"This level of immune evasion means that Omicron poses a major, imminent threat to public health."
Can we start off with asking some basic questions as to why this is an imminent threat, like what is the omegacron fatality rate? They admit in the article even that the data is poor.
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH is a dizzying thing. In the week to December 8th Britain saw 536 new cases of covid-19 ascribed to the Omicron variant, less than 0.5% of the number caused by the dominant Delta variant. But the week before there had been only 32 cases of Omicron—and by December 14th the case number was over 10,000. Omicron looks set to become the country’s dominant strain in terms of cases before advent calendars run out of windows.
Cases lag behind infections. On December 13th Britain’s health minister, Sajid Javid, said that there were estimated to have been 200,000 infections in the country that day, most of them Omicron. Three more doublings and the total number of infections a day will be more than 1m.
[…]
The degree to which the variant can infect the previously infected may also make things look rosier than they really are. Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University, points out that Omicron’s success at reinfecting people may give the impression a smaller fraction gets severely ill just by inflating the denominator. It could thus seem more benign even if, among those contracting covid for the first time, it were just as dangerous as Delta (see chart).
Can we start off with asking some basic questions as to why this is an imminent threat
Dr Michael Ryan on Covid – speed trumps perfection
The emergency response will know this. If you need to be right before you move, You will never win. Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management speed trumps perfection. And the problem in society, we have, at the moment is everyone is afraid of making a mistake? Everyone is afraid of the consequence of error, But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure. And I think that's the single biggest lesson I've learnt in Ebola responses in the past.
You suggest that an "Abundance of caution" is the best stance 'till we know more.
That is of course an approach that advocates that we shouldn't do anything until we are quite certain of the best thing to do. It was the approach we have followed to date in that we didn't order any vaccines till very late in the piece. We didn't go ahead and get additional ICU beds in the hospitals. We didn't admit health care workers into the country by getting our immigration services into action.
Instead we simply locked everything down and did nothing to prepare for the virus getting into the country except to say that if we gave a lot of vaccination jabs everyone would be protected and we would all be free and we would have nothing else to worry about.
That was of course what this commenter was warning about. He says
"But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure"
We are now paralysed. We haven't even got enough vaccination doses to give everyone a third dose have we? We only really have enough to finish of the two-jab procedure and we certainly don't have enough to give everyone a third. We don't have more ICU beds. We don't have increased medical personnel. We should have all these things already. They shouldn't just go on with the recital that everything is just peachy. Do something NOW is the thesis being proposed. It isn't arguing for an "abundance of caution".
Rubbish. Finding out the facts before a decision is sensible. Nobody said "Stand still" That is your position taken as a rebuttal, putting words in my mouth. Stop repeating the lie about the vaccine roll out.
The point is that when delta first appeared in this country the government placed the country in level 4 lockdown. they didn't wait around to figure out the "best" measure to to take, but put in place a measure known to to be good..
The original lockdown was vey sensible and the right thing to do. We were an isolated country and it would work.
You will remember of course that it was an all-party decision and not something the Labour did by themselves. It was something that was strongly promoted by both National and New Zealand First wasn't it? Or do you choose to forget them?
Indeed there were rumours that Labour had to be forced to take action. At the time there were rumours that Bloomfield had threatened to resign unless the Labour led Government cancelled the Memorial gathering in Christchurch and the Pasifica festival. I have no idea whether there was anything in those rumours but at least they were finally scrapped at the last moment.
Unfortunately that was the last thing that was done properly. Since then they simply frozen up like possums in a spotlight. It was a pity they cut Winston out of the action in the latter part of their term.
It was what went on after the original lockdown that was badly handled and you will see that it was those things that I have been talking about.
There was something unreal about it all when that first national lockdown happened. I went out early one morning for a walk and there was still lots of traffic around.
Going thru my gifs I was surprised to find I'd made one of that walk
Yep. I seem to remember they were all over the place on lockdowns & financial support measures initially, before finally deciding to support the PM. (The polls were clear that the great majority of NZers supported lockdown.)
Alwynger Still pushing the John Key lie, as Pfizer pointed out We could not get our vaccines any earlier.Europe and the US banned exports until they had enough for themselves and considering 100's and 1,000's were dying in the US and the EU it would have been very selfish of us.
But you represent the selfish alwyn.
by repeating the lie you think people will believe your pathetic trumpist bs.
We are in a much better position by vaccinating later because of waning immunity Giving us better immunity than countries who have rolled out early combined with our high rates 90% plus .
That has saved 10's of thousands of lives.
Like 2.44 million doses ready for boosting with more arriving.Thats from your link. Maybe you should read your own links before you make a complete idiot of yourself. Where is the lack of booster doses thats a straight up lie.alwynger.
Half way through November you made claims we wouldn't get to 90% another of your lies.
I don't see anything I said about the vaccine rollout that was a lie
But full of your opinion which repeats RW talking points. Mickysavage reported on Matt Nippert's objective assessment …
is extraordinarily good and manages to capture the essence of what has been an extraordinarily complex project well. And it exposes that National’s continuous attacks are lies should be treated with the same amount of respect as Tobacco Lobbyist claims that smoking does not cause cancer.
I watched a bit of Al Jazeera tv news late last night (1st time in quite a few weeks). They showed a hospital in Scotland where the ICU nurses are pleading for people to get vaxed & observe social distancing & mask wearing because the nursing staff are physically & mentally exhausted caring for critical-care Covid-19 patients.
And they can’t get any more trained nursing staff from anywhere. Right around the world there’s an acute shortage of nursing staff; because of Covid, every hospital everywhere is trying to recruit more & can’t get them.
Even if Immigration NZ was allowing hospitals to recruit overseas, I’m not sure how many we could actually. The biggest drawcard until Delta got here was that we’d successfully kept Covid out. It sure wasn’t our nurses pay rates, or cheap housing or rentals here.
Getting visas through INZ is not that hard, the issue is then getting them MIQ spots. I gather Minister Little has intervened, but why it took this long to make that happen is a mystery to me.
Concerns not just from that side but also from opposing sides. It is staggering that the ordinary person not in "the tent" is so easily lied to or fed with confusing statements.
Culture vultures have something to pick at & dine on here:
early 1999, and people were freaking out about the future. A new millennium was on the way, carrying with it the promise – or threat – of massive change. Would the next century guide us toward a tech-enabled utopia? Or, as some feared, would it plunge the world into a full-on apocalypse? These were strange days, marked by equal parts anxiety and anticipation. Which made it the perfect moment for a sleek, cerebral movie called The Matrix.
Created by a pair of mostly unknown filmmakers (Lana and Lilly Wachowski), and headlined by a commercially iffy star (Keanu Reeves), the $60m cyber-thriller became an instant hit.
