We all engage in predictions. Simply put, they are what someone thinks will happen in the future. But a robust prediction is more than an opinion; it is an informed opinion. This is where epidemiologists come in. They are medical specialists in epidemiology, i.e. the study (scientific, systematic and based on data) of the distribution […]
I haven’t read the 1949 book “State Housing in New Zealand” but a friend sent me some notes about it a few days ago and I’m picking it up at the local library. The book can be purchased here or readers can find it in the CCC Library here or the National Library here. It […]
THIS IS FROM ONE OF Jacinda Ardern’s MOST FAITHFUL ALLIES, The daily blogfrom the editor, Martyn Bradbury. He is not a happy man: “Labour will do nothing against the supermarket duopoly. If they don’t bother to take the biggest recommendation from the royal inquiry into historic state abuse after asking for it and paying over […]
Yesterday I predicted that the ground war would slow down. NATO remains firm, ruling out any commitment to intervention, thus giving the Russians time to slowly develop their operations, strangle Kiev and slowly advance towards their objectives. Meanwhile, the recent ‘Cry Havoc’ from both sides unleashed the ‘dogs of war’ as western volunteers began arriving […]
The only hope to counter global warming are AI machines that can do miraculous things at atomic levels, the next generation of quantum computing and AI could become gods in essential machines… DeepMind scientists say they trained an AI to control a nuclear fusion reactor The London-based AI lab, which is owned by Alphabet, announced […]
Jack Tame is doing the hard work as a public media reporter right now. Trying to dissuade frightened and angry middle-class Marxists from sending in the army is hard work and Jack has been incredible in driving martial law away from New Zealand. He asks Coster if he feels justified in warning that this violence […]
WTF? Sky TV stops broadcasting Russia Today due to war on Ukraine Sky Television stopped broadcasting Russia Today following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and criticism from the Russian state-controlled channel. RT is still listed on Sky’s menu, but with the message that it is “currently unavailable”. Sky spokeswoman Chris Major said Sky […]
For several years, I have subscribed to the New York Book Review which was a literary delight. Its overall political orientation is not mine, but that adds to its intellectual appeal rather than diminishes it. Unfortunately, I have a backlog of unread issues and I only recently read an article published on August 19, 2021 […]
Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: 13,606 community cases of Covid; 263 in hospital; 5 in intensive care There were 13,606 new community cases of Covid-19 announced in New Zealand today. There were five people in intensive care units and 263 people in hospital, the health ministry said. We finally see the true magnitude of Omicron and it’s […]
Ukraine crisis: Russia declares war on Ukraine; reports of explosions in Kyiv; Putin sends warning about interference Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a “military operation in eastern Ukraine”. In a televised address to the Russian people, the president said clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces were “inevitable” and “only a matter of time”. He […]
Around the world, a revival of passenger rail is providing people with convenient, affordable and low-carbon ways to connect. In New Zealand, however, our rail operator KiwiRail has abandoned long-distance passenger rail, announcing the permanent end of same-day long distance services between Auckland/Wellington and Picton/Christchurch. These services will be replaced by a luxury multi-day “rail […]
So far, there are a range of opinions on TDB about the convoy’s occupation of Parliament grounds. Chris Trotter asks the police to evacuate the demonstrators. John Minto sees in it a revolt of workers who are fed up with neoliberalism and the failure of their political leadership. Bomber is somewhat neutral, tolerant of “clowns” […]
Treaty settlements: The most important understanding that Aotearoa New Zealand should draw from our current reality is that the vast majority of whanau Maori are worse off today than they were before the fourth Labor government empowered the court in Waitangi to start investigating historic breaches of the treaty in the 1980s. The reason Maori […]
The colossal strategic blunder of the Auckland Left establishment to back such a weak candidate as Richard Hills is driven by two forces, old loyalty to the left’s talent dynamics and new woke identitarianism. Efeso’s working-class intelligence and mana are a threat to the establishment left’s demand for total enslavement and his strong moral faith […]
