"The words are always familiar: rights, protection, safety. Words that quietly begin to mean for anyone, except people who look like us.
...
I invite people to consider one thing: that violence rarely appears without warning."
#March15 #TheyAreUs #ItIsPeople
thespinoff.co.nz/society/15-0...
This is why it was only herald and pay walled. It's not an announcement.
This is why it's written as a policy response not advise to individuals. That's what it is.
I'm enjoying the memes, the jokes.
But it's so clear how many people didn't read the article before commenting about what it is.
Kind of amazed, but I shouldn't be.
The whole "fuel alert system" is a existing policy document. Not a government response to the current events.
But because of the way the herald reported it, everyone here is acting like it's some government communication.
from the top rope
25 Premium 21 25 Retail Woolworths boss warns supermarket breakup could push grocery prices higher 2 hours ago
Big Bad Wolf warns reinforcing brick housing could make them easier to blow down #NZPol
My most unpopular opinion is that surveillance pricing is just supermarket coupons but with computers.
Companies have *always* done price discrimination, to try and charge price sensitive customers less, and to charge price insensitive customers more.
Alert levels are an unironically good, effective, prosocial, evidence-based tool for use in times of national crisis and it is good that this govt is using them (now let's see how well they use them)
This piece from Hayden Donnell is absolutely top hat #NZPol
I'm so sick of hearing "if voting worked, they wouldn't let us do it."
If voting didn't work, they wouldn't be trying so hard not to fucking let us do it!
Ways the govt could quickly help New Zealanders reduce fuel usage, but probably won’t 🤷, for reasons:
⚠️ Lower speed limits
🚌 Encourage PT (eg bring back half-priced fares)
🚲 Encourage active modes (eg pop-up bike paths)
🛤️ Move freight from road to rail (eg ramp up KiwiRail)
🏡 Support work-from-home
Whānau, remember how the far-right tried to take over Internet NZ last year and we kicked their butts? They haven't learned, and they're trying to do it again this year. Register by March 31st ($21 for a year) so you can vote in the AGM and send them packing again. members.internetnz.nz
Electoral loss is not a consequence, it’s a paid vacation for these people. They destroy everything and go to the oppositional benches for a break and come back and do more damage. Workers have fewer rights now. Beneficiaries have more hardship. Everything is more expensive.
A reminder that the outgoing Solicitor-General, Una Jagose, was revealed by the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care to have acted to shut down and deny claims by abused people.
But National, and Collins, allowed her to stay in office, and deal with response to the RC.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/thedeta...
ACT's David Seymour said he was open to the idea of a select committee inquiry. "A lot of people felt they were ostracized from society and if this helps them feel seen and heard, then it might not be a bad thing."
David Seymour on Aotearoa’s colonial legacy: “Māori should shut up about it.”
David Seymour on the legacy of the COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates: “Look, people need to be heard.”
While the pathetic grifters are whining about Labour 'ignoring advice' regarding COVID, here's a quick reminder #nzpol
Advice ignored
- Smokefree Legislation
- Emissions Targets, etc
- Māori Health Authority
- Fast-track Bill
- School Lunches
- iReX
- Landlord Tax Breaks
- Significant Natural Areas
In a sane political environment, the iReX debacle would have the current government unelectable this November.
In a term chocka block with monumental cock ups, this has be pretty much in the no. 1 position. #nzpol
I'll preface this by saying I do vote, but I'm sick of having to chose who's going to have authority over me. I'm sick of having a ruler. I'm sick of having a small group of people with power over millions.
The great forgetting that NZers enjoyed months of domestic travel, holidays, economic stability while large areas of the world were dealing with hospitals collapsing, deaths, lockdowns and restrictions.
Row one covers viral risk and clinical outcomes. VFF claims the government exaggerated case numbers and mortality to justify an elimination strategy and argues COVID-19 posed risks similar to a severe influenza season. The inquiry reports epidemiological evidence showing much higher hospitalisation, intensive care use, and mortality than seasonal influenza, with risk remaining elevated until immunity increased through vaccination and prior infection. Row two addresses alleged synthetic DNA contamination in mRNA vaccines. VFF claims vaccines contain harmful levels of synthetic DNA and an SV40 promoter-enhancer that could cause cancer or genomic alteration. Regulators including Medsafe and the European Medicines Agency state that trace residual DNA appears in many biological products and remains far below safety limits. Scientific reviews show the SV40 fragment lacks the components required for oncogenic activity, and serious complications occur more often after infection than vaccination. Row three concerns alleged suppression of early treatments. VFF claims authorities discredited Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine to protect vaccine authorisations. The inquiry cites large clinical trials, including RECOVERY and TOGETHER, which found no reduction in hospitalisation or mortality. Row four examines behavioural science in public health communication. VFF describes messaging and behavioural “nudges” as psychological manipulation. The inquiry frames them as crisis risk communication intended to coordinate behaviour and protect vulnerable groups. Row five covers international cooperation. VFF portrays the World Health Organization and pandemic agreements as threats to national sovereignty. The inquiry describes global data sharing and coordination as necessary for detecting emerging threats and developing countermeasures while states retain domestic authority.