A circa-’99 glimpse of the notorious fan-site Ain’t It Cool News hints at some of the questions moviegoers were asking at the time: “Are we being controlled by our computers?” “If the Matrix is real, what can you do about it?”
Yeah, that's the question still. The one in the movie was likely intended as dramatisation of the one in real life. We emerge from birth into a family matrix, some of us into a tribal matrix, and adolescence shifts us into a broader socio-cultural matrix. Then politics imposes a political matrix (the democracy prison, for us).
Some of us become adept at transcending each matrix to live as global citizens. Others grow old & die in mental worlds confined by their matrix. Life on autopilot is easy for many.
When Elon Musk implored his millions of Twitter followers to “Take the red pill” last year, it prompted a response from both Ivanka Trump (“Taken!”) and Lilly Wachowski herself (“Fuck both of you”).
The fact that “red-pilling” has taken on such dopily spiteful connotations is, for Matrixfans, a bummer: after all, one of the joys of the Wachowskis’ original films was its open-minded vision of society.
Neo and his partner, Trinity (played by Carrie-Anne Moss), treat each other with a level of mutual respect that’s rarely seen in male-female big-screen relationships, even to this day. And they work alongside a multi-gender, multi-racial team of rebels. For all of its grim shoot-’em-up scenes and killer machines, The Matrixis a deeply hopeful film: one that pushes the value of caring for one another, and the freedom that comes from defining who you really are (since its release, the filmhas been embraced as a trans allegory – a reading supported by none other than Lana Wachowski).
Still, the ultimate sign of The Matrix’s ongoing importance, as well as its predictive powers, is the fact that, more than two decades after its release, it’s becoming harder to tell if we’re living with The Matrix, or within it.
Best to be pragmatic rather than paranoid. The control system can be viewed as an historical product of social evolution rather than something deliberately created to exploit the masses. It's actually both, but the ruling cabal thesis (Illuminati) is too theoretical in comparison to the plethora of actual orgs dedicated to operating social control systems. Realpolitik informs us that the overall matrix is multidimensional.
Ice-free Arctic late in ’23, resulting in rapid heating of the earth.
Massive (and I mean MASSIVE) climate disruption in ’24, world-wide famine, world-wide deaths, world-wide migration, world-wide local conflicts. Plus 400+ unattended, un-decommissioned nuclear power plants around the world.
Gosh, I'd like to be that optimistic but when I recall how many times I've already lived through imminent global system crashes, then been bemused by the system's resilient survival, I just can't help being cautiously pessimistic…
I guess that you are like me and can remember Al Gore proposing in 2009 that
"Some of the models suggest that there is a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during some of the summer months, could be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years."
Whatever did happen to Al Gore anyway? Has he settled down to enjoy his millions.
Gore also said he was hopeful about recent actions by business groups such as the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, a group of investors with $43 trillion in assets that have joined a push to limit greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050.
He criticized announcements by U.S. energy company Chevron about expanding capacity of renewable natural gas (RNG), or gas captured at landfills and from agricultural waste. "That's ridiculous. There is no such thing," Gore said about so-called renewable natural gas.
One is to say thank you for telling me this. After all I did ask.
The second is to think "I wish he hadn't" I had rather hoped that he was by now gone and forgotten. I imagine he still turns up in a gas guzzling private jet to lecture us mere plebs on how bad we are.
Another measure the Govt could introduce to cool down the property market.
Stamp duties on valuations.
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
'ABSD rate, however, will be raised to 17% for SCs second residential purchase, 25% on their third and subsequent purchases.
For SPRs, the rate will be raised to 25% on their second purchase, and 30% on their third and subsequent purchases.
Rate will also be raised to 30% for foreigners purchasing any residential property; and 35% for entities purchasing any residential property and developers purchasing any residential property.'
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
There are also several ways for foreign investors to get around the ban, said Shamubeel Eaqub, an economist at Sense Partners, a consultancy in Auckland. Because of pre-existing trade agreements, Australians, who make up the largest portion of foreign buyers in New Zealand, are exempt, as are citizens of Singapore. And the law doesn’t apply to new homes.
It's quite surprising the number of birds that do, Patricia.
I'm out there at the stream fence several times nearly every day, certainly every fine day. I'm often standing underneath a tree, surrounded by its foliage.
I feed the waterbirds and any other birds that like seeds or bread chunks. And I just calmly talk to them all in a soft voice, using the same phrases, which most seem to learn.
I think I just become part of the scenery for them. They know I'm no threat and I don't try and pat them (well, I have tried, but I don't persist if they hop away, which they pretty much all do).
I could put half a dozen wheat grains into the palm of my hand for Ivan, when he perched on the fence like that, and hold it out to him. He just hoovered them up from my palm and waited for more.
We had a parrot to look after once. He was a handsome green Alexandrine parakeet. He talked. (We were in Caloundra.)
"Joe likes apple APPLE." "Joe is a handsome boy, hop up on Mummy's shoulder. Don't bite Mummy!" He used to copy Dale's call to Molly the dog who was then taking a pill wrapped in cheese. "Molly here Molly Cheeese!!" Molly knew the difference though. When I would clean his cage he would hang by one leg and comment "Been a mucky boy Joe" Really a laugh, as he would look directly at you with a beady black eye, head cocked to the side. He was twenty and they live 40 years, so entertaining. He had his wing feathers clipped, so when they let him out he would walk round with their 3 little dogs. They never bothered him and tolerated him walking around on the tiled floor with them.
Demolition of the sole source of Uighur genocide manufactured data may constitute sympathising in yours and wikipaedias books but for others, getting at the lies that buttress US and Western great power competition are more important. Adrien Zenz is an idiot fundamentalist christian who is on record stating both that he is on a mission from god to destroy China and that armageddon is a precondition for gods intervention in this world. With magical fairies. Highlighting this and his crass manipulation of data, supported by another rapture enthusiast, Mike Pompeo, was a job well done by the grayzone. But it sure made them enemies in high places.
Well I guess thats a start. At least you admit there is room for debate. Accusations of genocide by idiot extreme religionists dont deserve to be taken seriously. By the same token we dont take much notice of proclamations by Wahhabi mullahs, who also claim to be on the path of destroying nations, led by god. The ETIM, a Uighur terrorist group, affiliated to Al Qaeda, which was funded by the US to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then went on to fight in Syria, returned home and turned their anti communist obsessions against the Chinese state. This is real verifiable news. Many people were killed in Xinjiang. I supplied a link above but you can read about it here from Vijay Prashad if you prefer. A common theme with religious nut jobs is their anti communist bent and they seem quite happy to join forces I guess safe in the knowledge that their god being the only god only they will be saved.
Your claim that Adrian Zenz is the sole source of information on this matter is patently silly and easily discredited. Pointless getting into a link battle with you on it though – anyone can use a search engine and make up their own minds if they're interested.
