Occasionally in the mornings I like to go for a short drive & check out what’s going on in the hood. In doing so recently I discovered that Muscovy & his mallard friends were now being regularly fed by some of the kind young occupants of a nearby newly-built housing estate complex, and also by some of the employees in a nearby computing business. ❤️👍🏼
Swinging by there in the car yesterday morning I noticed that there is now a second Muscovy Duck on the scene:
There’s obviously quite a bit of variation in the colouring of Muscovy ducks. Dunno if this one’s a female or another male. Pretty sure I read somewhere that the females are quite a bit smaller than males, & this one looks about the same size as “Muscovy” (who is plomped down on the grass to the left of the mallards seen in this clip).
Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full COVID-19 lockdown, it said on Friday as neighbouring Germany warned it may follow suit, sending shivers through financial markets worried about the economic fallout….
More and more its apparent that the vaccine is not an end in itself .It's vaccine plus mask wearing plus sanitising and social distancing.I'd like to add rigorous test ,trace and treat ,which has worked so well overseas in the absence of widespread vaccination.
We're not only at peak endgame capitalism, we're also at peak end game individualism, which makes public health mandates requiring us to change our habits nigh impossible.But I do think the elimination strategy is viable where you have a strong collective ethos.
By the way, what's the story on beginning a sentence with "But".Is that bad grammar?
By the way, what’s the story on beginning a sentence with “But”.Is that bad grammar?
I dunno whether it’s bad grammar per se or whether it was just a strong convention that one should NOT begin a sentence with a conjunction like but, or however.
Some writers broke this convention anyway. Sometimes as a literary device to give an emphasis to the “but” or “however”, others just because they thought it just was too pedantic.
I’m one who breaks the convention because I often try to write in conversational English & lotsa people in conversations begin sentences with “but” or “however”.
A gerund is a 'verbal' noun so there is no reason a sentence shouldn't start with one. When Peter Pan says "Dying would be an awfully big adventure" the word "dying" is actually a gerund.
Personally I only listen to my compilers about syntax- they have a reason to critise my syntax as computers are pretty damn stupid.
People on the other hand seldom read what other people actually write. They are usually too busy inventing their own story about what they thought you wrote. That is why being clear about getting your meaning across is far more important than syntax.
Only the people who are really trying to be computers because of their lack of any story telling abilities worry much about syntax.
The rule is really stylistic, and we teach it to new writers, typically children, who might otherwise be tempted to begin every sentence after the first with and.
As for its validity, it might be a rule of Latin copied into English, where it isn't true, as is the case with:
Prepositions are not for ending sentences with. – fine in English, but apparently not in Latin.
Churchill, facetiously, once said "Up with this I will not put." However, this seems to be a special case since the verb he is intending to employ is "to put up with", not "to put". He seems to be using a poetical construction inappropriately. We would say “I will not put up with this”.
In English we may use a construction like "The person I gave the book to", while the more formal construction would be "The person to whom I gave the book". In Latin, however "to whom" would be one word, using the dative case.
By the way, what's the story on beginning a sentence with "But".Is that bad grammar?
Words like "but" and "and" are conjunctives. In other words they join two ideas within a sentence. Therefore, starting a sentence with either of them seems odd since one of the two ideas is missing. "So" is another such word but it is becoming common, in recent times, for politicians and media persons to start sentences with that word.
…..I doubt “elmination” was ever a viable long-term option once Delta arrived on the scene.
Maybe. Maybe not.
If the advice of the health experts and pandemic modelers had been followed, We will never know for sure now, whether another two weeks of L4 in Auckland would have achieved elimination or not.
But the TVNZ graph 'above' clearly shows that before September 22, before the L4 lockdown was ended, the elimination strategy was working and provedly does work. Under the L4 lockdown, 83 cases a day in Auckland, following a sharp downward trend, was crushed down to 9 cases a day and was still trending down toward zero cases..
On the 21st of September, after the calculation was made that to presist with the L4 lockdown in Auckland until the numbers reached zero would put too great a burden on business, the ellimination strategy was replaced with the three step 'Roadmap' out of lockdown. As you can see with the first step on 6 Occt. The 'Roadmap' out of lockdown is being implemented on rising numbers of infections. .
The two most effective strategies to combat a viral pandemic are social, ie lockdowns. And technological, ie vaccines.
Overseas experience is showing us, that even at 90% of the eligible adult population having received the vaccine, some form of lockdowns will still likely be needed. That is, if we want to prevent needless deaths and protect public health services from being overloaded.
But emissions lockdowns alone will not be enough to arrest cllimate change.
It lis likely that the global climate system has already passed the point of no return, As a result, alongside emissions lockdowns, some form of technological CO2 removal from the atmosphere will also be needed.
Most of the these CO2 removal technologies do not yet exist, or are not mature technologies. But this too is analogous to the pandemic. At the start of the pandemic the technological fix, vaccines, did not yet exist or were not mature technologies.
Tamaki has already appeared in court twice since early October. The first appearance was on charges for organising a rally on October 2, allegedly in breach of Covid restrictions – he has pleaded not guilty.
He was ordered to stay away from future protests but was in court again on October 20 for fronting up at the second Domain protest on October 16, allegedly breaching bail.
