Apparently Australia's Great Barrier Reef is no longer endangered, and will no longer be listed as such, because Australia's Environment Minister Sussan Leys has done a standup job convincing UNESCO that there are alternative facts:
It is the second time the Great Barrier Reef has been spared inclusion on the "in danger" list.
In 2015, lobbying by then-environment minister Greg Hunt escaped a push to have the reef added to the list.
After that, the reef was hit with an unprecedented three mass bleaching events in five years, driven by climate change and water quality targets that were not met.
Make it endangered and everyone will rush to see it before it vanishes – very good for tourism, and then they can break off bits of bleached coral for souveniers. (Santa I would like spellcheck and pop-up correction like I get on google email)!
"One of the things I find fascinating about the deepening twilight of industrial society is how rigid our modern notions of technology have become. Most people these days, asked to imagine a society with technology about as advanced as ours, present something all but identical to what we’ve got now; asked to imagine a society with less advanced technology, they spring to a distorted pop-culture version of early medieval Europe if they don’t leap straight to even more distorted pop-culture notions about the Stone Age; asked to imagine a society with technology more advanced than ours, you can bet dollars for dilithium crystals that they’ll rehash the same tired imagery from early twentieth century sci-fi that has been stuck sideways in our collective imagination for decades now."
I recall from my schools days projects on 'the Dark Age' a term now apparently avoided that described the roughly thousand year period after the collapse of the (western ) Roman Empire and the subsequent loss of knowledge and practices…..rinse and repeat?
I remember reading that certain tribes? in Britain asked if the Romans would come back, their organisation was good, and their infrastructure and they largely left the people to live within their own culture. But the Romans had trouble at home.
Yes there were undoubtably areas of 'light' if you like but fragmentation , disorganisation and I suspect a loss of common thought/education didnt make for an easy time….and importantly much that had been before was lost, good and bad.
The point I think Greer makes is that progress dosnt cease, it changes….and we need to remember we dont know what we dont know….even events a few centuries ago are largely a mystery to us …hell, even events a few decades ago are in constant dispute.
I don't have a lot of 'technology' in my house or life. I have a computer, a landline, and that is pretty much it. We have actually not invented anything much, we are upgrading 'systems' but that is about it. And i guess this is where the difference between the medieval times and our times are. The best we can do atm is change the look of a gadget or the system. Heck even the
Ev are not new technology considering that the 1920 had them already.
but with that lack of technology also come skills.
If you only cook ready made meals can you cook from scratch? if you only use your microwave can you cook on a coal range or a sun oven? if all your clothes come from a shop can you still sew and fix a garment?
these are all skills, same as with wood work, building, fishing, hunting, planting etc. How many of us still have these skills?
So yes, we now have a world were many have lots of gadgets but can't boil water without burning down the house. (my sister 🙂 )
Dont disagree with that…though would note some skills easier to learn than others AND many time constrained…..its best not to have to learn how to grow food say when the supermarkets are empty and theres a drought.
Interesting….dont think there was much lack of writing through that period though it may be fair to observe that much of what survived was curated by the Church which would sit with Petrarch who appeared to bemoaning the quality rather than the quantity of writings.
If we we drop the contested term 'Dark Ages' what do we know of the period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empiore?
[Content deleted because it contained too many links that triggered Auto-Moderation]
That's a bit of a retcon of what Petrarch actually said when he coined the expression: "Amidst the errors there shone forth men of genius; no less keen were their eyes, although they were surrounded by darkness and dense gloom"
] The Annales covered the first twelve centuries of Christianity to 1198, and was published in twelve volumes between 1588 and 1607. It was in Volume X that Baronius coined the term "dark age" for the period between the end of the Carolingian Empire in 888[24] and the first stirrings of Gregorian Reform under Pope Clement II in 1046:
"The new age (saeculum) that was beginning, for its harshness and barrenness of good could well be called iron, for its baseness and abounding evil leaden, and moreover for its lack of writers (inopia scriptorum) dark (obscurum)".[26]
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Dec. 17, 2000 — The beginning of the Dark Ages may have been literal, as well as figurative, as the result of a massive volcanic eruption in the 6th century, according to a volcanologist at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The ices of Greenland and Antarctica bear the fingerprints of a monster: a gigantic volcanic eruption in 539 or 540 A.D. that killed tens of thousands and helped trigger one of the worst periods of global cooling in the last 2,000 years. Now, after years of searching, a team of scientists has finally tracked down the source of the eruption.
Exactly, pat. So, who for example is advocating 'bringing back the Brits"?
They are the ones who would prefer benevolent despotism aka royalty, the ones who despise indigenous culture and language, who want tourism at the risk of our health, who want trade at the risk of covid deaths, who want their overseas trips and so flaunt their wealth at the risk of their community.
For they are the one percenters, and their sycophants, the untitled aristocracy, the ICE car importers, the exporters of swamp kauri, the manufacturers of coal-dried milk powder, the tainters of water, sellers of our land to foreigners, enablers of overseas bolt holers.
It is our thinking and how we think about and set up these hierarchical structures and institutions, held together by the ‘laws of the land’ as well as moral ‘laws’. In other words, it is a human construct.
How these institutions are set up are a function of scale I'd suggest….that which can work perfectly adequately locally may not at say a national level.
It is easier to consider impacts and needs when dealing with small groups and where the benefit has accrued is far more easily recognised…it is then also far easier to use democratic pressure to correct.
Observe and modify the excesses, minimise the discrepancies, allow justice for all, defend the weak. Societies tolerate a modicum of hierarchy and income/asset inequality.
ah, so tourists coming to NZ is unsustainable, but Kiwis being tourists in OZ is sustainable, and that has something to do with englishnessness? And 20.000 kiwis stuck in OZ has something to do with OZ, but not with Kiwis 'being tourists' during the years of the plague? 🙂
First sentence I don't think I argued for at all. Second sentence is right on both counts. Kiwi went touring into a 'bubble' risking it in a pandemic, Australians burst the bubble.
mac1 Your comments are very interesting. Thinking about Romans I found in a book I have about Caesar, a quote from Caradoc the son of leader Cunobel, when betrayed by the northern Brigantes and taken in chains to Rome.
'It is reported that when…he looked with wonder upon the great buildings of the city, he turned ironically to his captors and said: "It is strange, indeed, that a people who have so many and such rich possessions of their own should envy me and mine. It is strange that the owners of these palaces should desire to drive us from our poor hovels."'
Maori might, did? say the same to the colonials. We in turn say the same to the incoming phalanx of wealthy.
And to illustrate yours at 1.49 a brilliant little song from the past.
" If the occult teachings I learned are correct, this isn’t the end of the present cycle of civilizations—there are supposed to be several more great civilizations before the current cycle comes to an end—but we’re past the peak, and what remains of our civilization and the two to come will go through their own shorter cycles in the course of a greater decline. After that? There are supposed to be two more cycles of civilization, separated from ours and each other by long intervals of tribal existence, before humanity finishes its time on this planet."
It seems the effectiveness of the double dose Pfizer vaccine (Israeli evidence) in preventing infection diminishes by 6 months – the better news is that despite that hospitalisations in Israel are still down (despite the fact older people were vaccinated early).
We may have to look at giving the border staff, front-line workers and health workers an Astra Zeneca dose at 6 months or so.
This article looks at the mix and matching options and problems with using either vaccine for more than two doses.
New Zealand's target is 70% which has been described by health experts as a "low bar".
The fight against covid-19 has always been a political struggle as well as a medical one.
The ball is now firmly in the political court, for our leaders to be more ambitous, to inspire and lead us to lift this target.
In the past New Zealand was able to achieve vaccination rates of 80 and even 90%
"Let's Do This"
If we are really set on 'elimination' as our goal rather than 'suppression' we need to do this again.
[Here we go again:
New Zealand’s target is 70% which has been described by health experts as a “low bar”.
You continue to make the same assertion about the alleged target of 70% of the NZ population vaccinated to suit your endless and tedious narrative that this is too low, et cetera. Please provide evidence to back this up.
It is possible that I’ve missed a recent update on this and that Government has now set an official target, but this seems unlikely given the following:
* There is no set target for Covid-19 vaccination, but Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield hopes to see 90 per cent coverage by the end of 2021
You’re now in Pre-Moderation, also because there’s a raft of other unsubstantiated assertions that you keep peddling here, until you back up your above assertion in a satisfactory way – Incognito]
Do you really believe that the only ones that are vaccineshy are national/act voters or other minorities;? I am asking, because i have met vaccine shy – militant anti vaccers and they are on the left very left spectrum, or down right ;Anti Government’, sovereign citizens, earthlings etc.
Please be careful with having fun and making assertions that you cannot back up. Sabine was excellent in calling you out on this, which may have saved you from being moderated, as I’ve had enough of people peddling misinformation here.
Overseas the Right, especially the Far Right have politicised the vaccine just as they politicised mask wearing and lockdown strategies.
The key to reaching herd immunity is leadership.
To beat the virus all those in leadership positions must be on board.
All those in positions of leadership Left Right and Centre, every single MP in our parliament, need to declare their support for full immunistion, but not just in words but in actions.
How can they do this?
By getting vaccinated themselves.
If every single MP in our parliament agrees to get vaccinated the Prime Minister can announce this fact to the country and the world…..
If/when you get out of Pre-Moderation, here’s another task for you.
