Good quality info from Chris Martenson on the Coronavirus…time to be alert and aware and start making basic preps (collect any prescription meds you may need, add a bit of extra rice/tuna/long term vege type things/seeds to sprouts to the shopping(. To understand that please watch this video where Chris breaks down what is actually happening.
Most importantly note the 5 day latency period…so those boarder checks for high temperatures are pointless….those who have contracted it are already contagious but will not show any symptoms.
Who is Martenson and why should we trust him? I'm asking because I'm researching for a post on nCoV and seeing a massive amount of information that is imo untrustworthy. Social media at its worst.
Conclusion: The mean estimate of R0 for the 2019-nCoV ranges from 3.30 (95%CI: 2.73-3.96) to 5.47 (95%CI: 4.16-7.10), and significantly larger than 1. Our findings indicate the potential of 2019-nCoV to cause outbreaks.
It has a fat tail,hence as more data and mortality becomes apparent the infection rate increases. This is an increase on the model used yesterday but both are dynamic.The obvious apparent problem would be downplaying of statistics by PRC.
All the world needed right now is for Trump to get extraordinarily lucky.
A major disease outbreak is about as good an extended metaphor as one could wish for to explain the rise of Donald Trump against the Democrats.
The U.S. Constitution is supposed to be the built-in hygiene mechanism that controls the level of filth that rise through democratic contest. The Democrats have faithfully used the United States Constitution to hold this damaging President to account. They assemble all the evidence into a good case, orchestrate the media into a fully focused antiseptic froth, get ready to take a few further points off his popularity and electability …
.. and then there's a massive disease outbreak in China that obliterates the careful media messaging. Donald Trump is given a most massive gift by fate.
He told us China was the enemy. He told us we had to put up barriers against them. He told us that even against China he would Make America Great Again … because this foreign eastern behemoth was a disease to protect us from.
Whether true or not, the Chinese government can be framed up as lying, corrupt, incompetent, and unable to control the infectious idea of Being Chinese. They've got perhaps just the next 24 hours to prove him wrong.
Trump will come out of this not only unbowed and unpunished, but vindicated.
It won't win him the election, but it will underline that he was right all along: globalism and multiculturalism are disease vectors of cultural, ethnic, and economic weakness. They shall not pass.
The effects of this Chinese infection will both blunt and reverse the Democratic effort to hold him to account through Constitutional means. It may even help re-elect him.
It is the biggest piece of luck I've seen in modern political history.
People who are more avoidant of pathogens are more politically conservative, as are nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds that these relationships between pathogens and politics are based on motivations to adhere to local norms, which are sometimes shaped by cultural evolution to have pathogen-neutralizing properties. The second, which is an intergroup account, holds that these same relationships are based on motivations to avoid contact with outgroups, who might pose greater infectious disease threats than ingroup members. Results from a study surveying 11,501 participants across 30 nations are more consistent with the intragroup account than with the intergroup account. National parasite stress relates to traditionalism (an aspect of conservatism especially related to adherence to group norms) but not to social dominance orientation (SDO; an aspect of conservatism especially related to endorsements of intergroup barriers and negativity toward ethnic and racial outgroups). Further, individual differences in pathogen-avoidance motives (i.e., disgust sensitivity) relate more strongly to traditionalism than to SDO within the 30 nations.
Or put in simple terms, countries where there is a high disease and parasite load push the population toward more conservative, closed attitudes. It's an entirely legitimate survival strategy. Disgust sensitivity is tied into this as well. (Interestingly the Nazi's are well understood to have exploited this in their imagery, describing Jews in pathological or parasitic terms.)
But in essence you are right, disease is our ancient enemy and it evokes strong emotions that won't make for rational politics.
Well, somebody has to cut the Gordian knot to end the gridlock. Whether this creates a precedent (i.e. opens the proverbial can of worms) remains to be seen. Future Governments have no real (legal) obligation AFAIK to follow in the footsteps of the current Government.
attacking the messenger – not the story. How typical.
How about trying to discuss the point. Like $45million of taxpayer money going to fletchers – and jacinda opening up the issue of maori claims on private land
If that is your solution, then it shows you are probably unaware of the back history to this land. Including recent promises by Manukau District Council that were supposed to be part of the legacy package to Auckland Council. Also, the use of SHA legislation to bypass any reference to historical or tangata whenua concerns.
What has happened is a foreseeable and rational response to the failures of authorities at both local and national levels to follow procedures set in place to avoid this kind of conflict. (The land has significantly increased in value because of the SHA zoning to residential. A benefit gained solely by the landowner, by a designation change from council and not shared in any way by the community. A failure to implement a capital-uplift tax by Auckland Council.)
Good post Molly. In the current environment of pretty poor reporting it has been lost that the SHAs set up by Nick Smith overrode many concerns about the development of that land.
Particularly dense people who look to Duncan Garner for their opinions will actively ignore the recent and not so recent history of the place if it serves to bash Maori protestors.
The same people are incapable of realising the historical value of such areas, largely because it is not white historical value.
To me, the current government buying the land off Feltchers is the price to pay for the last government’s naked recolonisation of Ihumatao.
I would Have had the protesters moved off the land legally sold to fletchers.
if they didn’t go – arrest them.
That'll work! That'll really work! After all, who remembers Parihaka or Bastion Point these days? Hardly anyone who isn't Māori, right? If only the current government's leadership had James' wisdom and previous governments' disdain for Māori, this could all have been sorted very easily…
Attacking the messenger??? More like a disingenuous message that needs to be dispelled. How about the line that Fletcher's had the taxpayers over a barrel and did what predators do? It would have been more helpful if the history, reasons and motivations behind the Ihumatao resolution had been explored buy someone with investigative and reporting skills. This would have been more appropriate than a political hit-job by a foam-mouthed, self-opinionated lightweight.
I am just glad that we have a government with the ethics and courage to right this wrong. Talk of 'taxpayers money' is very immature – the government is buying back what it stole. Not only did it steal the land it sold it to private interests so the debt is theirs to repay. Fletchers seem to have behaved with integrity and have probably spent a lot negotiating this issue. Add that to the increase in the value of the land over the 4 years that they have owned it and what they are being offered is probably fair.
Personally I think this settlement was a reasonable compromise in this specific case. But the word 'stole' could have a very flexible meaning; there are plenty of people who'd cheerfully stretch it out to cover the whole of NZ.
Not all – some land was sold and some given. This agreement does open up new possibilities for negotiation and having now the possibilities of a 'case by case' scenario is going to make it a lot more complicated but fairer.
If the messenger's an ignorant, racist blowhard peddling misinformation with a poisonous agenda, attacking the messenger sounds entirely reasonable. More to the point would be, how much of a sucker would someone have to be to lend credence to Duncan Garner's messages.