He was allowed to remain free on bail on several conditions.
One condition was that he not "organise or attend any protests in breach of any Covid-19 level requirement", while another was that he not "use the internet for the purpose of organising, attending or encouraging non-compliance with the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020".
It will take a smart judge to block the media from covering sentencing, otherwise the Tamaki's have more than achieved their purpose in being arrested.
Maybe if he goes to jail he'll become radicalised. You know, all the stuff in his head will be turned upside down, all previous internal norms extinguished.
bwaghorn (4.1.1) … you are absolutely correct. Tamaki and his wife, are a form of predators who see society's misguided and vulnerable as a ticket to easy wealth by telling them what they want to hear. At the present time with Covid preventing some profitable Sunday get togethers, I guess the Apostle's coffers are getting a bit low and this is causing some concern between him and Mrs Apostle.
In US circles critical of the evangelical/tele-evangelical churches spread of mis- and disinformation about the vaccines and Covid they often a call people such as the Destiny church leaders 'grifters'.
Not in the older meaning of a petty thief such as a pick pocket but in this newer meaning
David Farrier in his ‘Loopy’ article about anti vaxxers in NZ also mentions Peter Mortlock of the City Impact Church. https://www.webworm.co/p/loopy
These mostly self appointed ‘pastors’ are a real scourge especially when they combine money making activities with definitions of the Bible/theology that are at odds with continued good health for their followers..
Martyrs are usually dead – but the concept of a "living martyr" does exist. The latter is obviously better in terms of generating (and enjoying) income streams.
On something similar, something I was reading the other day intrigued me. The way that a measles infection will often wipe out the human immune memory. It causes
It turns out that measles isn't a disease of the parts of the body it appears to infect. Like HIV it is a disease of the immune system. It affects T-cells. All of the pustules are almost a side effect.
The human immune system once it realises what is happening reacts by attacking the infected T-cells and destroying them. The T-cells are the residual immune response memory – so killing them kills the long-term memory of the immune system.
If the infection goes far enough, the only thing that the immune system remembers is how to combat measles and nothing much else. So like a child, people so afflicted have to get reinfected by a series of diseases to rebuild immunises – usually takes 2-3 years.
I'd guess that is where this particular meme arose from.
Lprent I think the first study here builds on the info you have provided from the measles study the studies do not seem to have been linked by the scientists but we can look at them together…..I came across this article about the
'The emerging insights into the immunology of COVID-19 could change scientists’ fundamental understanding of human immunity and how it can go awry.'
By researchers at the University of California (SF)
While it reads like a mini "I've had my name in a recognised worthy publication -for Phd people' the research and findings are really interesting. In some cases of Covid the expected interferon response does not occur because of hitherto hidden auto-immunity.
Another piece of research is from UK figures run by US scientist experienced in using NIH & other UK data, and this looks at deaths from the Covid virus of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
'In all age groups, we clearly see the vaccinated groups having lower risk of COVID-19 death, and this is especially evidence during the winter Alpha surge and summer Delta surges. The vaccinated individuals appear to be MUCH less likely to die in a COVID-19 surge, with fully vaccinated individuals in week 35 having 5x, 10x, 10x, and 2x lower all cause death rates in the than respective cohorts than unvaccinated individuals. This is consistent with the vaccines protecting strongly against death even after some waning of circulating antibodies as has been noted at 5-6m post-vaccination.'
Then from the same site work on how vaccination effectiveness works when taking into account Simpson's paradox.
In my reading about Covid vaccination misinformation I came across Simpson's Paradox and this has since become a bit of a fascination for me. The 'takeaways' from this study are interesting bearing in mind there are continuing cries for info on how many of those in hospital or those in particular age groups are vaccinated and have covid or died etc etc
'If you see someone presenting numbers like "% of infected/hospitalized/dead from COVID-19 that are vaccinated," recognize this can be a misleading number to summarize vaccine effectiveness since it depends on % vaccinated, and it is even worse when computed over a long period of time like all of 2021.
When you see people present vaccine effectiveness estimates (vs. cases, hospitalizations or deaths) using the simple relative rate reduction formula, always ask what time frame they are using. If they are modeling over a broad time frame like since the beginning of 2021, there is likely a strong time confounding that will make these numbers misleadingly high. And other countries have similar dynamics so this applies to them as well.
Estimates of vaccine efficacy using this simple relative rate reduction formula should be done over a time frame short enough that we don't have strong variation in vaccination rate or in case/death counts within that interval. Computing VE separately for time intervals short enough would not be affected by this time confounding (but of course might be subject to other confounders other than time). Of course since age is also a major confounder, you would want to stratify by both time and age'.
Bolding is from the article
If you don't mind a bit of fuzziness in your findings or readings about vaccine efficacy then this study is one to read. Anti vaxxers not so much as the conclusions are not firm, give to both points of view etc etc.
I recall a month or so back a study that got some attention for showing that there was little correlation in populations, both nation and state level, between %vax and case numbers. Sorry I don't have a link to hand.