You seem to love laying blame with and pointing at the right, far right, right wing extremists, right wing media, et cetera, usually used synonymously with conspiracy theorists responsible for vaccine hesitancy.
I think the situation is a little more complex than that and that it might be quite difficult to draw a line between people causing, spreading, or propagating vaccine hesitancy and those who are vaccine hesitant. Obviously, there will be some overlap between these two groups. Shoving all these together on one pile and in one political corner is misleading and unhelpful. In fact, it think it is counter-productive and possibly hindering vaccine uptake and therefore potentially dangerous.
You claim that “[t]he far right conspiracy theorists spreading vaccine hesitancy are the enemy, and they are winning.”
None of the polls seems to support your assertions that this is a simple Left vs. Right issue.
So, next time you make these unsubstantiated assertions I will moderate you and ask you to back them up. Alternatively, you can adjust your language and avoid moderation ; forewarned is forearmed
New Zealand’s target is 70% which has been described by health experts as a “low bar”.
You continue to make the same assertion about the alleged target of 70% of the NZ population vaccinated to suit your endless and tedious narrative that this is too low, et cetera. Please provide evidence to back this up.
No probs.
Covid-19: Govt wants to vaccinate 70 per cent of NZ, but questions remain
Hannah Martin 07:27, Jan 29 2021
Health authorities are aiming for 70 per cent of the population to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but it is unclear over what time period this will occur.
Earlier this week, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said he hoped at least 70 per cent of New Zealand’s population would be vaccinated against the virus: “Obviously, the higher the better”.
But the Ministry of Health does not yet have a vaccination target for border, MIQ and health workers, or a time frame in which it will aim to vaccinate 70 per cent of the population, a spokesperson told Stuff.
Vaccinologist Associate Professor Dr Helen Petousis-Harris said she thought 70 per cent was a “low bar”.
Did I say that the the target of 70% was "Too low"?
I never said this.
I defy you to point to anywhere, where I said this.
I was quoting the word of Vaccinologist Associate Professor Dr Helen Petousis-Harris who said she thought 70 per cent was a “low bar”.
Note here, that I put this assertion in question marks to show that I was quoting someone else.
I am not quaified to say, whether 70% is too low or not. But I do know that the vaccination rate needs to be as high as we can possibly get it, that is, if we want to achieve Herd immunity.
Stuff Journalist Hannah Martin in her report dated, Jan 29 2021, said "Govt wants to vaccinate 70 per cent of NZ"
"Covid-19: Govt wants to vaccinate 70 per cent of NZ, but questions remain"
I said, "New Zealand’s target is 70%".. A much less pointed statement than Hanna Martin's claim that "the government" wants to vaccinate 70%.
I did not lay this claim on the government as Martin did, because just as you point out, no official government target has been stated or "set" Nor should there be. It just needs to be as high as we can possibly get it. To achieve this end, I have suggested that the government needs to give a lead. If possible, or as near as possible, to be able to give the best possible lead to our country, parliament needs to present a united front, a grand coalition if you will, against a common enemy, and not just in words but in deeds.
Now that we have the vaccine, to continue with our country's strategy of elimination, herd immunity must be the new goal.
The enemy to achieving herd immunity is vaccine hesitancy.
From the beginning the fight against the pandemic has been a political as well as a medical struggle. Conservatives (Winston Peters for one instance), have tended to favour putting the welfare of the economy first, demanding the opening up of the economy and easing border restrictions even at the height of pandemic. ("yesteday" as Peters infamously demanded)
The government's bold and world beating strategy of 'elimination' has paid off. IMHO It is now well past time that the rest of parliament got in behind the government.
The race is on.
Ashley Blomfield "hopes" for 90% vaccine coverage by the end of the year, that is a very high bar indeed, which in my opinion, will need all our representative political parties on board to achieve.
I think to call for a united parliamentary front against the virus, in both words and deeds, is a valid viewpoint to raise and share with others.
I hope you can agree.
[No, I’m afraid I cannot agree. Again, you waste an enormous amount of space here without giving a specific answer, i.e. you’re beating around the bush.
In contrast to your 6 month-old link, I provided a recent link that states two different things: 1) there is no set target; 2) Ashley Bloomfield hopes for 90%.
Instead of wasting more Moderator time and space, why don’t you get to the point in a succinct (!!) manner and provide a link, even a dated one will do, to a formal target set by Government. A hope is not a set target, no matter what the MSM headline says.
If there’s no such thing as a formal set target, which I suspect is the case, then you should adjust your narrative accordingly because otherwise your comments are deliberately misleading and could be construed as you doing the dirty work for the opposition parties and other malcontents.
Hi incognito
Good grief.
Now you are shiftiing the goal posts, first you said and I quote. "…provide a link, even a dated one will do, to a formal target set by Government."
Since I never made such a claim, and you know it, you now say. “You made the assertion about the 70% target and you cannot back it up because it was BS.”
I never made that assertion, I was quoting others
And I presume by “the assertion”, you mean when Vaccinologist Associate Professor Dr Helen Petousis-Harris said 70 per cent was a “low bar”.
Dr Petousis-Harris was reacting to Stuff Journalist Hannah Martin, who made "the assertion" "- "Covid-19: Govt wants to vaccinate 70 per cent of NZ,…."
Are you saying that I shouldn't quote from journalists and academic health proffessionals because you might disagree with their opinion, or think their opinion is BS?
If you feel so strongly that what Martin wrote or what Professor Petousis-Harris said was BS, maybe you could take it up with them. Or better yet write a post on why they are wrong. (Or even why I was wrong to quote them).
Let's be honest here for just a minute, eh Incognito; the disagreement between you and I, is one of differing political outlook. You have made it very clear over a number of issues that you fundamentally disagree with my Left of Centre political outlook. # Over bikes on buses, # over the obscenity of billionaires in space, # over suing climate polluters #over my view that a parliamentary united front would be a positive lead in combatting vaccine hesitancy.
over my view that those on the Right (and especially those on the Far Right), of the political spectrum, are more likely to believe or at least don't oppose anti-vax conspiracy theory.
It's alright to have differing views and I always like to hear yours. And I appreciated any time you have taken to explain your counter view.
I have read the links you have put up to prove your view that vaccine hesitancy is not a Left Right issue.
The first two of the three links you supplied, far from backing your claim, factually disproved your claim that vaccine hesitancy is not a Left Right issue. The third link you provided did not record political preferences of vaccine supporters or opponents. So proved nothing either way.
The first link you supplied from the Washington Post was published more than 5 years ago. Their conclusion then, was that anti-vaccination views were held by the Right more than they were held by the Left by a very slight margin.
The link you supplied to the Washington Post article which confirmed that the Right were slightlly more likely to be against vaccination, was more than two years before Trump took office, long before covid-19, long before lockdowns. All these thing worked to open this slight division into a yawning chasm.
By Chris Mooney Washington Post
January 26, 2015
……every time researchers examine the political outlooks of vaccine deniers through representative surveys, it seems that they fail to find a significant leftwing bent.
…..having a free market ideology led in the opposite direction — towards having more vaccine skepticism.
…..Yale’s Dan Kahan published results from a nationally representative survey which led him to conclude that the idea of vaccine fears being driven by leftwing ideology “lacks any factual basis.” In fact, Kahan found, “respondents formed more negative assessments of the risk and benefits of childhood vaccines as they became more conservative and identified more strongly with the Republican Party.” However, as in the prior study, this was a very slight effect.
The second link you supplied to back up your argument that there is no Left Right divide over vaccination, listed those groups with high support for getting the covid vaccine. Labour Party members made the list with 80% support, the link did not list the level of support for getting the covid vaccine by National Party members. So we don't know what National Party members support is for getting the vaccine. But we do know that it was too low to be on the list.
Colmar Brunton
The groups of voters who are more likely than average (76%) to say they would definitely or probably get
vaccinated include:
Those aged 70+ (90%)
Males aged 55+ (88%)
Those with an annual household income of between $100,001 and $150,000 (83%)
New Zealand Europeans (80%)
Labour party supporters (80%).
Those groups of voters who are more likely than average (17%) to say they would definitely not or probably
not get vaccinated include:
Those living in Gisborne or the Hawke’s Bay (30%)
Māori (26%)
While a large percentage of those who were against getting the vaccine were worried about side effecfs more were against getting the vaccine because they didn't think it was necessary 55%
There is strong evidence of a Left Right divide over vaccinations, there shouldn't be but there is.
Denying it won't make it go away. Which is sad if maybe there is something we could do to heal this rift in the body politic over vaccines and depoliticise it.
It is my opinion that there is a bleeding edge between the Far Right the Right. To staunch the cross flow of vaccine conspiracy views, across this bleeding edge, and politically isolate the covid and vaccine deniers, it would be good if the opposition parties came together around the government's call for everyone elgible to get vaccinated.
Personally Incognito I don't think our differences over whether parliament needs to respond to the issue of vaccine hesitancy by presenting a united front is such a bid deal. But you have decided to make into a huge do or die issue. Something you have been working up to for a long time.
You have been saying for a while now, (despite me not having broken any of the site rules on debate and commenting), that you don't like my "vibe" that my views make you "feel ill" or even, my comments make you want to "throw up". I have already said I am sorry that expressing my political views here makes you feel ill. But I am afraid that I can't be responsible for your extreme reaction to my views. How you react to my political viewpoint says more about you than me.