Certainly not, especially while overlooking the fact that his contemplation of this (oh shit, I looked it up again and he actually called it "a nightmarish glimpse into our future") took place in an aussie-owned store with a US brand.
After all, he explicitly said that nothing in his column was intended to be racist. So that's alright, then.
A minority of the Press Council only thought his expressed views had an "unpleasant "dogwhistle" odour" but were not racist in a way that broke the rules, so yes you must be right.
Too many assumptions there, numpty. Actually had a great luncheon with friends. And Jimmy's comment was at 5 pm. Your day on the water started then, did it? Try harder.
[It was just a matter of time before someone would cross the line and resort to stupid insults aimed at James. Like it or leave it, James is free to comment here as long as he adheres to the site’s policy and rules. Please don’t do this (again) or next time you throw insults at him for no direct reason you will be receiving gardening leave – Incognito]
As it turns out, you also have a bit of history here with flaming and insults. Coincidentally, your last ban (last year, 3 days only) was for insulting James!
As I said, like it or leave it, but please stop wasting my time. Thanks in advance.
The one you mentioned which was in fact because of impudence shown towards a moderator (trivialising Weka's authority rather than insulting James), and another by Weka for directly questioning James' sincerity on the case of the man who set himself on fire before parliament.
I guess the price of having a forum that is not an echo chamber is the moderators must protect stirrers in your words, or trolls in mine.
[please correct the error in your user handle; it has happened twice now. Thanks]
You have had more than two bans here and quite a few moderator warnings.
Given your recalcitrant behaviour, I think that is low.
I am calling you out on your insulting behaviour and I am not protecting anybody. Moderators are not bodyguards but more like cleaners who clear up the mess made and left behind by others on this site.
Like it or leave it; this is my final word on this and I kindly suggest taking heed.
Take it up with the SYSOP. Most seem to manage here most of the time but the mistake you made is quite common and often goes unnoticed for a (little) while, which wastes Moderator time.
You have had more than two bans here and quite a few moderator warnings.
Given your recalcitrant behaviour, I think that is low.
I am calling you out on your insulting behaviour and I am not protecting anybody. Moderators are not bodyguards but more like cleaners who clear up the mess made and left behind by others on this site.
Like it or leave it; this is my final word on this and I kindly suggest taking heed.
I think I've had two bans.
So I have a problem with authority. What is a simple activist to do? Lie down and take it, I suppose? Where on earth would that end, George Orwell?
You can either accept my contribution to The Standard, or not. I think I make a decent effort in most of my comments but am called out on a few and that seems to define me according to yourself and Weka.
I'll work hard to conform to your definition of “smart-arse reply” which you seem to accept, and stick to that.
This grovelling approach works for some – I might try it! 😀
Your “grovelling approach works” but only just because it’s a lovely morning and I had a decent sleep last night.
You’ve had more than two bans but this is not important (I can provide the links, with time-stamps for your personal archive or trophy cabinet, but why waste more time on this?).
You have an occasional problem with your attitude and language when you resort to flaming and insulting, which has led to moderation and a few (>2) bans.
You also seem to have a problem with listening, simple explanations, simple instructions, and following clear and simple rules. I’d use a different word for that than “activist” and “recalcitrant” was possibly too mild.
Whether you continue making valuable contributions here or smart arse replies is neither here nor there for me. It’s up to commenters to make this a better site or turn it into sandpit full of petulant smart arses or foul-mouthed morons. The choice is yours; like it or leave it.
It's a WordPress thing I think where a mistake in the username is repeated ad infinitum.
A few months back I had a plugin in FF that screwed with any website that needed a form, even though it did what it was supposed to do (text substitution).
Additionally some browsers on some operating systems can be tempramental.
Newer browsers often have a "safe" mode, where all plugins or add-ons are disabled. Try TS in safe mode, and if it works then some plugin is arguing with your browser.
The initial comment @ 4 was about a potentially imminent breakthrough in the Ihumātao dispute.
I think it is worth noting that many comments in this thread did not discuss the topic at all but were diversions about Duncan Garner being an alleged racist, about James, about the flag referendum and other unrelated and thus irrelevant things.
Inevitably, it ended up with blatant insults with no constructive content whatsoever and almost led to a ban 🙁
Somehow I can't get terribly worked up about that virus outbreak. Its place of origin is one that winks at the sort of unhygenic practices around rearing animals, and selling them or their products, that we outlawed decades ago. They're reaping what they've sown. Yes, there might be a few deaths here to begin with, but we'll contain the spread all right.
Orwell wrote his best-known novel in 1948. Thirty-six years later, That Date actually arrived, but seemingly not its accompanying dystopia. The seeds, however, were already being sown. On by a similar length of time, and we arrive at the present day, where those seeds have germinated and are growing fast.
It's my wild-arsed guess there is a 90% chance this new bug will mutate into something less dangerous fairly quickly. However there is a small but non-zero chance it could go badly pear shaped like the 1918 Spanish Flu.
It's the Chinese Medical authorities, WHO and CDC who will do all the heavy lifting here. If Angola can contain Ebola, there is every chance China will get on top of this.
But in a weeks time we'll know more about this virus, it's incubation time, it's infectivity and it's lethality. In the meantime don't get worked up, but don't ignore basic precautions either.
Hope so. In 1918 we didn't have gene sequencing to identify exactly where it came from, either the Krait or Chinese Cobra apparently,and effective isolation and containment systems and back then it was some months before they even knew there was a problem.
A mate who has visited the sort of food market to the Wuhan one has said the bloody places are unbelievable, they have no place in the 21st century.
here is a list of ecoli break outs in the western world due to lax business rules – i.e. self certifying. Just in case you like your romaine and lettuce and ground beef.
Funnily enough, i have always eaten in food courts in asia when i travel and i never even had as much as a stomach bugling, however friends of mine who insisted in MacDo and the likes often came down with the runs. Go figure.
Funny that. I reckon it sometimes may be just a change in the ecology in the gut, or something similar. About a month ago I spent time both in Japan and Thailand. In Thailand I ate from street vendors, in dirt floor restaurants with no running water, and other meals from questionable sources. Not a problem except for tender tushie from all the chili-laced meals I scarfed.
Japan was great, but I did have one afternoon with a case of runny bum.
The point is that even in ultra-hygeinic locations one can get a tummy rumbler. Although, to be honest getting a case of the Aztec Two-step is more likely in the less developed more free wheeling regions. Sometimes it's just luck.
If I understood the news correctly this morning, the Chinese have warned that the infectious period starts 2 weeks before any symptoms show in the infectious person.
If this is true, I think it is the first time we have struck such a virus, and with two weeks before the infectious person can be detected, we have absolutely no hope of stopping the spread.