One of it's allegedly 'fatal flaws' was that all the data was gathered during singular one week time frame. If anyone had actually bothered to read the study they would have seen the authors deliberately did this to avoid the Simpsons Paradox that is incurred when time bias is ignored.
Good comment – Simpsons Paradox is a formalism I have not seen clearly explained like this before.
Yes I recall reading about that criticism. This paradox (Simpson's) is that what we might think of as a 'logical' way to go about things is in fact not.
My thoughts go out to Duncan Garner who's "fighting for" his life.
I do appreciate that agencies charged with doing a job do it well. This is heart wrenching stuff though. Maybe if he lives through it he can say he's "got a life." He needs to get one.
He is making valid and worthwhile points- home isolation is here and it needs to work for everyone's sake – or is any form of criticism too hard to take for this government???
In the previous article I read about Garner and Covid he said that he had taken some non-prescription medicines and was feeling a lot better….here it is:
“I had a headache and my body ached all over. I felt like if I moved, something would break,” he said. Garner said that taking paracetamol and ibuprofen helped ease his symptoms, leaving him now feeling “just a bit tired.They worked a treat.”
He wouldn't be making a fuss to score some political points for his masters would he. Surely not?
If the home isolation system is not functioning correctly, it would remiss of him not to point it out. Thousands of people will go through this process, best to highlight and sort out any defects at this stage rather than later in the proceedings – for everyone's sake.
And he isn't the only one making similar observations.
If I were cynical, I'd suspect the appropriation of every incredibly tragic thing under the sun is encouraged by some shills and charlatans to maintain separation between their prime audience and reasonable people.
A "repugnant" policy that protects violent and abusive state house tenants who intimidate law-abiding neighbours is potentially unlawful and open to legal challenge before the courts, an expert says.
Litigation lawyer Adina Thorn says she is considering a class action on behalf of affected Kāinga Ora tenants and private homeowners who are being terrorised by unruly state house clients.
It follows a Herald investigation revealing death threats, intimidation and abuse, with numerous Kiwis claiming antisocial Kāinga Ora tenants are causing mayhem and destroying their families' lives.
An obvious and blatant example of a state entity ignoring established law as a matter of unstated policy and practice. Ministerial resignation time I would have thought.
On the other hand maybe I've got this wrong and this Kāinga Ora outfit is not accountable to Parliament by design.
Sufficiently distanced as a State Owned Enterprise to require only a wee chat with the Chair. Maybe a wee refresh of the Board. But the Kainga Ora CEO ain't going anywhere – and is competent.
So no, the Minister has far less power than the SOE Board generally.
The Minister of Police is Poto Williams. The Associate Minister in charge of Social Housing is also Poto Williams. The problem is this…is this ministerial incompetence or deliberate policy?
A decade ago we would never have seen Ministers allow a D-G of Health to have so much independence, nor the Chair of NZTA to run a long hand-wrinsing apology about our largest roading job (without even mentioning the Minister), nor the CE of Housing to be so publicly out of step with wider social contracts.
This isn't pyramid management: it's more an hour glass falling all one way.
So, and it's a serious question, could the Minister initiate the establishment of an organised crime task force charged with wiping out gang's proceeds of crime?
That has been the case since the 1950s Police Act. The commissioner runs the police. The minister is largely relevant when capital funding is required for infrastructure or expansion.
Only one day remains to make a submission on the emissions reduction plan. Please engage with the political process that is all ready underway and have your say on the Govt response to the greatest issue of our time! Closes Nov 24.
I wonder how many of them would now be considered to be unprotected?
From what I have seen the Pfizer vaccine seems to be regarded as no longer being truly effective about six months after the second dose. Given that there were about 60,000 people who had had one dose by 31 March this year, and the recommended gap was 3 weeks they would probably all be beyond the cut-off date.
Does anyone have any idea as to the effective vaccination rate is and how many people have had a booster?
Here's another crazy factoid. The expiry of the vaccine passports is 6 months after they were issued, not 6 months after your second jab. My vaxx passport expires 19 May 2022, which is 9 months after my second jab. Even after just 6 months, the effectiveness of my jabs will have dropped to 45%. So for 3 months I will have a valid vaccine passport with only 45% vaccine effectiveness. Or am I missing something?
It isn't the chance of infection that interests me the most. I'm happy to accept the fact that I am probably going to get the disease at some time unless I were to follow the most extreme, and frankly unbearable, isolation procedures. Happy that is unless I have to accept that I will die if I get it.
What I am really concerned about is how serious will the infection be when it happens? At my age there might be a 10% chance of dying if I get it and if I were unvaccinated. I understand that if you are vaccinated but get the disease it is not as serious as it is if you are unvaccinated. What happens to this figure as the time since your last dose goes up? Does it change and does your chance of dying rise if with that time should you actually be infected?
Well, indications are that effectiveness against high viral loads do decrease over time. But for specifics, you might want to chat with your doctor – and also consider how and why the answer to that question will change your behaviour.
I think some people have been thinking vaccines are supposed to be a bulletproof vest, and the analogy holds – but there's a reason the trade term is "bullet resistant" rather than "bullet proof".
I ain't stopped masking and checking in just because I've been double-vaxxed.
After that it is recommended to get a booster, every 6 month.
