect for a political entity that produces Joe Biden as it's best effort. Truly the USA political system has become a ship of fools, but even this phase will pass. There is every reason to hope that after a decade of turmoil the USA will re-invent itself as it has done in the past.
And in this respect I’m also with Andre, that a reflexive anti-Americanism is a selective and unproductive view of their role in the world. We must be honest about their flaws and mistakes, but it’s folly to also discard their many achievements.
It wasn't "the DNC" that selected Biden as the candidate. It was probably the most democratic selection process of anywhere in the world at any time for choosing a candidate to contest for a country's highest office. Literally anyone eligible to vote in the general election could participate equally in the Democratic primary. At most, they would have to fill out a form saying they affiliated as a Democrat some time before their state's primary date, but in many states they just have to choose which primary they are are voting in at the time of casting their ballot. No joining the party, no membership fees, no giving a party personal data needed.
The vote-counting rules were also closer to one person-one vote than anything else I'm aware of. The only significant deviation was the 15% threshold for getting awarded delegates, but that distortion is much smaller than even Repug rules that ranged up to winner-take-all in some states. Let alone rules like reserving a proportion of votes to unions and caucus members as happens here.
Literally anyone could also put themselves forward for selection. No prior party affiliation needed. In fact, the runner-up pointedly dissociated himself from the Democratic party several years earlier, and only grudgingly re-associated himself with the party once he decided to try for the nomination.
I'm not aware of any other political organisation anywhere else in the world that is anywhere near that open to all comers when it comes to choosing its leader. So painting the DNC as some nefarious organisation pulling hidden strings behind the scenes is really unfair and simply wrong. The choice was freely and fairly made by the segment of the voting public that were interested enough to make the relatively minimal effort required to participate in that choice.
It's a semantic quibble, the DNC may not have done the voting, but they certainly own and run the process. And to suggest that the party machine sits back and watches the primaries unfold with no attempt at influence seems a trifle naive … but it's your party and I'm not pissing on it.
I can understand Biden's stammer, I can get past his uninspiring past, I can even live with the fact that a more honest process would have just selected Kamala Harris from the outset. But that Biden somehow came through a field of far more credible candidates, any number of them much more interesting and charismatic, just leaves me cold.
And more than anything else the Dems need a charismatic, energising candidate to energise their disparate support base to ensure a strong win. Yet here we are with a relatively weak candidate, that despite promising polling, is by no means hands down to beat Trump. In US elections turnout is everything, and this the polls do not measure well.
The DNC doesn't have have a secret research lab where they manufacture candidates and they botched the recipe this year. The choice available is entirely at the mercy of the vagaries of who puts their hand up to have a go and catches the interest of the voting public.
This year, probably for fear of being accused of underhanded influence by rabid supporters of specific candidates, even people with long histories of solid contribution to the party were extremely circumspect about even making their views public. The party machine has been remarkably hands-off, more so than any other selection process anywhere anytime than I can bring to mind. Clyburn's endorsement before the South Carolina primary was just about the sum total of party machine involvement in making the choice, which is really almost nothing on the scale of these things.
So for this year, charisma maybe isn't what the voting public is looking for. Possibly the idea that Biden knows the ropes so thoroughly that he can step in on day one and start getting things working again without fuss is something that way overcomes his resemblance to a potted plant. Perhaps the potted plant thing is even a positive after all the "charisma" of the past four years.
Perhaps the potted plant thing is even a positive after all the "charisma" of the past four years.
Skroderider.![devil devil](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/devil_smile.png)
For mine Biden was/is the nostalgia choice, he's the last of his generation, a generation of Democrats who did not realise much. They lost to Reagan, then to Bush junior and for the brief time Obama had Congress he was dealing with GFC and the legacy of PNAC in foreign policy (its hard to count Clinton when he was the tail of the Republican Congress) and in that brief window brought in the Affordable Care Act. For those of this era, a last chance at redemption, fulfillment of lost promise.
To the wider public, its packaged as a return to an old civility. Something even some of the older GOP members of Congress can appreciate. It's also in a bi-partisan sense a restoration of respect for the institutions of the state and the concept of public service. Albeit over the political corpse of Donald John Trump.
The Oval Office is no place for an angry old man, not Nixon nor Trump.
There was the direction not taken in 2000 (Florida chads and the Supreme Court). This is the chance for the USA to join the 21st C and the community of democratic nations. The mistake made in 2000 was to try to dominate the word as a lone super power. When empires end they turn to neglected domestic issues – they do justice, that fulfillment of lost promise.
Which is where the succession to Biden comes in (he would be a one term president), handing over to a new generation – albeit with some of the path set by Sanders and working with the DC hivemind
In terms of foreign policy, not being Trump is a low bar. Not trying destroy the WTO, rejoining WHO, funding the UN on time, not cozying up to strongman types and rejoining the Paris Accord is not as much as the world needs. Maybe the rest can come from the USA working with others on global security matters a little more.
If you want to ensure that you get the worst possible candidate for your political party's top job then have the voting open to the opposition.
I'll stick a post up about what a Democratic Party-led Biden administration will probably focus on.
Just to balance things out a bit.
Can't wait.
Bernie's already had a crack at that.
https://www.vox.com/2020/8/18/21373190/bernie-sanders-progressive-case-for-joe-biden-democratic-national-convention-transcript
I'm just going to focus on foreign affairs.
I've covered Biden's domestic platform on here a couple of times already.
I'm almost persuaded by your optimism Ad. But in essence the USA is a nation in the middle of both a social crisis and a failure of governance at the same time.
In blunt terms the US has split strongly between coastal communities dominated by 'zoom people' that earn a living typing on computer, and the rest of the nation that still bends steel and works with their hands for a living. They've bifurcated into two very different groups and it's not at all clear to me how Biden will be able to reach across this fault line.
And in terms of governance the COVID crisis has cruelly exposed weakness at every level both federal and state. Despite insanely complex layers of regulation, policy and agencies the system has fallen apart when faced with real crisis. Reforming this will be the work of a decade, and again I'm not hearing Biden talking to any of this.
" attacking Democrats"
It is incumbent on you then Andre to defend them.
Isn't it?
If you can.
Reply to every post of Adrian's where he's denounced them with proof that his claim is incorrect.
To continue claiming that any criticism of the Democrats proves support of Trump is tiresome and barely reaches the level of debate of your third form debater.
Every iteration of humourous, clever Trump pseudonym does not assist the debate very much.