The state broadcaster remarkably awoke from its holiday slumber to post a poll from its starry, gold-velvet bedroom before going back to sleep. Is TVNZ Breakfast back on screens yet, or is it still enjoying its taxpayer-funded vacation? I imagine them all rehearsing their Tik Tok dancers in Scrooge McDuck’s vault under Radio NZ where […]
January 15th business office published my article internationally comparing the effectiveness of New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic since early 2020: Give the world our best shot I used two main comparators – death rates per million people and complete vaccination rates (whole rather than eligible populations). New Zealand’s death rate was perhaps the […]
OMICRON HAS ARRIVED and, not without reason, its release will monopolize the attention of our news media for weeks to come. But this latest variant of Covid-19 is far from the only challenge facing New Zealanders. A very disruptive economic phenomenon, unseen in this country for a whole generation, is making a disconcerting reappearance. An […]
There’s a man running around taking namesAnd he decides who to free and who to blameNot everyone will be treated the sameThere will be a golden ladder coming downWhen the man comesThe hairs on your arm will stand on endTo terror in every sip and in every supperWill you participate in this last cup offered?Or […]
University of Otago epidemiologist Dr Amanda Kvalsvig has done Aotearoa New Zealand a favor by advocating in the mainstream media (January 11) that all schools, including early childhood settings, should delay reopening after summer vacation until ‘basic protections’ against the omicron variant of Covid-19 were in place: . His argument was that more time was […]
Camo Karen There she blows – after claiming that Jacinda was, quote, “violating Gaia” with our vaccine deployment, Liz doubled down again by falsely claiming that 5 children passed out from vaccines… COVID-19: Liz Gunn launches into furious rant after being asked for evidence of child collapse at North Shore vaccination center Former TV host […]
Waitangi Protest 1982. Photo by John Miller. “ISOLATION from the ravages of extreme opinion has been achieved. Settlements have become commonplace. The words are those of former Labor Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer. The ‘settlements’ he refers to are negotiated treaty settlements between the Crown and Iwi. The Iwi, officially recognized tribal entities of New […]
All is well with the world according to the latest version of Labors spinning machine We are committed to making New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. The work we’ve done so far to increase family incomes and lift children out of poverty has led to improvements in all nine […]
These are dangerous times. 2021 must be remembered as the year the warning was sounded loud and clear, that the machinations ofthe powerful of the world must not be exposed. The message, for journalists, for potential whistleblowers and for human rights lawyers, is to be very afraid. Australian journalist, Wikileaks editor Julian Assange, at the […]
Executive Director Rebecca Elvy will be leaving the Human Rights Commission after nearly 3 years in this position. She will join Tregaskis Brown in Wellington as a consulting partner in March. “His leadership and sharp intelligence will be sorely missed. In many ways, Ms. Elvy has helped reset the Commission. We are very fortunate to […]
On January 4, the British newspaper the Guardian published an insightful article from its health policy editor Denis Campbell:. Campbell is an experienced journalist. He writes for the Guardian and his weekly sister on Observer on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), public health and medicine since 2007. On this occasion, he focuses on the […]
National Congressman Harete Hipango joined a group of anti-vaccine and anti-mandate Voices for Freedom protesters. Every Kiwi has the right to demonstrate, it is a fundamental right, but these lunatics receive black money from far-right American fools and they become legitimized when deputies join their ranks! We are living through a once-in-a-century pandemic. It’s scary, […]
Of Stuff.co.nz’s 20 political predictions, 19 relate to domestic political developments. Journalists make only one prediction about important international political developments. That’s it: American Democrats lose full control of Congress, either by losing the House, a single Senate seat (possibly Nevada), or both. This hinders Joe Biden’s presidency. Aside from the single paragraph above, Stuff’s […]
So here are the 2021 TDB predictions, how well did they stack up? PREDICTION 1 After each major pandemic, there is social unrest … “So when our sickness and our poverty had needs greater than we could well meet; The strict orders only further enraged our grief, And hindered the achievement of relief. “ This […]
The Honorable Grant RobertsonMinister of Sports and Recreation Sports and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson congratulated Olympian Lisa Carrington and Paralympian Sophie Pascoe on being named the Companion Dames of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) as part of the 2022 New Year Honors. Lisa Carrington is New Zealand’s most successful Olympian, having won five […]