I have asked also how those that are in need of a booster shot – everyone in the initial Group 1 when the first vaccines were made available – are counted.. That would be those jabbed from Jan – May.
And how will this issue be handled in the future, say with your Passport – will it expire after 6 month, or is there a grace period to get a booster and so on and so forth.
The question is not are you still 'protected' as the studies show that protection is still there, the question is How will that 'booster' status be handled, will 'boosters' be mandatory, and how will that be enforced. Essentially with people 'falling' out of 'fully' protected jab status one can argue that 90% is never fully reachable. 🙂
I guess we are still in a 'learning curve' to some degree. Having taken the decision to be vaccinated, and with my other half being health compromised, I would be keen to be in line for a booster as the effectiveness of my vaccinations wane.
I tried this out when I installed it and when it last updated (which was a while ago). One of the things I don’t like with javascript is the sneaky updates from global sources. In this case CKEditor.
That isn’t a problem with TinyMCE. That however has the problem that it isn’t obeying width restrictions and possibly has other issues.
Heard through the grapevine that public health units across the country are already working all hours to keep up with the current outbreak. And it's not even fully across NI yet.
Scared, was the word a hospital admin person used some weeks ago when talking abut the nurses at the local hospital. They are scared. And so they should be.
Also listening to or reading anything by Barry Slope-off.
Back in the day, he was a key contact in Parliament for oyster deliveries and had some good 'Southland exports to the North' days where Southland industries had mini showcases. As they say' he seems to have gone right off the boil' since that time.
I know it’s late in the day, but this allows you to draw your own conclusions about the relationship between the Taxpayers union, Pigswill and some writers at the Democracy project. Stuff 3 waters article
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Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
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 ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
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 ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
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. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
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 ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
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Any had core fans of my bird friends may recall my previous posting of a gif of a visiting Muscovy Duck – not very imaginatively named “Muscovy” by me:
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-10-2021/#comment-1822254
Occasionally in the mornings I like to go for a short drive & check out what’s going on in the hood. In doing so recently I discovered that Muscovy & his mallard friends were now being regularly fed by some of the kind young occupants of a nearby newly-built housing estate complex, and also by some of the employees in a nearby computing business. ❤️👍🏼
Swinging by there in the car yesterday morning I noticed that there is now a second Muscovy Duck on the scene:
https://i.imgur.com/g9LhgPv.gif
There’s obviously quite a bit of variation in the colouring of Muscovy ducks. Dunno if this one’s a female or another male. Pretty sure I read somewhere that the females are quite a bit smaller than males, & this one looks about the same size as “Muscovy” (who is plomped down on the grass to the left of the mallards seen in this clip).
🙄 * hard-core fans
Wish I could sack my bloody useless proof-reader, but the bugger won’t move out of my head. ☹️
I love how the residents or the employees of the computing business have put this sign up warning drivers to take care when driving past…
Won't anyone think of the markets?
Is this New Zealand's future?
Maybe we should have stuck with elimination,
In some ways I wish that we had, but I doubt “elmination” was ever a viable long-term option once Delta arrived on the scene.
More and more its apparent that the vaccine is not an end in itself .It's vaccine plus mask wearing plus sanitising and social distancing.I'd like to add rigorous test ,trace and treat ,which has worked so well overseas in the absence of widespread vaccination.
We're not only at peak endgame capitalism, we're also at peak end game individualism, which makes public health mandates requiring us to change our habits nigh impossible.But I do think the elimination strategy is viable where you have a strong collective ethos.
By the way, what's the story on beginning a sentence with "But".Is that bad grammar?
By the way, what’s the story on beginning a sentence with “But”.Is that bad grammar?
I dunno whether it’s bad grammar per se or whether it was just a strong convention that one should NOT begin a sentence with a conjunction like but, or however.
Some writers broke this convention anyway. Sometimes as a literary device to give an emphasis to the “but” or “however”, others just because they thought it just was too pedantic.
I’m one who breaks the convention because I often try to write in conversational English & lotsa people in conversations begin sentences with “but” or “however”.
'So'….is in vogue atm.
Thanks .
I sometimes get told off for beginning a sentence with a gerund, there's correct usage and incorrect
A gerund is a 'verbal' noun so there is no reason a sentence shouldn't start with one. When Peter Pan says "Dying would be an awfully big adventure" the word "dying" is actually a gerund.
Personally I only listen to my compilers about syntax- they have a reason to critise my syntax as computers are pretty damn stupid.
People on the other hand seldom read what other people actually write. They are usually too busy inventing their own story about what they thought you wrote. That is why being clear about getting your meaning across is far more important than syntax.
Only the people who are really trying to be computers because of their lack of any story telling abilities worry much about syntax.
Pity them…
I like big buts and I cannot lie.
However …. however is a different matter.
The rule is really stylistic, and we teach it to new writers, typically children, who might otherwise be tempted to begin every sentence after the first with and.
As for its validity, it might be a rule of Latin copied into English, where it isn't true, as is the case with:
Prepositions are not for ending sentences with. – fine in English, but apparently not in Latin.