It takes vastly more time and effort to refute bullshit than it does to spatter it out in the first place. Eventually the time comes to call out the orifice spewing bullshit for what it is rather than continue the really tiresome task of trying to clean up after it.
That Russia interference that altered the outcome 2016 US elections.
Sources as various as Time and Al Jazeerah confirm the Russian interference
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/senate-panel-confirms-russian-interference-2016-election-200421162844869.html
https://time.com/5565991/russia-influence-2016-election/
and that Trump is somehow in the pocket of Putin,
Nor is there a shortage of material claiming that Trump is indebted to Putin.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/trumps-businesses-are-full-of-dirty-russian-money-the-scandal-is-thats-legal/2019/03/29/11b812da-5171-11e9-88a1-ed346f0ec94f_story.html
both allegations never proven because they are both just as ridiculous.
You may not accept the proof, but given the abundance of such reports in reputable media, they are hardly ridiculous. Ridiculous would be dismissing them without considering the evidence.
And what does Joe really have to do with democracy?
Getting involved in American politics is like getting involved in the demise of the Roman Republic. Nothing in it for anyone but with the most brilliant PR ever.
It's an historical moment. If Trump wins it's lights out for the USA. It will fall deeper into authoritarianism, paranoia, and corruption, as the pandemic and social unrest spread out of control. States like California and Texas might want to secede from the insanity in Washington and Wall St. Global treaties and defence arrangements will be in tatters.
Actually, I wonder about supporting an oligarchic Democratic Party. But just a FDR or LBJ would be enough to deliver capitalism there for another few years. Which would be better than the violence needed otherwise. I don't think the DP understands this.
Some day you might want to pop up from that rabbit hole you're in and come visit us where reality and rationality and big-pictures are occasionally visible.
@Andre..Down the rabbit hole?…mate your FBI handlers have already trapped, skinned, skewered and cooked you.
While some people are focused on a battle for control of the Democratic Party, the Republicans have gone full metal jacket rogue and running amok.
And this suits Valdimort Putin just fine. Authoritarians are a brotherhood, they care nothing for democratic traditions.
I am sensing myself becoming more concerned about the origins of this current outbreak as I watch the scientists looking perplexed and hear and read bafflement in the media reports. The current virus doesn't match the RNA of the virus past or that in quarantine at our borders. The likelihood of it passing from a frozen surface through layers of protective clothing is really low. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this?
The good news is that all the new cases have been linked to the single cluster and there's no other clusters being found out there, after tons of new tests
i read an article that there are new mutations in Malaysia that came in via returnees (who knows what is real?!)
anyways two days ago: headline, new mutation discovered, more deadly then the previous one https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/coronavirus-strain-thats-10-times-more-infectious-detected-in-malaysia
today: Experts dispute Malaysias claim….https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/experts-dispute-malaysias-claim-that-it-has-found-more-infectious-coronavirus
it appears that Texas is dealing with a different strain then say the one that brought down New York e/coronavirus-evidence-growing-houston-strain-mutant-15386157.php
then there is this here https://www.starfl.com/news/20200331/8-strains-of-coronavirus-are-circling-globe-heres-clues-theyre-giving-scientists
Th best is maybe to accept that even experts are learning on the job, and we might all just be prepared at any given day to shut down and go home in order to minimize the fall out.
As for how does it travel, other then that certain corona viruses do well in cold and can survive freezing and thawing, and that supposedly the people at he coldstore were kept safe by their superious (ha!) we know nothing. So we might get comfortable wit the idea that this is something that will keep us on our toes for a few years until it has either run its course, has been supplanted by something worse, or we have found a way to treat/stop/prevent it.
Bafflement ? Suggest you curate your media to outlets who deal in facts.
Ours has been very happy to give the tin foil hat brigade oxygen and push nationals rhetoric.
Then there's the boag/woodgate situation. Recall it's crusher who decided not to regulate them as it suits national this way.
that doesn't address the points raised though, and if the questions can't be answered how would one know which media curate to?
Fair point, suggest Moh regarding NZ and wired for digestible science angles. Balance that against stuff, herald etc
Take it from there and bookmark away. Lots of good stuff out there playing it down the middle as covids tricky.
MoH are good, but they're by default working from a conservative position. I doubt they will be wanting to make public statements about what George is raising. I haven't been following enough to know George's comment is even useful or meaningful, but I think dismissing such comments doesn't help.
We're still awaiting the results of the gnome testing on the positive Melbourne Americold workers. That link is still in play…
gnomes, eh? little buggers!
heh
That explains how they were able to sneak in and out of isolation.
The B.1.1.1 type arrived in Melbourne in June.
The likelihood of it passing from a frozen surface through layers of protective clothing is really low.
But breathing in aerosolised frost pinging off the shrinkwrapping on a palletised load doesn't seem so implausible.
Some are claiming that the virus travels further on cigarette smoke.
Thinking about where a virus has come from should include extraterrestrial sources and being aware how abundant and ubiquitous they are.
"On Earth, viruses are thought to outnumber cellular life forms by a factor of 10. And our planet is teeming with virions. In fact, a teaspoon of sea water can contain up to 50 million virions."
https://www.astrobio.net/alien-life/are-viruses-the-new-frontier-for-astrobiology/
Eek We didn't want to know that.![frown frown](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/confused_smile.png)
Poll in herald yesterday shows National bleeding more votes this time to NZ first.
John Campbell just said donations to National from donors have been low this year.
Big money's not stupid. They're nowhere near power so whats the point.
Holy hell, the anatomy of a(n unintentional) conspiracy theory, https://webworm.substack.com/p/webworm-talks-to-the-man-who-started
Reddit is a cesspit.
The worry is most of the people spreading the Facebook story are everyday people.
Everyday National voting people…
Spectacular reporting though yeah?
Yes, ground-breaking and excruciating at the same time. I particularly liked it when Reeve went postal on Winston Peters.
And into the mainstream.
It’s odd. I will never look at a couple of acquaintances the same way again after they spread the Facebook post.
This might be the first indisputably true thing Deranged Dotard has said.
https://twitter.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1294859826036715520
OK that was your morning pre-show, here's your main event, and get your hankies out for this one…
I love well structured pure propaganda, just to smile at the skill of its orchestration.
That was unwatchable…" the skill of its orchestration " …I won't be taking any movie recommendations from you in future that's for sure!