What is much less contentious is however the long and bitter record of communist oppression towards all religions it suspects of competing with it.
What is indisputable about all forms of extreme religion is that they preach salvation through destruction. Exyreme Christianity removes everything that Jesus said and places armageddon between the individual and salvation. Followers like Zenz and Pompeo then do gods work by promoting conditions most likely to bring on conflagration.
Our findings of a comparable or lower than expected YLL [Years lost] in Taiwan, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and South Korea underscore the importance of successful viral suppression and elimination policies, including targeted and population based public health policy interventions.[i.e. lockdowns!]
Tbh Cricklewood, I find pretty much everything that is published on Stuff disturbing.
And I know I'm the slow learner down the back of the class on this, but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed.
I am seriously beginning to wonder if the Pfizer Product has negatively affected some folks' cognitive function.
It's not an issue that perplexes me. I understand why the "unjabbed" pose a risk to the "double jabbed".
How about you, Sabine?
Have you a good understanding of why that is?
Your comment: “they pose a threat to the underfunded, understaffed, and under resourced Hospitals in our fair land.” goes part-way to explaining that risk and is fair, in my opinion.
but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed.
I think this is willful on your part. But, fwiw,
people who are double vaxed have a period of time where they are significantly less likely to get covid than people who are unvaxed
this lessens the numbers of people at any given time with covid
this protects people from getting covid (simple numbers game)
and it protects the health system
Quick reference,
According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, the AstraZeneca vaccine is 67 per cent effective against infection with Delta, while the Pfizer jab is 80 per cent effective.
Other preliminary research suggests there isn't much difference between the two, and that they both reduce the risk of infection by 80 per cent.
Estimates for vaccine effectiveness against infection vary considerably from country to country, and depend on the type of vaccine, the prevailing Covid-19 variant, and the time elapsed since the second vaccine.
Estimates vary from around 55 to 80 per cent, with most hovering around the 60-70 per cent mark.
What don't you understand about that? Less people with covid means less people get covid. Unvaxxed people are protected thus too.
It's also true that the more people are vaccinated the less the unvaccinated become a risk, statistically.
I suspect that some people fail to appreciate the collective nature of the public health response and are thinking more about individuals. Classic socialist vs libertarian.
but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed
Well, according to Jaccinda recently, the traffic lights with all the exclusion were to protect the unvaccinated from the vaccinated (I kid you not)
Though, it could be about an indirect threat to a vaccinated persons health if they were unable to get into a hospital because a virus with a fatality rate of 0.05% in the under 70 age group had landed a person without a vaccination in hospital with Covid. In the likely event they wind up in hospital for any other reason, then of course, they pose no threat.
I'm listening, but your explanations simply do not make much sense.
The Pfizer Product only works as a vaccine to prevent infection, transmission and serious illness and death if the vaccinated person only associates with other vaccinated persons.
Because only unvaccinated people can carry and transmit Te Virus and they can infect those who have been vaccinated with a product that claims to dramatically lower the risk of infection and dramatically lower the risk of serious illness and death but only if those vaccinated are kept separate from the unvaccinated…
I'm guessing they would justify it as having public interest, but seems a stretch to me. The article clearly explains that his role has little to do with public contact or spaces, and that he is attending meetings via zoom. That leaves staff, but there's no mandate on that organisation, so what's the point of the article other than to ostracise?
As the GM of HR (among other things), it's his department running the consultation on the proposed vaccine mandate policy. Probably still doubts over the advisability or legality of publishing a private citizen's vaccination status, but there would be at least a perceived conflict of interest internally.
Given councils have public facilities in terms of the Covid Protection Framework and those facilities require vaccine passes, it's a bit strange for the GM of facilities to not be vaccinated (his areas are "human resources; IT; facilities, property and planning; procurement; financial management and the Smart Christchurch programme").
On the question, I've heard rumours along those lines.
That is a wonderful number but would be almost too good to be true. Whatever, these relatively low numbers are a great way to start the last week before xmas. Has to be the effect of both widespread vaccination and many people still taking measures such as masks and social distancing seriously.
Weka, thank you for that great, simple and clear explanation of the collective nature of public health measures required to keep numbers down. I plead for people to think about the clear logic for what we are doing, and set to one side all the other noise around our country.
I'm referring to T V's comment "39 new cases today!" Patricia, not the life expectancy improvement @ 11:22am which I believe only covers the nations that have provided that number (can't find the reference sorry)
Died of Covid? according to Gezza's stuff article, diagnosed with Covid after they had died..? So, withcovid or with detected traces of the covid virus might be a better descriptor?
Yup. And I know the parents of one 9 year old have been told that unless injected, she can't do her drama classes next term.
Given that no children without serious co-morbidities have died from Covid…that even the BBC reported the chances of a child dying from Covid were 1 in 2 million alongside the NYT stating the risk was so low as to be incalculable….
Back to Tony’s statement re today’s numbers – The update today on the MoH Āwhina app tells us that the numbers are not a full 24 hours as they have changed from midnight to midnight rather than from 9am to 9am. I have tried to link it but my phone is not being obliging.
Rosemary, the fact that you are unvaccinated makes you many times more likely to catch covid, especially Omicron at 5.6 R + ,and your age means you are hundreds of times more likely to be hospitalised and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors. I have seen it in my wife who had wished to retire or drastically reduce her work load two years ago, but as a life-long dedicated nurse felt she could not let down patients when her skills ( ventilator specialist ) which take at least 4 to 5 years to acquire were going to be desperately needed. She feels it every day when she leaves the house, “ Will I get back here, will I see my children again? Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. Please get vaccinated.
….and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors.
Don't worry Adrian. I won't be adding to that load. I'm not up for being the Fucking Filth clogging up ICU, robbing the deserving of the healthcare they need.
Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. I understand it does not compare with the load your wife carries, but one of the reasons I am not prepared to risk the Pfizer Product is that if the worst happens and I have a bad reaction (and I have pre- existing issues that makes that more likely) my man, who is a C4/5 tetraplegic would be up the proverbial as I am his 24/7 sole carer. He too has issues that in all probability would be exacerbated by the Pfizer Product so has also opted for no shot. It is a very finely balanced life we lead, my man and I.
To assume I am selfish, unthinking of others… what a narrow minded view and clearly straight out of the anti anti-vaxxers handbook.
Rosemary…surely if your partner is a tetraplegic that is a reason to have the vaccine isn't it? You would not want your partner left alone I assume.
[But I don’t have details of your pre-existing condition in saying this-has this been diagnosed by professionals as a significant extra risk when having the vaccine?]
Clare Conboy of campaign group Stop Killer Robots said the outcome was one that "keeps the minority of militarised states investing in developing these weapons very happy".