Churchill, facetiously, once said "Up with this I will not put." However, this seems to be a special case since the verb he is intending to employ is "to put up with", not "to put". He seems to be using a poetical construction inappropriately. We would say “I will not put up with this”.
In English we may use a construction like "The person I gave the book to", while the more formal construction would be "The person to whom I gave the book". In Latin, however "to whom" would be one word, using the dative case.
By the way, what's the story on beginning a sentence with "But".Is that bad grammar?
Words like "but" and "and" are conjunctives. In other words they join two ideas within a sentence. Therefore, starting a sentence with either of them seems odd since one of the two ideas is missing. "So" is another such word but it is becoming common, in recent times, for politicians and media persons to start sentences with that word.
I get it .I have a tendency to break up a long sentence into 2 separate ones.
Well explained.
Yes – but it's a rule made to be broken if you have the talent. Here's Ezra Pound opening Canto I – the first of that famous/infamous sequence:
"And then went down to the ship,
Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and
We set up mast and sail on that swart ship,
Bore sheep aboard her, and our bodies also
Heavy with weeping…"
nice
Yes – +1.
I think there are fairly good but pedantic rules, and really silly pedantic rules.
This one falls in the 2nd category.
Pedantry exists, I think, only in the eye of the beholder.
Maybe. Maybe not.
If the advice of the health experts and pandemic modelers had been followed, We will never know for sure now, whether another two weeks of L4 in Auckland would have achieved elimination or not.
But the TVNZ graph 'above' clearly shows that before September 22, before the L4 lockdown was ended, the elimination strategy was working and provedly does work. Under the L4 lockdown, 83 cases a day in Auckland, following a sharp downward trend, was crushed down to 9 cases a day and was still trending down toward zero cases..
On the 21st of September, after the calculation was made that to presist with the L4 lockdown in Auckland until the numbers reached zero would put too great a burden on business, the ellimination strategy was replaced with the three step 'Roadmap' out of lockdown. As you can see with the first step on 6 Occt. The 'Roadmap' out of lockdown is being implemented on rising numbers of infections. .
The two most effective strategies to combat a viral pandemic are social, ie lockdowns. And technological, ie vaccines.
Overseas experience is showing us, that even at 90% of the eligible adult population having received the vaccine, some form of lockdowns will still likely be needed. That is, if we want to prevent needless deaths and protect public health services from being overloaded.
https://citizenfreepress.com/column-3/covid-is-surging-in-waterford-ireland-where-99-7-percent-are-double-vaccinated/
My concern is climate change!
In my humble opinion, our response to the global pandemic, is just a trial run for how we will solve, (or not), the climate crisis.
To combat climate change, will also need two strategies, social, ie lockdowns. and technological, ie carbon removal.
The lockdowns necessary to cut CO2 emissions to halt climate change will have to last, not weeks, or months, but years.
The covid lockdowns showed what could be achieved with emissions lockdowns.
https://www.holidify.com/pages/jalandhr-wakes-up-to-view-of-the-himalayas-4431.html
But emissions lockdowns alone will not be enough to arrest cllimate change.
It lis likely that the global climate system has already passed the point of no return, As a result, alongside emissions lockdowns, some form of technological CO2 removal from the atmosphere will also be needed.
Most of the these CO2 removal technologies do not yet exist, or are not mature technologies. But this too is analogous to the pandemic. At the start of the pandemic the technological fix, vaccines, did not yet exist or were not mature technologies.
This is what an emissions lockdown can achieve.
Tamakis asked to report to Auckland police station!!
Will they be locked up now?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-destinys-brian-and-hannah-tamaki-summoned-to-appear-at-auckland-police-station/DPTDTLEIBEI2SLLKQTMF7WVCYE/
Tamaki has already appeared in court twice since early October. The first appearance was on charges for organising a rally on October 2, allegedly in breach of Covid restrictions – he has pleaded not guilty.
He was ordered to stay away from future protests but was in court again on October 20 for fronting up at the second Domain protest on October 16, allegedly breaching bail.
He was allowed to remain free on bail on several conditions.
One condition was that he not "organise or attend any protests in breach of any Covid-19 level requirement", while another was that he not "use the internet for the purpose of organising, attending or encouraging non-compliance with the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020".
.
Will they be locked up now?
I sincerely hope so, dv, although Home D at his mansion is probably more likely.
A substantial fine might also be instructive, altho I imagine it will be his unfortunate & misguided congregation that would foot the bill.
Tamaki believers should be familiar with that scenario by now.
Brian does, lives and buys wtf he wants, they fund his ‘brand’.
Geez
I notice he thinks he is innocent!!!
It will take a smart judge to block the media from covering sentencing, otherwise the Tamaki's have more than achieved their purpose in being arrested.
The Tamakis don't like being locked down?
Maybe they just needed a change in direction.
Now they don’t like being locked up?
You just can’t please some people
up down round
Perhaps he will be martyred?
Maybe if he goes to jail he'll become radicalised. You know, all the stuff in his head will be turned upside down, all previous internal norms extinguished.
In which case he'll come out 'normal.'
I doubt tamiki believes the shit he spreads, just a con man through and through..
Riffing on a well worn not quite christian chorus to keep his followers engaged but not too critically engaged.
