About the latest Colmar Brunton poll
The latest Colmar Brunton (now Kantar) poll has now been released and some of the commentary and analysis is pretty ordinary.
Social issues
health
Labour has overseen massive inequality increase – Bernard Hickey
The Government’s Covid 19 response, mainly via Reserve Bank measures, has enabled a mind-boggling increase in inequality, according to influential financial commentator Bernard Hickey. Covid response has saved multiple lives, but its refusal to simultaneously address inequality via taxes raises uncomfortable questions about how a leftist government has overseen a once-in-a-generation shift in wealth
The importance of proper mask wearing
With an Omicron surge appearing to be inevitable the importance of proper mask wearing has never been more important.
Weird stuff Jacinda Ardern has been accused of
It appears that social media allegations against Jacinda Ardern are becoming more and more extreme.
Going Red
The New Zealand government has announced a nationwide move to the Red Traffic Light system from midnight tonight.
UK Covid deaths with no underlying factor.
Oh. But here comes Omicron…
Omicron is coming
So far the country has fought back and eliminated the original Covid infection, won a couple of skirmishes and then and fought and quelled the Delta incursion. But it looks like Omicron is coming …
He’s not the messiah …
… he is allegedly a very naughty boy.
New Zealand’s Omicron options
It will be a few days before we know if the omicron variant of Covid-19 is starting to spread in New Zealand. There are things we can be doing that will determine how that goes.
More Anarchy in the UK
Boris Johnson’s reign as UK Prime Minister may be terminal after news of a Downing Street party held during lockdown was leaked to the press.
What does Luxon do about Hipango?
Harete Hipango is in the news again, this time for posing with a group of anti vaxxers and posting a photo and making some pretty way out there comments on social media.
Human rights and MIQ
Well known socialite, fashion blogger and apparent Constitutional expert Jamie Ridge thinks that the country’s MIQ arrangements are completely unconstitutional.
Australia’s Omicron problem
With over 61,000 new Covid cases reported yesterday Australia is in the midst of an infection surge that it has not seen before. What lessons can New Zealand learn from Australia’s handling of the pandemic?
The Long Covid Post
It’s understandable that public health, governments and the media focused initially on acute covid, but we’re two years in now, it’s well past time to put long covid to the forefront as well.
New Year. Good News.
This one goes out to all those good people running round like their hair’s on fire.
New Zealand 2 Covid 0 so far …
But Omicron may be loose.
The pandemic is resiliency training
Fear and loathing on both sides of the fence, or adaptation and resiliency? We do have some choices.
Long covid, omicron and the precautionary principle
There are still so many things we don’t know about long covid and omicron presents a whole new set of challenges.
Bad Covid takes
There seems to be a correlation between commentators who have both Herald and Newstalk ZB exposure and how really bad their Covid takes are.
No One Cares
I had reason to visit Waitara in Taranaki recently, and I don’t want to sound like there’s a different world still operating … […]
V Day!
Yesterday was Aotearoa’s V day, the day that we reached the goal of having 90% of the target population vaccinated against Covid.
Goodbye, Auckland
For the hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders who have decided to holiday at a town near you, just be careful: they may never leave.
Anarchy in the UK
Boris Johnson is on the ropes. Not because of the disastrous effects of Brexit which only passed because of some of the whoppers that he told, but because of a Christmas party held last year at 10 Downing Street at a time when the UK was under a strict lockdown.
The Freedom Bus is on the move *
But special entry conditions including being double vaccinated or having a recent clear Covid test apply.
Some good news about Covid
In Auckland there ares welcome signs that the spread of Covid is declining and the Health system is holding up. And the Vaccination roll out has gone that well that Chris Luxon has described Auckland as having some of the highest vaccination rates of any city in the world.
What National Needs To Do
Since the left are experts at internal knifing, National should learn from the left about how to recover. What National needsto do to recover.
National – let the virus rip
There is no other explanation, and this week Paul Goldsmith gave the game away, National thinks that we should let the Corona virus rip.
See what happens when you put a woman in charge?
Remarkably low Covid death and infection rates, good and improving vaccination rates, low unemployment and debt to GDP …
BORA vs pandemic mandate
The Bill of Right Act (BORA) is an interesting because it is what I would call a balancing act. It enshrines certain individual rights but they are not absolutes against community needs. So far the decisions about challenges to the vaccine mandate balance are supporting the Crown.
National is being utterly irresponsible
In the middle of a pandemic where the numbers in hospital are increasing and a number of Kiwis have died from a virus that is spreading promising the loosening of current restrictions is the most irresponsible, stupid, foolhardy, idiotic, imbecile thing I could ever expect a political party to do.
The Mandate To Say Goodbye
In the next two weeks we will find out how many teachers in New Zealand are immune to facts, were happy to enforce vaccinations upon their children for multiple diseases over multiple decades but not themselves, and after decades enforcing state rules in daily attendance and behaviours of young people at school could not themselves be subject to that same force of state.
Down the rabbit hole
Former National MP and University Lecturer Simon Thornley are in the news after publishing a video interview questioning the effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and suggesting that the evidence that Ivermectin is useful in treating Covid is epidemiologically sound and strong.
How Covid may play out
Modelling produced for the Government suggests that weekly new covid infections could plateau in the next two weeks. And the modelling so far has been remarkable accurate.
The 2022 We Are Heading Towards
Most of us have been diminished by COVID in 2020-21 so it’s time for everyone to prepare 2022 as an honest accounting of damage to our whole society.
Covid and the latest polls
The results of two polls were leaked recently both showing a drop in support for Labour. Clearly the Delta outbreak has rattled confidence. But National has not surged up in support and the Greens have picked up some of the former Labour vote.
Shock horror, Ardern chooses to keeps her mask on
Barry Soper has accused the Prime Minister of, wait for this, not taking her mask off when she was inside visiting a vaccination centre in South Auckland.