Watch episode 1 last night of The Age of Nature – Restoring the Earth. The rehabilitation of the land in China was inspiring as was seeing the demise of the fishing grounds in northern Norway and what happened in an attempt to restore the fishing stocks. There are some great inspiring things happening out there.
“Luxon lists off the groups he thinks the Government has failed: small business owners, farmers and other voters.”
That is the very people that the government has spent billions of dollars on. Propping up small business and jobs throughout the pandemic. For that reason alone, Labour will still capture a chunk of votes.
When he starts on about government debt, it’ll be those voters National would have thrown under the bus.
Dunno about the farmers? I haven’t paid attention to what Robertson’s done for them.
Luxon is just reeling off vague typical National platitudes. Until he comes out with competing policies & puts his money on the table he’s just making typical opposition white noise that likely isn’t going to persuade anyone who’s not already a committed National voter that he’s got a high-performing, experience, cohesive team who would do a better job of running NZ.
That said, a good many lacklustre Labour Ministers need to pull finger next year & start getting their depts to produce actual improved outcomes, instead of just trumpeting how much money they’re throwing at problems that aren’t getting any better in spite of the extra funding.
Carmel Sepuloni needs to sort out MSD on a number of issues, the main one getting lots of attention from the 1ewes at 6 crew being stopping W&I from cutting benefits where parents don’t show up for job interviews or Court appearances. This is hitting their kids far too hard. They need to stop this practice immediately & have a re-think.
Poto Williams needs to urgently get more police officers. And get the cop hierarchy to have a rethink about reintroducing Community Constables, imo.
The current situation with emergency housing of gang-affiliated or associated ratbags in inner city hotels & motels needs sorting out too. As does not moving on violent & threatening tenants in Kainga Ora housing.
No Kris Faafoi is making progress in stopping usury. He also has the unhappy task of trying to manage flows of returnees, people leaving for work reasons etc.. Not a pleasant job in a pandemic. Many who feel hard done by have the ear of the Press.
Every now & then when bored with other blogs I take a quick look at that grumpy old bigoted bugger Sir Bob Jones’ website.
It’s not often, but every now & then I find myself agreeing with him. As I do on this case:
Why was Dawei Zhuang charged in a Palmerston North court with “careless driving causing death” (of a motor-cyclist)? Obviously it’s been a traumatic two and a half years for Zhuang facing a prison sentence as he awaited his trial.
Yet the undisputed and overwhelming evidence clearly showed the motor-cyclist was solely responsible for his demise and the Judge quickly threw the case out.
So I ask again, why was Zhuang made to endure the emotional consequences of this charge for two and a half years hanging over him? This was an appalling misjudgment by the Police in pursuing this matter to trial.
Sir Bob’s unfortunately got deep pockets & can afford the best lawyers. He’s a force to be reckoned with & not to be legally pursued lightly; even the constabulary & Crown Law obviously think so.
What specific offence(s) do you think he should’ve been convicted & incarcerated for?
Jones’ reputation with his tenants was diminished by Lee’s article, Reed said, and the financial adviser had previously published an incorrect article claiming Jones had been prosecuted for insider trading, for which he subsequently apologised.
TALES OF AN ANTI-VAXXER — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the country. So it came as a surprise when an invitation to a holiday party at his home in California last week urged attendees to be tested or vaccinated beforehand, two people familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman.
When we called up Kennedy for comment, he pinned it on his better half, actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame. Kennedy said the party was for her entertainment industry friends and cast members, and he was unaware of what the e-vite invitation said before the day of the party.
“I guess I’m not always the boss at my own house,” Kennedy told Lippman. There was also no effort to verify vaccination or testing status of the attendees before entering, he said. (Hines didn't respond to a request for comment.)
"This week, ice scientists meeting in New Orleans warned that something even more alarming was brewing on the West Antarctic ice sheet – a vast basin of ice on the Antarctic peninsula. Years of research by teams of British and American researchers showed that great cracks and fissures had opened up both on top of and underneath the Thwaites glacier, one of the biggest in the world, and it was feared that parts of it, too, may fracture and collapse possibly within five years or less."
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 2 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
Imperial college released a report today showing high immune escape, rapid growth and no evidence that omicron was milder than delta.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/232698/modelling-suggests-rapid-spread-omicron-england/
Not good. Thanks aj for the link.
From the article:
"This level of immune evasion means that Omicron poses a major, imminent threat to public health."
Can we start off with asking some basic questions as to why this is an imminent threat, like what is the omegacron fatality rate? They admit in the article even that the data is poor.
Will anyone care if this get legs.
https://twitter.com/covidbaseau/status/1471964131284566020
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH is a dizzying thing. In the week to December 8th Britain saw 536 new cases of covid-19 ascribed to the Omicron variant, less than 0.5% of the number caused by the dominant Delta variant. But the week before there had been only 32 cases of Omicron—and by December 14th the case number was over 10,000. Omicron looks set to become the country’s dominant strain in terms of cases before advent calendars run out of windows.
Cases lag behind infections. On December 13th Britain’s health minister, Sajid Javid, said that there were estimated to have been 200,000 infections in the country that day, most of them Omicron. Three more doublings and the total number of infections a day will be more than 1m.
[…]
The degree to which the variant can infect the previously infected may also make things look rosier than they really are. Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University, points out that Omicron’s success at reinfecting people may give the impression a smaller fraction gets severely ill just by inflating the denominator. It could thus seem more benign even if, among those contracting covid for the first time, it were just as dangerous as Delta (see chart).
https://archive.li/MR8gH (the economist)
Dr Michael Ryan on Covid – speed trumps perfection
https://youtu.be/UeEPmCcPxi4?t=57
Thanks for that info aj, concerning, and Jacinda's "Abundance of caution" is the best stance 'till we know more.
You suggest that an "Abundance of caution" is the best stance 'till we know more.
That is of course an approach that advocates that we shouldn't do anything until we are quite certain of the best thing to do. It was the approach we have followed to date in that we didn't order any vaccines till very late in the piece. We didn't go ahead and get additional ICU beds in the hospitals. We didn't admit health care workers into the country by getting our immigration services into action.
Instead we simply locked everything down and did nothing to prepare for the virus getting into the country except to say that if we gave a lot of vaccination jabs everyone would be protected and we would all be free and we would have nothing else to worry about.
That was of course what this commenter was warning about. He says
"But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralysed by the fear of failure"
We are now paralysed. We haven't even got enough vaccination doses to give everyone a third dose have we? We only really have enough to finish of the two-jab procedure and we certainly don't have enough to give everyone a third. We don't have more ICU beds. We don't have increased medical personnel. We should have all these things already. They shouldn't just go on with the recital that everything is just peachy. Do something NOW is the thesis being proposed. It isn't arguing for an "abundance of caution".