Religion is about power and control since ,well for ever I expect.
bwaghorn (4.1.1) … you are absolutely correct. Tamaki and his wife, are a form of predators who see society's misguided and vulnerable as a ticket to easy wealth by telling them what they want to hear. At the present time with Covid preventing some profitable Sunday get togethers, I guess the Apostle's coffers are getting a bit low and this is causing some concern between him and Mrs Apostle.
In US circles critical of the evangelical/tele-evangelical churches spread of mis- and disinformation about the vaccines and Covid they often a call people such as the Destiny church leaders 'grifters'.
Not in the older meaning of a petty thief such as a pick pocket but in this newer meaning
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Grifter
David Farrier in his ‘Loopy’ article about anti vaxxers in NZ also mentions Peter Mortlock of the City Impact Church.
https://www.webworm.co/p/loopy
These mostly self appointed ‘pastors’ are a real scourge especially when they combine money making activities with definitions of the Bible/theology that are at odds with continued good health for their followers..
Martyrs are usually dead – but the concept of a "living martyr" does exist. The latter is obviously better in terms of generating (and enjoying) income streams.
As I remember, he made himself a Bishop. Maybe self-canonisation is nigh?
He's an apostle now, apparently.
Only one promotion left.
Saint? Or the Man at the top? And he knoweth his pronouns!
Your opinions mean nothing when more than 12,000 of the worlds best doctors and scientists say this >> globalcovidsummit.org
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
you’re in premod to make sure you don’t spam the site. Read the Policy and decide if you want to play by the rules.
You had me worried there
Plenty of rebuttals though, and not peer reviewed.The authors have withdrawn it
Everyones trying to make their names with covid science.Publish or perish .They're all worthwhile to do, but some don't make the final cut
https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/11/fact-check-covid-spike-protein-from-vaccines-not-proven-to-be-hijacking-human-body-dna-repair.html
https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/coronavirus-vaccines-and-cancer
On something similar, something I was reading the other day intrigued me. The way that a measles infection will often wipe out the human immune memory. It causes
Ummmm this isn't the one that I read – but it is about the same set of observations.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/measles-vaccine-protect-disease-immune-amnesia
It turns out that measles isn't a disease of the parts of the body it appears to infect. Like HIV it is a disease of the immune system. It affects T-cells. All of the pustules are almost a side effect.
The human immune system once it realises what is happening reacts by attacking the infected T-cells and destroying them. The T-cells are the residual immune response memory – so killing them kills the long-term memory of the immune system.
If the infection goes far enough, the only thing that the immune system remembers is how to combat measles and nothing much else. So like a child, people so afflicted have to get reinfected by a series of diseases to rebuild immunises – usually takes 2-3 years.
I'd guess that is where this particular meme arose from.
Lprent I think the first study here builds on the info you have provided from the measles study the studies do not seem to have been linked by the scientists but we can look at them together…..I came across this article about the
'The emerging insights into the immunology of COVID-19 could change scientists’ fundamental understanding of human immunity and how it can go awry.'
By researchers at the University of California (SF)
While it reads like a mini "I've had my name in a recognised worthy publication -for Phd people' the research and findings are really interesting. In some cases of Covid the expected interferon response does not occur because of hitherto hidden auto-immunity.
Another piece of research is from UK figures run by US scientist experienced in using NIH & other UK data, and this looks at deaths from the Covid virus of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
https://www.covid-datascience.com/post/what-do-uk-data-tell-us-about-effect-of-vaccination-on-deaths-part-1-comparing-covid-19-deaths
In the latest write-up this is said
'In all age groups, we clearly see the vaccinated groups having lower risk of COVID-19 death, and this is especially evidence during the winter Alpha surge and summer Delta surges. The vaccinated individuals appear to be MUCH less likely to die in a COVID-19 surge, with fully vaccinated individuals in week 35 having 5x, 10x, 10x, and 2x lower all cause death rates in the than respective cohorts than unvaccinated individuals. This is consistent with the vaccines protecting strongly against death even after some waning of circulating antibodies as has been noted at 5-6m post-vaccination.'
Then from the same site work on how vaccination effectiveness works when taking into account Simpson's paradox.
https://www.covid-datascience.com/post/how-time-confounding-can-bias-vaccine-effectiveness-upwards-via-simpson-s-paradox
In my reading about Covid vaccination misinformation I came across Simpson's Paradox and this has since become a bit of a fascination for me. The 'takeaways' from this study are interesting bearing in mind there are continuing cries for info on how many of those in hospital or those in particular age groups are vaccinated and have covid or died etc etc
Bolding is from the article
If you don't mind a bit of fuzziness in your findings or readings about vaccine efficacy then this study is one to read. Anti vaxxers not so much as the conclusions are not firm, give to both points of view etc etc.
I recall a month or so back a study that got some attention for showing that there was little correlation in populations, both nation and state level, between %vax and case numbers. Sorry I don't have a link to hand.
One of it's allegedly 'fatal flaws' was that all the data was gathered during singular one week time frame. If anyone had actually bothered to read the study they would have seen the authors deliberately did this to avoid the Simpsons Paradox that is incurred when time bias is ignored.
