He doesn't care about the name, he cares about the reason for it. I guess it does give the wrong impression if you don't know the origin of the name but it seems like there are way more worthy things for people to give their energy to.
It appears to be one of those "World famous in New Zealand" nomenclatures. Remember the mystery and then release of the name for the NZ cricket team… wait for it… drum roll "The Black Caps!" And that was followed by a plethora of national team names (Black Socks, Black Sticks, Black Magic … Black Ferns – the list goes on). The problem is that when these teams travel they are invariably referred to as New Zealand. And even the All Blacks are listed and introduced when playing internationals as "New Zealand". They used to play smaller county and rugby matches as the All Blacks and were referred to by those unions outside NZ as The All Blacks. A bit like the MCC which is the official title for the English touring team but they are England when it comes to test matches.
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Gridiron is an odd game, I'll give you that, but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby. And Australian rule for that matter?
The game is called, bizarrely, football. The "gridiron" is the very narrow field, marked up oppressively with lines every ten yards, on which it is played.
but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby.
No, it is completely different. Kicking is the primary skill in rugby; there is only one way to move the ball forward, apart from carrying it, and that is to kick it. Kicking is routine in rugby, and it's the reason why the game opens up and flows, rather than being a form of trench warfare. To kick the ball in general play is utterly unthinkable in American (and Canadian) football—which is football in name only.
And Australian rules for that matter?
As in rugby, kicking is paramount in Australian football. Although the ridiculous "handball"—punching the ball from a closed fist instead of kicking it as in rugby— has marred the game for decades.
Of course, running the ball instead of kicking it is always an option. But kicking is essential a lot of the time. Look at the way the Tricolors destroyed the All Blacks in the 1999 World Cup semi-final: all three of their tries in the second half were the result of kicking the ball.
Some things can never be forgotten. I'll bet the players will never forget it. Neither will the French of course. They never forget anything.
I was in Paris about 3 years ago. At lunch my wife and I were eating in a Bistro when a couple of French men nearby asked where we came from. When we said New Zealand they insisted on apologizing for the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior. I could, only just, remember exactly which year it was. They behaved as if it was just yesterday.
The NZRU, which has allowed Sky Television to ruin every broadcast by insisting on “exclusive” interviews with coaches during matches, and inflicting seemingly endless talking heads shows on us, and is busy selling the “brand” to a New York venture capital outfit, is hardly a credible or reliable source for anything relating to the history and heritage of the game. And no one except those boofheads on Sky uses the puerile five-letter word for football.
Can't comment, not being a Sky Sports subscriber, but this 'boofhead' refers to NZ's national game by that "puerile five-letter word".
Imho the tide’s going out on the term 'rugby football' in NZ (where everyone knows rugby's name), but I admire your 'reverse Cnut' principles. Time will tell whether your (bitter?) rearguard action bears fruit.
Oh ffs ,I carefully decided to go with football due to having had uptight tossers rant when I've called it soccer. Although you successfully stopped any conversation on whether the all whites should drop ther name.
Changing the All Whites name because some people (who have no interest in football anyway) can't get over their amateur phychology of projecting racism is not going to be popular.
How long will it be before some perverted reporter thinks we will have to know about the contents of the woman's drawers, unless some enterprising cereal manufacturer gets in first to use her to advertise their burka friendly new product.
Let's leave Ms Aden and her family alone so that she and her and they can become ordinary New Zealanders who contribute to the rich fabric of the country. She doesn't need 10,000,000 eyes looking over her shoulder to see if she is putting together a bloodthirsty Caliphate that will over-run the country.
Parliament TV in the afternoon for democracy in a Level 4 Lockdown. You're welcome, any more delusions you are suffering from need assistance. Enjoy your 1pm walks and if necessary mask up and pop into your local supermarket and slyly turn a couple of magazines around, you'll feel so much better.
Here we go. Quote from the Herald. (Don't have a link.)
"Robertson is the first of a line-up of ministers expected to front to Opposition and other MPs in virtual select committees this week after the Prime Minister's decision to suspend the sitting of Parliament."
I believe some of these are being broadcast on Parliament TV. So in fact they are a replacement to debate in the house. whoosh.
Democracy in action.
The select committee meeting schedule lists the time, date, and venue for each select committee meeting planned for the coming week. It also shows the business items that will be considered at each meeting. To find out who is booked to speak at select committee hearings please see the submitters list.
Under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 any select committees meetings will take place virtually over Zoom. The schedule is subject to change at short notice and the meeting format is dependent on changes in the COVID alert levels.
Parliament TV is in no way a replacement for Parliament. It's TV for goodness sake! MPs can't interact with it.
Most everyone else has been able to conduct business via Teams, Zoom or some other forum. Meanwhile Ardern cancels Parliament. Why when there is no need. There are technology solutions to allow Parliament to continue virtually.
Settle Petal, it's you being slow, I suspect on purpose. Parliament TV is where you can watch Democracy in Action, the opposition questioning the government during the lockdown. You were whining about the PM not being able to run Democracy Virtually. We have pointed out that is exactly what they are managing to do. Get a grip.
I love the idea that David might think that when MPs aren't in the House they're actually watching parliament TV rather than doing all the parliamentary business that isn't in the House.
Or is it some sort of tory shorthand for zoom meetings rather than infecting each other face-to-face?