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/458094/omicron-experts-advise-speeding-up-vaccine-booster-doses-after-variant-detected-in-miq
Rubbish. Finding out the facts before a decision is sensible. Nobody said "Stand still" That is your position taken as a rebuttal, putting words in my mouth. Stop repeating the lie about the vaccine roll out.
I don't see anything I said about the vaccine rollout that was a lie.
We ordered the vaccines a great deal later than most equivalent countries.
We were later than most equivalent countries in administering them in large quantities.
We don't have nearly enough to provide a third dose at the moment.
ergo We were very late to the party.
The point is that when delta first appeared in this country the government placed the country in level 4 lockdown. they didn't wait around to figure out the "best" measure to to take, but put in place a measure known to to be good..
The original lockdown was vey sensible and the right thing to do. We were an isolated country and it would work.
You will remember of course that it was an all-party decision and not something the Labour did by themselves. It was something that was strongly promoted by both National and New Zealand First wasn't it? Or do you choose to forget them?
Indeed there were rumours that Labour had to be forced to take action. At the time there were rumours that Bloomfield had threatened to resign unless the Labour led Government cancelled the Memorial gathering in Christchurch and the Pasifica festival. I have no idea whether there was anything in those rumours but at least they were finally scrapped at the last moment.
Unfortunately that was the last thing that was done properly. Since then they simply frozen up like possums in a spotlight. It was a pity they cut Winston out of the action in the latter part of their term.
It was what went on after the original lockdown that was badly handled and you will see that it was those things that I have been talking about.
There was something unreal about it all when that first national lockdown happened. I went out early one morning for a walk and there was still lots of traffic around.
Going thru my gifs I was surprised to find I'd made one of that walk
https://i.imgur.com/VbHJTbR.gif
Oh bull. National had a different idea every week.
Lucky for them, National voters can't remember what they said last week.
And like them, you think constantly repeating lies, like the one about the vaccine rollout, makes them true.
Yep. I seem to remember they were all over the place on lockdowns & financial support measures initially, before finally deciding to support the PM. (The polls were clear that the great majority of NZers supported lockdown.)
Alwynger Still pushing the John Key lie, as Pfizer pointed out We could not get our vaccines any earlier.Europe and the US banned exports until they had enough for themselves and considering 100's and 1,000's were dying in the US and the EU it would have been very selfish of us.
But you represent the selfish alwyn.
by repeating the lie you think people will believe your pathetic trumpist bs.
We are in a much better position by vaccinating later because of waning immunity Giving us better immunity than countries who have rolled out early combined with our high rates 90% plus .
That has saved 10's of thousands of lives.
Like 2.44 million doses ready for boosting with more arriving.Thats from your link. Maybe you should read your own links before you make a complete idiot of yourself. Where is the lack of booster doses thats a straight up lie.alwynger.
Half way through November you made claims we wouldn't get to 90% another of your lies.
Please provide a quote from me where I said we would never get to 90%.
But you won't because you never provide any evidence for any of your claims do you? Mr Spray and walk away is who you are.
Alwyn ,the of November 2021 your denigrating comments on open Mike.
Infer it will never happen as we now are heading to 96% first dose. 90% plus second.
3 Rd dose of course you will regurgitate that we don't have enough doses for boosters. 2.44 million plus more coming.
The 17th of Nov open Mike. Irony as 90% of your posts are false claims
I made 3 comments on Open Mike on 17/11/2021
Two of them related to the Pike River affair.
The third was to Gezza suggesting an approach to getting a better proof reader.
None of the thee mentioned in any way Covid 19, vaccinations of vaccination rates at any DHB or overall.
You do spout a lot of B*s don't you? You really are a schmuck.
But full of your opinion which repeats RW talking points. Mickysavage reported on Matt Nippert's objective assessment …
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-covid-vaccine-rollout/
I watched a bit of Al Jazeera tv news late last night (1st time in quite a few weeks). They showed a hospital in Scotland where the ICU nurses are pleading for people to get vaxed & observe social distancing & mask wearing because the nursing staff are physically & mentally exhausted caring for critical-care Covid-19 patients.
And they can’t get any more trained nursing staff from anywhere. Right around the world there’s an acute shortage of nursing staff; because of Covid, every hospital everywhere is trying to recruit more & can’t get them.
Even if Immigration NZ was allowing hospitals to recruit overseas, I’m not sure how many we could actually. The biggest drawcard until Delta got here was that we’d successfully kept Covid out. It sure wasn’t our nurses pay rates, or cheap housing or rentals here.
🙄 *actually get.
Getting visas through INZ is not that hard, the issue is then getting them MIQ spots. I gather Minister Little has intervened, but why it took this long to make that happen is a mystery to me.
Concerns not just from that side but also from opposing sides. It is staggering that the ordinary person not in "the tent" is so easily lied to or fed with confusing statements.
https://youtu.be/Qag8-f_frnw
Culture vultures have something to pick at & dine on here:
Yeah, that's the question still. The one in the movie was likely intended as dramatisation of the one in real life. We emerge from birth into a family matrix, some of us into a tribal matrix, and adolescence shifts us into a broader socio-cultural matrix. Then politics imposes a political matrix (the democracy prison, for us).
Some of us become adept at transcending each matrix to live as global citizens. Others grow old & die in mental worlds confined by their matrix. Life on autopilot is easy for many.
Best to be pragmatic rather than paranoid. The control system can be viewed as an historical product of social evolution rather than something deliberately created to exploit the masses. It's actually both, but the ruling cabal thesis (Illuminati) is too theoretical in comparison to the plethora of actual orgs dedicated to operating social control systems. Realpolitik informs us that the overall matrix is multidimensional.
I shouldn’t worry about it too much Dennis.
Ice-free Arctic late in ’23, resulting in rapid heating of the earth.
Massive (and I mean MASSIVE) climate disruption in ’24, world-wide famine, world-wide deaths, world-wide migration, world-wide local conflicts. Plus 400+ unattended, un-decommissioned nuclear power plants around the world.
All gone by late ’25 or early ’26.
That soon?
I think he means the 23rd century, then the 24th century and so on. He just misread the timescale.
I wouldnt dismiss it out of hand…..an overly complicated interdependent system could collapse very quickly
Gosh, I'd like to be that optimistic but when I recall how many times I've already lived through imminent global system crashes, then been bemused by the system's resilient survival, I just can't help being cautiously pessimistic…
I guess that you are like me and can remember Al Gore proposing in 2009 that
"Some of the models suggest that there is a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during some of the summer months, could be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years."
Whatever did happen to Al Gore anyway? Has he settled down to enjoy his millions.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/02/facebook-posts/fact-checking-claims-al-gore-said-all-arctic-ice-w/
Whatever did happen to Al Gore anyway?
Still mouthing off:
I am of two minds.
One is to say thank you for telling me this. After all I did ask.
The second is to think "I wish he hadn't" I had rather hoped that he was by now gone and forgotten. I imagine he still turns up in a gas guzzling private jet to lecture us mere plebs on how bad we are.