But – the second part is better: the virus causes fewer deaths proportionately than SARS did, and as viruses get better at spreading they tend to get milder in effect.
So a pandemic will mean quite a lot of us will recover from an annoying mild pneumonia, but there will not be billions of dead.
But did I hear that news correctly, and is the report true?
Not to mention it got called "Spanish Flu" because the Spaniards were neutral and none of the warring nations wanted to disclose how many of their troops were ill.
So they knew they had a problem, but it was a military secret and then everyone got shipped home around the world…
and then there is the sars research at the wuhan bio research facility.
But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says.
Yes I've witnessed that extreme authoritarian hierarchy in action in the workplace. It's quite spooky when you first see it, for a few moments I felt I'd been transported to a Nazi concentration camp movie.
Maybe that's why I'm so much less sanguine about the CCP's regime than Ad is.
Some background on Bernie Sanders and what he has achieved in Burlington Vermont.
" One of his main goals was to rein in real estate speculation and gentrification, to keep the tenants in their homes. In 1984, he established the Burlington Community Land Trust, which started buying and renovating rundown rental properties on the Old North End. The model was to rent them at fixed rates or sell them at low prices, while retaining ownership of the land and sharing in any value appreciation. Now called the Champlain Housing Trust, it is the largest such nonprofit in the nation and has 8% of the city’s housing units "
Not afraid too confront the issues in his home town.
"While he brought free public concerts to Battery Park on the bluff, Sanders also went on a campaign to stop noisy late-night college parties, even accompanying police to dress down the revelers "
Wait a minute, we are supposed to give this guy Presidential credibility because a trust he started three decades ago has been doing up a few houses in a town about the same size and global importance as Gisborne?
Donald Trump and his dad were doing that for about the same time and instead of a few hundred houses, have turned it into a world-conquering hotel and resort brand.
Seriously if real estate is touted as the killer move for Sanders, someone needs a strategy refresh.
Now called the Champlain Housing Trust, it is the largest such nonprofit in the nation and has 8% of the city’s housing units "
1. Burlington, Vermont Population 2019. Burlington, Vermont's estimated population is 42,899
2.The ethnic composition of the population of Burlington, VT is composed of 35.1k White Alone residents (82.7%), 2.65k Asian Alone residents (6.25%), 2.32k Black or African American Alone residents (5.47%), 1.21k Hispanic or Latino residents (2.86%), 964 Two or More Races residents (2.27%), 109 American Indian & Alaska
3. The Champlain Housing Trust, founded in 1984, is the largest community land trust in the country. Throughout Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, CHT manages 2,300 apartments, stewards 620 owner-occupied homes in its signature shared-equity program, offers homebuyer education and financial fitness counseling, provides services to five housing cooperatives, and offers affordable energy efficiency and rehab loans. In 2008, CHT won the prestigious United Nations World Habitat Award, recognizing its innovative, sustainable programs.
While a nice thing for the residence of the City of Burlington Vermont, its a sad indictment of the state of USA's housing policies.
At some point we're going to have to clear away this film-flam of the always-never-made-its and get to the main guy: What will Joe Biden Do as President?
it shows that a tiny wee little town has the largest housing charity.
that is the sadness about it all.
I don't know what Jo biden will do as president. Kidnap babies at the frontiers and then loose them in the system to god knows whom? Install a global gag rule on abortion, birth controll, and such to please forced birther crowd? Remove any and all regulations on the environment to drill baby drill and mine mine mine? Play golf every third day on the tax payers dime? Start world war three?
Honestly i have no fucking idea what Jo Biden would do, nor do i care.
But if this is an example of Bernie Sanders will do, then he will have put his name to a charity that has 2300 apartments under its umbrella and it stewards som 630 occupied owner houses, in a town of 43.000 people. And the sad thing about this charity is that it is the "Largest Charity of its kind in the US of A'. Go figure.
Meanwhile Here is what one editor of The Nation has to say on Elizabeth Warren:
Her opposition to Wall Street’s endless predations has also been consistent, courageous, and persuasive—and tied directly to her recognition that 40 years of growing income and wealth inequality won’t be reversed without the reregulation of finance. She has taken on not just bankers but also fellow Democrats, including Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, and, by implication, President Obama himself when he prioritized saving too-big-to-fail banks rather than stopping foreclosures on the homes of 10 million families. She played public and behind-the-scenes roles in crafting the still-unused powers of the Dodd-Frank Act to tame Wall Street and in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Washington’s first new (and under the Democrats, demonstrably effective) regulator since the New Deal.
In her skill and dedication campaigning for other candidates; in doggedly shepherding tough, controversial bills through Congress; and in constructing a significant federal agency from scratch, Warren has demonstrated her ability to both win elections and govern.
“This poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Jan. 20–23 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points”:
Seems to depend how they ask the question: "The Suffolk poll showed nearly a quarter of Democratic primary voters, 24 percent, are undecided. But the WBUR survey, which included so-called “leaners” — voters who initially say they are undecided but, when asked, say they are leaning toward one candidate — pegged the “undecided” number at just 5 percent." https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/23/sanders-polls-2020-103084
Definite age variation happening, and it's big: "Age has become one of the defining cleavages of the 2020 Democratic race. In the CNN/SSRS national poll — in which Sanders has a slim, 3-point lead over Biden overall — Sanders is the top choice of 39 percent of Democrats under the age of 45. That’s 21 points ahead of the next closest Democrat, Warren,another septuagenarian who appeals to younger voters."
"On the other side of the ledger, Sanders is the first choice of only 16 percent of Democrats 45 and older. His strength halves again, to 8 percent, among those 65 and older. Biden, meanwhile, wins 33 percent of 45-and-older Democrats, and 37 percent of the 65-plus set."
Those with a memory of how socialism operated tend to be biased against it. Those who like the aspirations in the mix tend to go for it…
Five-percent (5%) Biden supporters say they will not vote for someone else as the Democratic nominee, while 9% say it would depend on who the nominee is.
Among Sanders supporters, 16% will not vote for the nominee if Sanders doesn’t win, while 30% say it depends on the nominee.
No Warren supporters say they will definitely not vote for the nominee if she does not win the nomination, but 10% say it will depend on who the nominee is.
Forty-two percent (42%) of Yang supporters say they will not vote for anyone else as the Democratic nominee, while 9% say it depends on the nominee.
oh well. Its gonna be a shit show anyways. Why not start flinging it early?
Seems to be a link between perceptions a candidate is (or has been) discriminated against in the primary and support for an unknown candidate put forward by the democrats.
If these polls are indicative of couse than the rational choice is Bernie due to his supporters relative obstinance. Though I doubt US centrist pundits can draw the obvious conclusion.