OMG. David. Even RNZ had live coverage of the committee ZOOM meeting holding the government to account. The ZOOM meeting with David Seymour and Shayne Reti asking Grant Robertson and Ashley Bloomfield questions. How much flipping democracy do you want.
Mate, no spark needed: everyone can see you a mile off.
Select committees are as much a part of parliament as debates in the House.
You don't even want all business conducted in the House to be done. You just want the opposition to yell nonsensicalities as soundbites for the 6pm news.
boohoo. The nats continued implosion can be put on hold for a couple of weeks.
There hasn't been any debate for a very long time. All we've seen are petty and childish stunts by an opposition that have proven what a waste of space and taxpayers funds they have become.
I blush at the thought. Far too many commo agitating, lefty comrade, fellow travelling, pinko, woke, virtue-signallers already without Parliament being prorouged!
In principle debate in the house is really important. But in practice it is asinine. If the opposition respected the institution enough to ask relevant questions and research and meticulously critique government policy and actions, you'd have a good point.
Sadly, Parliament disgraces itself pretty much every day. It is quite dispensable for the duration of lockdown.
….lobster complaint upheld by parliamentary committee
Bonnie Flaws – Stuff.co.nz, Aug 23, 2021
Last week, Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee released a report agreeing with the Animal Law Association position that freezing lobsters prior to slaughter was not consistent with the objectives and intentions of the Animal Welfare Act 1999…..
…..Stedman said slaughter practices were based on outdated scientific knowledge. Lobsters experience significant pain and distress when chilled and boiled alive, according to research…..
Lobsters that have been frozen then boiled will recover consciousness and experience pain during the boiling process, and evidence shows they also remained conscious for longer as a result of the freezing and had complex nervous systems, she said.
MPI had worked with the industry to ensure people were aware that lobsters were sentient and needed to be stunned and killed according to regulations, an MPI spokeswoman previously said.
Good job by govt there, the way we treat all sea animals is usually pretty horrific…now they need to get on to banning big game fishing which is without doubt the most disgusting and violent 'sport' legal in this country…once the cruelty of it is witnessed by any human with any empathy for animals, it can never be forgotten.
Early political learning for me, that basically NZ didn't give a shit morally about politician's private lives. Open secret, media weren't reporting. Unlike say the UK where it would have been a scandal.
Most of the election coverage is online somewhere on Youtube and as a tragic, I rewatched some of it last election. Even knowing the outcome, the 2005 election coverage is amusing as Mike Williams spends all night predicting that Labour will come from behind on the back of South Auckland and is proven right in the last hour or two.
The worst election result for New Zealand in it's post war history IMO..the end of the NZ Labour Party as a serious political machine for workers and the dispossessed, marked the introduction and ascension of centrist third way neo-liberalism into New Zealand like an incurable cancer…I for one had no idea what I was voting for at the time to be honest, I was young idealistic and could only see the anti nuke position, taught me a good lesson though..governments lie, and always be a critical thinker, especially when it comes to politics and politicians.
Labour lost a lot of core supporters after the Lange years. Left voters had no representation for 20-odd years because of constant neoliberal bait and switches.
… latest Heylen Poll suggests we should have a Socialist Govt by Midnight … (Heylen 7 July 1984 … Lab 49.1%, Nat 33.2%, Socred 8.9%, NZP 8.8%).
But bear in mind, the Nats were still in front as recently as May (Heylen 26 May 1984 … Nat 43.8%, Lab 42.7%) … so might still be a little nail-biting … can't entirely rule out Muldoon once again clinging to power by his fingertips …
But overall, looking forward to a decisive return to the protection of working class interests & local industry and a censure of the ostentatiously wealthy under a superb team of Socialist Intellectuals: Mr Douglas, Mr Prebble & Dr Bassett in particular. Rest assured, the Country will be in mighty safe hands.
But let’s sit back with the popcorn & see what Mr Bryant & Mr Cockram & their exciting state-of-the-art technical wizardry deliver us.
Yes Reality, that Adams has a need to paint Jacinda as an "indoctrinated religious crafty politician". Trying to paint her nature as Mormon kindness, because…
I think he is muddling her with Scot Morrison. Now there is a crafty religious nutter with ties to Hillside and a henchman called Dutton.
This is a balanced and highly informative article on how children might be affected by Covid-19 and what role this might play in the overall thinking and approach to the pandemic. Note that there are no exaggerated conclusions or extrapolations from what we currently know and do. The language is plain and non-technical for a general audience.
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
"Mark Dolan from the GB News took aim at New Zealand and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for putting the country into lockdown"
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town. Zero COVID leads to zero economies, zero society, zero freedom and zero democracy."
"Another writer from the Telegraph wrote a brutal opinion piece on Ardern's decision to move New Zealand to a level 4 lockdown. Matthew Lesh called the decision "poetic justice" and New Zealand's approach has "frightening consequences".
"Elimination becomes a costly strategy with very limited benefit. What's the point of lockdowns and maintaining closed borders for a virus that, with vaccines in the mix, no longer causes much harm to individual people?"
We are obviously stuck in this time warp until the vaccination status of the population gets up to at least a second world country status. The virus isn't going to go away. We will have to live with it unless we go over to the world of North Korea and lock everyone up for ever. Well stop talking about how wonderful our approach is supposed to be and get on with the vaccination of everyone who wants to have it. Then, as an old Negro spiritual put it "Let my people go!"
