It’s time to stop the 'omicron is mild so may as well let it rip' narratives. The government's current pandemic response is clearly to slow spread and protect the health care systems (not just hospitals but places like aged care facilities, and general access to…
Day 19 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo https://twitter.com/nzcovidbot/status/1496621912415293441 Radicalisation in real time (Dr Michael Daubs, Newsroom) Parliamentary Grounds occupation and mandates: Analysis, and News Reporting lists of articles for 23/2/22 (The Democracy Project) Figureheads and factions: the key people at the parliament occupation (Toby Manhire, The Spinoff) Police wave white flag…
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 …
From time to time people query why a certain Post appears on this site. To me, asking this question is akin walking into a bar without knowing it is Open Mike Night and asking why everybody is laughing at something a wannabe comedian said because…
Currently in this world there are two significant protests occurring, both similar but at the same time completely different. In Wellington the Clownvoy protesters: Think they live in a despotic nation Are treated really well by police Think they are protesting in support of freedom…
Day 19 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo https://twitter.com/nzcovidbot/status/1496621912415293441 Radicalisation in real time (Dr Michael Daubs, Newsroom) Parliamentary Grounds occupation and mandates: Analysis, and News Reporting lists of articles for 23/2/22 (The Democracy Project) Figureheads and factions: the key people at the parliament occupation (Toby Manhire, The Spinoff) Police wave white flag…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
We might recall when Russia stepped into the Syrian civil war mid 2015, President Obama was shocked, and claimed Syria would turn into the kind of quagmire that the United States had faced in Vietnam and Iraq. It didn’t. Russia changed the course of the…
Russia has invaded a neighbouring state with no more justification than an vague appeals to the same arguments that underpinned obsolete 19th century gunboat diplomacy. They simply don't like the economic and political decisions of the government of the invaded country, and want to have…
Day 18 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo https://twitter.com/nzcovidbot/status/1496621912415293441 Radicalisation in real time (Dr Michael Daubs, Newsroom) Parliamentary Grounds occupation and mandates: Analysis, and News Reporting lists of articles for 23/2/22 (The Democracy Project) Figureheads and factions: the key people at the parliament occupation (Toby Manhire, The Spinoff) Police wave white flag…
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 …
Why should we in New Zealand give a damn about Ukraine? My answer is: China. China and Russia together is the geo-strategic realignment we’ve been waiting for; it’s arrived, and it’s bad. There are plenty around in the United States who can dismiss Russia as…
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
RNZ talked to New Zealand epidemiologist Rod Jackson yesterday, Jackson told Morning Report there was "no doubt" New Zealanders were not taking Omicron seriously. "The standard thing I hear these days is 'Oh this is just a mild condition, it's like a mild flu', and…
Day 17 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo Stuff's summary from yesterday, including the protestor and police actions late last night. What you need to know / Kia mōhio mai koe: * A late-night standoff between protesters and police with riot shields ensured after new vehicles arrived at the protest,…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Efeso Collins has announced his first Mayoral campaign policy and it is a biggie, free public transport for Auckland. From Todd Niall at Stuff: Left-leaning Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins says a push for fare-free public transport will be the first thing he wants to achieve if…
Day 16 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo How the Parliament protest unfolded on day 15 (RNZ/Checkpoint) Wellington emergency ambulance will not enter protest zone after hostility against staff (RNZ) Figureheads and factions: the key people at the parliament occupation (Toby Manhire, The Spinoff) Police wave white flag as occupiers dig 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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
I am going to avoid the temptation to blog about the Wellington protesters today and instead concentrate on the bigger picture. Although I will say that a rich businessman who is helping to fund the protest being completely indifferent to the fact he may be…
Day 15 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo https://twitter.com/henrycooke/status/1495547373715865601 Easing of restrictions to begin 'well beyond' Omicron peak - Ardern (RNZ) Faeces thrown at police at Parliament protest (RNZ) Covid-19: Ill protesters urged to stay away from hospital (RNZ) Police install concrete blocks around Parliament anti-mandate protest (RNZ) Q and A interview with Police…
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 …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
There is something of a manufactured chorus of calls for the Government to sit down and negotiate with the protesters. Such unbiassed intellectual heavy hitters like Heather Du Plessis Allan, Sean Plunkett, Bryce Edwards and Russell Coutts think that it is time for the Government…
Day 14 https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo https://twitter.com/marcdaalder/status/1495133435081359363 https://twitter.com/Jamienzherald/status/1495139000415563776 Q and A interview with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster Why we need stories of strength not division (Jess Berentson-Shaw, Newsroom) Police crack down, Maori will catch the brunt of it (Tina Ngata on understanding why police haven't done something, twitter)…
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 answer the question posed in the title by returning to what I wrote on my blog when Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson became Prime Minister in 2019: Make no mistake, Boris Johnson has talent. He knows how to make a stirring speech and can…