You have accused me of "bordering on fascist" of being a "cult leader", but your most common epithet is that I am "ignorant' I disagree. But that doesn't make you wrong. Even if I am ignorant, ignorance is not a crime. I am always willing to learn. I have asked you to educate me or point out where I am wrong, but you haven't. instead you choose to deliver insults and a personal attacks, that I should go and study crystals or astrology, which you have tried to falsely liken my political views to.
Now you are getting more explicit in your disaproval of my views asking me to self censor or be banned.
"I asked you to back up your assertion or modify your language accordingly"
I have more than backed up my assertions, but that is not enough is it? You want me to modify my language. Since I don't swear or indulge in personal insults or break any of the rules of debate on this site. What else can you mean, other than self censor my political views to those more acceptable to you.
.
It is my view that there is a bleeding edge between the Far Right and the Right. To staunch this cross flow of vaccine conspiracy views, it would be good if the opposition parties came behind the government.
You disagree and have chosen to blow this disagreement into a giant issue so you can ban me.
Voltaire was reputed to have said, “‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,"
He actually never said that. it was his biographer Evelyn Hall
According to Wikipedia
On the news that the government had condemned and burned fellow French philosopher Claude-Adrien Helvétius’ book. According to Votaire's biographer Evelyn Hall (Voltaire did not find the substance of Helvétius’ work particularly impressive) but was still dismayed by French Parliament’s actions.
“‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ was his attitude now," wroteHall.
The key word is "now" which hints that Voltaire's veiws on free speech were much more fluid. According to circumstance and time and place.
Hall's words were not Voltaire's, it is possible that though Voltaire was appalled at the censorship of another philospher's work, he may have at other times opposed the promulgation of extreme or violent and biggoted views. A view I would share. A view I also share with the government. I fully support the government over the hate speech laws. Right wing conservative views are espoused everywhere it is Left Wing views that struggle for a hearing. It is great that the Right are getting some of their own medicine back. It's about time.
The right to air you views is not an absolute right. And of course never more so than here, I have absolutely no right to air my views here, and you have every right to censor them, because you don't like their "vibe" or for any other reason, or none at all.
If you want to turn this website into an echo chamber only for views acceptable to you, that is your right.
You won't hear me complain. Enjoy your echo chamber.
Thank you for your 1,625 word-response; succinct has never been your strong point and needless repetition is not the mother of all learning. Now it is my turn, my final one.
New Zealand's target is 70% which has been described by health experts as a "low bar".
The fight against covid-19 has always been a political struggle as well as a medical one.
The ball is now firmly in the political court, for our leaders to be more ambitious [sic], to inspire and lead us to lift this target.
That was BS because NZ has never had and still does not have a set target regardless of what various people, including experts and Bloomfield, for example, have expressed as hope (and always hoping for more!). Hope is not a or the “target” of New Zealand.
In any case, the infamous article you always return to was from January 2021 when the Delta variant was hardly on the scene. Things have changed since and NZ modelling has shown that herd immunity might be near impossible by vaccination alone. I linked to the modelling because you were unaware of it and asked me to back it up with a link: “[c]ome on, help me out here. I am trying to understand where you are coming from.?”. Remember that?
Of course, you and I disagree on many points and issues. My main frustration with your comments is your many (but not all) wrong premises and many (but not all) weak arguments. Indeed, they are your opinions, not facts, yet you present them as absolutisms with an overzealous confidence and unwavering narrative of a dogmatic believer. As such, genuine debate with you is literally impossible. So, no, I utterly reject your notion that I “fundamentally disagree with [your] Left of Centre political outlook” [my italics]; I reject your piss-poor arguing.
You have never stated as such “that those on the Right (and especially those on the Far Right), of the political spectrum, are more likely to believe or at least don't oppose anti-vax conspiracy theory”. You declared them “the enemy, and they are winning”.
So, now you seem to be saying that they might not be the only enemy, which was exactly my point. I asked you where the “vivid antivaxxers before Covid” had gone. Your reply was an article arguing that “Nazi Hippies” and “Far Right Overlap”. What a load of codswallop! Your hypothesis seems to be that all Lefty antivaxxers have either died from preventable diseases because they refused to be vaccinated or moved across to the Dark Side to become Far Right, is that correct? In New Zealand? Not a single Lefty antivaxxer left? So shocking it is unbelievable that anyone would believe such a thing. BTW, being vaccine hesitant and being an antivaxxer are not the same thing.
The WP link was from before Covid-19; that was the whole point.
The Horizon link showed that whoever they are, antivaxxers are not “winning”, at least not here in NZ. Whether the Far Right is winning in NZ is a different question, but latest political polls seem to suggest this may also not be the case. BTW, I don’t consider the National Party as Far Right, but maybe you confuse them with another National Party from a different era in a different country (hint: they also have MMP), yes?
In short, your Far Right conspiracy theories are just that, especially in relation to Covid vaccination. Others see Reds under the bed or dancing Cossacks.
You argue that a united Parliament would depoliticise the vaccination issue. I think it is the opposite, it would politicise it. I linked to a paper that argued that “[o]ne strategy for increasing vaccination willingness is to politicize the issue of vaccination itself”. How you would do this and whether this has the desired effect is hypothetical. I have an issue with applying so much (peer) pressure that it becomes enforced; we have seen plenty examples in history on how well that can work out, which gives reason to ponder and thread carefully and cautiously in matters such as these, in my humble opinion.
I don’t have any right to ban you or censor you for your ill-considered views and I don’t want to. I can moderate you for unsubstantiated claims, but I’d rather not and prefer if you back them up, especially when asked. I cannot make you accept facts and information if you don’t want to, which clearly is the case with you, as you have demonstrated in your overly long epistle.
I don’t want to turn this website into an echo chamber only for views acceptable to me. I don’t want to and have no right at all to do so; I’d be booted off this site before lunch time and rightly so. That said, I did trash the comment you posted after your Magnum Opus of 1,625 words that had the lyrics and YouTube clip of the song Ordinary World by Duran Duran. I could never stand them, and they were totally overrated. Such a shite song by such a shite band. But that’s entirely subjective and you were under Moderation, so I did.
It is becoming clear that you won’t change your ways because you don’t think there’s anything wrong with them. So, what should I do? I’ll take you out of Pre-Moderation and will ask you to back up any unsubstantiated claims like other commenters and I do with any other commenter who does the same thing. If you or anybody else spread misinformation on an important topic you can expect to be pulled up on it by another commenter or by me. This is the way it works here and always has.
We have come full circle and I’m going to turn over the page and I don’t want to (have to) waste one more single word on this!
Jenny, you know how this goes. If you make moderators work too hard, they get fed up and ban people. Just acknowledge that you posted the 70% target but now know that it's not a formal target. Or, argue it out and get a ban. Personally, if I'd been moderating this I'd have given you a medium length ban a few days ago just to free up my time.
First rule of mod club, is don't piss off the mods, especially around using up our time. To that end, if you want to write 1000+ word replies to a moderation and general issues with a particular mod (currently sitting in the filter), I'd suggest writing a post instead about one of the things you feel passionate about. Consider the value in that vs an inevitable ban.
Of the 8,787 people who have died in Texas due to COVID-19 since early February, at least 43 were fully vaccinated, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
That means 99.5% of people who died due to COVID-19 in Texas from Feb. 8 to July 14 were unvaccinated, while 0.5% were the result of "breakthrough infections," which DSHS defines as people who contracted the virus two weeks after being fully vaccinated.
The agency said nearly 75% of the 43 vaccinated people who died were fighting a serious underlying condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer or chronic lung disease.
Maybe we just start vaccinating those that have not gotten a jab at all first, and keep the borders closed to anyone but returning kiwis – who in some cases may have gotten vaccinations in the UK/US/Europe etc where they now currently live.
Never mind though, lets hope that the 20.000 kiwis on holiday in OZ come back without the virus, and lets hope that those that miss out on flights to come back home will not get sick while stuck over there.
Yes Sabine that 20,000 figure makes me shiver. We have done so well, and I fear are wallowing in self-gratification and enabling people who want to make a personal stand because they are too special to be attacked by a virus or a needle. I'm getting relaxed myself, though still use the hand wash where I go, but no-one else around me does. They view it as unnecessary and are relying on the government and Health Dept to do much.
But notice how much they are spending on full page advertisements in the media, and who stops to read every word. This is the lazy way of neolib government. I noticed this happening when they were making an effort to change practices in child rearing, stop smacking, better health. Preach from the top, lots spent on talking and publishing, but not get amongst the peeps helping them to fix problems, giving both information and demonstration and help close at hand on demand when needed.
The growing consensus that at least some Americans will need a booster is partly tied to research suggesting that Pfizer’s vaccine is less effective after about six months.
The most recent figures from the Israeli Ministry of Health, released late this week, suggested that Pfizer’s vaccine was just 39 percent effective in preventing infection in that country in late June and early July, compared to 95 percent from January to April.
The vaccine remained more than 90 percent effective in preventing severe disease, and nearly as effective in preventing hospitalization. Israel began offering a third Pfizer dose to citizens with severely weakened immune systems on July 12
The anti-vax movement is killing people, and the right-wing media is egging it on
Eoin Higgins
Sun, July 18, 2021, 12:28 AM·6 min read
Every person who died of COVID in Maryland this June was unvaccinated……
Anti-mask and anti-lockdown protests have combined with the existing anti-vax movement over the past 15 months, creating a Frankenstein’s monster of well-intentioned skepticism of the pharmaceutical industry, various pseudo-sciences, and the far right…..
