Open mike 25/02/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 25th, 2022 - 54 comments
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54 comments on “Open mike 25/02/2022 ”

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  1. Peter 1
    25 February 2022 at 6:25 am

    Is it all right for me to say "Russia has invaded Ukraine" or do I have to say "Russia Olympic Committee" has invaded Ukraine?

    Surely they've got some way with words to play pretend.

    • vto 1.1
      25 February 2022 at 6:48 am

      No, what you should say is "america and UK put their bombs on Russia's border"

      you know, like the ruskies have their bombs in Wales and Scotland ../sarc

      this is all very easy

      russia doesn't want the west on their doorstep

      the west should fuck off

      • RosieLee 1.1.1
        25 February 2022 at 7:45 am

        Surely that's up to Ukraine to decide?

        • vto 1.1.1.1
          25 February 2022 at 7:49 am

          That ignores the reality of history and the complexity of neighbour relationships. The easiest analogy is Cuba in the 1960s. Imagine Mexico started an alliance with the russians – what would the US have to say do you think?

          It is absolutely not solely up to a country on its own – never is. That ignores reality

          • Peter 1.1.1.1.1
            25 February 2022 at 8:06 am

            The reality of history is that the big and powerful can do what they want.

            You agree Ukraine doesn't have the right to decide what happens in its own country.

            I wonder if we can demand that Fiji should not have anything to do with China. And enforce it with military action. Unfortunately the only oil they have might be coconut oil.

        • Sabine 1.1.1.2
          25 February 2022 at 7:55 am

          Well Putin is calling a bluff on Nato, and Nato no needs to show if it is going to protect the countries that it wants to put its weapon in. Lets see if Nato is going to do that.

    • Jenny how to get there 1.2
      25 February 2022 at 8:25 am

      Peter

      25 February 2022 at 6:25 am

      Is it all right for me to say "Russia has invaded Ukraine"…..

      vto

      25 February 2022 at 6:48 am

      No, what you should say is "america and UK put their bombs on Russia's border"….

      The more accurate description would be, America and and the West are at war with each other.

      Because someone shot an Archduke in Serbia, is not the reason for the First World War.

      It is the underlying causes that matter.

      World War like climate change have the same cause.

      You can't have infinite growth on a finite planet.

      Just as the endless growth economy is butting up against the natural limits of the planet.

      The growth economies of rival economic blocks are butting up against each other.

  2. Pataua4life 2
    25 February 2022 at 6:52 am

    Notice you did not mention Ukraine in your reply.

    What are they a sovereign nation or just shit on the jackpot of Putin?

  3. Adrian 3
    25 February 2022 at 6:55 am

    Grow up VTO, where should the Russian border be as Putin sees it, running through the middle of Berlin?

  4. vto 4
    25 February 2022 at 7:34 am

    russia russia communism communism socialism socialism jabcinda jabcinda

    what a pile of shit is always spouted

    shit

  5. vto 5
    25 February 2022 at 7:35 am

    weapons of mass destruction anyone?

    bahahahahaha

  6. Tony Veitch (not etc.) 6
    25 February 2022 at 7:43 am

    Well, I'm impressed by the high level of sophistication and the objectivity of the comments on here so far about the war in Europe.

    Hey, this is just what the world needs now – a pandemic, a climate crisis and now a war.

    Yay for us humans! We're not gonna go out with just a whimper!

    • vto 6.1
      25 February 2022 at 7:52 am

      ha ha, yep of course. Short but not shallow.

      I dont know what is so hard to understand about this – the Russians don't want NATO and american bombs on their doorstep. Entirely understandable given US aggression in countless places around the world the last few decades.

      The answer lies in US and western aggression

      Put a map together showing where US and UK bombs are situated around the globe right now – then ponder

      • Peter 6.1.1
        25 February 2022 at 8:11 am

        It's going to be an exciting day for me getting about the neighbourhood. I'm going to take over the places where people have stuff I don't want on my doorstep.

        The fellow over the road with guns? The people over the back with dogs?

      • Jenny how to get there 6.1.2
        25 February 2022 at 9:37 am

        Russia may not have as many bombs situated around the globe right now as the US and UK.

        Russia today is in the same position as the rising German and Japanese empires were in the last century.