19% of Bernie supporters stating that they will NOT support the democratic nominee is ……….(insert what ever suits you).
vs, no one from the warren supporters saying that they will NOT support the democratic nominee should she not get the tick.
should be real easy for bernie to pick up warren supporters should he get the tick, but should it not be bernie we can expect 19% of his supporters to vote for the incumbent or humpty dumpty.
Its gonna be a delightful shitshow just like the last time around. And we all know who won. So yeah, they better give it to bernie or else…..:)
It's revolting how some people treat animals. National MP barbara kuriger should be ashamed of her husband and her son. If she did nothing to prevent them from treating animals so cruelly, she should also be ashamed of herself. And to think she is their spokesperson for Rural Communities. Taranaki-King Country deserves better.
May the full arm of the law come down on them.
In total, 74 cows were treated for lameness and 25 were euthanised.
Infections in some cows were so severe they had spread to the joints, causing chronic septic arthritis.
Gibson estimated the cows were lame for up to two months before receiving treatment, but others could have been injured longer.
Veterinarians handed the Kurigers a plan to stop the injured cows from being milked. But, despite their injuries, many were still forced to endure the arduous walk to the dairy shed to be milked each day.
“They were supposed to be in the paddock where… grass is softer. All this is unnecessary pain the animal has to go through.”
According to court documents, when approached by officials, Tony Kuriger declined to be interviewed. Louis did not respond to requests for comment.
treating these cows would cut into the profit. And yes, she is the spokes person for 'rural communities' and it says a lot about The NoMates Party that would nominate someone like her to be a spokesperson for rural communities.
Hope the rural communties will wake up and tell her to get a job elsewhere.
I recall one of his amusing anecdotes from his early journalistic days. He was approached by the SIS who "wanted to talk to him". Curious to know what they wanted to talk to him about, he agreed to meet them. He was told to go to a Wellington hotel and knock on the door of Room 60. (I've forgotten the number so 60 will do.) He found Room 60 and knocked on the door. No reply. He was about to leave when a voice from behind said "come in". He swung around and a man was standing in the open door of the room on the opposite side.
I wondered how he managed to open the door and check it was McLaughlan without making a sound. Maybe there was a secret peep-hole in the door that only the SIS knew about. 👿 Whatever, McLauchlan wouldn't do what they wanted him to do.
Well, artifacts are constantly left and repeated in the username section which is, for some reason, not independent from the comments section.
Because I wanted the site to be as open as possible and because I didn't want to spend time endlessly fixing logins or dealing with robots, I disabled them back in about 2009. Instead I put in a system to allow anyone to leave comments and maintained the logins for authors, moderators and the lucky few who already had them.
However that meant that with every comment, the non-login author had to put put in their details on each comment – which slowed the commenting process. So I used cookies. Once you leave a comment on a particular browser on a particular system, I told your browser to remember those details on your client machine login, and to fill in the fields for you on that browser and machine whenever a comment was presented to fill in.
Works well until the details get mucked up at the client side. Typically when pasting into the wrong field, which causes the mistake to reproduced.
The issue seems to be that, of late, occasionally when I am merrily typing away in the comment box the cursor will flip to the name box without warning. I continue to type until I need to look at the screen again and find no words added to the comment box, but they have been added to the name box which I didn't think to check.
I then re-type what got 'lost' in the comment box and hit 'Submit Comment'. The comment then goes out with extra words added to my username in the name box.
Is it one of those laptops with a touchpad below the keyboard? I always switch that off if I have a corded mouse – my hands hovering over the touch pad sometimes tap it and send the cursor funny places.
ALTHOUGH:
a good trick in a shared office is to put a cordless mouse usb in the back of a colleagues machine. Then as they're typing away just randomly point and click from your desk. drives 'em crazy if you do it subtly enough 😉
McFlock is probably right. Mousepads are a nuisance when you're typing. Mine is turned off whenever I have a external keyboard/mouse talking to it. Which is most of the time.
I usually do have a wireless K750 keyboard + a MX Anywhere in my pack or where I work. I have 3 of them – work, home, and pack. Solar powered keyboards are *thin* – sneak in the pack very nicely.
Try the right side of the mouse pad. That is usually where they have the scroller option turned on. The option is often set to move fields when you use it vertically.
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Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Good quality info from Chris Martenson on the Coronavirus…time to be alert and aware and start making basic preps (collect any prescription meds you may need, add a bit of extra rice/tuna/long term vege type things/seeds to sprouts to the shopping(. To understand that please watch this video where Chris breaks down what is actually happening.
Most importantly note the 5 day latency period…so those boarder checks for high temperatures are pointless….those who have contracted it are already contagious but will not show any symptoms.
Who is Martenson and why should we trust him? I'm asking because I'm researching for a post on nCoV and seeing a massive amount of information that is imo untrustworthy. Social media at its worst.
Conclusion: The mean estimate of R0 for the 2019-nCoV ranges from 3.30 (95%CI: 2.73-3.96) to 5.47 (95%CI: 4.16-7.10), and significantly larger than 1. Our findings indicate the potential of 2019-nCoV to cause outbreaks.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.23.916395v1
In simplistic words it has an infection rate 4-5x that of influenza.
How does that compare to your eyes with the scientific source reported in media yesterday (did not catch name) downgrading R0 to 2.5?
Trawling through this:
https://twitter.com/search?q=2019-nCov%20R0&src=typeahead_click
It has a fat tail,hence as more data and mortality becomes apparent the infection rate increases. This is an increase on the model used yesterday but both are dynamic.The obvious apparent problem would be downplaying of statistics by PRC.
Mortality rate seems untrustworthy, for sure.
Ah, here's what I saw:
https://twitter.com/JonRead15/status/1220749549318430721
Here is a paper on the risks associated with fat tails (on cv) and how standard decision making needs a little paranoia.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1221486205847646208/photo/1
Thank you.
All the world needed right now is for Trump to get extraordinarily lucky.
A major disease outbreak is about as good an extended metaphor as one could wish for to explain the rise of Donald Trump against the Democrats.
The U.S. Constitution is supposed to be the built-in hygiene mechanism that controls the level of filth that rise through democratic contest. The Democrats have faithfully used the United States Constitution to hold this damaging President to account. They assemble all the evidence into a good case, orchestrate the media into a fully focused antiseptic froth, get ready to take a few further points off his popularity and electability …
.. and then there's a massive disease outbreak in China that obliterates the careful media messaging. Donald Trump is given a most massive gift by fate.
He told us China was the enemy. He told us we had to put up barriers against them. He told us that even against China he would Make America Great Again … because this foreign eastern behemoth was a disease to protect us from.