Good comment – Simpsons Paradox is a formalism I have not seen clearly explained like this before.
Yes I recall reading about that criticism. This paradox (Simpson's) is that what we might think of as a 'logical' way to go about things is in fact not.
My thoughts go out to Duncan Garner who's "fighting for" his life.
I do appreciate that agencies charged with doing a job do it well. This is heart wrenching stuff though. Maybe if he lives through it he can say he's "got a life." He needs to get one.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/covid-19-delta-outbreak-duncan-garner-on-home-isolation-its-a-bumbling-mess/HSDG62G744KF5WO7JGYMAAWCHQ/
He is making valid and worthwhile points- home isolation is here and it needs to work for everyone's sake – or is any form of criticism too hard to take for this government???
Yes. It does need to work.
However the result of decades of underfunding and mis-management of health, is at least partly to blame.
We just don't have the capability to deal with a large outbreak of covid.
When it takes three weeks for an "urgent" appointment with a GP, it is obvious the support in the community is not available.
We've seen it right from the start, with DHB's using the same staff in general and covid wards to save money, for example.
Which is why a cautious approach is justified.
In the previous article I read about Garner and Covid he said that he had taken some non-prescription medicines and was feeling a lot better….here it is:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/11/duncan-garner-confirms-he-tested-positive-for-covid-19-is-on-the-mend-now.html
“I had a headache and my body ached all over. I felt like if I moved, something would break,” he said. Garner said that taking paracetamol and ibuprofen helped ease his symptoms, leaving him now feeling “just a bit tired.They worked a treat.”
He wouldn't be making a fuss to score some political points for his masters would he. Surely not?
If the home isolation system is not functioning correctly, it would remiss of him not to point it out. Thousands of people will go through this process, best to highlight and sort out any defects at this stage rather than later in the proceedings – for everyone's sake.
And he isn't the only one making similar observations.
Dude's fresh off a ≥$350k gig.
Surely he can afford to click and pay for collection. /
Of course he can, but what about the less affluent people going through home isolation, can they afford it?
He is doing them a good service by pointing out any deficiencies in the home isolation system, he should be applauded for that.
Nice to see someone not kissing up to the antivaxers: ‘Stuff it, shove it’: a furious Michael Gunner blasts those against vaccine mandates – YouTube
One of the big problems with the antivax crowd is that the loudest ones have lost all sense of proportion. Here's a cartoonist complaining that they appropriated the "crying kiwi" image he created about the mosque attacks.
If I were cynical, I'd suspect the appropriation of every incredibly tragic thing under the sun is encouraged by some shills and charlatans to maintain separation between their prime audience and reasonable people.
.
Kāinga Ora policy protecting violent, abusive state house tenants may be unlawful: lawyer – NZ Herald
Kāinga Ora under fire after Black Power gang party in Whangārei state house – NZ Herald
Divergent battles breaking out on the home front | Stuff.co.nz
An obvious and blatant example of a state entity ignoring established law as a matter of unstated policy and practice. Ministerial resignation time I would have thought.
On the other hand maybe I've got this wrong and this Kāinga Ora outfit is not accountable to Parliament by design.
Sufficiently distanced as a State Owned Enterprise to require only a wee chat with the Chair. Maybe a wee refresh of the Board. But the Kainga Ora CEO ain't going anywhere – and is competent.
So no, the Minister has far less power than the SOE Board generally.
Might explain why the Minister cannot explain policy coherently. Still I have to assume the Minister appoints the Board. Is this correct?
Appointments go through the Appointments Committee and a lot of DPMC vetting.
This particular Minister is just one of those C-grade also-rans we will forget very quickly.
OK. So the Minister is indeed well insulated.
"Ministerial resignation time I would have thought."
It's clear that gangs were involved in the Whangarei incidents.
Gangs are also suggested as the reason behind Auckland experiencing a 32 per cent rise in gun crime, and a 49 per cent rise in gun related injuries compared with the two years previous.
The Minister of Police is Poto Williams. The Associate Minister in charge of Social Housing is also Poto Williams. The problem is this…is this ministerial incompetence or deliberate policy?
Police don't report like that through to Ministers.
Though between the lot of them this is a government rapidly losing power to gangs.
Out gunned?
Just generally out. :-\
A decade ago we would never have seen Ministers allow a D-G of Health to have so much independence, nor the Chair of NZTA to run a long hand-wrinsing apology about our largest roading job (without even mentioning the Minister), nor the CE of Housing to be so publicly out of step with wider social contracts.
This isn't pyramid management: it's more an hour glass falling all one way.
"Police don't report like that through to Ministers."
Sorry I don''t understand what you mean. Are you saying the increase in gang related violent crime is the responsibility of the Commissioner?
Mostly.
Don't even ask me what the Minister of Police actually does, outside of confirm who the Commissioner is.
I suppose the question is then, what do any Ministers do?
Policy. Mostly.
So, and it's a serious question, could the Minister initiate the establishment of an organised crime task force charged with wiping out gang's proceeds of crime?
That has been the case since the 1950s Police Act. The commissioner runs the police. The minister is largely relevant when capital funding is required for infrastructure or expansion.
swordfish
I was thinking of you when I saw the Radionz item about State housing.