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
The extreme right wing British press, which you have chosen to quote here, was never laudatory of Jacinda Ardern. Your case was dead in the water the moment you chose to quote the partisan and scabrous filth that is the Daily Torygraph.
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town…"
"Living with the virus" is a completely meaningless phrase – because every response to date by every government around the world is a version of "living with the virus". That's because the virus exists – and so by definition we have to live with it. These different versions of living with the virus do differ from each other in how much death and disease they will tolerate in the community.
What we are seeing is an appropriation of "living with the virus" to mean one particular version of living with the virus that has a particularly high tolerance for death and disease. It is scummy propaganda of the highest order – because instead of having to justify their high tolerance for death and disease, its sociopathic proponents can hide behind an illusion of inevitability. A decent media with half a brain would shoot down this filthy deceit.
When I have had my 2 doses of the vaccine, and we have booster shots available I think my chances of surviving, even at my age, are pretty good. I might get ill but I am unlikely to die from the disease.
With those precautions I don't think it will be any more dangerous than flu is. Yes there will be a chance of dying but I will accept that for the chance to travel overseas, and have people travel here.
After all, a complete closure of the borders and having no one enter the country without a couple of weeks of quarantine is going to end sometime anyway. Politicians are never going to accept that limitation on their lifestyle.
Perhaps you could tell us why we should still have that barbaric method of testing for Covid 19? Do you like the thought of the discomfort for yourself or is it the idea that someone else will be affected that gives you a frisson of excitement?
There are comments from experts in the subject that using this method instead of saliva tests is a factor in preventing the country from keeping up with the outbreak. It is being portrayed in New Zealand as not being accurate but at least one authority says.
"“It's frustrating that this [accuracy] is still a question and shows how much misinformation has been passed onto the NZ public."
Much of the probing, prodding, surgery, and treatments in modern medicine are pretty barbaric when you think about it, e.g., cut it, amputate it, it burn it, freeze it, radiate it, poison it, et cetera.
I don’t necessarily buy the argument that saliva tests will make a fundamental change in the current environment. It depends on what the limiting factors are. It could increase the pressure on the testing labs, which are already straining, as I mentioned last night here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-23-08-2021/#comment-1810984.
Perhaps you could tell me which countries managed to get on top of the Delta variant thanks to saliva testing. I could not find that info in your link. NZ can learn so much from others because we’re so much behind the eight ball.
Got to wonder why the sudden brit campaign by Murderoch to slag off the NZ response. Right wing regime seeks likeminded for free trade and virus swapping?
Well, somehow I can't insert a text extract from FB so I'll just type what was said by Ciaran Irvine:
"The right wing media here (and also in the rest of the world) NEED Jacinda to fail at this – because how she has handled Covid indicts them all as not just clueless spoofers but in many countries actual mass murderers,
"The Right has been utterly, catastrophically, psychotically Wrong all over the world at every single step of this pandemic, so Aotearoa's success thus far infuriates them and they NEED us to fail."
No idea who Ciaran Irvine is, but their comment seems absolutely to the point.
What an appalling rant from Kate Hawkesby in the Herald yesterday(?). Venomous woman filled with loathing. Actually that shows in her face, as are the embedded sneers of Hosking.
I've also heard so much commentary about how lockdowns create uncertainty and how this is difficult for people to manage. It leads to emotional stress and mental health problems (I have no doubt about this being the case for some people).
Personally, I like living with the certainty that we will have lockdowns rather than the uncertainly of who I’m going to contract a life-altering / life-threatening illness from if we have to “learn to live” with the virus in the community before we understand and can safely manage the game of catch-up between variants and vaccines.
I do understand that it is really important to have certainty about what you need to do – tomorrow, in a week’s time, in a month. What I don’t get is how the people who are upset by the uncertainty lockdowns bring, are probably not the same people who worry about the uncertainty that people in the precariat live with every single day of their working lives.
@LewSOS is being a bit trollish today… maybe he got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. Keeps equating socialism with mass murder. Calls himself a moderate?!
He's using a specific definition of socialism. Here's a list of socialist states. He's not wrong about the lots of murdering thing. Not so sure he's right about there being very few examples what have been non-murdering, or whether it's a feature of socialism rather than other sociopolitical dynamics.
The trollishness comes from not engaging the original argument for economic justice and obsession with counting dead bodies. Bloody revolutions were a desperate response to unbearable suffering, Marxism was the vehicle in some cases. But bloody revolutions were also necessary to overthrow feudalism and institute democracy; it's just that they didn't happen in living memory
Well, there is a discussion to be had about whether the "revolution" is restricted solely to the overthrow of the monarchy, or includes (in the case of the USSR) the following process of repelling multiple massive invasions and turning an agrarian-peasant economy into an industrial power.
But really, it all turns into a "no true Scotsman" argument: socialist nations that didn't get particularly murdery get labelled "social democratic" or whatevs while capitalist countries that get murdery are "imperialist" rather than capitalist, and on the other side murdery socialist govts get called "failed dictatorships of the proletariat" (at best) and reasonably stable and humane mixed economies have their benefits attributed to socialism and negatives attributed to capitalism.
What did you think of Lew's original point, that many people viewing socialism through a freedom vs totalitarianism lens is due to socialism's history of murder rather than contemporary lack of class analysis? (I'd guess it is both).