        This makes them more dangerous than the established empires of the West

  7. Jester 7
    25 February 2022 at 7:46 am

    Phase three today. Good that the RAT tests are finally available. They really should have been available a long time ago.

    Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Phase 3 as Omicron cases top 6000, over 200 in hospital – NZ Herald

  8. francesca 8
    25 February 2022 at 8:11 am

    I think the war in Ukraine is terrible, war is never an answer, but has no one ever heard the saying "don't poke the bear"?

    This has been a long time coming, with Russia's existential security concerns arrogantly brushed aside by NATO and the west.

    Filling Ukraine to the brim with lethal weapons meant they didn't have to start implementing the Minsk accords, and could intensifying bombing the Donbas into submission .A recent UN report shows 80% of the civilian deaths are in the Donbas, perpetrated by the Ukrainian army No sympathy for those innocent civilians?, having to endure daily destruction at the hands of the Ukrainian army ably assisted by openly neo nazi militia?

    .Zelensky in 2019 declared his ambition to join NATO, and more recently his desire for nuclear weapons.If that's not an existential threat on Russia's most vulnerable flank, I don't know what is .Further back in 2002, the US withdrew from the ABM Treaty,which had been designed to pull back from a nuclear arms race

    Anyone who thinks NATO is a defence organisation has selective amnesia, it's the US agency for keeping dominance in Europe, Russia circled,with side hustles in the middle east.

    Any NATO member with a spine should veto the addition of further countries.

    • Puckish Rogue 8.1
      25 February 2022 at 11:35 am

      Ukraine had nukes but gave them up, a poor decision in hindsight

      https://www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1082124528/ukraine-russia-putin-invasion

      'Thousands of nuclear arms had been left on Ukrainian soil by Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But in the years that followed, Ukraine made the decision to completely denuclearize.'

      'In exchange, the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would guarantee Ukraine's security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.'

  9. Ad 9
    25 February 2022 at 8:42 am

    Shoutout for Inga Tuigamala.

    Another westie Kelston Boys guy made good.

    Inga Tuigamala – YouTube

    • Barfly 9.1
      25 February 2022 at 12:21 pm

      Sad to learn of his deathsad

    • Patricia Bremner 9.2
      25 February 2022 at 1:05 pm

      He struggled with type 2 diabetes and the recent death of his sister. A sad loss at 52.

    • swordfish 9.3
      25 February 2022 at 1:20 pm

      Yep … sorry to hear about his untimely death.

      He'll be mourned in Wigan (& other parts of Britain … both Union & League territory) just as much as NZ & Samoa.

    • gsays 9.4
      25 February 2022 at 4:25 pm

      My favourite Inga story, told by him, was when he was doing a tour of schools with Zinzan Brooke and some other famous All Blacks. Asking one of the children in the assembly, if the child knew his name, the child replied "No, but when you got the ball my Dad yelled " Go you black bastard, go!"".

      A giant of a winger with a smile to match.

  10. Belladonna 10
    25 February 2022 at 9:45 am

    Not very impressed by Hipkins response to the question about opening the border and ending isolation now for returning Kiwis (taking 'advice')

    “I don’t have an announcement to make on that at the moment. We’re getting advice on that – about whether people should still need to self-isolate on arrival in New Zealand. And we expect to get that advice in the next week or two and consider that and make further decisions based on that.”
    Hipkins said the decisions would be made within the next month.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300525636/covid19-nz-border-rules-government-reviewing-selfisolation-for-travellers-as-cases-mount

    2 reasons – the numbers of cases at the border are miniscule compared to the number in the community (8 yesterday, compared to 6,000+ (and estimates that that really is 25,000 – given the delays in testing). So the risk of allowing fully vaxed people with a negative pre-departure test to come in freely without isolation requirements, is miniscule.

    And, we could sure use those nurses, who are currently administering tests to MIQ arrivals, in our overloaded hospital system, and (potentially) those rooms if/when hospitals are out of capacity.

    Hipkins shouldn't need to take further advice. We knew this day was coming (once Omicron was loose) – and they should have had a plan ready to swing into action when cases reached the Omicron level 3 threshold.