Review 2021, 2022, ParliamentChris Trotter (Bowalley Road): Riding the Revolutionary Tiger of 2022Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): TDB – Political Winners and Losers 2021Henry Cooke (Stuff): How has our political forecast for 2021 been? We strummed with a passing gradeJohn Bishop (Stuff): Normal’s Gift No One Got For ChristmasStuff: The Year of Auckland in Pictures: The […]
Sooooooo despite the death sect capitalists screaming that she would not kill for the economy and the Maori party claiming ‘genocide’ and the madmen of Qanon, the ZB troll farm and woke public health madmen screaming all no – Jacinda’s 90% goal saved us from Delta. But then came the omicron. How ironic for a […]
Chris Trotter’s essay on the possibility of a civil war in the United States is timely, at least if one looks to the events leading up to two previous attempts. While many suspect that there have been a number of “unregistered” coups d’état in US history, the first recognized is the one that sought to […]
2021 in review, Parliament, partiesMatthew Hooton (Herald): My thoughts on 2021 – and why John Tamihere is my New Zealander of the Year (paying)Spin off: Politics in 2021: How to describe the year in one sentence?Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Here is the year of adaptation (paying)Jo Moir (press room): “I don’t have this lived experience” – […]
Imagine how wild Hosking would have gotten if Jacinda had demanded that all Maori be vaccinated first. Waitangi Tribunal rules government response to Covid-19 puts Maori at risk The Waitangi court has made a scathing ruling on the government’s response to Covid-19 and the vaccine rollout, saying Maori are in danger. One of the problems […]
Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles knows a lot about viruses. She directs the laboratory of bioluminescent superbugs (production and emission of light by a living organism for us, mere mortals) at the University of Auckland. She is an outstanding communicator on the coronavirus, in particular, and science, in general, in mainstream and social media. In addition, […]
Three main pillars were outlined in the “health reforms” for New Zealand’s health system announced by Health Minister Andrew Little in April. The “reforms” are about to come into effect in July next year. Two of these pillars make sense and have the potential to help improve the efficiency of the health system, particularly by […]
ONE OF THE BENEFITS of getting older is that you get a feel for what’s really going wrong. The experiences of young people, especially events leading to profound societal changes, tend to be so vivid that those who go through them become intensely aware of any experience that they feel, even remotely, to be similar. […]
Who is to be believed when concerns are openly expressed about the safety of New Zealand’s public hospitals? Both patient safety and the safety of hospital staff. This issue is highlighted in a December 9 Things and Dominion Post An article by experienced local reporter Marty Sharpe about the chief nurses in the emergency department […]
What most outsiders don’t like about The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy is that these aren’t fantasy movies. These are real documentaries set in New Zealand today. The biggest hoax ever to the movie audiences on the planet is that Weta Workshop is a magical movie monster-making factory akin to Dungeons & […]
UK court authorizes Julian Assange’s extradition to US for espionage A UK appeals court on Friday opened the door to Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States by overturning a lower court ruling that the mental health of the WikiLeaks founder was too fragile to withstand the system of American criminal justice. The High Court […]
Reputable medical journals such as the British medical journal (BMJ) are invaluable not only to physicians, but also to those who observe health systems and policies, both of which are closely related to the practice of medicine and science. Nowhere are these reviews more important than in understanding and experiencing the production of antiviral drugs […]
I listened to the first parliamentary question that Christopher Luxon asked Jacinda Ardern today. Parliamentary questions are a very good test of people’s ability to be nimble and intelligent. Basically, a speaker can ask as many questions as they want, to try and get their point across. Luxon asked for a lot. The exchange went […]
One of the most shameful aspects of our foreign policy is our two-tier approach to human rights violations. Appalling treatment is inflicted on human beings in many parts of the world, but New Zealand does not strongly speak out against abuses in countries that the United States sees as enemies while refusing to speak out […]