Meh. Seems largely bollocks to me (especially in regards to yanks worried about "socialism", but we have it here, too).
"Socialism" as a scareword is devoid of meaning, it's a label applied to a number of different nations without reference to the situations faced at the time.
Is that label "socialism" more or less murdery than capitalist/imperialist nations? That's like arguing which billionaire is more wealthy today – comparisons are pretty meaningless when you get to that level. Take Cambodia, and then the Bengal famine. Did Beria kill more people than Zaharoff? Who really cares.
And that's with a reasonably unbiased assessment – throw on decades of propaganda in both directions, and most people wouldn't recognise the polsci definition of "socialism" or "capitalism" if it hit them in the face (and the latter often does).
But start talking about bosses and fair tax rates, and pretty soon the people who think socialism is a bit murdery start supporting policies that get them healthcare – until Fox calls it "socialism".
I quite like Plato’s cave allegory, ever since I had to translate that piece of text. This whole pandemic apparently started with a bat out of hell. So, staying in the cave sounds pretty safe. I wonder what cavemen would have done when a cave bear tried to enter the cave they were in: would they fight for their lives and defend themselves and the cave or run away and be exposed to all other dangers as well as having the bear chasing them? We will never know the answer, of course.
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
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Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
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TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Apparently there is a movement gaining momentum to change the nz football team's name from the All Whites,
Peak stupid rapidly approaching.
You care that much? Really? Teams change their names on all the time, get over it.
He doesn't care about the name, he cares about the reason for it. I guess it does give the wrong impression if you don't know the origin of the name but it seems like there are way more worthy things for people to give their energy to.
It appears to be one of those "World famous in New Zealand" nomenclatures. Remember the mystery and then release of the name for the NZ cricket team… wait for it… drum roll "The Black Caps!" And that was followed by a plethora of national team names (Black Socks, Black Sticks, Black Magic … Black Ferns – the list goes on). The problem is that when these teams travel they are invariably referred to as New Zealand. And even the All Blacks are listed and introduced when playing internationals as "New Zealand". They used to play smaller county and rugby matches as the All Blacks and were referred to by those unions outside NZ as The All Blacks. A bit like the MCC which is the official title for the English touring team but they are England when it comes to test matches.
Until it goes mainstream it's just a bunch of fringe idiots who have an empty life.
Please attend to the Moderation note before you post anymore comments here, thanks.
FYI:
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-covid-vaccine-may-not-be-the-nirvana/#comment-1810589
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-covid-vaccine-may-not-be-the-nirvana/#comment-1810431
This is your final opportunity.
A moderator has been trying to get your attention for a few days K (Incognito above). Please take some time to read the links to get clear on what is going on.
It's a good idea when coming onto TS each day to check the replies tab to see who has replied. If it's an author/or mod, please read.
The NZ football team is called the All Blacks.
Not according to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, though they do feature on the governing world rugby website.
Only in your world. 😉
The word Football was dropped from the name New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), in 2006.
Quiet day in your neck of the woods? Looking to wind up a few boof-heads.
I trust you are keeping well and the lockdowns aren’t getting you down.
It's football all right. What do you think they kick around the field—a cricket ball?
Except most of the contact in rugby is with the hands.
There's a great deal of kicking in rugby football. That's why it's called football.
Your argument is valid in the case of that American "game" in which hardly anyone ever kicks the ball, and "play" stops after a couple of seconds.
Gridiron is an odd game, I'll give you that, but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby. And Australian rule for that matter?
Gridiron is an odd game, I'll give you that,
The game is called, bizarrely, football. The "gridiron" is the very narrow field, marked up oppressively with lines every ten yards, on which it is played.
but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby.
No, it is completely different. Kicking is the primary skill in rugby; there is only one way to move the ball forward, apart from carrying it, and that is to kick it. Kicking is routine in rugby, and it's the reason why the game opens up and flows, rather than being a form of trench warfare. To kick the ball in general play is utterly unthinkable in American (and Canadian) football—which is football in name only.
And Australian rules for that matter?
As in rugby, kicking is paramount in Australian football. Although the ridiculous "handball"—punching the ball from a closed fist instead of kicking it as in rugby— has marred the game for decades.
Was punching of the ball in Australian Rules not part of the game originally?
Your just going back to outdated stereotypes. Modern Rugby teams prefer to run the ball out.
Of course, running the ball instead of kicking it is always an option. But kicking is essential a lot of the time. Look at the way the Tricolors destroyed the All Blacks in the 1999 World Cup semi-final: all three of their tries in the second half were the result of kicking the ball.
You can let it go, it was 22 years ago.
Some things can never be forgotten. I'll bet the players will never forget it. Neither will the French of course. They never forget anything.
I was in Paris about 3 years ago. At lunch my wife and I were eating in a Bistro when a couple of French men nearby asked where we came from. When we said New Zealand they insisted on apologizing for the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior. I could, only just, remember exactly which year it was. They behaved as if it was just yesterday.
As we both know, they kick a rugby ball. Although more exciting teams don't kick as much as less entertaining teams do.
As we both know, they kick a rugby ball.
They kick a football.