Alwyn,I say Alwyn..Al Gore is a multiple winner of the 'Always be sincere ..even if you ..don't really..mean ..it' award.
My prediction is the fourth Matrix movie is likely to suck big time
Hope I'm wrong
Another measure the Govt could introduce to cool down the property market.
Stamp duties on valuations.
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
'ABSD rate, however, will be raised to 17% for SCs second residential purchase, 25% on their third and subsequent purchases.
For SPRs, the rate will be raised to 25% on their second purchase, and 30% on their third and subsequent purchases.
Rate will also be raised to 30% for foreigners purchasing any residential property; and 35% for entities purchasing any residential property and developers purchasing any residential property.'
Gov’t unveils 3 new property cooling measures (msn.com)
Singapore is exempted from the NZ foreign buyers ban.
So are Ozzers. I didn't realise that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/realestate/new-zealand-locks-the-doors-from-the-inside.html
(Peter Thiel gets a mention…)
At the very least ,the NZ Govt should respond in 'kind'…30% levy on Singapore buyers.
They won't of course.
The reality is Singapore has hardly any land!NZ has plenty.
https://i.imgur.com/UrgFVGe.gif
https://i.imgur.com/gpMDSKT.gif
He really trusts you Gezza.
It's quite surprising the number of birds that do, Patricia.
I'm out there at the stream fence several times nearly every day, certainly every fine day. I'm often standing underneath a tree, surrounded by its foliage.
I feed the waterbirds and any other birds that like seeds or bread chunks. And I just calmly talk to them all in a soft voice, using the same phrases, which most seem to learn.
I think I just become part of the scenery for them. They know I'm no threat and I don't try and pat them (well, I have tried, but I don't persist if they hop away, which they pretty much all do).
I could put half a dozen wheat grains into the palm of my hand for Ivan, when he perched on the fence like that, and hold it out to him. He just hoovered them up from my palm and waited for more.
We had a parrot to look after once. He was a handsome green Alexandrine parakeet. He talked. (We were in Caloundra.)
"Joe likes apple APPLE." "Joe is a handsome boy, hop up on Mummy's shoulder. Don't bite Mummy!" He used to copy Dale's call to Molly the dog who was then taking a pill wrapped in cheese. "Molly here Molly Cheeese!!" Molly knew the difference though. When I would clean his cage he would hang by one leg and comment "Been a mucky boy Joe" Really a laugh, as he would look directly at you with a beady black eye, head cocked to the side. He was twenty and they live 40 years, so entertaining. He had his wing feathers clipped, so when they let him out he would walk round with their 3 little dogs. They never bothered him and tolerated him walking around on the tiled floor with them.
Must be something in the water.
https://archive.li/CLf8O
https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-066768
Lock-downs ain't in the water…
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/12/03/flattening-curve-global-poor-covid-lockdowns-human-rights-vulnerable/
Not sure if we should trust anything from the Grayzone Bill:
From Wikipedia:
"The Grayzone website's news content is known for its sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes and in its denial of the Uyghur genocide."
Demolition of the sole source of Uighur genocide manufactured data may constitute sympathising in yours and wikipaedias books but for others, getting at the lies that buttress US and Western great power competition are more important. Adrien Zenz is an idiot fundamentalist christian who is on record stating both that he is on a mission from god to destroy China and that armageddon is a precondition for gods intervention in this world. With magical fairies. Highlighting this and his crass manipulation of data, supported by another rapture enthusiast, Mike Pompeo, was a job well done by the grayzone. But it sure made them enemies in high places.
Non grayzone references
There is but one simple means to establish the truth about Xinjiang – open, unconstrained investigation.
Just like was done after the Wuhan lab debacle. Oh wait …
https://i.imgur.com/hb3FBCx.gif
Well I guess thats a start. At least you admit there is room for debate. Accusations of genocide by idiot extreme religionists dont deserve to be taken seriously. By the same token we dont take much notice of proclamations by Wahhabi mullahs, who also claim to be on the path of destroying nations, led by god. The ETIM, a Uighur terrorist group, affiliated to Al Qaeda, which was funded by the US to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then went on to fight in Syria, returned home and turned their anti communist obsessions against the Chinese state. This is real verifiable news. Many people were killed in Xinjiang. I supplied a link above but you can read about it here from Vijay Prashad if you prefer. A common theme with religious nut jobs is their anti communist bent and they seem quite happy to join forces I guess safe in the knowledge that their god being the only god only they will be saved.
Your claim that Adrian Zenz is the sole source of information on this matter is patently silly and easily discredited. Pointless getting into a link battle with you on it though – anyone can use a search engine and make up their own minds if they're interested.
What is much less contentious is however the long and bitter record of communist oppression towards all religions it suspects of competing with it.
What is indisputable about all forms of extreme religion is that they preach salvation through destruction. Exyreme Christianity removes everything that Jesus said and places armageddon between the individual and salvation. Followers like Zenz and Pompeo then do gods work by promoting conditions most likely to bring on conflagration.
Well that's a watertight self-justification if I ever saw one.
Lockdowns only have one purpose which is to prevent the health system from rationing who gets treated and who does not.
Omicron is serious as when the health workers fall sick or are exhausted hospitals will not function.
Will people scream about human rights then?
Good post Joe…I am sure Chris Bishop will find way to whinge about these numbers…I put it on fb.
From the article:
Alwyn…. We are ok!!!
Looks like the further to the right a countries govt is the higher the covid death toll.
Anyone else find it disturbing that Stuff have taken to outing the vaccine status of private citizens?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127320798/covid19-senior-general-manager-at-christchurch-council-is-unvaccinated
Tbh Cricklewood, I find pretty much everything that is published on Stuff disturbing.
And I know I'm the slow learner down the back of the class on this, but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed.
I am seriously beginning to wonder if the Pfizer Product has negatively affected some folks' cognitive function.
The 'vaccine' only works if everyone has had it…?
they don't pose a threat to the vaccinated,
they pose a threat to the underfunded, understaffed, and under resourced Hospitals in our fair land.
" I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed."
Have you put the question here, Rosemary, and read closely the replies?
Have you?
It's not an issue that perplexes me. I understand why the "unjabbed" pose a risk to the "double jabbed".
How about you, Sabine?
Have you a good understanding of why that is?
Your comment: “they pose a threat to the underfunded, understaffed, and under resourced Hospitals in our fair land.” goes part-way to explaining that risk and is fair, in my opinion.
I think this is willful on your part. But, fwiw,
Quick reference,
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/452283/how-do-covid-vaccines-change-your-risk-of-infection-and-are-you-less-likely-to-pass-it-on
What don't you understand about that? Less people with covid means less people get covid. Unvaxxed people are protected thus too.