Anyway I think this clip would be little more informative to anyone interested in Biden political past…i mean who gives a fuck about his personal life..it is what has he done as a politician is all that matters…
…Andrew Cockburn, Washington editor for Harper’s magazine, talks about Biden’s record…
From Crime Bill to Iraq War Vote, Biden’s Legislative History Under Scrutiny as He Enters Race
Have a proper look at his full legislative record, and executive record, over 35 years. Fair to say that not many others will, but it's better than silly cherry-picking that your linked interviewers do.
Did you know if you look up "The Lincoln Project" that it has this info on Wikipedia;
So that ad is by a Republican run group that is trashing Trump and supporting a Democrat.
The lackluster ticket of Biden/Kamala starts to look a bit shaky… I have to say I could see no reason why Biden would choose Kamala as running mate, it seemed to me a serious strategic mistake that brought no new voters into the fold, while it no doubt offended many..but what do I know.
Biden and Trump matchup tightens
"Overall, 50% of registered voters back the Biden-Harris ticket, while 46% say they support Trump and Pence, right at the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points"
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/16/politics/cnn-poll-biden-trump-august/index.html
Does that means it's a choice between 'lacklustre' and "cuckfluster'?
No it just means don't try and tell yourself that Biden is anything more than the piece of shit that he is, and I guess if you are in the US it means just eating a little less shit than the pile of shit that Trump is…but one thing is for sure, nothing will really change under Biden…as he said himself….
As Kamala Harris Joins Biden Ticket, Wall Street Sighs in Relief
Wall Street’s warm welcome to Joe Biden’s running mate reflects a belief that tougher financial regulation isn’t a top priority
https://www.wsj.com/articles/kamala-harris-has-taken-on-wall-street-wall-street-doesnt-seem-to-mind-11597254609
He can still appoint Warren in place of Munchkin, where she would have more say than as VP.
With Warren, there's the issue of her Senate seat. Right now, Massachusetts laws say the governor gets to pick the replacement with no restrictions. Right now, the governor is Republican Charlie Baker, who could appoint a Repug replacement. There will also have to be a special election held for the seat within 180 days, so that appointment is only a short term thing.
If the incoming senate split turns out to be 50/50, losing Warren's vote for 3 to 6 months until the special election, plus the risk of another Scott Brown outcome, might be quite an obstacle to appointing Warren to be Secretary of Treasury.
Sure.
The only defence of Biden is perhaps there won't be another even slightly fair election if he's defeated. Which by itself is an indictment. The throne needs to be overthrown. Look forward to seeing Bill Maher cursing out people who don't see that as a good reason to vote for Biden. The US leadership has no contacts to the people. Either way …
real clear politics latest polls
Monday, August 17
ABC News/Wash Post – Biden 54, Trump 44 – Biden +10
Sunday, August 16
CBS News/YouGov – Biden 52, Trump 42 – Biden +10
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl – Biden 50, Trump 41 – Biden +9
Friday, August 14
NPR/PBS/Marist – Biden 53, Trump 42 – Biden +11
FOX News – Biden 49, Trump 42 – Biden +7
To avoid nervousness, I think we need to see these sorts of margins maintained in the polls. Especially given the criticality of swing states (versus popular vote) and the Republicans' expertise in voter suppression. If the narrowing indicated in the one poll Adrian mentioned becomes reflected in other polls, it will be scary.
Clinton won the popular vote in 2016 by a couple of points, so best practice is to look at the battleground states where the real shit is going to go down.
In the link I posted above, at the top of the page there's a drop down menu titled 'battleground states', the results for all of these can easily be found.
It's also worth comparing the state-by-state polls from 2016 to 2020. The 2020 polls of the battleground states are much more stable than 2016, and Biden is often over 50% whereas Clinton hardly ever cracked 50% in a battleground state.
2020 Pennsylvania
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/pa/pennsylvania_trump_vs_biden-6861.html
2016 Pennsylvania
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/pa/pennsylvania_trump_vs_clinton-5633.html
2020 Florida
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/fl/florida_trump_vs_biden-6841.html
2016 Florida
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/fl/florida_trump_vs_clinton-5635.html
From Wisconsin to Pennsylvania Trump is going to take the hit for the cancellation of NCAA sport. Even Ohio is under siege.
Thanks – I missed that. Healthy leads there too.
Sure it was the margin for error most polls say the lead is 8 points not 4.
Yes true, but interesting that the polls are moving to a tighter race nonetheless.
.
Poll puts Labour as the preferred party for business owners for first time
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/122446937/poll-puts-labour-as-the-preferred-party-for-business-owners-for-first-time
That was a fascinating article – I looked at it last night. I tend to be a somewhat sceptical of the methodology – which wasn’t shown in the article and I can’t see on the MYOB site. If anyone has time could they find it and link to some with a bit of data in it?
However the trend was interesting. I’ve always been of the opinion that SMEs tend to lean to incumbents rather than ideology. They have enough risk in their own markets and operations. What they’re mostly interested in from government is to not screw up too much.
Clearly they don’t seem to have seen that from this government.
Since 1987
More DNC dodgy behaviour revealed today, exposing yet again that the Pelosi lead establishment DNC is more interested in fighting and defeating any movement to the Left within the party than it is in defeating the Right..because it has more in common with the Right than the progressive Left, that is a plain and indisputable fact…
Party Leaders Investigating Origin of Anti-Morse Campaign Helped Orchestrate It, Documents Reveal
https://theintercept.com/2020/08/14/alex-morse-richie-neal-state-party/
The same dynamic applies here, in the UK and in the USA. So why the focus on that party and its politics?
That is a good point, firstly I believe that like it or not the US and it's ideology influence western (and global) politics to an extreme degree, so any movement there right or left will spill over into our domestic scene to a small or large extent, so I am interested in it for that reason, and that is also why I am less interested in it's domestic politics.
Secondly, there hasn't been anyone in the last couple of years on the NZ Left that have looked like they could pull Labour Left in the way Corbyn and Sanders where looking like they could do..especially since the passing of what could have been one of NZ's greatest Labour leaders Helen Kelly, so I have been pretty despondent about the local political scene since then.
Trotter's book No Right Turn shares your melancholy, setting out how leftwards turns in New Zealand politics have been regularly sabotaged. I'd recommend it to you.
an apropos of nothing
Thanks Sabine. Delightful.
"Amusingly, the loudest calls for the government to step in and reduce the pain that employers are feeling, is coming from the same corporates (and libertarian political parties) that, for the past 20 years, have railed against the evils of state intervention, while also touting the virtues of small government. Clearly, there’s nothing like the advent of personal pain to enable a rethink, and a view of state support in a more kindly light. For the wider good, of course.