Hands off NZ Football? Try searching the NZRU website for "football" or “footy“. C'mon footy players, it's only change – just run with it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(word)#New_Zealand
The NZRU, which has allowed Sky Television to ruin every broadcast by insisting on “exclusive” interviews with coaches during matches, and inflicting seemingly endless talking heads shows on us, and is busy selling the “brand” to a New York venture capital outfit, is hardly a credible or reliable source for anything relating to the history and heritage of the game. And no one except those boofheads on Sky uses the puerile five-letter word for football.
Can't comment, not being a Sky Sports subscriber, but this 'boofhead' refers to NZ's national game by that "puerile five-letter word".
Imho the tide’s going out on the term 'rugby football' in NZ (where everyone knows rugby's name), but I admire your 'reverse Cnut' principles. Time will tell whether your (bitter?) rearguard action bears fruit.
https://www.newzealand.com/nz/rugby/
Stand up for Football, Morrisey.
Oh ffs ,I carefully decided to go with football due to having had uptight tossers rant when I've called it soccer. Although you successfully stopped any conversation on whether the all whites should drop ther name.
Changing the All Whites name because some people (who have no interest in football anyway) can't get over their amateur phychology of projecting racism is not going to be popular.
I'm not a big fan of them 'fuck your feelings' tshirts cobbah..
Put the bong down gabby and speak English
Your comment made my day! I reckon you deserve free subscription to The Standard for a year.
Oh really – do we really have to know that "Islamic State-affiliate Suhayra Aden's family moved to New Zealand after Australia refused to accept her" as reported by Stuff. Besides, how is she still and 'affiliate'. If she was, she wouldn't be here – doh!
How long will it be before some perverted reporter thinks we will have to know about the contents of the woman's drawers, unless some enterprising cereal manufacturer gets in first to use her to advertise their burka friendly new product.
Let's leave Ms Aden and her family alone so that she and her and they can become ordinary New Zealanders who contribute to the rich fabric of the country. She doesn't need 10,000,000 eyes looking over her shoulder to see if she is putting together a bloodthirsty Caliphate that will over-run the country.
Couldn't agree more.
Most of us do daft things in our youth and most of us get away with it gaining knowledge of a lesson well learnt
People are saying she’s been seen with leading members of the opposition!
Adern can chair an APEC leaders summit virtually but apparently not a democracy.
She doesn't chair parliament
The thing I love most about right-wingers is their accuracy and attention to detail.
That being said can you please tell me who the hell this "Adern" is?
Parliament TV in the afternoon for democracy in a Level 4 Lockdown. You're welcome, any more delusions you are suffering from need assistance. Enjoy your 1pm walks and if necessary mask up and pop into your local supermarket and slyly turn a couple of magazines around, you'll feel so much better.
Wooooosssssh
Maybe explain what your point is then. This isn't FB.
Point is Parliament TV is not a replacement for debate in the house / over a virtual forum! It is a way to the public to watch. No more, no less.
Here we go. Quote from the Herald. (Don't have a link.)
"Robertson is the first of a line-up of ministers expected to front to Opposition and other MPs in virtual select committees this week after the Prime Minister's decision to suspend the sitting of Parliament."
I believe some of these are being broadcast on Parliament TV. So in fact they are a replacement to debate in the house. whoosh.
Democracy in action.
Here ya go.
Schedule of meetings
The select committee meeting schedule lists the time, date, and venue for each select committee meeting planned for the coming week. It also shows the business items that will be considered at each meeting. To find out who is booked to speak at select committee hearings please see the submitters list.
Under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 any select committees meetings will take place virtually over Zoom. The schedule is subject to change at short notice and the meeting format is dependent on changes in the COVID alert levels.
Meetings marked as 'Parliament TV' can be viewed at Freeview 31, Sky 86, Vodafone 86, Parliament On Demand or the Covid-19 Response select committees page.
Items marked “open to the public” will continue to be livestreamed to the committee's Facebook page.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/schedule-of-meetings/
Yawn! This is not Parliament!
Jeepers, you really are slow aren't you!
Parliament TV is in no way a replacement for Parliament. It's TV for goodness sake! MPs can't interact with it.
Most everyone else has been able to conduct business via Teams, Zoom or some other forum. Meanwhile Ardern cancels Parliament. Why when there is no need. There are technology solutions to allow Parliament to continue virtually.
Wooossh.
Settle Petal, it's you being slow, I suspect on purpose. Parliament TV is where you can watch Democracy in Action, the opposition questioning the government during the lockdown. You were whining about the PM not being able to run Democracy Virtually. We have pointed out that is exactly what they are managing to do. Get a grip.
I love the idea that David might think that when MPs aren't in the House they're actually watching parliament TV rather than doing all the parliamentary business that isn't in the House.
Or is it some sort of tory shorthand for zoom meetings rather than infecting each other face-to-face?
I suspect he knows exactly how ridiculous he sounds, but once he’s thrown out a Nat/Act slogan there’s no going back for him.
A spark of light might have come on in your second paragraph McFlock. The Red Blooded One still seems all at sea.
Apparently everyone else can do zoom, but Ardern is a bit special and needs to cancel rather than move to the virtual world.
OMG. David. Even RNZ had live coverage of the committee ZOOM meeting holding the government to account. The ZOOM meeting with David Seymour and Shayne Reti asking Grant Robertson and Ashley Bloomfield questions. How much flipping democracy do you want.
Sorry I’ll have to give up on you and cut you loose.
A select committee is not parliament!
This was your rant that I was reacting to.
"Adern can chair an APEC leaders summit virtually but apparently not a democracy"
No mention of Parliament, only Democracy.