It's also true that the more people are vaccinated the less the unvaccinated become a risk, statistically.
I suspect that some people fail to appreciate the collective nature of the public health response and are thinking more about individuals. Classic socialist vs libertarian.
but I still don't understand why we unjabbed pose such an horrendous risk to the double jabbed
Well, according to Jaccinda recently, the traffic lights with all the exclusion were to protect the unvaccinated from the vaccinated (I kid you not)
Though, it could be about an indirect threat to a vaccinated persons health if they were unable to get into a hospital because a virus with a fatality rate of 0.05% in the under 70 age group had landed a person without a vaccination in hospital with Covid. In the likely event they wind up in hospital for any other reason, then of course, they pose no threat.
Then there's…"because!"
This has been patiently explained to you many times on this site now, with references!
It seems like Nationals incapability of understanding what traffic lights do.
It is simply a wilful refusal to listen.
When every other country decided to open up with few restrictions are Now putting restrictions back in place
We are moving caustiously forward .
Smart thinking we can see what's happening elsewhere why wouldn't you take advantage of what is happening elsewhere.
National are undermining this health initiative to please who Brian Tamaki,Billy tk. Bill and Rosemary.Alwyn.
It is simply a wilful refusal to listen.
I'm listening, but your explanations simply do not make much sense.
The Pfizer Product only works as a vaccine to prevent infection, transmission and serious illness and death if the vaccinated person only associates with other vaccinated persons.
Because only unvaccinated people can carry and transmit Te Virus and they can infect those who have been vaccinated with a product that claims to dramatically lower the risk of infection and dramatically lower the risk of serious illness and death but only if those vaccinated are kept separate from the unvaccinated…
The vaccine is working in New Zealand, to cut down spread.
If it wasn't we would have an exponential rise in COVID cases in Auckland, right now.
As they have in US States with low vaccination numbers.
That is fucking outrageous and steps right over the line.
This amateur run website has way more professional ethics than this.
I'm actually really fucked off about it, I'm wondering if there are grounds for a formal complaint tbh.
and they wonder why the cop abuse from protestors…
I'm guessing they would justify it as having public interest, but seems a stretch to me. The article clearly explains that his role has little to do with public contact or spaces, and that he is attending meetings via zoom. That leaves staff, but there's no mandate on that organisation, so what's the point of the article other than to ostracise?
As the GM of HR (among other things), it's his department running the consultation on the proposed vaccine mandate policy. Probably still doubts over the advisability or legality of publishing a private citizen's vaccination status, but there would be at least a perceived conflict of interest internally.
what's the conflict of interest? Is the assumption he is an anti-vaxer?
Given councils have public facilities in terms of the Covid Protection Framework and those facilities require vaccine passes, it's a bit strange for the GM of facilities to not be vaccinated (his areas are "human resources; IT; facilities, property and planning; procurement; financial management and the Smart Christchurch programme").
On the question, I've heard rumours along those lines.
Yes I have cancelled because of this.
39 new cases today! Eat that, Natz!
That is a wonderful number but would be almost too good to be true. Whatever, these relatively low numbers are a great way to start the last week before xmas. Has to be the effect of both widespread vaccination and many people still taking measures such as masks and social distancing seriously.
Weka, thank you for that great, simple and clear explanation of the collective nature of public health measures required to keep numbers down. I plead for people to think about the clear logic for what we are doing, and set to one side all the other noise around our country.
Aj, Australia? How are the Aussies doing? Not on that list… is "Scottie from Marketing" not telling?
I'm referring to T V's comment "39 new cases today!" Patricia, not the life expectancy improvement @ 11:22am which I believe only covers the nations that have provided that number (can't find the reference sorry)
Sorry this attached to the wrong comment. But you are probably correct, they did not divulge it.
An "under-10 year" old Maori boy has died today, of Covid?
I just heard this and don't know yet if it's true.
I suspect what you relates to this announcement. The child actually died earlier this week.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300481147/covid19-child-under-10-becomes-youngest-case-to-die
I haven’t seen another such case announced elsewhere today.
I suspect what you heard relates to this announcement. The child actually died earlier this week.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300481147/covid19-child-under-10-becomes-youngest-case-to-die
I haven’t seen another such case announced elsewhere today.
True, was reported on RNZ news early morning..
The child didn’t die today, Dennis. See above. He died earlier in the week. That he had been infected with Covid wasn’t known until after he died.
Oh, okay, I heard it on the breakfast news. Maybe they didn't specify that
Died of Covid? according to Gezza's stuff article, diagnosed with Covid after they had died..? So, with covid or with detected traces of the covid virus might be a better descriptor?
Will find out after his autopsy and inquest.
The headline didn't wait however.
Fairly disgusting to exploit a child's death for propaganda purposes, aye?
The headline clearly implies a Covid death, which dovetails rather nicely into mandating children 5 and up…
"Covid-19: Child under 10 becomes youngest case to die"
there is a 5 -12 year old vaccine programme due to begin in january
Yup. And I know the parents of one 9 year old have been told that unless injected, she can't do her drama classes next term.
Given that no children without serious co-morbidities have died from Covid…that even the BBC reported the chances of a child dying from Covid were 1 in 2 million alongside the NYT stating the risk was so low as to be incalculable….
Back to Tony’s statement re today’s numbers – The update today on the MoH Āwhina app tells us that the numbers are not a full 24 hours as they have changed from midnight to midnight rather than from 9am to 9am. I have tried to link it but my phone is not being obliging.
Oh shit, just heard on the news, that's for 15 hours, not 24!
Bugger!
Rosemary, the fact that you are unvaccinated makes you many times more likely to catch covid, especially Omicron at 5.6 R + ,and your age means you are hundreds of times more likely to be hospitalised and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors. I have seen it in my wife who had wished to retire or drastically reduce her work load two years ago, but as a life-long dedicated nurse felt she could not let down patients when her skills ( ventilator specialist ) which take at least 4 to 5 years to acquire were going to be desperately needed. She feels it every day when she leaves the house, “ Will I get back here, will I see my children again? Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. Please get vaccinated.
….and add to the physical, mental and emotional load on nurses and doctors.
Don't worry Adrian. I won't be adding to that load. I'm not up for being the Fucking Filth clogging up ICU, robbing the deserving of the healthcare they need.
Time you thought about others who carry such a heavy load. I understand it does not compare with the load your wife carries, but one of the reasons I am not prepared to risk the Pfizer Product is that if the worst happens and I have a bad reaction (and I have pre- existing issues that makes that more likely) my man, who is a C4/5 tetraplegic would be up the proverbial as I am his 24/7 sole carer. He too has issues that in all probability would be exacerbated by the Pfizer Product so has also opted for no shot. It is a very finely balanced life we lead, my man and I.
To assume I am selfish, unthinking of others… what a narrow minded view and clearly straight out of the anti anti-vaxxers handbook.