Like any new converts, these new enthusiasts for corporate socialism tend to be dependent to an extent unimaginable by dole recipients or solo parents. With nary a blush, business has been demanding “Where’s the plan?” of the Ardern government – as if sustainable planning for economic recovery was solely the government’s problem, with no parallel obligation on business to look in the mirror. In fact, the wage subsidy scheme was originally intended to give troubled sectors (eg tourism, international education, and hospitality) time to reconfigure their operations It was not meant to be a pause button until whenever normal service would resume."
http://werewolf.co.nz/2020/08/gordon-campbell-on-the-election-delay/
Indeed…so many dont appear to have grasped the reality that these subsidies are a breathing space to reevaluate AND ACT with regard to the changed business environment….the cliff approaches and too many appear oblivious.
I just hope the number of schools opening up for the second week at Level 3 in Auckland is just a few, the entitled ones preparing students for their Cambridge exams, because if the outbreak spreads via schools it will go on longer and impact the NCEA period, election and survival of many businesses.
Waiting to hear whether our local state school is going to open up early for Years 12 and 13. The boy is quite keen to get back early – he thinks remote learning moves too slowly, puts him at a disadvantage compared to schools outside Auckland, and doesn't sufficiently mimic the classroom environment. Setting aside the point that a 17 year old shouldn't be so competitively stressed, these seem like reasonable comments about a slightly lacklustre implementation of remote learning.
The 'elite' schools pushing this are meeting the needs of their real customers – not the students, the parents. These parents have paid a premium (fees or expensive real estate) to buy their children an advantage over other people's children. They don't want that investment wasted.
Digital learning applied to mathematics and theoretical science is flawed anyway. Remote learning embeds and magnifies those flaws.
Nothing wrong with a pencil and paper!
Interesting to hear some young people complaining about not being able to cope without the enforced organisational rigours of their secondary schools and want to be there to improve their school marks so they can go to whichever course at whichever university.
Our youngest, not so long out of that world, said on hearing the complaints, "What? Soon they're going to be out on their own, controlling their own study, responsible for their own tracks. Sounds like they're not up to facing the real world of being a real student."
She is one who observed numbers from cosseted backgrounds and fancy schools having difficulty coping with independence and poor ability at organising themselves.
My sons who went to a decile 2 school and subsequently obtained good degrees, used to remark on how hopeless many of the students from elite schools were at organising themselves at university level. It suggests there is a lot of spoon-feeding happening; maybe more concerned about the pass rates for the schools concerned than developing the abilities of their students.
The schools using the Oxford and Cambridge system..I can't remember the other name for it…these students have to earn more credits in order to gain entry to university now than NCEA based courses because the students weren't coping with the environment which was less structured.
A beautiful, detailed and lengthy dismantling of the error-ridden and dangerous arguments put up by pandemic-deniers; Simon Thornley, Ryan Bridge, Damien Grant, Matthew Hooton, and Mike Hosking.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300084767/covid19-should-nz-go-swedens-way
Muttonbird
I check the Worldometer daily, it records the infection rates and deaths of 200 countries.
In the last week or two, Sweden has Not been supplying the site with updated Corona Virus cases or deaths.
The number of new cases reported has been stationary for even longer.
I would suggest Swedens method of dealing with the virus is a Failure, the death rate of aprox 6750 is unchanged for last 2/3 weeks.
Sweden is the only country that has stopped reporting daily cases.
I wonder if the Govt there is struggling to defend its strategy publically, it only has a population of 10.5 million.
Some economist will know what all this means. Has Sweden borrowed less than us? Maybe:
I think we are looking at 45-50% or something. But then:
I have no idea what Maastricht debt is with respect to how we measure government debt.
They are going to look a bit stupid if they end up with a) massive death rate, b) high unemployment (already over 9%), c) a shrivelled economy (GDP to fall 6.5% this year) and d) huge government debt.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/19/2035398/0/en/Swedish-government-debt-grows-as-virus-effects-hit-budget.html
I think Maastricht debt refers to EU economics.
You’ll need to dig deeper; click on the Sweden link, then on the source link at the bottom. You’ll get these webpages:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/09f821667ce64bf7be6f9f87457ed9aa
Worldometer is using their supplied data, if you look closely at the main graph you can see the N/A for info regarding recovered and active cases.
I have been watching Swedens graph stats almost daily and their was an abrupt stop to statistical records for recording new infections, deaths, recovered and active cases.
They had been recording daily infections in their hundreds prior to that, if you look closely at the infected graph they went from several hundred infections one day to nearly none 3 or 4 days later, we know that that is Highly unlikely given what we know in NZ.
Their stats don't add up, they're suppilied by the Swedish Govt.
Have they got something to hide
If Sweden had eradicated the virus from their shores you can bet your bottom dollar the world would have been the first to know about it.
Has anyone seen a News bulletin/item stating Swedens success, it would have been All Over the News.
No new cases and no new deaths from two to three hundred new casess on the 15th???
And the economy didn't show up on comparative measures as doing all that well.
The data are there, on the Worldometer website, and they’re updated daily, as far as I can tell. You just need to click a little further/deeper than the main table on the landing page.
Did you click on the two links I provided? All daily data can be found there. In fact, the Worldometer data seem to be a little ahead of its source!?
Did you read this piece: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/covid-19-should-nz-go-swedens-way? It contains up-to-date data on and from Sweden.
Nobody is hiding anything, it seems. You just need to look a little more carefully, it appears 😉
Anders Wotsisface may have decided old people count even less when they're dead.
Another article completely smashing the lame, primitive, poorly researched and dangerous reckons of Hooton, Seymour, Bridge, Hosking, Grant, Thornley and co.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12357457
That is an excellent article!
Destroys with clear reason the arguments of those saying "Konomy and my precious convenience – so let 'em die" (perhaps phrased a little differently).
Originally published on Newsroom.
Yes, and I was most heartened we have people in this country willing to stand up to our resident RWNJ opinion writers in the media.
The evisceration in such considered detail of the friends of Plan-B and their extremely basic and poorly developed concepts gives me hope.
That's an interesting link! I like them both but never saw the similarities. Bloody obvious really. The other link is the Doors "light my fire" and the Stranglers "Walk on by"
Cmon Trump. The longer your in, the more likely the downfall of the US as a world power. That can be only be good for the free world, free of yankee war crap.
It depends how quickly another aspiring hegemon or pair of them move in to fill their shoes. An ineffectual US is likely much more benign than either an expanding kleptostate or aggressive state capitalism under a wannabe dynastic leader.