Yep, happy to have you give up on me, cause we can see right through you. Bye bye.
You are soooo right; for your further edification: https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/fact-sheets/pbrief7/
HTH
Mate, no spark needed: everyone can see you a mile off.
Select committees are as much a part of parliament as debates in the House.
You don't even want all business conducted in the House to be done. You just want the opposition to yell nonsensicalities as soundbites for the 6pm news.
boohoo. The nats continued implosion can be put on hold for a couple of weeks.
There hasn't been any debate for a very long time. All we've seen are petty and childish stunts by an opposition that have proven what a waste of space and taxpayers funds they have become.
Yes
Be good if some one could list 10 salient point the nat and act have made about covid.
Are you advocating we do away with Parliament?
I guess it’s an option. History is littered with countries that have given that option a go.
Wooooosssssh
If anything, I think they’re advocating doing away with the current Opposition and build back better.
They're not a complete waste of space – consider their entertainment value. Collins' eyebrows (not joking – or am eye?), Seymour's twerking, Bridges' cavorting at a recent party conference, a Bridge too far (Merv from Manuwera), Boag, Ngāti Goldsmith, Woodhouse's concern for the homeless – and who could forget Maureen Pugh.
Such fascinating creatures. Calling Puckish Rogue – come in Puck.
Btw, what's Luxon (Local Govt, Māori Development, Assoc. Transport) been up to lately? https://christopherluxon.national.org.nz/news
Edgeler explains.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/1429655136188604424
"prorouged"? Heaven forbid.
I blush at the thought. Far too many commo agitating, lefty comrade, fellow travelling, pinko, woke, virtue-signallers already without Parliament being prorouged!
Better check under the beds!
In principle debate in the house is really important. But in practice it is asinine. If the opposition respected the institution enough to ask relevant questions and research and meticulously critique government policy and actions, you'd have a good point.
Sadly, Parliament disgraces itself pretty much every day. It is quite dispensable for the duration of lockdown.
I wonder if can you tell the difference between a stag night and a marriage?
Democracy has a chair!? Just as well I was sitting down when I read that.
The kindest parliament on earth
Even crustaceans are cared for.
The government is being kind to lobsters
Good job by govt there, the way we treat all sea animals is usually pretty horrific…now they need to get on to banning big game fishing which is without doubt the most disgusting and violent 'sport' legal in this country…once the cruelty of it is witnessed by any human with any empathy for animals, it can never be forgotten.
Kids are pretty smart.
https://twitter.com/SaraBWarf/status/1429290430370304004
If you are bored, someone has put the 1984 election coverage up on YouTube..
https://youtu.be/5GkuvSsiFp0
that TVNZ opening music is so 80s.
Naomi Lange not looking too happy.
Naomi wasn't looking too happy…heh!
I was doing a metal voiceover, though I would hate to disparage the memory of Big Dave by sharing.
Lol.
Early political learning for me, that basically NZ didn't give a shit morally about politician's private lives. Open secret, media weren't reporting. Unlike say the UK where it would have been a scandal.
Devil's in the detail, but public opinion changes – sometimes for the better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Moyle#Opposition_and_the_Moyle_affair
Most of the election coverage is online somewhere on Youtube and as a tragic, I rewatched some of it last election. Even knowing the outcome, the 2005 election coverage is amusing as Mike Williams spends all night predicting that Labour will come from behind on the back of South Auckland and is proven right in the last hour or two.
The worst election result for New Zealand in it's post war history IMO..the end of the NZ Labour Party as a serious political machine for workers and the dispossessed, marked the introduction and ascension of centrist third way neo-liberalism into New Zealand like an incurable cancer…I for one had no idea what I was voting for at the time to be honest, I was young idealistic and could only see the anti nuke position, taught me a good lesson though..governments lie, and always be a critical thinker, especially when it comes to politics and politicians.
Labour lost a lot of core supporters after the Lange years. Left voters had no representation for 20-odd years because of constant neoliberal bait and switches.
.
This is gonna be a Big Big Night ! …
… latest Heylen Poll suggests we should have a Socialist Govt by Midnight … (Heylen 7 July 1984 … Lab 49.1%, Nat 33.2%, Socred 8.9%, NZP 8.8%).
But bear in mind, the Nats were still in front as recently as May (Heylen 26 May 1984 … Nat 43.8%, Lab 42.7%) … so might still be a little nail-biting … can't entirely rule out Muldoon once again clinging to power by his fingertips …
But overall, looking forward to a decisive return to the protection of working class interests & local industry and a censure of the ostentatiously wealthy under a superb team of Socialist Intellectuals: Mr Douglas, Mr Prebble & Dr Bassett in particular. Rest assured, the Country will be in mighty safe hands.
But let’s sit back with the popcorn & see what Mr Bryant & Mr Cockram & their exciting state-of-the-art technical wizardry deliver us.
.
Fantastic !!! young Peter Dunne currently ahead of Templeton in Ohariu by 162 votes ! Peter has a big future in Left politics.
That gawky little trouper Helen Clark looks consigned to to bumbling around forgotten committees.
Very strange and rather sick critique of the PM by a Graham Adams in today's Herald. Wonder if he will do a follow-up of Judith Collins.