Best wishes to you both Rosemary. That is a rock and a hard place. Life is not simple.
Thanks Patricia, and all the best to you too.
Rosemary…surely if your partner is a tetraplegic that is a reason to have the vaccine isn't it? You would not want your partner left alone I assume.
[But I don’t have details of your pre-existing condition in saying this-has this been diagnosed by professionals as a significant extra risk when having the vaccine?]
Stop Killer Robots? 🤖
Hmm, dunno about that, let's weigh the pros & cons awhile…
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/technology/2021/12/un-talks-adjourn-without-deal-to-regulate-killer-robots-nz-in-support.html
Watch episode 1 last night of The Age of Nature – Restoring the Earth. The rehabilitation of the land in China was inspiring as was seeing the demise of the fishing grounds in northern Norway and what happened in an attempt to restore the fishing stocks. There are some great inspiring things happening out there.
https://hdclump.com/restoring-the-earth-the-age-of-nature-episode-1/
“Luxon lists off the groups he thinks the Government has failed: small business owners, farmers and other voters.”
That is the very people that the government has spent billions of dollars on. Propping up small business and jobs throughout the pandemic. For that reason alone, Labour will still capture a chunk of votes.
When he starts on about government debt, it’ll be those voters National would have thrown under the bus.
Good luck getting their vote.
Dunno about the farmers? I haven’t paid attention to what Robertson’s done for them.
Luxon is just reeling off vague typical National platitudes. Until he comes out with competing policies & puts his money on the table he’s just making typical opposition white noise that likely isn’t going to persuade anyone who’s not already a committed National voter that he’s got a high-performing, experience, cohesive team who would do a better job of running NZ.
That said, a good many lacklustre Labour Ministers need to pull finger next year & start getting their depts to produce actual improved outcomes, instead of just trumpeting how much money they’re throwing at problems that aren’t getting any better in spite of the extra funding.
If you discount the media noise, you might find Labour ministers aren’t doing all that bad. The only really weak link is Kris Faafoi.
Carmel Sepuloni needs to sort out MSD on a number of issues, the main one getting lots of attention from the 1ewes at 6 crew being stopping W&I from cutting benefits where parents don’t show up for job interviews or Court appearances. This is hitting their kids far too hard. They need to stop this practice immediately & have a re-think.
Poto Williams needs to urgently get more police officers. And get the cop hierarchy to have a rethink about reintroducing Community Constables, imo.
The current situation with emergency housing of gang-affiliated or associated ratbags in inner city hotels & motels needs sorting out too. As does not moving on violent & threatening tenants in Kainga Ora housing.
No Kris Faafoi is making progress in stopping usury. He also has the unhappy task of trying to manage flows of returnees, people leaving for work reasons etc.. Not a pleasant job in a pandemic. Many who feel hard done by have the ear of the Press.
'other voters'!
That's one of Christopher7's fundamental strengths…he is always very…precise.
Yep. Sarcasm noted. He’s so bland & vague that immediately after he’s spoken it feels like he hasn’t. 😕
I expect that when he walks into a room it feels like he’s just left. 😎
Every now & then when bored with other blogs I take a quick look at that grumpy old bigoted bugger Sir Bob Jones’ website.
It’s not often, but every now & then I find myself agreeing with him. As I do on this case:
Why was Dawei Zhuang charged in a Palmerston North court with “careless driving causing death” (of a motor-cyclist)? Obviously it’s been a traumatic two and a half years for Zhuang facing a prison sentence as he awaited his trial.
Yet the undisputed and overwhelming evidence clearly showed the motor-cyclist was solely responsible for his demise and the Judge quickly threw the case out.
So I ask again, why was Zhuang made to endure the emotional consequences of this charge for two and a half years hanging over him? This was an appalling misjudgment by the Police in pursuing this matter to trial.
https://nopunchespulled.com/2021/12/17/bad-police-judgement/#more-3176
I had to Google Zhuang’s name to find a Stuff article about the case:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/300475878/driver-exonerated-for-role-in-fatal-palmerston-north-crash
Jones should have been jailed…years ..ago.
Sir Bob’s unfortunately got deep pockets & can afford the best lawyers. He’s a force to be reckoned with & not to be legally pursued lightly; even the constabulary & Crown Law obviously think so.
What specific offence(s) do you think he should’ve been convicted & incarcerated for?
He's a bald-necked vulture, wall-eyed and snarky.
🙂
Insider trading.
Hmm. Given Sir Bob’s litigiousness, a Mod might need to take a look at that one 🤔
Go ahead and look at it…he got off with a slap on the wrist.
'Don't sell…..until I've unloaded all…of mine'.
Very interesting.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/get-inside-the-trading-game/4YYLL7UIKIL5UWAX2CJ5TVRXWY/
Yes a veritable rogues gallery,notable for all the knights of the realm involved-wonderful world…beautiful ..people.
So's this:
https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=25101
and this:
https://twitter.com/justin_lester/status/1277452426799271936
Insider trading is a lovely earner for the wealthy and powerful.
In the U.S they have the Stock Act to deter congress reps from trading with insider knowledge.
Congress is always meeting with corporations regarding their business activities.
The fine is $200,but no one has ever been …caught.
Someone like Nancy Pelosi who earns 220k a year is (with hubby)worth around 45million…which is about 200 years salary.
She maintains everything is fine and dandy…because its a 'free market'!
Here in Australia ASIC is decently effective at policing these matters. They won't be perfect, but their presence is both visible and highly active.
He’s actually vaccinated and the anti-vax stuff is a scam to maintain the lifestyle he reckons he deserves?
TALES OF AN ANTI-VAXXER — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the country. So it came as a surprise when an invitation to a holiday party at his home in California last week urged attendees to be tested or vaccinated beforehand, two people familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman.
When we called up Kennedy for comment, he pinned it on his better half, actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame. Kennedy said the party was for her entertainment industry friends and cast members, and he was unaware of what the e-vite invitation said before the day of the party.
“I guess I’m not always the boss at my own house,” Kennedy told Lippman. There was also no effort to verify vaccination or testing status of the attendees before entering, he said. (Hines didn't respond to a request for comment.)
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/12/17/this-is-a-real-f-ing-problem-495509
"This week, ice scientists meeting in New Orleans warned that something even more alarming was brewing on the West Antarctic ice sheet – a vast basin of ice on the Antarctic peninsula. Years of research by teams of British and American researchers showed that great cracks and fissures had opened up both on top of and underneath the Thwaites glacier, one of the biggest in the world, and it was feared that parts of it, too, may fracture and collapse possibly within five years or less."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/18/scientists-watch-giant-doomsday-glacier-in-antarctica-with-concern
…five years or less.
No. They are not stupid.
https://twitter.com/MariaWNorris/status/1471877604814770182