Very much a "the king is dead, long live the king" situation.
Yup – and some of them are not above giving the king a bit of a nudge.
We can tell where this line is going:
Determined to link the outbreak to a government Failure at the border. Wonder if we will ever know where the infection came from.
Only 11 questions today?
Awful as it was, but interesting to see how the rumour spread and in this case remorse.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12357396
I'm more interested about how it was then professionally repackaged on Facebook- and with the media know etc (which is like a QAnon type mem now, inferring the MSM are not informing the people but these peddlers of fake news are).
Is MOH still leaking, as something has just come out, they have found a link to the border.
https://twitter.com/marcdaalder/status/1295517916960444416
Just being transparent. A case involving a different strain of the virus is a major development.
This case looks like a case of surface transmission to a maintenance worker, rather than person to person, these things do happen. China had a cluster they could not explain for some time. Apparently someone returned from overseas and went to their apartment to isolate. Another person in the building spread to others afterwards – the only known link is a button in an elevator.
As far as I know, the sequencing is partial and I wonder if they have ruled out that this B.1.1.1 sub-lineage developed independently here in NZ from a B.1.1 lineage. AFAIK, it only takes one nucleotide difference to become ‘eligible’ to qualify as a sub-lineage. All sub-lineages started somewhere but there’s no fundamental reason to exclude the (slim?) possibility that the same change happened in more than one place. I’d think the probability is higher than winning the Lotto Jackpot and this was won by ten lucky punters on Saturday. Anybody able to answer this knowledgably?
I claim zero expertise in viral mutations, but a somewhat feeble grasp of probabilities, so I'll have a crack:
I guess the first step would be finding out if we've seen the B.1.1 lineage previously here in New Zealand.
If all nucleotide substitutions are equally probable (no idea whether that's true, I'd guess a lot of theoretically possible substitutions create non-viable virus), then the chances of independently getting that B.1.1.1 mutation here would surely be 1/3 (chances of substituting in the same new nucleotide) times 1/30,000 (the number of nucleotides in the SARS-CoV-2 genome and therefore the chance of substituting into the exact same location) times the number of instances a mutation of that original B.1.1 has occurred here in NZ (call it x, unknown), for a total odds of x/90,000. Times whatever scale-up factor needed to account for all the non-viable mutations in that 90,000 denominator that would never appear.
The odds of winning from a single line of Powerball are 1/38,383,800. The cheapest ticket is for 8 lines, so that's 1/4,797,975 chance of winning from the cheapest ticket. But the 10 winners all won off the second division since it was a must-win draw, so their odds of their win off one cheapest ticket were roughly 1/800,000.
But I'd guess there were vastly more tickets sold for the Powerball draw than opportunities for B.1.1 to become B.1.1.1, assuming B.1.1 actually was present here.
" But I'd guess there were vastly more tickets sold for the Powerball draw than opportunities for B.1.1 to become B.1.1.1, assuming B.1.1 actually was present here. "
Covid19 will be replicated many billions of times within a single patient – a single nasal swab can pick up 100,000,000 copies.
Yes, but that mutation also has to pass itself on to the new host.
There have to be bottlenecks somewhere in the process that winnow down the number of mutations that become detectable in the environment, otherwise the genomic tree would have waaaaay more branches than it does.
Of course. There is a lot more to whether a mutation is successful (i.e. persists) than whether it occurs a single time.
AFAIK, mutations don’t occur in the virus itself but during the process of integration and/or replication by the host cell; a virus cannot replicate itself. Again, an expert might be able to shed some light on this.
Thanks for having a go at this 🙂
The B.1.1 lineage was already here in NZ: https://nextstrain.org/ncov/oceania?c=pangolin_lineage&d=tree&f_clade_membership=20B&f_country=New%20Zealand&label=clade:20A
Not all mutations are equal: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722163242.htm
Determined to link the outbreak to a government Failure at the border.
There is a quarantine failure with a staff member ,who however has a different genome.
The new development here is a maintenance worker at the Rydges Hotel isolation facility in Auckland testing positive. He has no regular contact with guests and he isn't linked to the existing cluster.
Genome sequencing has shown a link between this worker and a returnee who travelled from the US at the end of July.
A review of CCTV clips show no obvious connection between the two.
There are six close contacts connected to the worker, all are in self-isolation and have tested negative. Three household contacts have been identified and tested.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300084680/live-exhausted-lab-workers-struggle-with-covid19-tests-questions-over-checks-for-border-staff
I feel like this is the only case of a border worker (not even a border worker really) to have tested positive? So far at least. And it's not even one responsible for the Auckland cluster.
Doesn't this suggest the the border workers were taking care of themselves all along with good practice and that the opposition's drive to find a breach because of testing is a load of shite?
Doesn't this suggest the the border workers were taking care of themselves all along with good practice
Um no,there was an absence of sentinal surveillance prior.Look at the containment actions taken after the horse had bolted.
https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/results-covid-19-positive-cases-under-investigation-returned
What I'm saying is, assuming all border workers have now been tested (I don't know if this is true) and come up negative apart from this one maintenance worker (I don't know if this is true either), doesn't that show border practice was fine?
Ruining my theory might be that a border worker in July may have become infected, not been symptomatic, has recovered without symptoms but not before transmitting the virus to case zero of the Auckland cluster. Seems unlikely.
There might be more border workers, MIQ workers test positive in the coming days but this guy is the first to test positive.
Having said that, I hate this tendency for people to downplay symptoms. It is really dangerous. If you feel unwell, stay home, ffs.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12357481
The rydges case is troublesome.
The man in the centre of this had health checks at work when he returned to work but the symptoms were put down to an existing condition.
Woods said the man passed his health checks at work.
"He passed his health check in terms of the temperature … he had his test on Thursday, that's all we can tell you at this time,"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300084680/live-13-new-coronavirus-cases-found-in-community-one-case-not-connected-to-auckland-cluster
The response to the ak cluster ( genomic difference) suggests there may be a maritime breach (which was always a soft border) such as stevedores,pilots,etc.
Yes, they have thrown a lot at ports and truckies recently (some of who are refusing tests, I hear). This suggests they are concerned about port workers mixing with foreign crew.
I would have said it is the responsibility of the ports themselves to adhere to MoH border guidelines. Maybe you could tag MPI a little bit but it differs from immigration and MIQ which are clearly government run. You could say baggage handlers are in the same boat (heh) as port workers.
Two main reasons for refusing a test.