Row one covers viral risk and clinical outcomes. VFF claims the government exaggerated case numbers and mortality to justify an elimination strategy and argues COVID-19 posed risks similar to a severe influenza season. The inquiry reports epidemiological evidence showing much higher hospitalisation, intensive care use, and mortality than seasonal influenza, with risk remaining elevated until immunity increased through vaccination and prior infection. Row two addresses alleged synthetic DNA contamination in mRNA vaccines. VFF claims vaccines contain harmful levels of synthetic DNA and an SV40 promoter-enhancer that could cause cancer or genomic alteration. Regulators including Medsafe and the European Medicines Agency state that trace residual DNA appears in many biological products and remains far below safety limits. Scientific reviews show the SV40 fragment lacks the components required for oncogenic activity, and serious complications occur more often after infection than vaccination. Row three concerns alleged suppression of early treatments. VFF claims authorities discredited Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine to protect vaccine authorisations. The inquiry cites large clinical trials, including RECOVERY and TOGETHER, which found no reduction in hospitalisation or mortality. Row four examines behavioural science in public health communication. VFF describes messaging and behavioural “nudges” as psychological manipulation. The inquiry frames them as crisis risk communication intended to coordinate behaviour and protect vulnerable groups. Row five covers international cooperation. VFF portrays the World Health Organization and pandemic agreements as threats to national sovereignty. The inquiry describes global data sharing and coordination as necessary for detecting emerging threats and developing countermeasures while states retain domestic authority.
This comparison between what's in VFF's "People's Position" report, submitted to the Inquiry, & distributed amongst its vast membership vs what's in the Phase 2 official report may help others, incl. NZ journalists, understand the network's central role in creating splintered realities. #nzpol
Many people reckon Simeon Brown should have asked more questions about the risks of his mandatory higher speed limits in neighbourhoods, around schools & on dangerous highways — evidence that was readily available to him at the time, and that continues to accumulate in the form of injuries & deaths.
Essential read on this govt’s reckless gaslighting:
“It’s election year, I get it. But implying science & health advice was routinely being ignored fuels the distrust that erodes social cohesion—something the report is at pains to emphasise must be restored.” #nzpol
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/11-...
Achievement unlocked - climbed a tree to recue a kitten [sigh]
Yes it was our tree and our kitten. And I did start with a ladder.
So the government has spent well over a billion dollars on planning and land acquisition for fantasy RONS we can never afford, but there's no money to properly secure SH2 through Waioweka Gorge, which is regularly closed by washouts. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Because Iran's being bombed right now, I figured I'd share a thread of home videos of Iran (20+ years old) recorded by members of my family, just so people can see what Iran looks like without smoke/fire everywhere and to preserve those memories
January 2006, Tehran (I think)
I guess this is a timely reminder that the reason we can't afford meat anymore is that the cartel is exporting it all overseas www.rnz.co.nz/news/country...
They don’t understand bloody anything. Not the refrigerator truck morgues, not the mass graves, not the resthomes full of corpses.
They sure as hell don’t realise our lockdowns were short af and kids were out of school for very short times.
Finally, my problem with the concept of forgiveness makes sense 🙃
text reading "The average New Zealand woman* loses $25.36 per week... ...just because this Govt. has not acted on pay gap reporting." small text reading "*earning the median wage" There is a graphic of a person with wavy hair holding a tax invoice for prime minister christopher luxon with the total of 7.8 billion, with overdue stamped on it.
text reading "It's this simple: If the Government made gender pay gap reporting compulsory for large businesses, the gender pay gap would shrink by 20–40 percent.* That's an extra $25.36 per week for women earning the median wage; an extra $58.40 for wahine Māori and $76.40 for Pacific women." small text reading "*based on international evidence."
text reading "What can we do to help close the pay gap? It only takes a minute. Visit the STILL Minding the Gap web site now to invoice the Prime Minister and let him know that closing the gender pay gap is STILL a priority for Kiwis: stillmindingthegap.nz"
If the Government enacted pay gap reporting, women in New Zealand who earn the median wage would get an 'extra' (or rather, not miss out on...) $25.36 per week. For wahine Māori it's $58.40 and $76.40 for Pacific women.
It's that simple. Let Luxon know it's OVERDUE: www.stillmindingthegap.nz
Let's talk about what happens when oil prices go through the roof and stay there - because it really isn't pretty, it's going to hit our economy incredibly hard, and it's only peripherally about how much it costs to fill the tank.
A short 🧵
#nzpol
When men's workload is automated, it's genius; when women's workload is automated it's a character flaw and morally questionable.
