A recent Colmar Brunton online poll showed tremendous public support for the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although 60% thought that the Government had hit the sweet spot, 34% wanted the Government to do more. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about…
It cannot be much fun being a National Party MP right now. The Prime Minister is receiving international acclaim for her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. She has acted decisively and quickly and there is a cautious optimism that New Zealand may be able to…
RNZ are reporting, The government has announced plans to transform tourism and how it is governed in the wake of the pandemic. ... Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said the industry needed to be rebooted to face new challenges, opportunities and a different way of working.…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The word Pandemic means a disease that is prevalent throughout the world. In other words, a global problem, facing the entire human species who inhabit the earth. During such a horrible phenomenon, leadership is required. Leadership is about developing people and helping others reach their…
I feel that many kiwis are quite unaware exactly how exceptional our plague performance has been so far. Yeah sure we have a few dickhead surfers, the odd fuckwit playing 'pranks' who needs prison time, and the usual dimwits who don't understand exponential growth curves.…
Something strange is happening in Aotearoa New Zealand. It hit me on Monday as I was listening to nine to noon's political slot with Kathryn Ryan, Stephen Mills, and occasional Standard reader Matthew Hooton. Mills and Hooton in the past have come to near blows…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
New Zealand, like many other nations, is hurtling towards economic depression faster than Covid-19 spreads. “We are going to have a depression,” said Bernard Hickey, one of the country’s leading economic commentators. “This is like an asteroid hit the global economy.” “When you have gross…
No doubt this blog will be full of comments today about David Clark. It has been revealed that he breached curfew a couple of weeks ago by travelling 20 kilometers to a beach with his family. His bike riding exercise I thought was marginal, this…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The current leader of the National Party has been snapped driving from Wellington to Tauranga in defiance of the lockdown. Simon Bridges is the chair of the the Epidemic Response Committee, which meets each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. While other MPs are joining the meeting…
As a cool blue smudge appears on our morning horizon of a world beyond Stage 4 lockdown from Covid 19's effects, we can already see this kind of economic and social collapse is different to the last one of this scale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9mLM1K3U2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0UW_j1A6x4 We're begining to…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
For those who haven't been keeping up with the news for the last few years, Bill and Melinda Gates have been plowing some of their wealth into mitigating and preventing epidemics over the last decade. Like the World Health Organisation and just about anyone with…
I'm always intrigued at the capacity of most humans to be self-delusional in the way that they favour to believe regardless of facts. Nothing else could explain the delusional idiots like David Farrar and his mischievous minions like Sean Plunket and Heather du Plessis-Allan wanting…
The Trump Administration's ability to astound and alienate appears to grow every day. I did not think that as time goes by I could think even worse of it. I mean where is rock bottom? How low can it go? But its recent Covid-19 measures…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The country is haemorrhaging (bleeding and suffering) and the people are confused and fear for their jobs and the future (even) more than usual. It is not clear when the restrictions imposed on us will be lifted; they may even be extended. The Government is…
A cabinet minister goes for a drive to have a ride on his bike during a lock-down that he's partly responsible for, and we're meant to just 'move on' off the back of a school boy level "Sorry Miss"? No. Fuck that. I live in…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
As is typical these days, I heard about the Bauer magazine closures by reading about them on social media. In this case from a post in SciBlogs by Sarah-Jane O'Connor. My initial reaction was shock because of the names of the publications - I have…
Media companies are under real siege. When 30% of businesses are facing extinction media advertising is the first expense they are going to cut. Media companies that are just hanging in there will fold. Nothing is clearer. This post started off a couple of days…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
In the space of two short weeks, almost 10 million people in the USA have lost their jobs and health care coverage. Meanwhile, in less dire news, loan and credit card repayments are to be frozen for the next three months in the UK. Now,…
Rather than go back to The Sugarbag Years or start quoting W. B. Sutch’s The Quest for Security at us, I thought I’d use an analogy. Nothing like a time so tough that you no longer take for granted the many programs, public facilities, and…
Idiot/Savant at No Right Turn writes: ____________________________________________________________________________ While the economy is on pause under lockdown, the government is beginning to plan how to cope with the post-lockdown, post-tourism, post-export education world we will eventually find ourselves in. They're planning a lot of infrastructure spending as…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
I've spent a large part of my life in dangerous environments, often for longish periods, with small groups of people. I get to stay home with my family, I can walk whenever I like, not just a half hour jog around the helideck once a…
April Fool's day is one of those customs that seem to survive. Everyone is aware of it and the first thing that you do when you see an unusual news item on April 1 is to question its authenticity. Quite often it can be funny. …