Yes Reality, that Adams has a need to paint Jacinda as an "indoctrinated religious crafty politician". Trying to paint her nature as Mormon kindness, because…
I think he is muddling her with Scot Morrison. Now there is a crafty religious nutter with ties to Hillside and a henchman called Dutton.
The mud continues to be slung by nationals herald in many forms.
Scotty the other day shall we look forward to a Pauline Hanson oped soon.
This is a balanced and highly informative article on how children might be affected by Covid-19 and what role this might play in the overall thinking and approach to the pandemic. Note that there are no exaggerated conclusions or extrapolations from what we currently know and do. The language is plain and non-technical for a general audience.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/how-the-delta-strain-will-affect-kiwi-kids
What might life be like, post-oil?
This magazine article explores the possibilities.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/02/25/life-after-oil
I like the vision here.ay it come to fruition.
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
"Mark Dolan from the GB News took aim at New Zealand and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for putting the country into lockdown"
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town. Zero COVID leads to zero economies, zero society, zero freedom and zero democracy."
"Another writer from the Telegraph wrote a brutal opinion piece on Ardern's decision to move New Zealand to a level 4 lockdown. Matthew Lesh called the decision "poetic justice" and New Zealand's approach has "frightening consequences".
"Elimination becomes a costly strategy with very limited benefit. What's the point of lockdowns and maintaining closed borders for a virus that, with vaccines in the mix, no longer causes much harm to individual people?"
We are obviously stuck in this time warp until the vaccination status of the population gets up to at least a second world country status. The virus isn't going to go away. We will have to live with it unless we go over to the world of North Korea and lock everyone up for ever. Well stop talking about how wonderful our approach is supposed to be and get on with the vaccination of everyone who wants to have it. Then, as an old Negro spiritual put it "Let my people go!"
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/isolated-dystopia-world-reacts-to-nzs-bad-to-worse-frightening-lockdown-move-nearly-a-week-on/ar-AANCkUg?ocid=msedgntp
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
The extreme right wing British press, which you have chosen to quote here, was never laudatory of Jacinda Ardern. Your case was dead in the water the moment you chose to quote the partisan and scabrous filth that is the Daily Torygraph.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/18539457.norman-tebbit-telegraph-cant-let-off-hook-rewriting-nazi-history/
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town…"
"Living with the virus" is a completely meaningless phrase – because every response to date by every government around the world is a version of "living with the virus". That's because the virus exists – and so by definition we have to live with it. These different versions of living with the virus do differ from each other in how much death and disease they will tolerate in the community.
What we are seeing is an appropriation of "living with the virus" to mean one particular version of living with the virus that has a particularly high tolerance for death and disease. It is scummy propaganda of the highest order – because instead of having to justify their high tolerance for death and disease, its sociopathic proponents can hide behind an illusion of inevitability. A decent media with half a brain would shoot down this filthy deceit.
How do you fancy your chances of surviving an epidemic of influenza or Covid-19 in NZ with open borders? Do ya feel lucky?
When I have had my 2 doses of the vaccine, and we have booster shots available I think my chances of surviving, even at my age, are pretty good. I might get ill but I am unlikely to die from the disease.
With those precautions I don't think it will be any more dangerous than flu is. Yes there will be a chance of dying but I will accept that for the chance to travel overseas, and have people travel here.
After all, a complete closure of the borders and having no one enter the country without a couple of weeks of quarantine is going to end sometime anyway. Politicians are never going to accept that limitation on their lifestyle.
So I feel lucky. What about you, punk?
Lucky you and who am I to burst your bubble? Apparently, the Covid-19 response reduced the number of deaths in winter overall by about 1,600! But I’d already told you that 2 days ago here: https://thestandard.org.nz/the-importance-of-jacindas-1-pm-press-conferences/#comment-1810675. Oh, how time flies in lockdown!
Stay safe and well, Alwyn.
I feel your excitement, Alwyn!
Yes, palpable and exhilarating, like a nasal swab!
Perhaps you could tell us why we should still have that barbaric method of testing for Covid 19? Do you like the thought of the discomfort for yourself or is it the idea that someone else will be affected that gives you a frisson of excitement?
There are comments from experts in the subject that using this method instead of saliva tests is a factor in preventing the country from keeping up with the outbreak. It is being portrayed in New Zealand as not being accurate but at least one authority says.
"“It's frustrating that this [accuracy] is still a question and shows how much misinformation has been passed onto the NZ public."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126151636/slow-saliva-testing-rollout-hurting-new-zealands-ability-to-get-on-top-of-outbreak-scientist?cid=PDM711657&bid=1391011913
Much of the probing, prodding, surgery, and treatments in modern medicine are pretty barbaric when you think about it, e.g., cut it, amputate it, it burn it, freeze it, radiate it, poison it, et cetera.
I don’t necessarily buy the argument that saliva tests will make a fundamental change in the current environment. It depends on what the limiting factors are. It could increase the pressure on the testing labs, which are already straining, as I mentioned last night here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-23-08-2021/#comment-1810984.
I commented 2 days ago on saliva testing here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-08-2021/#comment-1810628.
Perhaps you could tell me which countries managed to get on top of the Delta variant thanks to saliva testing. I could not find that info in your link. NZ can learn so much from others because we’re so much behind the eight ball.