Whether true or not, the Chinese government can be framed up as lying, corrupt, incompetent, and unable to control the infectious idea of Being Chinese. They've got perhaps just the next 24 hours to prove him wrong.
Trump will come out of this not only unbowed and unpunished, but vindicated.
It won't win him the election, but it will underline that he was right all along: globalism and multiculturalism are disease vectors of cultural, ethnic, and economic weakness. They shall not pass.
The effects of this Chinese infection will both blunt and reverse the Democratic effort to hold him to account through Constitutional means. It may even help re-elect him.
It is the biggest piece of luck I've seen in modern political history.
@ Ad
More work along the same theme from PNAS:
Or put in simple terms, countries where there is a high disease and parasite load push the population toward more conservative, closed attitudes. It's an entirely legitimate survival strategy. Disgust sensitivity is tied into this as well. (Interestingly the Nazi's are well understood to have exploited this in their imagery, describing Jews in pathological or parasitic terms.)
But in essence you are right, disease is our ancient enemy and it evokes strong emotions that won't make for rational politics.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/duncan-garner-ihumatao-deal-to-be-struck-this-week-sources.html
if this is the ihumatao deal – labour will pay for it in the polls.
Jacinda is opened a Pandora’s box with taxpayers money on this one.
Well, somebody has to cut the Gordian knot to end the gridlock. Whether this creates a precedent (i.e. opens the proverbial can of worms) remains to be seen. Future Governments have no real (legal) obligation AFAIK to follow in the footsteps of the current Government.
If they can get it past Winston it will make for an impressive Waitangi Day speech.
I wonder if Duncan ever takes a break to clear the foam from around his mouth.
attacking the messenger – not the story. How typical.
How about trying to discuss the point. Like $45million of taxpayer money going to fletchers – and jacinda opening up the issue of maori claims on private land
OK James. How would you resolve this particular issue bearing in mind the factors peculiar to this case?
I would Have had the protesters moved off the land legally sold to fletchers.
if they didn’t go – arrest them.
🙄
yeah that sounds like it would solve a lot.
Would win all those votes from the right! Hang on, they'll vote Nat won't they?
Yep! And piss off all those who actually wanted a fair settlement. But James and his mates would be happy – so that's alright then.
If that is your solution, then it shows you are probably unaware of the back history to this land. Including recent promises by Manukau District Council that were supposed to be part of the legacy package to Auckland Council. Also, the use of SHA legislation to bypass any reference to historical or tangata whenua concerns.
What has happened is a foreseeable and rational response to the failures of authorities at both local and national levels to follow procedures set in place to avoid this kind of conflict. (The land has significantly increased in value because of the SHA zoning to residential. A benefit gained solely by the landowner, by a designation change from council and not shared in any way by the community. A failure to implement a capital-uplift tax by Auckland Council.)
Good post Molly. In the current environment of pretty poor reporting it has been lost that the SHAs set up by Nick Smith overrode many concerns about the development of that land.
Particularly dense people who look to Duncan Garner for their opinions will actively ignore the recent and not so recent history of the place if it serves to bash Maori protestors.
The same people are incapable of realising the historical value of such areas, largely because it is not white historical value.
To me, the current government buying the land off Feltchers is the price to pay for the last government’s naked recolonisation of Ihumatao.
I would Have had the protesters moved off the land legally sold to fletchers.
if they didn’t go – arrest them.
That'll work! That'll really work! After all, who remembers Parihaka or Bastion Point these days? Hardly anyone who isn't Māori, right? If only the current government's leadership had James' wisdom and previous governments' disdain for Māori, this could all have been sorted very easily…
Attacking the messenger??? More like a disingenuous message that needs to be dispelled. How about the line that Fletcher's had the taxpayers over a barrel and did what predators do? It would have been more helpful if the history, reasons and motivations behind the Ihumatao resolution had been explored buy someone with investigative and reporting skills. This would have been more appropriate than a political hit-job by a foam-mouthed, self-opinionated lightweight.
I am just glad that we have a government with the ethics and courage to right this wrong. Talk of 'taxpayers money' is very immature – the government is buying back what it stole. Not only did it steal the land it sold it to private interests so the debt is theirs to repay. Fletchers seem to have behaved with integrity and have probably spent a lot negotiating this issue. Add that to the increase in the value of the land over the 4 years that they have owned it and what they are being offered is probably fair.
Personally I think this settlement was a reasonable compromise in this specific case. But the word 'stole' could have a very flexible meaning; there are plenty of people who'd cheerfully stretch it out to cover the whole of NZ.
Not all – some land was sold and some given. This agreement does open up new possibilities for negotiation and having now the possibilities of a 'case by case' scenario is going to make it a lot more complicated but fairer.
We wasted $30 million on a referendum only one person wanted.
I think this is good value for money.
That can easily be disproven.
The referendum or the money?
Go on then, James, disprove it!
I wanted the flag referendum also. So that was at least two of us.
This sounds like a wild goose chasing a red herring down the garden path about a false flag operation.
I'm picking you voted Black and Blue tea-towel and Black and Blue tea-towel just like John Key.
Just imagine if it had won. A dingy, dull black and blue. So much for "the brighter future" Key was promising.
Incredible a flag of such poor design was voted for by so many dense RWNJs who did so simply because they adored the corrupt John Key.
Lucky for New Zealand they were beaten in the end.
"attacking the messenger – not the story. How typical."
Hilarious, James!
Haven't you just attacked the messenger?
James made a valid point even though it might be hard to swallow for some …
Yep. And some messengers come with EXCEPTIONALLY large egos.
(I just broke a New Year's resolution. I'm now going to go flog myself)
attacking the messenger – not the story.
If the messenger's an ignorant, racist blowhard peddling misinformation with a poisonous agenda, attacking the messenger sounds entirely reasonable. More to the point would be, how much of a sucker would someone have to be to lend credence to Duncan Garner's messages.
Along Garner racist just shows how stupid and I’ll informed you are.
just because you disagree with him – doesn’t make him racist.
Isn't Garner the dude who went to kmart for undies and got contemplative about the "changing face of New Zealand"?
Yep, that's the guy. Nothing racist about bemoaning all the coloured people you have to hang out with, right?
Certainly not, especially while overlooking the fact that his contemplation of this (oh shit, I looked it up again and he actually called it "a nightmarish glimpse into our future") took place in an aussie-owned store with a US brand.
After all, he explicitly said that nothing in his column was intended to be racist. So that's alright, then.
A minority of the Press Council only thought his expressed views had an "unpleasant "dogwhistle" odour" but were not racist in a way that broke the rules, so yes you must be right.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99998249/majority-of-press-council-rules-duncan-garner-column-in-breach
(ie the majority of the Council thought his views were "gratuitous racism")
ooo I either missed or forgot that ending to the story.