    • Barfly 10.1
      25 February 2022 at 12:26 pm

      In general I agree so long as there isn't a new variant banging on the door. Perhaps the caution is that if MIQ is canned and a new big nasty variant pops up it would politically impossible to re-establish it.

      • weka 10.1.1
        25 February 2022 at 12:42 pm

        that's my guess too. We should have fixed the MiQ system a long time ago, rather than trying to abandon it.

          • weka 10.1.1.1.1
            25 February 2022 at 3:17 pm

            what does he say about new variants and the border?

            • gsays 10.1.1.1.1.1
              25 February 2022 at 4:28 pm

              Those new variants, if the last 2 years have taught us anything, will manifest overseas before making their presence here.

              • weka …
                25 February 2022 at 5:41 pm

                yes, but the issue is whether we might need MiQ in the future (including this year).

              • Tricledrown …
                25 February 2022 at 10:57 pm

                The Southern DHB has no rapid tests available none for patients entering hospital due to an overzealous cost cutting effort.

                • gsays …
                  26 February 2022 at 3:49 pm

                  That sounds so sadly familiar.

                  Too much focus on the pennies, to the detriment of their staff, staff's family and patients/public.

                  A great example of dire state we find ourselves in. Some people slow or reluctant to partake in a medical intervention, lose their jobs, in part, to 'protect' our health system.

          • lprent 10.1.1.1.3
            25 February 2022 at 3:41 pm

            Bloomfield is saying that MIQ makes little sense

            It always gets easier to lie about what someone says when you misquote and paraphrase. What he was referring to was related to the community transmission of Omicron.

            However this isn’t exactly news. It was part of a pre-planned policy.

            From November last year. Covid-19: Major MIQ changes from early next year

            “As we move in 2022, we know that the pandemic is not over and it’s not going to suddenly end and we only need to look at Europe to know that the path out of the pandemic is not a straight-forward one.

            “Today’s announcement does not mean that MIQ as a system is not going to end any time soon. MIQ is intended to be a temporary measure and its current scale and the way it operates has served us incredibly well.”

            The traffic light system will come into effect for the whole country at 11.59pm Thursday 2 December.

            Apparently you either never read the news or you don’t retain common information.

            I’d also suggest that you cease with mindless assertions putting words into the mouths without links. I happily ban for idiots who do that.

            • Belladonna 10.1.1.1.3.1
              26 February 2022 at 12:08 am

              He recognised that the health risk is higher in the community compared to those bringing the virus in across the border, as it was already widespread.

              Quote from the article – to which I did link in my comment about Bloomfield.

              The point is that the risk from fully vaccinated people who've had a pre-departure test is very significantly less than just being in the community (especially in Auckland).

              If even close contacts are no longer required to isolate – then why should we require people flying into the country to do so?

              MIQ may have served us well, in the past. It's difficult to argue that it still does so. Especially when we can see the need for nurses to be redeployed into hospitals – and possibly even the need for the MIQ facilities for overflow hospital care facilities.

              "I’d also suggest that you cease with mindless assertions putting words into the mouths without links. I happily ban for idiots who do that."

              Look. I know I'm a new commenter. But really, I am very careful to provide links. And threatening with a ban is a bit OTT.

              • lprent …
                26 February 2022 at 8:03 am

                If even close contacts are no longer required to isolate – then why should we require people flying into the country to do so?

                Seems almost too obvious to point out?

                Where does NZ get the new variants of covid-19 from? By having a break at the border. There are going to be more variants.

                Right now we have a population that is divided into those that have some protection from vaccines, and a relatively small percentage (but but large in number) with no immune responses at all.

                We also have a relatively mild variant circulating and a less infectious version that causes more damage. Our health system is coping.

                MIQ stops the next variant while the whole of our population slowly acquires immune responses with as low a death and injury rate as possible.

                In about 6-8 weeks we will have the population prepared for whatever comes next.

                A small cost to pay.

  11. Jenny how to get there 11
    25 February 2022 at 12:18 pm

    Two bald men fight over a comb.