If we are achieve levels of immunisation necessary to confer herd immunity to the general population, we will have to politically isolate our version of these right wing extremists. This will require a united front right across the mainstream political spectrum.
Taking personal responsibility is up to an individual when it comes to vaccination. Some people just do not give a hoot about anyone else's health and they do not value their own health.
Here on a domestic level describes what is happening at international level.
Coronavirus: NSW begs rest of Australia for COVID-19 vaccines
Australia's largest state of New South Wales on Friday urged the federal government to divert vaccine doses to Sydney, the epicentre of a flaring COVID-19 outbreak, raising objections from other states desperate for protection from the virus.
Now, NSW wants their own vaccination rollout to be sped up at the expenses of other safer states.
No-one would begrudge them this because their need is now greater (even if through fault of their own).
Now, will the unhinged RWNJs of New Zealand climb on board WA, NT Queensland, and Tasmania for their relatively poor vaccine rollout performance having given up stocks for those in greater need?
I always get a bit confused with the different states in OZ, but are the individual states responsible for their own vaccine purchases/ roll outs or is there an over arching government (for all of OZ) that handles that?
Example, Germany is a 'federation of states' that individually have their own governments, but the German Government is the one to purchase the vaccines and then distribute it to the individual states, who then with the allocated vaccines run their own roll out?
Oz sounds similar to Germany. Vaccine rollout is a federal (Coalition) responsibility, all other health decisions including Covid restrictions, lockdowns are state determined. Basically all states and territories, blue or red, have similar responses to Covid as NZ with the exception of NSW. The other key difference between Oz and NZ is that the federal government went with AstraZeneca, not Pfizer, as the main vaccine (AZ manufactured in Melbourne so a lot cheaper) and the hyped up scare stories about AZ side effects have meant a lot of vaccine hesitancy.
On Kim Hill this morning. About the debate for younger voting age 16 and up. Some points I noted – That voters choose from their beliefs and what will be best for them, countered by comment that isn't it supposed to be for what is best for the country.
And the statement that young people are being taught civics at school, and are therefore well-informed to make decisions.
And that schoolage is good for getting involved in voting and thinking about politics as the 18-24 age group get sidetracked into careers and places to live and starting out on life as young adults.
What do they get taught at school about civics, and building communities and how a country is supposed to run? Do all students learn this, ie is it compulsory or left up to the local school boards ? Probably USA style as have been other educational 'innovations' (so great a model for us to follow /sarc).
Perhaps we could invite someone with the knowledge and experience about civic education for school-age young adults, plus the ability to be objective, to write a guest post giving us the 'gen' on this?
Why is what kids they learn about civics at school important? Or anything else for that matter.
There are some who believe 5G towers disperse covid 19. There are some who believe the vaccine has microchips in it. There are some who believe the Coronavirus is a hoax. Some believe it's a big plot to take over the world.
So what did those people learn at school? They get to vote. What makes them getting to vote more valid than an "ordinary" 15 year? Simple miles on the clock?
What's that all about Pete. You are welcome to have a little rant about the topic. I still think that understanding the system that we live in, and the culture also, at school, will be beneficial for all. If parents don't know or ever talk about it, then the very basis of their adult lives may never be thought about, understood. Philosophies also should be discussed rather than setting the kids up for some religious stream which may not be one's preference, and be opposite to what a parent would say but often doesn't get round to it.
Over the years National policy towards law and order has proven to be a failure. Yet they still persist. At some point some journalists with clue in, and poor old Simeon is lost.
Is Judith playing the internal dirty politics long game, or am I just fantasising?
Nice piece from Aaron Bastani on how housing security transformed my mental health. In all the recent local discussions on mental health, so much of it has been about the nature and funding of mental health services. Virtually nothing has been about protecting mental health and preventing mental health crises through financial and housing security for everyone. Instead we argue about the disposition of ambulances at the bottom of the cliff; whether there are enough ambulances, who funded the most ambulances, and whether the ambulances are sufficiently tuned to the needs of Maori, etc.
It seems possible that by fixing the material and financial conditions of everday life, we will give mental health professionals the time and space to work with people whose mental health issues are truly endogenous/organic in origin – rather than triggered by an unlivable economic environment.
With news media enforcing payment or using of cookies maybe new ones that are easier to access are starting. I haven't found out much about News Logics. This is their About:
About us – Welcome to News Logics, We’re dedicated to giving you the news. Founded in 2017 by Frances Moody, News Logics has come a long way from its beginnings in the united state. When Frances Moody first started out, her passion for providing gripping content in the world of up to date, drove them to do tons of research so that News Logics can offer you the latest information, and small to big news We now serve reader all over the world and are thrilled that we’re able to turn our passion into our own website.
It refers to the united state – an oxymoron? Sounds as if it is run by a bot.
I have watched four 'dwellings' go up on a tiny section next – like right next to State Highway 5 in Rotorua go up. Curiosity killed to cat and today i went there and stopped for a look. Now they are small, ackward and if you look around you can see some nice and shoddy craftsmanship – but never mind, i thought, surely these are affordable? Right? Like big enough for a small family, or a couple. Yeah, nah nah,
they are 619.000 each. No extra charge for the noise pollution and traffic pollution, that is included in teh price, cause generous.
About 3000 requests for emergency housing were rejected by the Government last year, nearly triple the number the year before.
I no longer believe the minister's response, does the minister?
“The number of declines does not necessarily mean the client is left unsupported in their housing need as their accommodation need may have been met in discussion with their case manager through other support,” Sepuloni said.
“For example, when a person approaches the Ministry of Social Development for assistance, there is a range of assistance available, which may have resulted in other support or referrals being provided.”
So…is she claiming supports have tripled in the last year. Yeah, right.
The alternative take on this is that emergency housing has a big neon "no vacancy" sign over it. There is not enough room so people are being turned away to presumably live on the street, if they are lucky in the shelter of a vehicle.
You’re free what and whom to believe. However, for the sake of balanced opinion, you might want to ask yourself what else has changed between 2019 and 2020. For example, how many more requests had been received. Of course, a one-sided view leads to one-sided thinking.
From your link:
They show 2997 applications were turned down in 2020, compared to 1032 in 2019.
vs.
Roughly 155,000 grants were approved in 2020 at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $300 million. About 101,000 were approved in 2019, totalling $150m.
Did you see my post? did you click on the link? Do you realise that this is a new build, 4 on a tiny section with two houses literally the width of a walkway from a motorway? did you see the cost? 619.000 per 'unit'. Rentable 'value' of 540 – 550 a week? The collective greed of this country and the collective failure of various governments to manage housing as a social good will come to bite us in our collective behinds sooner or later.
As for Mrs. Sepuloni, she is the Paula Benefit of the Labour Party. There is no real difference between the two.
And frankly, many many are getting really tired of these games of 'may have or may have not'. Because too many don't have anything at all.
So yeah, i pity anyone who believes a word coming from this women. She does as she is told to do.
As for Mrs. Sepuloni, she is the Paula Benefit of the Labour Party. There is no real difference between the two.
I’m sorry, but I find this nonsense unpalatable. In essence, you do the same thing as always, which is shooting the messenger and your pet hates AKA targets, no matter what or when. Debating with people like you, with a closet mind, is therefore an exercise in futility and thus a waste of time.
I’m really not in the mood for your ignorant babble.
You are a fierce defender of the Labour Party, Incognito, i give you this. 🙂
And i guess i am a ' virtue signaler' as you so politely called me some time ago, and i am very very happy about this compliment. I should thank you for it, cause I would find it worse to see what is going on in the country and never say anything and just pretend it does not exist in order to not ruffle a few feathers or for fear of rocking some boats.
As for my comments, i always try to be at the very least respectful enough to provide a link to support my thoughts. And if you had a look at the link above you know that this can't go on like this for much longer, because at some stage we just have to many people who are unhoused or despite working and a 20 NZD min wage can't afford to spend 540 – 550 for a 'dwelling'. And that is not good for anyone. Not you, not me, and not our communities.
[I don’t know why you decided to misrepresent me and/or ascribe an obviously incorrect motivation to me.
You are a fierce defender of the Labour Party, Incognito, i give you this. 🙂
The rest of your comment was irrelevant and merely another opportunity for your virtue-signalling. I don’t do medals or damehoods, sorry.
I’m allergic to commenters misrepresenting other commenters here, to commenters spreading misinformation, to commenters shooting the messenger especially when it is another commenter, to commenters who divert and derail threads, to commenters who only want to push their own wheelbarrow and don’t want to listen to others, to commenters who twist things to suit their narrow narrative and to confirm their own bias, et cetera. You see that nothing in this list has anything to do with attacking one political party or defending another per se. It is nothing personal either, before to jump to that silly conclusion.
I’m especially sensitive to commenters who accuse Authors, Moderators, and/or this site of being a (paid) tool and/or ascribe ulterior motives. This is specifically mentioned in the site’s Policy in the list of self-martyrdom offenses. It is usually used to ‘justify’ and goes hand-in-hand with shooting the messenger, be it the Author, Moderator, and/or the site.