That'll be on his permanent record.
What makes Garner racist?
2 hours after you commented Jimmy, and now your question is answered before you asked it, if one just runs down the thread… Tricky business, isn't it?
Might be a shock for people like you – but some of us had better things to do today than sit online waiting for replies.
Beautiful day on the water today. Pity you missed it.
Too many assumptions there, numpty. Actually had a great luncheon with friends. And Jimmy's comment was at 5 pm. Your day on the water started then, did it? Try harder.
James left school at 15 so is not too clever.
[It was just a matter of time before someone would cross the line and resort to stupid insults aimed at James. Like it or leave it, James is free to comment here as long as he adheres to the site’s policy and rules. Please don’t do this (again) or next time you throw insults at him for no direct reason you will be receiving gardening leave – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 10:17 PM.
He can comment. I'm not the one who bans him…
No, you were the one who insults him …
And? He does the same with his soft trolling of In Vino at 5.1.6.2.1.1
James freely offered his unlikely past in a series of posts on 21 January 2018 when he was trying to railroad Ed off the board.
You are defending the wrong people I think.
You are conflating two things here: me warning you about making insults and James giving a smart arse reply.
James has a reputation of being a stirrer and he has form. In fact, I left James a long comment about that yesterday, which you might want to read too (https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-24-01-2020/#comment-1681008).
As it turns out, you also have a bit of history here with flaming and insults. Coincidentally, your last ban (last year, 3 days only) was for insulting James!
As I said, like it or leave it, but please stop wasting my time. Thanks in advance.
I've had two bans here.
The one you mentioned which was in fact because of impudence shown towards a moderator (trivialising Weka's authority rather than insulting James), and another by Weka for directly questioning James' sincerity on the case of the man who set himself on fire before parliament.
I guess the price of having a forum that is not an echo chamber is the moderators must protect stirrers in your words, or trolls in mine.
[please correct the error in your user handle; it has happened twice now. Thanks]
You have had more than two bans here and quite a few moderator warnings.
Given your recalcitrant behaviour, I think that is low.
I am calling you out on your insulting behaviour and I am not protecting anybody. Moderators are not bodyguards but more like cleaners who clear up the mess made and left behind by others on this site.
Like it or leave it; this is my final word on this and I kindly suggest taking heed.
I have corrected the error which was at your end.
It's a glitchy site.
Uhuh
Well, artifacts are constantly left and repeated in the username section which is, for some reason, not independent from the comments section.
But what do I know?
Take it up with the SYSOP. Most seem to manage here most of the time but the mistake you made is quite common and often goes unnoticed for a (little) while, which wastes Moderator time.
I know what this forum is run on…
You might like to correct system caused username mistakes without fanfare in future.
Volunteers
Talk to the SYSOP
Me too.
Seems to work fine with firefox. What browser are you using, Muttonbird?
Thanks McFlock. It's a WordPress thing I think where a mistake in the username is repeated ad infinitum.
@ Incognito's oddly timestamped comment:
I think I've had two bans.
So I have a problem with authority. What is a simple activist to do? Lie down and take it, I suppose? Where on earth would that end, George Orwell?
You can either accept my contribution to The Standard, or not. I think I make a decent effort in most of my comments but am called out on a few and that seems to define me according to yourself and Weka.
I'll work hard to conform to your definition of “smart-arse reply” which you seem to accept, and stick to that.
This grovelling approach works for some – I might try it! 😀
Your “grovelling approach works” but only just because it’s a lovely morning and I had a decent sleep last night.
You’ve had more than two bans but this is not important (I can provide the links, with time-stamps for your personal archive or trophy cabinet, but why waste more time on this?).
You have an occasional problem with your attitude and language when you resort to flaming and insulting, which has led to moderation and a few (>2) bans.
You also seem to have a problem with listening, simple explanations, simple instructions, and following clear and simple rules. I’d use a different word for that than “activist” and “recalcitrant” was possibly too mild.
Whether you continue making valuable contributions here or smart arse replies is neither here nor there for me. It’s up to commenters to make this a better site or turn it into sandpit full of petulant smart arses or foul-mouthed morons. The choice is yours; like it or leave it.
A few months back I had a plugin in FF that screwed with any website that needed a form, even though it did what it was supposed to do (text substitution).
Additionally some browsers on some operating systems can be tempramental.
Newer browsers often have a "safe" mode, where all plugins or add-ons are disabled. Try TS in safe mode, and if it works then some plugin is arguing with your browser.
Forms all work ok on other websites?
I don't think Garner is racist. Wasn't his partner(s) a part Maori woman?
No idea on whomever he shags.
But the media council sure thought he'd expressed a racist opinion. Many people have their reckons, not many people have their reckons determined to be "gratuitous racism" by an independent panel that oversees their industry.
The only other one who comes to mind for that sort of thing is David Irving.
unless he is foaming at the mouth he ain't gonna get paid.
so yeah, he be foaming.
Unless he’s lathering up generously in the shower and eating or licking the soap, he’ll be frothing at the mouth, not foaming.
Who knows what that guy has swallowed, really.
So it's about 50/50 on foaming vs frothing?
Probably a cake of Grandma Lye Soap..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdaeQLCTa6g&t=32s
The initial comment @ 4 was about a potentially imminent breakthrough in the Ihumātao dispute.
I think it is worth noting that many comments in this thread did not discuss the topic at all but were diversions about Duncan Garner being an alleged racist, about James, about the flag referendum and other unrelated and thus irrelevant things.
Inevitably, it ended up with blatant insults with no constructive content whatsoever and almost led to a ban 🙁
Somehow I can't get terribly worked up about that virus outbreak. Its place of origin is one that winks at the sort of unhygenic practices around rearing animals, and selling them or their products, that we outlawed decades ago. They're reaping what they've sown. Yes, there might be a few deaths here to begin with, but we'll contain the spread all right.
Personally, I find this more disturbing:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/trump-legacy-end-of-trust-in-democracy-simon-tisdall
Orwell wrote his best-known novel in 1948. Thirty-six years later, That Date actually arrived, but seemingly not its accompanying dystopia. The seeds, however, were already being sown. On by a similar length of time, and we arrive at the present day, where those seeds have germinated and are growing fast.
It's my wild-arsed guess there is a 90% chance this new bug will mutate into something less dangerous fairly quickly. However there is a small but non-zero chance it could go badly pear shaped like the 1918 Spanish Flu.
It's the Chinese Medical authorities, WHO and CDC who will do all the heavy lifting here. If Angola can contain Ebola, there is every chance China will get on top of this.
But in a weeks time we'll know more about this virus, it's incubation time, it's infectivity and it's lethality. In the meantime don't get worked up, but don't ignore basic precautions either.