    Russian Forces Capture Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Says Ukrainian PM

    "Unfortunately, I have to say that, as of now, the Chernobyl zone, the so-called exclusion zone, and all Chernobyl facilities have been taken under control by Russian armed groups," Shmygal told a news briefing after an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Kyiv…..

    https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-invasion-russian-forces-chernobyl-/31721240.html

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

  12. Puckish Rogue 12
    25 February 2022 at 12:18 pm

    A few years old now but an interesting look into the mindsets of China, Russia and the USA recruitment ads

  13. Molly 13
    25 February 2022 at 2:27 pm

    After a review, Sweden has updated their policy for medical treatments for transgender youth:

    Updated recommendations for hormone therapy for gender dysphoria in young people

    The National Board of Health and Welfare is today publishing new recommendations regarding hormone treatment of young people under the age of 18 with gender dysphoria. Uncertain science and new knowledge mean that the National Board of Health and Welfare now recommends restraint when it comes to hormone treatment. At the same time, it is important that children and young people suffering from gender dysphoria are taken seriously, treated well and offered adequate care measures.

    …

    There are no definite conclusions about the effect and safety of the treatments

    At the request of the National Board of Health and Welfare, SBU has produced a literature review in which all relevant studies on the effect and safety of hormone treatments have been reviewed. The report, which is published today, states that it is not yet possible to draw any definite conclusions about the effect and safety of the treatments based on scientific evidence.

    – The conclusion is that very little knowledge has been added about the effects and safety of the treatments since 2015, says Thomas Lindén.

    – When the knowledge support for care of children and young people with gender dysphoria was developed in 2015, the importance was emphasized of the measures offered within the framework of the clinical work being followed up systematically and evaluated in the best possible way. We now see that this has not yet been realized, which contributes to the fact that there is reason to change the recommendations.

    …

    The risks outweigh the benefits at present

    Based on the results that have emerged, the National Board of Health and Welfare's overall conclusion is that the risks of anti-puberty and sex-confirming hormone treatment for those under 18 currently outweigh the possible benefits for the group as a whole.

    – The assessment is that treatment with hormones should continue to be given within the framework of research. Increased knowledge is needed, among other things, about the treatments' impact on gender dysphoria and the mental health and quality of life of minors, in both the short and long term, says Thomas Lindén.

    – While waiting for a research study to be put in place, our assessment is that the treatments can be given in exceptional cases. Here, we propose a number of criteria that care can be based on in the individual clinical assessments.

    At the same time, it is important that young people with gender dysphoria continue to receive care and treatment in health care. This concerns both hormonal treatments in cases where they are deemed justified and, for example, psychosocial interventions, child psychiatric treatment and suicide prevention measures when necessary.

    – Care must continue to ensure that children and young people who suffer from gender dysphoria are taken seriously, treated well and offered adequate care measures. In the future, this care will be national, highly specialized care, and then the opportunities for research and knowledge development in this area of ​​care will increase, as well as for further strengthened patient safety and quality, says Thomas Lindén.

    Recent article by a detransitioner talking about her journey, and in her case the role of social media in particular:

    By Any Other Name
    https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name?utm_source=url

  14. Barfly 14
    25 February 2022 at 3:51 pm

    R.I.P. Hot lips Houlihan (from the movie)

  15. Whispering Kate 15
    25 February 2022 at 4:11 pm

    Not sure what header this should be under but it sure is a poke in the eye to the Government. The Police and NZDF are being told by the courts processes that their unvaccinated staff are now allowed to be reinstated at their work. Woohoo – personally think it is wrong but the PM now has to digest this news.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/not-demonstrably-justified-high-court-upholds-challenge-to-police-and-nzdf-vaccination-mandates-police-suspend-terminations/LMAUM7LZWV6FFQWAKKJFLKYLIE/

  16. Patricia Bremner 16
    25 February 2022 at 5:12 pm

    She believes in the rule of Law.

  17. Whispering Kate 17
    25 February 2022 at 5:13 pm

    Test

  18. gsays 18
    25 February 2022 at 5:27 pm

    More tales of woe from our local ED. 8 resignations this week, 7 of them are Staff Nurses (RNs).

    What does it take for the Board and or the DHB to at least try and fix the situation?

  19. dv 19
    26 February 2022 at 3:59 pm

    US numbers interesting 76k yesterday cf to nz 13k

    230 per m cf to 2600 per mil (nz)