I hope something will be done to improve matters for your people if they are still affected. All the best with that. Nga hiahia pai.
Thanks grey.
Only one day remains to make a submission on the emissions reduction plan. Please engage with the political process that is all ready underway and have your say on the Govt response to the greatest issue of our time! Closes Nov 24.
Discussion document
Comprehensive submission via Ministry of Environment
Quick submission via Ministry
Quick submission via Greens
Democracy demands that we participate, do your bit to ensure we have the strongest, most democratic emissions reduction plan we can.
Nearly 84% fully vaccinated nationwide: 83.6%.
Just a whisker behind Australia's 83.8%.
I wonder how many of them would now be considered to be unprotected?
From what I have seen the Pfizer vaccine seems to be regarded as no longer being truly effective about six months after the second dose. Given that there were about 60,000 people who had had one dose by 31 March this year, and the recommended gap was 3 weeks they would probably all be beyond the cut-off date.
Does anyone have any idea as to the effective vaccination rate is and how many people have had a booster?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300266227/covid19-response-minister-chris-hipkins-gets-his-vaccination
Here's another crazy factoid. The expiry of the vaccine passports is 6 months after they were issued, not 6 months after your second jab. My vaxx passport expires 19 May 2022, which is 9 months after my second jab. Even after just 6 months, the effectiveness of my jabs will have dropped to 45%. So for 3 months I will have a valid vaccine passport with only 45% vaccine effectiveness. Or am I missing something?
You're right. You still have half the chance of infection of an unvaxxed person.
It isn't the chance of infection that interests me the most. I'm happy to accept the fact that I am probably going to get the disease at some time unless I were to follow the most extreme, and frankly unbearable, isolation procedures. Happy that is unless I have to accept that I will die if I get it.
What I am really concerned about is how serious will the infection be when it happens? At my age there might be a 10% chance of dying if I get it and if I were unvaccinated. I understand that if you are vaccinated but get the disease it is not as serious as it is if you are unvaccinated. What happens to this figure as the time since your last dose goes up? Does it change and does your chance of dying rise if with that time should you actually be infected?
Well, indications are that effectiveness against high viral loads do decrease over time. But for specifics, you might want to chat with your doctor – and also consider how and why the answer to that question will change your behaviour.
I think some people have been thinking vaccines are supposed to be a bulletproof vest, and the analogy holds – but there's a reason the trade term is "bullet resistant" rather than "bullet proof".
I ain't stopped masking and checking in just because I've been double-vaxxed.
Well said. I have a partner with a respiratory disease, so I act in their best interests if nothing else.
Looks good.
https://twitter.com/PaulMainwood/status/1461374201474998275
https://twitter.com/PaulMainwood/status/1461374208060149760
i guess he is talking about the recomended booster shots.
So far we can assume that after 6 month the overal protection is starting to disappear slowly, and thus booster shots are required. Atm that would be every six month. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02183-8/fulltext#:~:text=Effectiveness%20against%20other%20(non%2Ddelta,)%20at%204%E2%80%935%20months.
After that it is recommended to get a booster, every 6 month.
I have asked also how those that are in need of a booster shot – everyone in the initial Group 1 when the first vaccines were made available – are counted.. That would be those jabbed from Jan – May.
And how will this issue be handled in the future, say with your Passport – will it expire after 6 month, or is there a grace period to get a booster and so on and so forth.
The question is not are you still 'protected' as the studies show that protection is still there, the question is How will that 'booster' status be handled, will 'boosters' be mandatory, and how will that be enforced. Essentially with people 'falling' out of 'fully' protected jab status one can argue that 90% is never fully reachable. 🙂
I guess we are still in a 'learning curve' to some degree. Having taken the decision to be vaccinated, and with my other half being health compromised, I would be keen to be in line for a booster as the effectiveness of my vaccinations wane.
Speaking of obnoxious js blockers, I guess your aware that the standard mobile site on Chrome/Android prevents pastes?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
So it does. Interesting.
I tried this out when I installed it and when it last updated (which was a while ago). One of the things I don’t like with javascript is the sneaky updates from global sources. In this case CKEditor.
That isn’t a problem with TinyMCE. That however has the problem that it isn’t obeying width restrictions and possibly has other issues.
I’ll look at that before I look at BusinessDesk
Brilliant. Let me know when the fix is live and I can check its a fix for the same problem.
Yep, js library updates coming externally to the users can be a trap.
Heard through the grapevine that public health units across the country are already working all hours to keep up with the current outbreak. And it's not even fully across NI yet.
Scared, was the word a hospital admin person used some weeks ago when talking abut the nurses at the local hospital. They are scared. And so they should be.
Accurate
https://twitter.com/hcirePT/status/1462840510796615682?s=20
Also listening to or reading anything by Barry Slope-off.
Back in the day, he was a key contact in Parliament for oyster deliveries and had some good 'Southland exports to the North' days where Southland industries had mini showcases. As they say' he seems to have gone right off the boil' since that time.
I know it’s late in the day, but this allows you to draw your own conclusions about the relationship between the Taxpayers union, Pigswill and some writers at the Democracy project.
Stuff 3 waters article