Mab 🏳️‍🌈

The Phase 2 report's out www.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz/reports-less... Inter alia, it flags how mis/disinfo significantly impacted NZ's pandemic response. Both undermined efficacy of vaxx campaign and implementation of lockdowns, contributing to a measurable decline in public trust. #nzpol

It seems the throughline of the COVID inquiry is that if the government of the day had had perfect information, then they would have made some different decisions. But, in retrospect, they acted appropriately on the available evidence for the most part

I must admit I'm surprised at how little the Royal Commission gave to vaccine opponents, some of whom saw this process as the thing that would vindicate them. Can't get much clearer than this.

Submitters’ primary concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines can be categorised as follows. ° mRNA vaccines (which use messenger RNA to instruct the body’s cells to produce a viral protein that evokes an immune response in the person receiving them) alter DNA or modify genes, causing cancer and other harmful conditions. ° The manufacturing process for Comirnaty was changed which affected its safety. ° The Comirnaty vaccine was still ‘experimental’ at the time of approval and had not been properly tested. ° The Comirnaty vaccine produced harmful side effects which authorities have not acted on appropriately. ° The long-term effects of the Comirnaty vaccine remain uncertain. 1383 We have carefully considered these issues, drawing on advice and evidence from a range of experts and sources, including studies provided to us by submitters, research published in leading scientific journals and conclusions from international regulatory authorities and the COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board. This review makes clear that the concerns raised are not grounded in reliable evidence or aligned with scientific consensus. While we acknowledge the sincerity of those who brought these concerns to us, ultimately our conclusions reflect the most robust and widely accepted scientific evidence available.

Prepare for meltdowns from any VFF or similar people in your life. I think they genuinely convinced themselves the phase 2 report was going to prove them right.
Reader, it did not.

One of my fave reads recently.

How fraudsters and scammers are getting more sophisticated in NZ Economic cost of fraud is believed to be around $10 billion.

The economic cost of fraud in NZ is about $10 billion a year; $7-$8b of that is tax avoidance.

Wealthy individuals and multinational corporations are the primary drivers of large-scale tax avoidance.

If we want to “claw back welfare payments” let’s start with the ones we’re giving to the wealthy.

Reading something from a person 500 years ago, on the other side of the planet, that speaks perfectly and with profound specificity to some private part of your soul, and finding, across those chasms of time, that you’re not alone is, IMO, the greatest pleasure literature can provide.

"[We] do see this as a risk... [We] do need households to stop being cautious and get out and spend if we want to see the recovery continue to broaden."

Reserve bank chief asks people to stop being poor.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

If you are in a perpetual cycle of response and recovery with inadequate preparation, planning and mitigation, no we are not getting good at this.

Under the previous govt the Wellington harbour would have 2 new purpose built ferries by now.

Under luxon the Wellington harbour just has poo in it.

Formerly of Tāmaki Makaurau, now based in Ōtaki, with an occasional foray into town-I’d say layers, light merino and some sturdy boots might be the ticket and one lighter dress in-case things warm up significantly. And a decent windbreak layer because that’s what’ll stop you freezing.

Michael Wood had to resign for a lot less. Just saying. 🙄

It's three days until Valentine's Day which is a good enough reason to post clips from the most Garashir episode of Deep Space Nine

To re-cap...

These are the kinds of people Ms Collins associates with.

Missing from picture; Pol Pot, Franco, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Hitler, Stalin...

FB status update from PM Christopher Luxon Several pictures of him meeting with locals, including two images in a tavern. "With National, New Zealanders get a party with a plan to fix the basics and build the future for all Kiwis, for generations to come. We've done a lot in just two years - and Kiwis can have certainty that over the coming year, National will continue working hard to realise New Zealand's potential and help all Kiwis get ahead. Great fun sharing this message with folk in Wigram while out campaigning across Christchurch with our National MPs today."

I think one might have had the foresight 15 hours ago that having pics of Luxo having a jolly old time in the pub while multiple regions are in a state of emergency miiight not be a great look

Jen Sorensen nails the hypocrisy and racism of the "European culture" argument.

It was reprehensible when people mocked condom usage at the height of the AIDS pandemic.

It is just as depraved to mock those wearing masks to reduce the spread of airborne viruses today.

Whenever someone takes any kind of step to protect public health, they should be applauded, not mocked.

mzsibyl_® › •: Al Threads 3d Tired of the Prompt Thieves in the Al art community. Seriously, the moment a great prompt is public, someone immediately copies it, shares it, and pretends it's their own genius work. It's not about gatekeeping, it's about giving credit where it's due. Stop stealing and start creating! #PromptStealer 1/2

OscarAl @Artedeingenio X.com Never do this: Passing off someone else's work as your own. This Grok Imagine effect with the day-to-night transition was created by me — and I'm pretty sure that person knows it. To make things worse, their copy has more impressions than my original post. Not cool

subscribe @Artedeingenio I don't know what you think, but this seems a bit unfel to me. My original post with the Saori Kido Athena prompt has 4,000 impressions, while @dvorahfr's post with an image created with my prompt has 30,000. As for not quoting me as the author, I'm not saying anything, because she has apologised. I would like to understand that it was an unintentional mistake, although I think I'm well enough known around here to use a prompt of mine without knowing it's mine. If I wasn't so well known, would there have been a rectification? I am afraid that many small accounts are stolen on a daily basis and nothing happens. But for a copy to be more widely distributed than the original is a very bad symptom. Without focusing on anyone, I think that some big accounts hardly create original content and just post other people's content, often without quoting the author, and that's very uncool. Respect and honesty above all else. Let's play fair.

AI sloppers (is that a term?) crying that their prompts are being stolen is more beautiful than anything AI could produce

You're not meant to SAY the "we have to keep the lowest paid poor so everyone else knows they're better than them"

#nzpol Just think of how many healthy school lunches could have been bought with the money wasted on processing ACT's terrible bills. And/or hip operations, or senior doctor's pay rises, or disability designed houses, or... te reo classes for Chris Luxon. 🧐

Luxon has become the default face for toxic landlords on left-wing pages across the world. This one's from Germany 😆😂

Manny Jacinto posted this bc he knows how sad and anxious we all are

Malu, a white woman sits up in a hospital bed wearing a nebuliser.

This is me at the moment-the RSV this year is brutal. You don’t want this peeps, but luckily all the things yo do to avoid COVID also apply here ( with more handwashing, this virus does linger well on surfaces). Stay safe lovely people.

NZ friends, there will be a doctor strike tomorrow and Wednesday unless a miracle happens today (narrator: there will be no miracle because this govt is incompetent). This is a union action. Do not assume because 'doctors are rich' that this doesn't bite or it 'isn't a real labour action'.

Someone took the chip from their Presto Card and put it into a magic wand.

Hey Hutt folks, you may miss it when voting, but please don’t vote for Suzanne Levy! She sounds fine, but OOPS she runs the TERF organisation Speak Up For Women.

a drawing of Milhouse from the Simpsons but in the style of the Bauhaus movement captioned everything's coming up Milhaus

I will never apologize for a post

Contemplating doing a murder of the middle-aged lady doing a Teams meeting on speakerphone on my train. Jokes on her, we’re about to drop reception through all the tunnels towards Paekakariki.