If you don’t like what you read here, provide a robust argument that addresses content, leave and go somewhere else, and/or start your own blog. In other words, you don’t have to put up with our shit and we don’t have to put with your shit, if we cannot agree to disagree.
When I get an allergic reaction I take appropriate medication. When I go into anaphylactic shock I have to take drastic action. Your comment is causing quite a severe reaction and I might have to go for the more heavy-duty treatment option. I already told you that I wasn’t in the mood but you’re not a very good listener or simply chose to ignore it. Please don’t make things worse, thanks – Incognito]
While dwellings have prestige and speculative value they will be unavailable to those for whom prestige and value lie elsewhere and who live shorter lives, suffer material hardship and do not vote.
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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. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
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 ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. 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 ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
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Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
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The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, 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 ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
The little fellow didn't make it:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/toa-stranded-orca-calf-buried-local-marae
Seems to be a technical problem with commenting.
A big thankyou to the dedicated men and women who worked 24 hrs a day in an effort to save him and return him to his family.
Hopefully an appropriate fruit tree will be planted o'er top….
Apparently Australia's Great Barrier Reef is no longer endangered, and will no longer be listed as such, because Australia's Environment Minister Sussan Leys has done a standup job convincing UNESCO that there are alternative facts:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-23/great-barrier-reef-avoids-in-danger-unesco-tag/100319652
They'll look at it again next year.
It is the second time the Great Barrier Reef has been spared inclusion on the "in danger" list.
In 2015, lobbying by then-environment minister Greg Hunt escaped a push to have the reef added to the list.
After that, the reef was hit with an unprecedented three mass bleaching events in five years, driven by climate change and water quality targets that were not met.
Hey but let's hear it for Queensland tourism.
Make it endangered and everyone will rush to see it before it vanishes – very good for tourism, and then they can break off bits of bleached coral for souveniers. (Santa I would like spellcheck and pop-up correction like I get on google email)!
I know C and V – I’ve got that on my tech CV!
Cant copy and paste!
First "C", then "V" 🙂
John Michael Greer challenges the technophiles!
"One of the things I find fascinating about the deepening twilight of industrial society is how rigid our modern notions of technology have become. Most people these days, asked to imagine a society with technology about as advanced as ours, present something all but identical to what we’ve got now; asked to imagine a society with less advanced technology, they spring to a distorted pop-culture version of early medieval Europe if they don’t leap straight to even more distorted pop-culture notions about the Stone Age; asked to imagine a society with technology more advanced than ours, you can bet dollars for dilithium crystals that they’ll rehash the same tired imagery from early twentieth century sci-fi that has been stuck sideways in our collective imagination for decades now."
https://www.ecosophia.net/whispers-from-antiquity/
+1
I recall from my schools days projects on 'the Dark Age' a term now apparently avoided that described the roughly thousand year period after the collapse of the (western ) Roman Empire and the subsequent loss of knowledge and practices…..rinse and repeat?
I remember reading that certain tribes? in Britain asked if the Romans would come back, their organisation was good, and their infrastructure and they largely left the people to live within their own culture. But the Romans had trouble at home.
'Bloody Romans…what have they ever done for us ' springs to mind.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Dark-Ages – refers to the invasion of Europe by various other people.
but also this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_technology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_technology#Civil_technologies
the times were not quite that dark.
Yes there were undoubtably areas of 'light' if you like but fragmentation , disorganisation and I suspect a loss of common thought/education didnt make for an easy time….and importantly much that had been before was lost, good and bad.
The point I think Greer makes is that progress dosnt cease, it changes….and we need to remember we dont know what we dont know….even events a few centuries ago are largely a mystery to us …hell, even events a few decades ago are in constant dispute.
I don't have a lot of 'technology' in my house or life. I have a computer, a landline, and that is pretty much it. We have actually not invented anything much, we are upgrading 'systems' but that is about it. And i guess this is where the difference between the medieval times and our times are. The best we can do atm is change the look of a gadget or the system. Heck even the
Ev are not new technology considering that the 1920 had them already.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle
Its not just technology that is impacted in a collapse….knowledge in general, systems, welfare even beliefs.
Greer's writing on catabolic collapse is very interesting…. and it is without the mystical.
https://www.ecoshock.org/transcripts/greer_on_collapse.pdf
but with that lack of technology also come skills.
If you only cook ready made meals can you cook from scratch? if you only use your microwave can you cook on a coal range or a sun oven? if all your clothes come from a shop can you still sew and fix a garment?
these are all skills, same as with wood work, building, fishing, hunting, planting etc. How many of us still have these skills?
So yes, we now have a world were many have lots of gadgets but can't boil water without burning down the house. (my sister 🙂 )
Dont disagree with that…though would note some skills easier to learn than others AND many time constrained…..its best not to have to learn how to grow food say when the supermarkets are empty and theres a drought.
@ Pat,
well i guess when the supermarkets run out of food cause the planet is done with us, its soylent green 🙂
"Dark" describes the lack of sources, not the society.
Thats the first time Ive heard that
I linked to a blog about it below.
Interesting….dont think there was much lack of writing through that period though it may be fair to observe that much of what survived was curated by the Church which would sit with Petrarch who appeared to bemoaning the quality rather than the quantity of writings.
If we we drop the contested term 'Dark Ages' what do we know of the period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empiore?
[Content deleted because it contained too many links that triggered Auto-Moderation]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
That's a bit of a retcon of what Petrarch actually said when he coined the expression: "Amidst the errors there shone forth men of genius; no less keen were their eyes, although they were surrounded by darkness and dense gloom"
Yes my take too…he could well have been taking aim at the Church
Petrarch said "darkness". But Baronius actually coined the term:
] The Annales covered the first twelve centuries of Christianity to 1198, and was published in twelve volumes between 1588 and 1607. It was in Volume X that Baronius coined the term "dark age" for the period between the end of the Carolingian Empire in 888[24] and the first stirrings of Gregorian Reform under Pope Clement II in 1046:
Lots to suggest times were literally dark.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Dec. 17, 2000 — The beginning of the Dark Ages may have been literal, as well as figurative, as the result of a massive volcanic eruption in the 6th century, according to a volcanologist at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010102061812.htm
The ices of Greenland and Antarctica bear the fingerprints of a monster: a gigantic volcanic eruption in 539 or 540 A.D. that killed tens of thousands and helped trigger one of the worst periods of global cooling in the last 2,000 years. Now, after years of searching, a team of scientists has finally tracked down the source of the eruption.
https://archive.li/hU69K (NatGeo)
yes, but this 'does not refer to the 'dark' ages.
It should actually, as the times themselves were actually quite sophisticated and if you like the term, fashion forward. But generally the terms
'dark ages' is applied to infer a time where people regressed rather then progressed.
But you could also call this the small ice age, as some do indeed call it.
The suggestion is that a consequence of the lower levels of sunlight was cultural, social and economic regression.
Some medievalists disagree most bluntly with the "regression" idea.
As i pointed out, hence why learned people now no longer use the term 'dark ages'.
I have however heard of the 'small ice age' in regards to weather, low sunshine, crop failures etc.
Collaborators? Sycophants? One percenters? Rome lovers? Dionysians? Aristocrats? Tourism operators? Celtic artifact salesmen? Chariot exporters?
Lol…all of the above and no doubt more.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
Exactly, pat. So, who for example is advocating 'bringing back the Brits"?
They are the ones who would prefer benevolent despotism aka royalty, the ones who despise indigenous culture and language, who want tourism at the risk of our health, who want trade at the risk of covid deaths, who want their overseas trips and so flaunt their wealth at the risk of their community.
For they are the one percenters, and their sycophants, the untitled aristocracy, the ICE car importers, the exporters of swamp kauri, the manufacturers of coal-dried milk powder, the tainters of water, sellers of our land to foreigners, enablers of overseas bolt holers.
The Romans had them. The Britons had them.
We've got them.
I dont know of a society of any size without hierarchy….do you?
Perhaps scale is the problem?
Scale is just one factor.
It is our thinking and how we think about and set up these hierarchical structures and institutions, held together by the ‘laws of the land’ as well as moral ‘laws’. In other words, it is a human construct.
How these institutions are set up are a function of scale I'd suggest….that which can work perfectly adequately locally may not at say a national level.
It is easier to consider impacts and needs when dealing with small groups and where the benefit has accrued is far more easily recognised…it is then also far easier to use democratic pressure to correct.
Nowhere to hide
Observe and modify the excesses, minimise the discrepancies, allow justice for all, defend the weak. Societies tolerate a modicum of hierarchy and income/asset inequality.
Modicum being the operative word…..the problem appears to be the measure of 'modicum'
In many cases scales are the problem – signature trait of reptilian consciousness.
lol..very good
Is that why we now have 20.000 kiwis stuck in OZ? cause their englishnessness caused them to want unsustainable tourism?
Actually, Sabine, I think it's something to do with the Australians?
ah, so tourists coming to NZ is unsustainable, but Kiwis being tourists in OZ is sustainable, and that has something to do with englishnessness? And 20.000 kiwis stuck in OZ has something to do with OZ, but not with Kiwis 'being tourists' during the years of the plague? 🙂
First sentence I don't think I argued for at all. Second sentence is right on both counts. Kiwi went touring into a 'bubble' risking it in a pandemic, Australians burst the bubble.
mac1 Your comments are very interesting. Thinking about Romans I found in a book I have about Caesar, a quote from Caradoc the son of leader Cunobel, when betrayed by the northern Brigantes and taken in chains to Rome.