Hope so. In 1918 we didn't have gene sequencing to identify exactly where it came from, either the Krait or Chinese Cobra apparently,and effective isolation and containment systems and back then it was some months before they even knew there was a problem.
A mate who has visited the sort of food market to the Wuhan one has said the bloody places are unbelievable, they have no place in the 21st century.
just for some balance
here is a list of ecoli break outs in the western world due to lax business rules – i.e. self certifying. Just in case you like your romaine and lettuce and ground beef.
https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks.html
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/5/5/99-0502_article
Funnily enough, i have always eaten in food courts in asia when i travel and i never even had as much as a stomach bugling, however friends of mine who insisted in MacDo and the likes often came down with the runs. Go figure.
Funny that. I reckon it sometimes may be just a change in the ecology in the gut, or something similar. About a month ago I spent time both in Japan and Thailand. In Thailand I ate from street vendors, in dirt floor restaurants with no running water, and other meals from questionable sources. Not a problem except for tender tushie from all the chili-laced meals I scarfed.
Japan was great, but I did have one afternoon with a case of runny bum.
The point is that even in ultra-hygeinic locations one can get a tummy rumbler. Although, to be honest getting a case of the Aztec Two-step is more likely in the less developed more free wheeling regions. Sometimes it's just luck.
If I understood the news correctly this morning, the Chinese have warned that the infectious period starts 2 weeks before any symptoms show in the infectious person.
If this is true, I think it is the first time we have struck such a virus, and with two weeks before the infectious person can be detected, we have absolutely no hope of stopping the spread.
But – the second part is better: the virus causes fewer deaths proportionately than SARS did, and as viruses get better at spreading they tend to get milder in effect.
So a pandemic will mean quite a lot of us will recover from an annoying mild pneumonia, but there will not be billions of dead.
But did I hear that news correctly, and is the report true?
Not to mention it got called "Spanish Flu" because the Spaniards were neutral and none of the warring nations wanted to disclose how many of their troops were ill.
So they knew they had a problem, but it was a military secret and then everyone got shipped home around the world…
Yes, and people in Spain called it the Russian flu. Maybe we can call it that from here on in and everyone will be like totally impressed at how woke we are eh?
and then there is the sars research at the wuhan bio research facility.
But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says.
https://www.nature.com/news/inside-the-chinese-lab-poised-to-study-world-s-most-dangerous-pathogens-1.21487
Yes I've witnessed that extreme authoritarian hierarchy in action in the workplace. It's quite spooky when you first see it, for a few moments I felt I'd been transported to a Nazi concentration camp movie.
Maybe that's why I'm so much less sanguine about the CCP's regime than Ad is.
If only they lived like us.
Cos west is the best, eh.
/
Some background on Bernie Sanders and what he has achieved in Burlington Vermont.
" One of his main goals was to rein in real estate speculation and gentrification, to keep the tenants in their homes. In 1984, he established the Burlington Community Land Trust, which started buying and renovating rundown rental properties on the Old North End. The model was to rent them at fixed rates or sell them at low prices, while retaining ownership of the land and sharing in any value appreciation. Now called the Champlain Housing Trust, it is the largest such nonprofit in the nation and has 8% of the city’s housing units "
Not afraid too confront the issues in his home town.
"While he brought free public concerts to Battery Park on the bluff, Sanders also went on a campaign to stop noisy late-night college parties, even accompanying police to dress down the revelers "
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-01-26/presidential-candidate-bernie-sanders-burlington-vermont-hometown
Wait a minute, we are supposed to give this guy Presidential credibility because a trust he started three decades ago has been doing up a few houses in a town about the same size and global importance as Gisborne?
Donald Trump and his dad were doing that for about the same time and instead of a few hundred houses, have turned it into a world-conquering hotel and resort brand.
Seriously if real estate is touted as the killer move for Sanders, someone needs a strategy refresh.
leave all that aside and take in this
1. Burlington, Vermont Population 2019. Burlington, Vermont's estimated population is 42,899
2.The ethnic composition of the population of Burlington, VT is composed of 35.1k White Alone residents (82.7%), 2.65k Asian Alone residents (6.25%), 2.32k Black or African American Alone residents (5.47%), 1.21k Hispanic or Latino residents (2.86%), 964 Two or More Races residents (2.27%), 109 American Indian & Alaska
3. The Champlain Housing Trust, founded in 1984, is the largest community land trust in the country. Throughout Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, CHT manages 2,300 apartments, stewards 620 owner-occupied homes in its signature shared-equity program, offers homebuyer education and financial fitness counseling, provides services to five housing cooperatives, and offers affordable energy efficiency and rehab loans. In 2008, CHT won the prestigious United Nations World Habitat Award, recognizing its innovative, sustainable programs.
While a nice thing for the residence of the City of Burlington Vermont, its a sad indictment of the state of USA's housing policies.
I'm not sure how it indicts anything.
At some point we're going to have to clear away this film-flam of the always-never-made-its and get to the main guy: What will Joe Biden Do as President?
it shows that a tiny wee little town has the largest housing charity.
that is the sadness about it all.
I don't know what Jo biden will do as president. Kidnap babies at the frontiers and then loose them in the system to god knows whom? Install a global gag rule on abortion, birth controll, and such to please forced birther crowd? Remove any and all regulations on the environment to drill baby drill and mine mine mine? Play golf every third day on the tax payers dime? Start world war three?
Honestly i have no fucking idea what Jo Biden would do, nor do i care.
But if this is an example of Bernie Sanders will do, then he will have put his name to a charity that has 2300 apartments under its umbrella and it stewards som 630 occupied owner houses, in a town of 43.000 people. And the sad thing about this charity is that it is the "Largest Charity of its kind in the US of A'. Go figure.
Meanwhile Here is what one editor of The Nation has to say on Elizabeth Warren:
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/warren-president-endorsement-2020/
"Nine days before the Iowa caucuses, Elizabeth Warren’s support among polled Democrats has declined from 21% to 11% since an ABC News/WashPost poll in October." https://www.axios.com/2020-presidential-election-poll-biden-warren-7dce6f94-7d30-4a5c-bab1-32dd15b8e09b.html
“This poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Jan. 20–23 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points”:
I always liked the brainy chick. Sigh.
Brokered convention anyone?
Focusing: "Ahead of the Iowa caucuses eight days from now, the NY Times says Sen. Bernie Sanders is "consolidating support from liberals and benefiting from divisions among more moderate" candidates, per the Times/Siena College poll." https://www.axios.com/2020-presidential-election-bernie-sanders-iowa-3a4357fb-5bae-4669-b885-6141e576823b.html
"Why it matters: Sanders gained 6 points since the last Times-Siena survey in late October and now has 25% of the vote in Iowa."