1. If you have it fear of losing your job.
2. Medication legal or illegal detected.
Possibly just the virus is checked for.
I have been listening for the last 30 mins to parliament. Just as I expected Collins expects a different outcome (the impossible no Covid cases) to other countries.
As far as I know the Covid sick leave 14 day payment is still in place. Trucking firms need to be hauled into line if they are threatening drivers for taking sick-leave. If they are contractors wage subsidy is there.
I am aware of rumours some truck drivers are heavy amphetamine users.
I hope the truckies are not getting into the situation that they were in the USA years ago, taking uppers and downers, pushing themselves, not having proper stops and decent food. One got into that cycle and ran down some people and/or into a store. I think a dietitian considered it a sort of sugar high, putting out the person's body systems. Driving for too long hours.
Love this narrative about 'failure;…FFS this is the unknown and everybody is learning on the job…we have no idea about potential lines of transmission.
There have been some questionable acts but no failure of intent.
time to get real
She took the unusual step of telegraphing the claims to the media this morning ahead of QT too. Which perhaps suggests she isn’t confident that the info she has will get her a big enough bang for her buck or that maybe events may overtake her as the day goes on?
Vegetable growers are complaining about the delay in getting staff into harvesting areas because of Akld/Waikato covid 'border'.
Before that people were complaining that the border restrictions were not tough enough.
People were complaining about being turned back because of no exemptions, but exemptions were available early on.
I'm complaining about people complaining when they got what they wished for – tough border control.
The real issue – people blocking the traffic were travelling without good reason but nobody was complaining – funny that.
National have another outbreak of footnmouth Gerry meandering Brownlee with another conspiracy theory media bias.
It's expression of a fear that the MSM will fact check their political messaging, National are trying to warn the media off by sending in the one man who has no credibility left to lose.
I was talking to a Chch woman tonight about the stress of waiting for the election and getting Labour back in. She hasn't got good things to say about Brownlee. Was talking about the debacle about sweeping decisions about the red zone and how it hurt the people living there, still getting over it and trying to get settled. Apparently back then there was a rush to do this and that, resulted in one woman going shopping in the morning and came back and her house was demolished. Everything seems to have been lost, all her possessions, all the precious family photos etc. Pretty legal? Pretty incredible.
Light lunchtime relief. When reading the article every time the word "emu" or " Eric" or "he" is mentioned replaced it with my favourite name "Judith" or "she".
Judith flees rural Auckland paddock in search of love.
Says Foster an Animal Welfare officer, " I had never caught a Judith before, so I started Googling how to do it,” As Judith has sharp claws and a “forceful kick”, Foster and her colleagues had to be extra careful in their capture attempt.
Says the owner Goodley, " Even I’ve got to keep looking over my shoulder when she’s following me around the paddock.”
She is “strutting her stuff” with her 20 sheep friends.
“She loves roaming around the paddock showing off she’s the tallest thing in there,” Goodley said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122480054/eric-the-emu-flees-rural-auckland-paddock-in-search-of-love?cid=app-android
PaddyOT @ 21 Thanks… Best of the day haha!! I will have fun with that… light relief.
Bugger! We've become just another failed state – like the US, with a big surge in covid cases!
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1295440487277633536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1295440487277633536%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2020%2Faug%2F18%2Ftrump-calls-out-new-zealands-big-surge-on-day-it-records-nine-covid-cases
/sarc
US population – 331 million, new daily cases = 41,893 New Cases. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
NZ approaches 5 million, new confirmed cases = 13.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases
(Multiply population of 5 x 60 to get 300 million and multiply new cases of 13 x 60 for comparison to USA daily cases –
Our infection rate would give 208 cases for comparison to USA of 41,893.)
e&oe This is near-enough math done in my head.
654 deaths US
The figures I was giving were new daily cases. So the deaths figure you give – is that the latest daily death rate for the USA?
Right alongside that 41,893 figure of new cases, 654 new deaths. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
Thank you very much for the link and your comparisons.
No matter how we compare our pop’n to US, the death toll, against new cases in NZ is zero.
Trump is a dangerous idiot to suggest our situation is anything like the US.
We knew that though eh. They must be thick over there that they haven't found a way through their flexible laws to move him on somewhere. Somewhere over the rainbow because you can never get really close to a rainbow right!
I hope you're well Jum haven't seen your name for a while. Maybe haven't looked in the right posts.
I'm fine thank you. And you?
Just spotted Trump trying to attack us again. He's already been called out by TYT, which is absolutely HUGE in numbers of watchers -100million views.
Must be the rest of the American population only watching him about 230 million. But, apparently, 100 million sit out at election time. Which 100 million; that's the issue. https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/the-bottom-line/2020/04/americans-vote-200401103254491.html
latest figures from your 4.21pm post – website now:
Cases in the U.S.
Updated August 19, 2020
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Syndicate
Total Cases 5,460,429 / 39,318 New Cases*
Total Deaths 171,012 / 1,172 New Deaths*
The Progressive Party – small but sounds beautifully motivated. https://www.progressiveparty.co.nz/
Progressive Party policies include maximising NZ’s self-reliance. We fully accept that NZ’s standard of living is built on its trade with the rest of the world, so maximising our self-reliance is not a call for protectionism.
What it does mean, in the first instance, is ensuring our ability to meet our basic needs so that we can relate to the rest of the world from a position of strength.
We invite you to browse our website and discover a little more about who we are and what we are advocating
Bruce Dyer has been living his principles for a long time.https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122187124/cofounder-of-new-party-bruce-dyer-to-stand-in-nelson-electorate
Last I heard they hadn’t hit the 500 signatures…
Ummm – yes.
https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/political-parties-in-new-zealand/register-of-political-parties
The Progressive party currently aren’t on the register.
The Heartland party has no constitution and rules. They may have to hurry up.
Nor does The Advance New Zealand Party.
What in the hell is the Tea party? Umm their constitution has as the second clause..
Umm The ONE party. Oh their constitution appendix has (with tabs between the words?)…
The Vision New Zealand Party sounds awfully similar with this as their first principle
I know all of the rest of the parties. Ok that was an amusing few minutes looking at the new kids on the block.
Now enough procrastination – back to finding out why NetworkManager thinks that the wifi module is unavailable.
Just pray and believe Lprent and lo the answer will come to you.
LPrent,
Just be grateful you're not a woman in this new world of extreme conservative religious mania, kind sir.
FYI:
https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/political-parties-in-new-zealand/
Thanks for this refreshing reflection Greywarshark. This alternative thinking/vision has been an area on my mind.