'It is reported that when…he looked with wonder upon the great buildings of the city, he turned ironically to his captors and said: "It is strange, indeed, that a people who have so many and such rich possessions of their own should envy me and mine. It is strange that the owners of these palaces should desire to drive us from our poor hovels."'
Maori might, did? say the same to the colonials. We in turn say the same to the incoming phalanx of wealthy.
And to illustrate yours at 1.49 a brilliant little song from the past.
The "deepening twilight of industrial society" imagery resonates; fun ‘whispers‘ less so.
This?
" If the occult teachings I learned are correct, this isn’t the end of the present cycle of civilizations—there are supposed to be several more great civilizations before the current cycle comes to an end—but we’re past the peak, and what remains of our civilization and the two to come will go through their own shorter cycles in the course of a greater decline. After that? There are supposed to be two more cycles of civilization, separated from ours and each other by long intervals of tribal existence, before humanity finishes its time on this planet."
https://www.ecosophia.net/whispers-from-antiquity/
If so then yes, tend to agree…..but then he is a Druid.
Theosophist
A self described Druid.
Reading that took me back to my days as a credulous 11 year old that came across some of von Daniken's books.
Reading that took me back to my days as an 11 year old boy scout….be prepared
lol…indeed we are.
Unless you plan on living forever
It seems the effectiveness of the double dose Pfizer vaccine (Israeli evidence) in preventing infection diminishes by 6 months – the better news is that despite that hospitalisations in Israel are still down (despite the fact older people were vaccinated early).
We may have to look at giving the border staff, front-line workers and health workers an Astra Zeneca dose at 6 months or so.
This article looks at the mix and matching options and problems with using either vaccine for more than two doses.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01359-3
Israel has an vaccination rate of 80%
New Zealand's target is 70% which has been described by health experts as a "low bar".
The fight against covid-19 has always been a political struggle as well as a medical one.
The ball is now firmly in the political court, for our leaders to be more ambitous, to inspire and lead us to lift this target.
In the past New Zealand was able to achieve vaccination rates of 80 and even 90%
"Let's Do This"
If we are really set on 'elimination' as our goal rather than 'suppression' we need to do this again.
[Here we go again:
You continue to make the same assertion about the alleged target of 70% of the NZ population vaccinated to suit your endless and tedious narrative that this is too low, et cetera. Please provide evidence to back this up.
It is possible that I’ve missed a recent update on this and that Government has now set an official target, but this seems unlikely given the following:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300250582/covid19-vaccine-medsafe-issues-alert-on-rare-side-effect-of-pfizer-jab
You’re now in Pre-Moderation, also because there’s a raft of other unsubstantiated assertions that you keep peddling here, until you back up your above assertion in a satisfactory way – Incognito]
About 30% of people vote act, national and other minority parties so it's to be expected that about that number would be vaccine shy.
Do you really believe that the only ones that are vaccineshy are national/act voters or other minorities;? I am asking, because i have met vaccine shy – militant anti vaccers and they are on the left very left spectrum, or down right ;Anti Government’, sovereign citizens, earthlings etc.
Na just having a little fun on a bored Saturday
Please be careful with having fun and making assertions that you cannot back up. Sabine was excellent in calling you out on this, which may have saved you from being moderated, as I’ve had enough of people peddling misinformation here.
Oops my bad ,
‘
“About 30% of people vote act, national and other minority parties so it’s to be expected that about that number would be vaccine shy.”
bwaghorn
Understood
If/when you get out of Pre-Moderation, here’s another task for you.
You seem to love laying blame with and pointing at the right, far right, right wing extremists, right wing media, et cetera, usually used synonymously with conspiracy theorists responsible for vaccine hesitancy.
I think the situation is a little more complex than that and that it might be quite difficult to draw a line between people causing, spreading, or propagating vaccine hesitancy and those who are vaccine hesitant. Obviously, there will be some overlap between these two groups. Shoving all these together on one pile and in one political corner is misleading and unhelpful. In fact, it think it is counter-productive and possibly hindering vaccine uptake and therefore potentially dangerous.
You claim that “[t]he far right conspiracy theorists spreading vaccine hesitancy are the enemy, and they are winning.”
This doesn’t seem to be reflected in/by polls:
https://static.colmarbrunton.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/9-13-March-2021_1-NEWS-Colmar-Brunton-Poll-report.pdf
https://www.horizonpoll.co.nz/page/618/overall-vaccine-uptake-potential-rises-to-80
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-strategy-planning-insights/covid-19-vaccine-research-insights
None of the polls seems to support your assertions that this is a simple Left vs. Right issue.
So, next time you make these unsubstantiated assertions I will moderate you and ask you to back them up. Alternatively, you can adjust your language and avoid moderation ; forewarned is forearmed
HTH
I just saw on the ABC News TV channel in Oz that 69 per cent of Republicans say they will get vaccinated.
See my Moderation note @ 10:51 am.
[No, I’m afraid I cannot agree. Again, you waste an enormous amount of space here without giving a specific answer, i.e. you’re beating around the bush.
In contrast to your 6 month-old link, I provided a recent link that states two different things: 1) there is no set target; 2) Ashley Bloomfield hopes for 90%.
Instead of wasting more Moderator time and space, why don’t you get to the point in a succinct (!!) manner and provide a link, even a dated one will do, to a formal target set by Government. A hope is not a set target, no matter what the MSM headline says.
If there’s no such thing as a formal set target, which I suspect is the case, then you should adjust your narrative accordingly because otherwise your comments are deliberately misleading and could be construed as you doing the dirty work for the opposition parties and other malcontents.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2107/S00163/dhb-vaccine-targets-meaningless.htm
I hope you understand what this moderation is about. If not, let me know, and I’ll end the needless agony – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 7:28 pm.
Hi Incognito,
I can't provide a link to something that doesn't exist.
Why would you ask me to, since I never claimed there was any formal target set by the government.
I defy you to point out where I ever said such a thing.
Yours J.
[I’m not getting through to you and wasting my time.
You made the assertion about the 70% target and you cannot back it up because it was BS.
See the problem here? – Incognito]
You asked me to look for something that doesn't exist.
And in return I asked you to look for somethng which doesn't exist.
I'ts hilarious.
[I asked you to back up your assertion or modify your language accordingly.
Neither has happened.
I don’t think this is funny and I’m not laughing.
You have one more chance self-correct before you go in the Black list until further notice.
This has wasted too much time already and is getting beyond the tedious – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 10:45 pm.
Hi incognito
Good grief.
Now you are shiftiing the goal posts, first you said and I quote. "…provide a link, even a dated one will do, to a formal target set by Government."
Since I never made such a claim, and you know it, you now say. “You made the assertion about the 70% target and you cannot back it up because it was BS.”
I never made that assertion, I was quoting others
And I presume by “the assertion”, you mean when Vaccinologist Associate Professor Dr Helen Petousis-Harris said 70 per cent was a “low bar”.
Dr Petousis-Harris was reacting to Stuff Journalist Hannah Martin, who made "the assertion" "- "Covid-19: Govt wants to vaccinate 70 per cent of NZ,…."
Are you saying that I shouldn't quote from journalists and academic health proffessionals because you might disagree with their opinion, or think their opinion is BS?
If you feel so strongly that what Martin wrote or what Professor Petousis-Harris said was BS, maybe you could take it up with them. Or better yet write a post on why they are wrong. (Or even why I was wrong to quote them).
Let's be honest here for just a minute, eh Incognito; the disagreement between you and I, is one of differing political outlook. You have made it very clear over a number of issues that you fundamentally disagree with my Left of Centre political outlook. # Over bikes on buses, # over the obscenity of billionaires in space, # over suing climate polluters #over my view that a parliamentary united front would be a positive lead in combatting vaccine hesitancy.
over my view that those on the Right (and especially those on the Far Right), of the political spectrum, are more likely to believe or at least don't oppose anti-vax conspiracy theory.
It's alright to have differing views and I always like to hear yours. And I appreciated any time you have taken to explain your counter view.
I have read the links you have put up to prove your view that vaccine hesitancy is not a Left Right issue.
The first two of the three links you supplied, far from backing your claim, factually disproved your claim that vaccine hesitancy is not a Left Right issue. The third link you provided did not record political preferences of vaccine supporters or opponents. So proved nothing either way.
The first link you supplied from the Washington Post was published more than 5 years ago. Their conclusion then, was that anti-vaccination views were held by the Right more than they were held by the Left by a very slight margin.
The link you supplied to the Washington Post article which confirmed that the Right were slightlly more likely to be against vaccination, was more than two years before Trump took office, long before covid-19, long before lockdowns. All these thing worked to open this slight division into a yawning chasm.
The second link you supplied to back up your argument that there is no Left Right divide over vaccination, listed those groups with high support for getting the covid vaccine. Labour Party members made the list with 80% support, the link did not list the level of support for getting the covid vaccine by National Party members. So we don't know what National Party members support is for getting the vaccine. But we do know that it was too low to be on the list.
The third link you supplied to a Horizon poll did not record people's political position relating to vaccine hesitancy.
https://www.horizonpoll.co.nz/page/618/overall-vaccine-uptake-potential-rises-to-80
There is strong evidence of a Left Right divide over vaccinations, there shouldn't be but there is.