Got to wonder why the sudden brit campaign by Murderoch to slag off the NZ response. Right wing regime seeks likeminded for free trade and virus swapping?
passing the "130,000 dead" threshold might have some asking questions about whether it's really "over" despite all the partying…
Well, somehow I can't insert a text extract from FB so I'll just type what was said by Ciaran Irvine:
"The right wing media here (and also in the rest of the world) NEED Jacinda to fail at this – because how she has handled Covid indicts them all as not just clueless spoofers but in many countries actual mass murderers,
"The Right has been utterly, catastrophically, psychotically Wrong all over the world at every single step of this pandemic, so Aotearoa's success thus far infuriates them and they NEED us to fail."
No idea who Ciaran Irvine is, but their comment seems absolutely to the point.
Sums the media and our resident right wing posters here up perfectly.
Majority responce from a group of at risk teens offered covid vaccination – nope, not having that, the gummint will use it to track me.
Well done to the fucks who platformed/spread this shit.
//
was that teens you know?
Frontliner's anecdote.
What an appalling rant from Kate Hawkesby in the Herald yesterday(?). Venomous woman filled with loathing. Actually that shows in her face, as are the embedded sneers of Hosking.
Those two deserve one another.
I set my radio alarm to her show in the morning
She is aural shit the bed
I understand they have children and one has to worry about the effect those two nasty negative people, from the same household have on them
Best response
https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo/status/1429654059057704960?s=20
Thread.
https://twitter.com/Jenene/status/1429560918917074947
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1429560918917074947.html
That's an excellent thread
I've also heard so much commentary about how lockdowns create uncertainty and how this is difficult for people to manage. It leads to emotional stress and mental health problems (I have no doubt about this being the case for some people).
Personally, I like living with the certainty that we will have lockdowns rather than the uncertainly of who I’m going to contract a life-altering / life-threatening illness from if we have to “learn to live” with the virus in the community before we understand and can safely manage the game of catch-up between variants and vaccines.
I do understand that it is really important to have certainty about what you need to do – tomorrow, in a week’s time, in a month. What I don’t get is how the people who are upset by the uncertainty lockdowns bring, are probably not the same people who worry about the uncertainty that people in the precariat live with every single day of their working lives.
@LewSOS is being a bit trollish today… maybe he got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. Keeps equating socialism with mass murder. Calls himself a moderate?!
Does he?
He's using a specific definition of socialism. Here's a list of socialist states. He's not wrong about the lots of murdering thing. Not so sure he's right about there being very few examples what have been non-murdering, or whether it's a feature of socialism rather than other sociopolitical dynamics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_states
The trollishness comes from not engaging the original argument for economic justice and obsession with counting dead bodies. Bloody revolutions were a desperate response to unbearable suffering, Marxism was the vehicle in some cases. But bloody revolutions were also necessary to overthrow feudalism and institute democracy; it's just that they didn't happen in living memory
The deaths in Stalinist Russia weren't just from the revolution though, right? They went on for a long time and were extremely excessive.
Well, there is a discussion to be had about whether the "revolution" is restricted solely to the overthrow of the monarchy, or includes (in the case of the USSR) the following process of repelling multiple massive invasions and turning an agrarian-peasant economy into an industrial power.
But really, it all turns into a "no true Scotsman" argument: socialist nations that didn't get particularly murdery get labelled "social democratic" or whatevs while capitalist countries that get murdery are "imperialist" rather than capitalist, and on the other side murdery socialist govts get called "failed dictatorships of the proletariat" (at best) and reasonably stable and humane mixed economies have their benefits attributed to socialism and negatives attributed to capitalism.
Yes in Marxist theory the revolution is not over until the state "withers away".
What did you think of Lew's original point, that many people viewing socialism through a freedom vs totalitarianism lens is due to socialism's history of murder rather than contemporary lack of class analysis? (I'd guess it is both).
Meh. Seems largely bollocks to me (especially in regards to yanks worried about "socialism", but we have it here, too).
"Socialism" as a scareword is devoid of meaning, it's a label applied to a number of different nations without reference to the situations faced at the time.
Is that label "socialism" more or less murdery than capitalist/imperialist nations? That's like arguing which billionaire is more wealthy today – comparisons are pretty meaningless when you get to that level. Take Cambodia, and then the Bengal famine. Did Beria kill more people than Zaharoff? Who really cares.
And that's with a reasonably unbiased assessment – throw on decades of propaganda in both directions, and most people wouldn't recognise the polsci definition of "socialism" or "capitalism" if it hit them in the face (and the latter often does).
But start talking about bosses and fair tax rates, and pretty soon the people who think socialism is a bit murdery start supporting policies that get them healthcare – until Fox calls it "socialism".
Tis disingenuous to draw attention to 'socialist' revolutions and death tolls.
Societal breakdowns generally involve murder and death irrespective of their 'ism'
it is entirely likely that a future death toll will be laid at the door of 'environmentalism'.
Further to the idea that overseas politicians and media need us to surrender in order to stop making them look callous and/or incompetent: scomo thinks delta resistance is futile and we need to get out of the cave.
I quite like Plato’s cave allegory, ever since I had to translate that piece of text. This whole pandemic apparently started with a bat out of hell. So, staying in the cave sounds pretty safe. I wonder what cavemen would have done when a cave bear tried to enter the cave they were in: would they fight for their lives and defend themselves and the cave or run away and be exposed to all other dangers as well as having the bear chasing them? We will never know the answer, of course.
I would like to think that with those words he has formed the basis of a great irony.