For the knockers the Party's manifesto is worthy of space and discussion
"
• All people can fulfil their basic needs for food, clothing, housing, medical care and education,
• All human beings can freely develop their physical, mental and spiritual potentials,
• All human beings experience human rights such as physical integrity, equality and freedom,
Moving together and for each other we can develop our individual and collective potential. "
Even today watching Parliament live angered me. In this unparalleled reconvening it should have been a precious space for meaningful conversations about all our forward wellbeing. Instead the time was hijacked for point scoring. Parliamentary time today was an expensive rort on taxpayer's money when the questions today had already been answered through various channels.
It is hard to describe a type of angst or is it fury that I feel about a void of action, a void of policy and little voicing of even near future solutions for addressing entrenched injustices that contunue to cause longterm misery for so many.
What do other main Parties offer?
"Homo economicus, the everyman postulated by economic theorists, is an atomized individual who is relentlessly driven to maximize his material advantages through the market not matter what the social costs. "
"NOW is the starting point upon which we can build a political framework of access, sharing, equality and social well-being."
http://www.onthecommons.org/imagining-new-politics-commons#sthash.WryThWCI.dpbs
Another perspective is, IMO , an inabilty to let go of "ego" . Missing in the main is even a hint of decolonisation policies, systems thinking other than measures I have seen in the Green's platform.
"Decolonisation goes beyond diversity and inclusion. It is the commitment to make marginalised communities un-marginalised by recognising them as part of the whole and welcoming them as agents of change."
https://medium.com/@londondevnetwork/decolonising-systems-thinking-57eebc0a94e9
"The most effective visions will show people the better world in meaningful concrete ways, lay out a clear process for change and be clear on who can make the change within a system and structure."
The dominant feeling I have is that change will not happen with this election's offerings because a type of criminal act has taken place. That act has been the stealing of space for the voices of the people to be addressed. The crime is a theft of democracy by the likes of those with a self interest agenda to gain Power. The greatest vile collaborator is the MSM.
change will not happen because too many dont wish it so…its not rocket science.
Is that so Pat?
Your view and dismissal belittling a view with " it's not rocket science" about sums up 2020. Today in Parliament was the same said in multiple ways, " Any view but mine is all shit." And repeat.
Btw. The links provided were some of many similar ‘expert’ voices.
easy to disparage…care to make an argument that disputes my position?
I did I posted a view from many voices.
In an instant barely enough time to even tead a link, you were the disparaging one.
"… it's not rocket science" , you might as well have stated your superior view by calling me a " dumbass" .
Your statement
" too many dont wish it so". Who ? Explain please this writing off of the masses of people enduring injustice.
Irony is your action is what was reflected in my post.
Could be you might be one of the causes of people giving up TS.
Conflating opinion with “rocket science” is silly, I agree. But there have been quite a few opinion polls recently.
Taking things personal when they’re not, is setting yourself up for a shit fight.
There are many reasons why people come and go from TS. Unless you have done an exit poll, you don’t know their reasons and can only speculate. The vast majority of page views (visits) of TS are silent readers.
It's not taken personally Incognito.
It is the action and intent of his putdown on other's that is detrimental.
I have read Pat's posts today and applying the same post under his own views or anyone's is corrosive to any dialogue.
Put Pat's comment under his long post made with considerable effort today and see the effect- 18 August 2020 at 10:58 am
"… if sustainable planning for economic recovery was solely the government’s problem, with no parallel obligation on business to look in the mirror…."
Then apply the action of 'instantly stomp on it .. you dumbass.'
So for reflection, if I posted this same comment instantly under your well considered input of posts I believe you would find it unacceptable.
Or let this comment stand as a model for other commentators and 'just give up on change you dolts'
"change will not happen because too many dont wish it so…its not rocket science."
"I have read Pat's posts today and applying the same post under his own views or anyone's is corrosive to any dialogue.
Put Pat's comment under his long post made with considerable effort today and see the effect- 18 August 2020 at 10:58 am
"… if sustainable planning for economic recovery was solely the government’s problem, with no parallel obligation on business to look in the mirror…."
You are aware that you have quoted Gordon Campbell?…and the post is brief as almost all my posts are…I dont do verbose.
PaddyOT
If you can be a bit tolerant – everyone who comes and blogs about politics is special – all concerned to get change, better things, but how? And all have particular gifts and knowledge and perceptions. Gradually an understanding of that person's mind is gained and then when they seem faulty you know where they are coming from.
Ok, the written word lacks intonation and is often (?) perceived differently, in a qualitative sense, than intended. This can lead to endless misunderstandings.
If you reply to one of my comments that it is not rocket science, I would most likely ask you why or simply let it go.
OTOH, if you were to call me a dumbass, I would take that as a personal insult, in the first instance.
It all depends on the context (e.g. topic, thread, commenter, etc.) and on the mood I am in at the time.
I hope that makes sense.
i will confess i have not yet read the links (though I shall) but make the observation that the greens have been promoting progressive policies for decades and to date capture (?) around 6 -7% of the voting publics support…there is a disconnect between what people say they want and what they are prepared to support.
It is not as I wish it to be
Hi PaddyOT I was talking to someone who has studied philosophy tonight and we agreed that the education system needs to teach how to analyse, simplify, check something with critical analysis to get to the basis of what it's about. She mentioned Plato, I've got a book about his thoughts, but as I haven't read it I haven't experienced anything but the satisfaction of having got it available.
Tonight I think Socrates , Plato's teacher might be in the lead on 'thinking about thinking' studies.
" The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but building on the new."- Socrates.🤪
Plato had constraints on how much he should explore as his mentor Socrates was executed for his views.
🤭
Thanks for the advice on tolerance, if you go back I wasn't. I replied to your post initially and got an intolerant responder. Life's served up some massive doozies on me and mine that other's would crumble under. I moved from some decades of teaching children through to adults onto looking at real change for voiceless victim's . I put my own money where my mouth is, sound research and widespread investigation from those at grassroots both workers and victims, to hear their voices. Overwhelming was the oppression that leads to silencing and misery of many. I worked with some amazing experts and put a Charitable Trust Deed together and my money at a time where political powers upheld 'top down' approaches.
Bittersweet, is that over the next 15 years from inception 'we the collective' now of thousands of victims, are now one of the largest NGO charitable organisations in New Zealand that drives its business from the clients voices up. A switcheroo is that Government agents now refer their too hard to Us. It is also credit to a massive collaboration of like agencies that founders worked tirelessly to network with. Face to face audaciously with the BigWigs worked a treat too. As does being nimble in predictions of where political winds will blow for Strategic Plans.