Denying it won't make it go away. Which is sad if maybe there is something we could do to heal this rift in the body politic over vaccines and depoliticise it.
It is my opinion that there is a bleeding edge between the Far Right the Right. To staunch the cross flow of vaccine conspiracy views, across this bleeding edge, and politically isolate the covid and vaccine deniers, it would be good if the opposition parties came together around the government's call for everyone elgible to get vaccinated.
Personally Incognito I don't think our differences over whether parliament needs to respond to the issue of vaccine hesitancy by presenting a united front is such a bid deal. But you have decided to make into a huge do or die issue. Something you have been working up to for a long time.
You have been saying for a while now, (despite me not having broken any of the site rules on debate and commenting), that you don't like my "vibe" that my views make you "feel ill" or even, my comments make you want to "throw up". I have already said I am sorry that expressing my political views here makes you feel ill. But I am afraid that I can't be responsible for your extreme reaction to my views. How you react to my political viewpoint says more about you than me.
You have accused me of "bordering on fascist" of being a "cult leader", but your most common epithet is that I am "ignorant' I disagree. But that doesn't make you wrong. Even if I am ignorant, ignorance is not a crime. I am always willing to learn. I have asked you to educate me or point out where I am wrong, but you haven't. instead you choose to deliver insults and a personal attacks, that I should go and study crystals or astrology, which you have tried to falsely liken my political views to.
Now you are getting more explicit in your disaproval of my views asking me to self censor or be banned.
"I asked you to back up your assertion or modify your language accordingly"
I have more than backed up my assertions, but that is not enough is it? You want me to modify my language. Since I don't swear or indulge in personal insults or break any of the rules of debate on this site. What else can you mean, other than self censor my political views to those more acceptable to you.
.
It is my view that there is a bleeding edge between the Far Right and the Right. To staunch this cross flow of vaccine conspiracy views, it would be good if the opposition parties came behind the government.
You disagree and have chosen to blow this disagreement into a giant issue so you can ban me.
Voltaire was reputed to have said, “‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,"
He actually never said that. it was his biographer Evelyn Hall
According to Wikipedia
On the news that the government had condemned and burned fellow French philosopher Claude-Adrien Helvétius’ book. According to Votaire's biographer Evelyn Hall (Voltaire did not find the substance of Helvétius’ work particularly impressive) but was still dismayed by French Parliament’s actions.
“‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ was his attitude now," wrote Hall.
The key word is "now" which hints that Voltaire's veiws on free speech were much more fluid. According to circumstance and time and place.
Hall's words were not Voltaire's, it is possible that though Voltaire was appalled at the censorship of another philospher's work, he may have at other times opposed the promulgation of extreme or violent and biggoted views. A view I would share. A view I also share with the government. I fully support the government over the hate speech laws. Right wing conservative views are espoused everywhere it is Left Wing views that struggle for a hearing. It is great that the Right are getting some of their own medicine back. It's about time.
The right to air you views is not an absolute right. And of course never more so than here, I have absolutely no right to air my views here, and you have every right to censor them, because you don't like their "vibe" or for any other reason, or none at all.
If you want to turn this website into an echo chamber only for views acceptable to you, that is your right.
You won't hear me complain. Enjoy your echo chamber.
Hi Jenny,
Thank you for your 1,625 word-response; succinct has never been your strong point and needless repetition is not the mother of all learning. Now it is my turn, my final one.
You stated the following without quotation marks and reference (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-07-2021/#comment-1804909):
That was BS because NZ has never had and still does not have a set target regardless of what various people, including experts and Bloomfield, for example, have expressed as hope (and always hoping for more!). Hope is not a or the “target” of New Zealand.
In any case, the infamous article you always return to was from January 2021 when the Delta variant was hardly on the scene. Things have changed since and NZ modelling has shown that herd immunity might be near impossible by vaccination alone. I linked to the modelling because you were unaware of it and asked me to back it up with a link: “[c]ome on, help me out here. I am trying to understand where you are coming from.?”. Remember that?
Of course, you and I disagree on many points and issues. My main frustration with your comments is your many (but not all) wrong premises and many (but not all) weak arguments. Indeed, they are your opinions, not facts, yet you present them as absolutisms with an overzealous confidence and unwavering narrative of a dogmatic believer. As such, genuine debate with you is literally impossible. So, no, I utterly reject your notion that I “fundamentally disagree with [your] Left of Centre political outlook” [my italics]; I reject your piss-poor arguing.
You have never stated as such “that those on the Right (and especially those on the Far Right), of the political spectrum, are more likely to believe or at least don't oppose anti-vax conspiracy theory”. You declared them “the enemy, and they are winning”.
So, now you seem to be saying that they might not be the only enemy, which was exactly my point. I asked you where the “vivid antivaxxers before Covid” had gone. Your reply was an article arguing that “Nazi Hippies” and “Far Right Overlap”. What a load of codswallop! Your hypothesis seems to be that all Lefty antivaxxers have either died from preventable diseases because they refused to be vaccinated or moved across to the Dark Side to become Far Right, is that correct? In New Zealand? Not a single Lefty antivaxxer left? So shocking it is unbelievable that anyone would believe such a thing. BTW, being vaccine hesitant and being an antivaxxer are not the same thing.
The WP link was from before Covid-19; that was the whole point.
The Horizon link showed that whoever they are, antivaxxers are not “winning”, at least not here in NZ. Whether the Far Right is winning in NZ is a different question, but latest political polls seem to suggest this may also not be the case. BTW, I don’t consider the National Party as Far Right, but maybe you confuse them with another National Party from a different era in a different country (hint: they also have MMP), yes?
In short, your Far Right conspiracy theories are just that, especially in relation to Covid vaccination. Others see Reds under the bed or dancing Cossacks.
You argue that a united Parliament would depoliticise the vaccination issue. I think it is the opposite, it would politicise it. I linked to a paper that argued that “[o]ne strategy for increasing vaccination willingness is to politicize the issue of vaccination itself”. How you would do this and whether this has the desired effect is hypothetical. I have an issue with applying so much (peer) pressure that it becomes enforced; we have seen plenty examples in history on how well that can work out, which gives reason to ponder and thread carefully and cautiously in matters such as these, in my humble opinion.
I don’t have any right to ban you or censor you for your ill-considered views and I don’t want to. I can moderate you for unsubstantiated claims, but I’d rather not and prefer if you back them up, especially when asked. I cannot make you accept facts and information if you don’t want to, which clearly is the case with you, as you have demonstrated in your overly long epistle.
I don’t want to turn this website into an echo chamber only for views acceptable to me. I don’t want to and have no right at all to do so; I’d be booted off this site before lunch time and rightly so. That said, I did trash the comment you posted after your Magnum Opus of 1,625 words that had the lyrics and YouTube clip of the song Ordinary World by Duran Duran. I could never stand them, and they were totally overrated. Such a shite song by such a shite band. But that’s entirely subjective and you were under Moderation, so I did.
It is becoming clear that you won’t change your ways because you don’t think there’s anything wrong with them. So, what should I do? I’ll take you out of Pre-Moderation and will ask you to back up any unsubstantiated claims like other commenters and I do with any other commenter who does the same thing. If you or anybody else spread misinformation on an important topic you can expect to be pulled up on it by another commenter or by me. This is the way it works here and always has.
We have come full circle and I’m going to turn over the page and I don’t want to (have to) waste one more single word on this!
The choice is yours. [994 words, Jenny wins]
Jenny, you know how this goes. If you make moderators work too hard, they get fed up and ban people. Just acknowledge that you posted the 70% target but now know that it's not a formal target. Or, argue it out and get a ban. Personally, if I'd been moderating this I'd have given you a medium length ban a few days ago just to free up my time.
First rule of mod club, is don't piss off the mods, especially around using up our time. To that end, if you want to write 1000+ word replies to a moderation and general issues with a particular mod (currently sitting in the filter), I'd suggest writing a post instead about one of the things you feel passionate about. Consider the value in that vs an inevitable ban.
See my Moderation note @ 10:29 pm.
btw, sent you an email
https://www.rawstory.com/texas-has-seen-nearly-9000-19-deaths-since-february-all-but-43-were-unvaccinated-people/
Maybe we just start vaccinating those that have not gotten a jab at all first, and keep the borders closed to anyone but returning kiwis – who in some cases may have gotten vaccinations in the UK/US/Europe etc where they now currently live.
Never mind though, lets hope that the 20.000 kiwis on holiday in OZ come back without the virus, and lets hope that those that miss out on flights to come back home will not get sick while stuck over there.
Yes Sabine that 20,000 figure makes me shiver. We have done so well, and I fear are wallowing in self-gratification and enabling people who want to make a personal stand because they are too special to be attacked by a virus or a needle. I'm getting relaxed myself, though still use the hand wash where I go, but no-one else around me does. They view it as unnecessary and are relying on the government and Health Dept to do much.
But notice how much they are spending on full page advertisements in the media, and who stops to read every word. This is the lazy way of neolib government. I noticed this happening when they were making an effort to change practices in child rearing, stop smacking, better health. Preach from the top, lots spent on talking and publishing, but not get amongst the peeps helping them to fix problems, giving both information and demonstration and help close at hand on demand when needed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
If we are achieve levels of immunisation necessary to confer herd immunity to the general population, we will have to politically isolate our version of these right wing extremists. This will require a united front right across the mainstream political spectrum.