By the numbers:
What's the percent of undecideds? Still around 2/3?
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/11/21057416/iowa-and-new-hampshire-voters-undecided-2020-election
Seems to depend how they ask the question: "The Suffolk poll showed nearly a quarter of Democratic primary voters, 24 percent, are undecided. But the WBUR survey, which included so-called “leaners” — voters who initially say they are undecided but, when asked, say they are leaning toward one candidate — pegged the “undecided” number at just 5 percent." https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/23/sanders-polls-2020-103084
Definite age variation happening, and it's big: "Age has become one of the defining cleavages of the 2020 Democratic race. In the CNN/SSRS national poll — in which Sanders has a slim, 3-point lead over Biden overall — Sanders is the top choice of 39 percent of Democrats under the age of 45. That’s 21 points ahead of the next closest Democrat, Warren, another septuagenarian who appeals to younger voters."
"On the other side of the ledger, Sanders is the first choice of only 16 percent of Democrats 45 and older. His strength halves again, to 8 percent, among those 65 and older. Biden, meanwhile, wins 33 percent of 45-and-older Democrats, and 37 percent of the 65-plus set."
Those with a memory of how socialism operated tend to be biased against it. Those who like the aspirations in the mix tend to go for it…
Bit of a shame but lets hope Bernie picks up Warrens 11%
i don't think that the Warrens supporters are the issue in supporting whomever is the democractic nominee.
How ever the same can not be said about Sanders supporters
https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-poll-warren-biden-2020-nominee-emerson-college-1483831
poll to be found here
https://emersonpolling.reportablenews.com/pr/national-2020-biden-and-sanders-battle-in-two-way-race-for-democratic-nomination
oh well. Its gonna be a shit show anyways. Why not start flinging it early?
Seems to be a link between perceptions a candidate is (or has been) discriminated against in the primary and support for an unknown candidate put forward by the democrats.
If these polls are indicative of couse than the rational choice is Bernie due to his supporters relative obstinance. Though I doubt US centrist pundits can draw the obvious conclusion.
yeah,
19% of Bernie supporters stating that they will NOT support the democratic nominee is ……….(insert what ever suits you).
vs, no one from the warren supporters saying that they will NOT support the democratic nominee should she not get the tick.
should be real easy for bernie to pick up warren supporters should he get the tick, but should it not be bernie we can expect 19% of his supporters to vote for the incumbent or humpty dumpty.
Its gonna be a delightful shitshow just like the last time around. And we all know who won. So yeah, they better give it to bernie or else…..:)
At least if Biden wins the nomination, you cannot blame the Democrats for moving too fast to the left.
Yeah. It'll be Democrats being pragmatic. A vote of confidence in the liberal establishment. Biden the grinner, face of BAU.
Katyusha rockets have hit the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad causing multiple casualties.
Astounding, wealthy, intelligent, privileged people can treat animals like this, the National Party link is neither here or there (other than a horrendous irony), & read how many chances the vets gave these guys!!! https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/119011628/national-mps-husband-son-face-trial-for-alleged-animal-cruelty-against-cows
It's revolting how some people treat animals. National MP barbara kuriger should be ashamed of her husband and her son. If she did nothing to prevent them from treating animals so cruelly, she should also be ashamed of herself. And to think she is their spokesperson for Rural Communities. Taranaki-King Country deserves better.
May the full arm of the law come down on them.
treating these cows would cut into the profit. And yes, she is the spokes person for 'rural communities' and it says a lot about The NoMates Party that would nominate someone like her to be a spokesperson for rural communities.
Hope the rural communties will wake up and tell her to get a job elsewhere.
You may want to re-read the link in I Feel Love’s comment 😉
His defence for the alleged crime is pretty weak IMHO. Will await the verdict with great interest.
Virus update by NZ scientist: https://sciblogs.co.nz/infectious-thoughts/2020/01/27/the-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china-what-a-difference-a-week-makes/
The inimitable Gordon McLaughlan has died.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/author-and-media-personality-gordon-mclaughlan-dies-aged-89
I recall one of his amusing anecdotes from his early journalistic days. He was approached by the SIS who "wanted to talk to him". Curious to know what they wanted to talk to him about, he agreed to meet them. He was told to go to a Wellington hotel and knock on the door of Room 60. (I've forgotten the number so 60 will do.) He found Room 60 and knocked on the door. No reply. He was about to leave when a voice from behind said "come in". He swung around and a man was standing in the open door of the room on the opposite side.
I wondered how he managed to open the door and check it was McLaughlan without making a sound. Maybe there was a secret peep-hole in the door that only the SIS knew about. 👿 Whatever, McLauchlan wouldn't do what they wanted him to do.
Muttonbird said…
Because I wanted the site to be as open as possible and because I didn't want to spend time endlessly fixing logins or dealing with robots, I disabled them back in about 2009. Instead I put in a system to allow anyone to leave comments and maintained the logins for authors, moderators and the lucky few who already had them.
However that meant that with every comment, the non-login author had to put put in their details on each comment – which slowed the commenting process. So I used cookies. Once you leave a comment on a particular browser on a particular system, I told your browser to remember those details on your client machine login, and to fill in the fields for you on that browser and machine whenever a comment was presented to fill in.
Works well until the details get mucked up at the client side. Typically when pasting into the wrong field, which causes the mistake to reproduced.
Thanks for that explanation.
The issue seems to be that, of late, occasionally when I am merrily typing away in the comment box the cursor will flip to the name box without warning. I continue to type until I need to look at the screen again and find no words added to the comment box, but they have been added to the name box which I didn't think to check.
I then re-type what got 'lost' in the comment box and hit 'Submit Comment'. The comment then goes out with extra words added to my username in the name box.
Not sure if it's an issue with my machine.
Is it one of those laptops with a touchpad below the keyboard? I always switch that off if I have a corded mouse – my hands hovering over the touch pad sometimes tap it and send the cursor funny places.
ALTHOUGH:
a good trick in a shared office is to put a cordless mouse usb in the back of a colleagues machine. Then as they're typing away just randomly point and click from your desk. drives 'em crazy if you do it subtly enough 😉
Yes, but the mousepad requires a definite push.
I've not been able to repeat the fault today – it's random.
McFlock is probably right. Mousepads are a nuisance when you're typing. Mine is turned off whenever I have a external keyboard/mouse talking to it. Which is most of the time.
I usually do have a wireless K750 keyboard + a MX Anywhere in my pack or where I work. I have 3 of them – work, home, and pack. Solar powered keyboards are *thin* – sneak in the pack very nicely.
Try the right side of the mouse pad. That is usually where they have the scroller option turned on. The option is often set to move fields when you use it vertically.