So I walk the talk and intolerance is not really my vice.
Cynicism is not intolerance. Though some are intolerant of cynics.
And its not cyncism against proponents of change, its cyncism about whether people trapped in a battle for economic survival in a market rigged against many/most have the energy or hope left to buy into it. And that is based on the politics of a generation.
But then generations come and go. And sometimes all that is required for the older generation to get out of the way.
Where was the cynicism SPC, I was not being cynical, have you misread ?
" "But then generations come and go. And sometimes all that is required for the older generation to get out of the way."
What are you meaning here?
No. You accused Pat of being intolerant for being a cynic.
I'll end it there.
There you go again SPC putting your own spin and nasty twists in to uphold false views. Shades of last week when you pissed all over people with your dangerous plague theorizing and then failed to answer for your targetting people maliciously.
Pat's comment is near to an example of cynicism.
You described his comment as intolerant.
The facts are the facts. We are done.
I’ve been on blogs a long time, and you are one the quickest to make personal attacks on others that I have seen.
SPC go back on all my input, read and then apologise for this,
" I’ve been on blogs a long time, and you are one the quickest to make personal attacks on others that I have seen." Show where there was personal attacks on anyone, as you have continued to do even in your putdowns continuously.
On your cannabis users and employers ? theory talking past a commentor it ends with, "The current discriminatory regime is bad for our economy."
No foundation given.
And on denouncing someone's post re population change this small portion of your way out there theory and no sources cited-:
"All pre pandemic thinking (old people at risk) … and with no awareness of the risk of super bugs (antibiotics into Chinese pigs still) on the ability of hospitals to provide old people with new knees hips etc."
(( WTF?))
"Global warming impact on old age health … nothing …"
"Sure contracpetion and education reduce the amount of children women have, but egg storage and looser rules about surrogacy may mitigate that."
Onto pissing on a credible well researched opinion you expound this-
"Given breaking Oz and US into economically dependent satellites is part of their three circles ambition for the Pacific, which they have barely tried to hide, there is nothing manufactured about it.
For mine it is going to be hilarious, when the West embraces Russia as part of containment of China, how many people are going to turn on a dime."
Still no reference for your ' findings' .
Just screeds and screeds of your theories with no foundations offered to overide what others say.
Best ever, your own pithy theory to put down another researched commentary you felt had no evidence when it did – :
"saying something does not exist if it does not have a creation date is spurious." Then you had once more put your made up theory in and still NO evidence.
The pattern is like observing ' little boy dashing in from across the playground' to put the biff in. Still no accountability for trollie type false statements. Go you !
Oh my gosh I have a stalker …![surprise surprise](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/omg_smile.png)
It isn’t hard on this site. Press the name in the recent comments bar on the right in the desktop version.
There is also 28.1.1 Open Mike 15/8.
Thanks PaddyOT but you have sounded off sharply at people writing here. I think that is intolerant. I should know because I have caught myself doing that. And sometimes showing intolerance is needed otherwise you get to be just a limp rag.
We all bring our own experiences and perceptions to the mix. Yours may be more knowledgable about problems that others seem to brush off. But If you can't discuss and describe then you don't get the best out of a forum.
Thanks for the sayings.
This guy.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/08/coronavirus-new-zealanders-reveals-his-experience-in-managed-isolation-facility.html
I wonder if there's any connection between Judith Collins replying to his "thesis" and him appearing on the AM Show?
Did Duncs tell the nation how many MIQ workers have tested positive?
I'm more interested in knowing when he contacted the 'higher ups' and when he contacted Garner.
Unless two or more of them knew each other personally before this, I reckon it went like this:
Dubai property lawyer Lunjevich writes to Collins about what the bus driver said (why did he ask the bus driver that question anyway?)
Collins senses an opportunity to bag Ardern and writes to Garner asking him to put Dubai property lawyer Lunjevich on the show to bag Ardern.
Garner dutifully sets up the zoom call and broadcasts.
If they did know each other previously, it looks like a well planned attack with Dubai property lawyer Lunjevich being coached on what questions to ask and what to look for in MIQ in order to cause MoH and Ardern as much trouble as possible.
Muttonbird, he seemed to know Garner quite well? Friends tell me that he earlier called this person a ‘mate’, his ‘eyes and ears’ on AM.
Yes, you can tell with Garner. If Lunjevich 'loves his country' so much, what was he doing in Dubai?
If that were the case it would have gone like this:
Duncs to Judith: “I have a RW friend coming in from Dubai. Will get him to scope MIQ and write to you about it, then we can put it on our show.”
Judith: “My eyebrows are very interested.”
That is an irrelevant remark surely Muttonbird?
Which bit?
If the 'mate' of Garner told Garner first, he has shown complete disregard for the safety of the people of this country he pretends to 'love so much'.
There are some poor types around NZ who can't be shamed, always have an excuse, some odd reason. It seems that they will never 'go straight' – why release them amongst the public to start off some new criminal pursuit? Have an open prison managed farm where you can keep them busy with a pleasant life provided they stay in custody, or else they are in deep custard, or is that porridge.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423826/phillip-john-smith-brazilians-do-not-recognise-escape-as-an-offence
Question: Is the National Party Black Ops unit paying MIQ workers to leak information?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300085565/coronavirus-security-guard-leaks-list-of-auckland-isolation-guests-via-snapchat
Depends who the Snapchat private group was I suppose?
One thing though, this breaking story and the Rydges Hotel maintenance worker testing positive mean that Judith’s gotcha-that-wasn’t in the House today will be lucky to survive the news cycle let alone dominate it.
That's what you get when you contract out government work to private contractors employing usually, poorly paid, workers.
A defence force worker could have done the repair. Possibly having a pool of defence force workers is the way to go. There could be some sort of isolating system away from other defence force employees and families. A bit like a deployment for a month at a time and then 2 weeks in isolation.
Outside of being coerced to do it, the only motivation I can think of is the guard was big-noting because a high profile returnee was on the list.
Snap-chat vehicle would back this up.
Whatever the motive, a good way to shaft a security career and land some charges.
Unless the guard claims unsolicited emails were sent to a personal address, of course. /sarc
https://youtu.be/hcaPyViy8wM
The corrupt justice system of new zealand strikes
https://youtu.be/wOpSqV9E7HY
https://i.stuff.co.nz/opinion/cartoons
https://youtu.be/eJlN9jdQFSc