Taking personal responsibility is up to an individual when it comes to vaccination. Some people just do not give a hoot about anyone else's health and they do not value their own health.
Here on a domestic level describes what is happening at international level.
Now, NSW wants their own vaccination rollout to be sped up at the expenses of other safer states.
No-one would begrudge them this because their need is now greater (even if through fault of their own).
Now, will the unhinged RWNJs of New Zealand climb on board WA, NT Queensland, and Tasmania for their relatively poor vaccine rollout performance having given up stocks for those in greater need?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/07/coronavirus-nsw-begs-rest-of-australia-for-covid-19-vaccines.html
I always get a bit confused with the different states in OZ, but are the individual states responsible for their own vaccine purchases/ roll outs or is there an over arching government (for all of OZ) that handles that?
Example, Germany is a 'federation of states' that individually have their own governments, but the German Government is the one to purchase the vaccines and then distribute it to the individual states, who then with the allocated vaccines run their own roll out?
Oz sounds similar to Germany. Vaccine rollout is a federal (Coalition) responsibility, all other health decisions including Covid restrictions, lockdowns are state determined. Basically all states and territories, blue or red, have similar responses to Covid as NZ with the exception of NSW. The other key difference between Oz and NZ is that the federal government went with AstraZeneca, not Pfizer, as the main vaccine (AZ manufactured in Melbourne so a lot cheaper) and the hyped up scare stories about AZ side effects have meant a lot of vaccine hesitancy.
cheers for explaining that.
On Kim Hill this morning. About the debate for younger voting age 16 and up. Some points I noted – That voters choose from their beliefs and what will be best for them, countered by comment that isn't it supposed to be for what is best for the country.
And the statement that young people are being taught civics at school, and are therefore well-informed to make decisions.
And that schoolage is good for getting involved in voting and thinking about politics as the 18-24 age group get sidetracked into careers and places to live and starting out on life as young adults.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018805350/make-it-16-advocating-for-lower-voting-age-in-aotearoa
What do they get taught at school about civics, and building communities and how a country is supposed to run? Do all students learn this, ie is it compulsory or left up to the local school boards ? Probably USA style as have been other educational 'innovations' (so great a model for us to follow /sarc).
Perhaps we could invite someone with the knowledge and experience about civic education for school-age young adults, plus the ability to be objective, to write a guest post giving us the 'gen' on this?
Why is what kids they learn about civics at school important? Or anything else for that matter.
There are some who believe 5G towers disperse covid 19. There are some who believe the vaccine has microchips in it. There are some who believe the Coronavirus is a hoax. Some believe it's a big plot to take over the world.
So what did those people learn at school? They get to vote. What makes them getting to vote more valid than an "ordinary" 15 year? Simple miles on the clock?
What's that all about Pete. You are welcome to have a little rant about the topic. I still think that understanding the system that we live in, and the culture also, at school, will be beneficial for all. If parents don't know or ever talk about it, then the very basis of their adult lives may never be thought about, understood. Philosophies also should be discussed rather than setting the kids up for some religious stream which may not be one's preference, and be opposite to what a parent would say but often doesn't get round to it.
Is Simeon Brown being set up by his own team,
Over the years National policy towards law and order has proven to be a failure. Yet they still persist. At some point some journalists with clue in, and poor old Simeon is lost.
Is Judith playing the internal dirty politics long game, or am I just fantasising?
Nice piece from Aaron Bastani on how housing security transformed my mental health. In all the recent local discussions on mental health, so much of it has been about the nature and funding of mental health services. Virtually nothing has been about protecting mental health and preventing mental health crises through financial and housing security for everyone. Instead we argue about the disposition of ambulances at the bottom of the cliff; whether there are enough ambulances, who funded the most ambulances, and whether the ambulances are sufficiently tuned to the needs of Maori, etc.
It seems possible that by fixing the material and financial conditions of everday life, we will give mental health professionals the time and space to work with people whose mental health issues are truly endogenous/organic in origin – rather than triggered by an unlivable economic environment.
With news media enforcing payment or using of cookies maybe new ones that are easier to access are starting. I haven't found out much about News Logics. This is their About:
About us – Welcome to News Logics, We’re dedicated to giving you the news. Founded in 2017 by Frances Moody, News Logics has come a long way from its beginnings in the united state. When Frances Moody first started out, her passion for providing gripping content in the world of up to date, drove them to do tons of research so that News Logics can offer you the latest information, and small to big news We now serve reader all over the world and are thrilled that we’re able to turn our passion into our own website.
It refers to the united state – an oxymoron? Sounds as if it is run by a bot.
affordable houses
I have watched four 'dwellings' go up on a tiny section next – like right next to State Highway 5 in Rotorua go up. Curiosity killed to cat and today i went there and stopped for a look. Now they are small, ackward and if you look around you can see some nice and shoddy craftsmanship – but never mind, i thought, surely these are affordable? Right? Like big enough for a small family, or a couple. Yeah, nah nah,
they are 619.000 each. No extra charge for the noise pollution and traffic pollution, that is included in teh price, cause generous.
https://www.eves.co.nz/property/2-bedrooms-Riverholm-Drive-Rotorua-Central-Rotorua-ERT08604?fbclid=IwAR2KAuReqWlo8wcDA2W5oO4hgsY0Zr_WtEJyGQ_PwtpYo-PJvfh929wXMsU
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300364742/number-of-rejections-for-emergency-housing-tripled-in-2020
I no longer believe the minister's response, does the minister?
So…is she claiming supports have tripled in the last year. Yeah, right.
The alternative take on this is that emergency housing has a big neon "no vacancy" sign over it. There is not enough room so people are being turned away to presumably live on the street, if they are lucky in the shelter of a vehicle.
You’re free what and whom to believe. However, for the sake of balanced opinion, you might want to ask yourself what else has changed between 2019 and 2020. For example, how many more requests had been received. Of course, a one-sided view leads to one-sided thinking.
From your link:
vs.
Is your glass half-full or half-empty?
Sorry Incognito, the glasses are all empty.
Did you see my post? did you click on the link? Do you realise that this is a new build, 4 on a tiny section with two houses literally the width of a walkway from a motorway? did you see the cost? 619.000 per 'unit'. Rentable 'value' of 540 – 550 a week? The collective greed of this country and the collective failure of various governments to manage housing as a social good will come to bite us in our collective behinds sooner or later.
As for Mrs. Sepuloni, she is the Paula Benefit of the Labour Party. There is no real difference between the two.
And frankly, many many are getting really tired of these games of 'may have or may have not'. Because too many don't have anything at all.
So yeah, i pity anyone who believes a word coming from this women. She does as she is told to do.
I’m sorry, but I find this nonsense unpalatable. In essence, you do the same thing as always, which is shooting the messenger and your pet hates AKA targets, no matter what or when. Debating with people like you, with a closet mind, is therefore an exercise in futility and thus a waste of time.
I’m really not in the mood for your ignorant babble.
TTFN
You are a fierce defender of the Labour Party, Incognito, i give you this. 🙂
And i guess i am a ' virtue signaler' as you so politely called me some time ago, and i am very very happy about this compliment. I should thank you for it, cause I would find it worse to see what is going on in the country and never say anything and just pretend it does not exist in order to not ruffle a few feathers or for fear of rocking some boats.
As for my comments, i always try to be at the very least respectful enough to provide a link to support my thoughts. And if you had a look at the link above you know that this can't go on like this for much longer, because at some stage we just have to many people who are unhoused or despite working and a 20 NZD min wage can't afford to spend 540 – 550 for a 'dwelling'. And that is not good for anyone. Not you, not me, and not our communities.
[I don’t know why you decided to misrepresent me and/or ascribe an obviously incorrect motivation to me.
The rest of your comment was irrelevant and merely another opportunity for your virtue-signalling. I don’t do medals or damehoods, sorry.
I’m allergic to commenters misrepresenting other commenters here, to commenters spreading misinformation, to commenters shooting the messenger especially when it is another commenter, to commenters who divert and derail threads, to commenters who only want to push their own wheelbarrow and don’t want to listen to others, to commenters who twist things to suit their narrow narrative and to confirm their own bias, et cetera. You see that nothing in this list has anything to do with attacking one political party or defending another per se. It is nothing personal either, before to jump to that silly conclusion.
I’m especially sensitive to commenters who accuse Authors, Moderators, and/or this site of being a (paid) tool and/or ascribe ulterior motives. This is specifically mentioned in the site’s Policy in the list of self-martyrdom offenses. It is usually used to ‘justify’ and goes hand-in-hand with shooting the messenger, be it the Author, Moderator, and/or the site.
If you don’t like what you read here, provide a robust argument that addresses content, leave and go somewhere else, and/or start your own blog. In other words, you don’t have to put up with our shit and we don’t have to put with your shit, if we cannot agree to disagree.
When I get an allergic reaction I take appropriate medication. When I go into anaphylactic shock I have to take drastic action. Your comment is causing quite a severe reaction and I might have to go for the more heavy-duty treatment option. I already told you that I wasn’t in the mood but you’re not a very good listener or simply chose to ignore it. Please don’t make things worse, thanks – Incognito]
While dwellings have prestige and speculative value they will be unavailable to those for whom prestige and value lie elsewhere and who live shorter lives, suffer material hardship and do not vote.
See my Moderation note @ 7:19 pm.
3000 out of…?