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6:00 am, February 25th, 2022 - 54 comments
Categories: open mike -
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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.
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
Surely that's up to Ukraine to decide?
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
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.
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.
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.
Notice you did not mention Ukraine in your reply.
What are they a sovereign nation or just shit on the jackpot of Putin?
as sovereign as wales is to england perhaps?
do you not know any history?
As sovereign as France is to England, more like.
exactly
Grow up VTO, where should the Russian border be as Putin sees it, running through the middle of Berlin?
ha ha yep of course the people in russia are happy as to have US bombs on their doorstep
cuba?
Ask Cuba about the US deciding they 'should be' within their sphere of influence
https://www.state.gov/cuba-sanctions/
russia russia communism communism socialism socialism jabcinda jabcinda
what a pile of shit is always spouted
shit
weapons of mass destruction anyone?
bahahahahaha
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!
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
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?
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
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
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.
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.'
Shoutout for Inga Tuigamala.
Another westie Kelston Boys guy made good.
Inga Tuigamala – YouTube
Sad to learn of his death
He struggled with type 2 diabetes and the recent death of his sister. A sad loss at 52.
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.
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.
Not very impressed by Hipkins response to the question about opening the border and ending isolation now for returning Kiwis (taking 'advice')
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.
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.
that's my guess too. We should have fixed the MiQ system a long time ago, rather than trying to abandon it.
When even Bloomfield is saying that MIQ makes little sense, you know that the Govt have dropped the ball on this one.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-ashley-bloomfield-says-health-risk-is-higher-in-community-than-from-those-coming-through-the-border/QMJOICCWSMKCPXE2WWEUD4TPCQ/?c_id=1&objectid=12507131&ref=rss
what does he say about new variants and the border?
Those new variants, if the last 2 years have taught us anything, will manifest overseas before making their presence here.
yes, but the issue is whether we might need MiQ in the future (including this year).
The Southern DHB has no rapid tests available none for patients entering hospital due to an overzealous cost cutting effort.
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.
Over 12,000 community cases today.
Public health experts claiming yesterday that the real figures were probably 10 times the official figures.
'Chaos' on the frontline.
Police & Defence Force mandates unlawful.
Hang on to your hats!
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
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.
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.
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.
Two bald men fight over a comb.
[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.]
A few years old now but an interesting look into the mindsets of China, Russia and the USA recruitment ads
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
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
R.I.P. Hot lips Houlihan (from the movie)
great .
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/
The decision may be appealed. "The requests for vaccination mandates originally came from Police and Defence, so before making any decision we will go back to them to assess the implications for their operations."
"He pointed out the court's decision did not affect any other vaccine mandates nor internal vaccination policies of the police or Defence Force"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/462265/covid-19-high-court-quashes-unlawful-vaccine-mandate-for-police-and-defence-force-staff
She believes in the rule of Law.
Test
Tested – you may now drink a beer….
😈
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?
The DHBs are going to be dismantled, why would they do anything other tehn what they are doing now, providing much needed medical services. Its not as if the Ministry of Health or the Minister of Health had any care other then the dismantling of the DHBs.
But once the DHBs have died a lot of good things will happen, until then…………who knows.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/as-dhbs-die-a-chance-to-feed-a-starved-health-system
US numbers interesting 76k yesterday cf to nz 13k
230 per m cf to 2600 per mil (nz)