The International investigation into Covid-19
More than 110 nations have backed a call for the World Health Organisation to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 virus outbreak.
Social issues
health
Should Parents and Teachers Defy the Government?
School’s back on Monday, but the medical community is still struggling to understand covid 19
Oh Sweden
Just when we thought liberal democracies meant real freedom was an absolute written into human rights stone, by mid-March this year almost all OECD countries had implemented the most draconian reversal of lockdowns on every single human to combat Covid19. Except Sweden. How is it working out?
Don’t infect your feline master!
In terrible news, our feline masters can both get covid-19, and they can infect other cats. Fortunately so far they have largely been asymptomatic apart from some big cats.
We don’t know if there can be cat to human transmission. But I suspect it is likely. Obvious implications about being a issue for breaking transmission chains.
Covid-19: may be endemic
Like measles, covid-19 could become endemic. Never dying out entirely. Needing to be controlled in human denser populations into the indefinite future. That is the warning from top World Health Organisation officials. Like me, they’re looking at reported research into covid-19 immunities and the picture isn’t encouraging. This is no time to be complacent.
Budget 2020
The budget site is up and running. Some links here along with Robertson’s speech. This post may get updated if authors feel like it. Otherwise commenters can praise or criticize. Preferably constructively rather than with mindless waffle.
Viruses love liberty – they can breed more.
Viruses and other diseases simply don’t care about abstractions like ‘human rights’. They just want to breed. We need a better legislative toolkit to deal with epidemics. There is only so long that a draconian state of emergency should be maintained. Like 1918 we need to start thinking about the future Health Act with reserve powers like level 2 and 1. In the meantime, we’ll deal with the virus with this imperfect act as a tool.
Jacinda is not like Muldoon
National has decided to play politics with Covid 19 and is opposing the Government’s attempt to pass legislation to secure level 2 arrangements. And has made the extraordinary claim that Jacinda Ardern is just like Rob Muldoon but with slogans.
Bloomfield and the empire strikes back
Dr Ashley Bloomfield has responded to allegations by Simon Bridges that the government has suspended the Official Information Act and the Emergency Response Committee has made multiple requests for information from the Ministry that it is waiting for by advising publicly there are no outstanding requests for information.
Covid-19: down to L2 Thursday
In the ongoing press conference (RNZ): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a staggered move into level 2 starting on Thursday, with schools […]
Dimwitted habeas corpus duo
The well-known duo of Dermot Nottingham and Robert McKinney were the appellants in habeas corpus High Court case against Arden, Bloomfield, and Stuart-Black over the covid-19 lockdown. As was usual for this pair, the grounds that they made their case on were completely flawed, failed to be presented correctly, and make a damn good case against self-representation from vexatious litigants like them.
Covid19 is a bastard
We are heading towards decision time. Does Aotearoa New Zealand loosen up and head back to a semi normal life?
UK: Too soon to end the lockdown
First Secretary of State Dominic Raab has said that lockdown changes being announced this coming Sunday will be ‘modest’ and ‘small’. This is hardly surprising when earlier in the week the national statistician Professor Ian Diamond said that COVID-19 infection rates could be increasing. In particular, the number of cases being reported in care-homes appears to be increasing. Adding to the pressure both the Scottish and Welsh ruled out any significant relaxation of the lockdown rules.
Parker gives Bridges a lesson in constitutional law
In a Facebook Live event David Parker has schooled Simon Bridges on basic principles of constitutional law. And it appears that Bridges demand that legally privileged advice be handed over is heading to the Privileges Committee.
Bridges pulls a stunt
Simon Bridges threw two stunts yesterday, firstly threatening to try and summons senior Public Servants to publicise confidential legal advice and then by attacking Dr Ashley Blomfield for not answering emails quickly enough despite the existence of a pandemic which the country appears to be handling pretty well.
The Green Party’s proposal on essential workers’ pay
Low-wage essential workers are getting New Zealand through this crisis and continue to do so. They went to work when the rest of us were told to stay away – and people would be horrified to hear many of them barely earn enough to live on.
Trump’s not so bad: manslaughter edition
An occasional series
Top ten things we have learned already
The top ten things that the Covid pandemic has taught us as a country.
The Post Covid Blues
No new COVID 19 cases today!
UPDATE: No change to Level 2, decision in a week.
What would President Biden do?
With President Trump doing what we all expected, and killing 67,000 people and counting through chronic poor leadership, and utterly ruining the U.S. economy as well, it’s time to look at what policies the alternative candidate has on offer.
Covid-19: Important… satire
The latest status
Discuss…
It is a bit of a problem when this was often more accurate than the statements from many governments.
His work here is not yet done
Former Prime Minister John Key has said that under current conditions employers are going to sack 20 per cent of their workers even if the company is doing well and that employers should never waste a crisis.
Covid =/= Rogernomics
Using neoliberal ideas to try and remedy a situation where neoliberalism is very sick indeed is kind of like pouring salt on the wound. Fortunately we have new, emerging models of how run society that can also serve us well in a covid and climate world.
Green Party: COVID-19 recovery and investment in people and nature
Most of the funding will go directly to employing people – the tools needed for wetland restoration such as spades and seedlings are far cheaper than big excavators and asphalt.
Draconian Tourism or no Tourism?
If overseas tourists want to visit NZ, they may have to give up a little bit of their privacy to keep all of us safe.
dear sysop: on covid-19 debt
We put in guest posts occasionally. These days I’m the person who runs the email account and sees the general ones. Mostly I don’t give any feedback as much as anything else because a lack of time. But I should. This is the first to get that editorial attention. The topic itself is worth discussing. What is the process of raising debt for the cobid-19 economic response.
Trump’s not so bad: the inject bleach edition
an occasional series.
Russel Norman: Climate change is harder to visualise than coronavirus, but no less dangerous
Executive Director of Greenpeace NZ, Russel Norman writes about the different responses to climate change and covid-19, and the things we can learn from the pandemic.
“The government will never do that”
Say it out loud: Degrowth.
Pandemics and our privacy
The Ministry of Health is checking with the GCSB to enable full tracing of people to slow further outbreaks. Should we be afraid?
When Bridges’ social media goes wrong
Simon Bridges’s Facebook post criticising the extension of lockdown level 4 has been met with overwhelming opposition, including from people who are clearly National Party supporters.
Covid-19 decision day
Decision day for the Covid-19 lockdown and my personal view is that although the country has done well it is not quite in a position to ease the lockdown.
Greens push for large intercity rail infrastructure to ensure sustainable post-COVID-19 rebuild
“The Greens are highlighting fast intercity rail improvements as the type of climate-friendly, job-creating project that should be prioritised for post-COVID-19 economic stimulus investment.”
Don’t plan on a vaccine or persistent natural immunity.
Don’t plan on a vaccine or persistent natural immunity. Unless we’re incredibly lucky, neither are very likely for much of the coming decade. We don’t have the bat immunity systems. Learn to embrace the bets of the future rather than the clinging to the comfy blanket of the past that has now gone.
Time to Pivot?
It would appear NZ and much of the rest of the world has made a first rather coincidental step on the AGW front.
The plan for Monday
Even if New Zealand gets out of the immediate Covid-19 infection better than most other countries, the result is still a wrecked world […]