Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Family Matters: a post about 2020

Simon Armstrong

Sun, 27 Jun 2021 17:15:10 +1200

That post was before my time. My reference was remembering back to all the broken kids at Selwyn and Metro.

Simon Armstrong

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 19:15:56 +1200

Metro College and Pipi Longstockings references all in one day. If only the likes of Burt Potter deflowered white male identity.

And enough with the nurse hate brother.

Simon Armstrong

Mon, 31 May 2021 19:19:35 +1200

Steven, I only come here for your posts. Cheers for the thought food. It's nice to feel not so alone.

linger

Thu, 06 May 2021 14:50:22 +1200

As Ben Goldacre has pointed out, the drug company argument that they need to price-gouge because of Massive R&D Costs in producing new drugs! ... is hard to maintain when their R&D budget is dwarfed by their marketing expenditure.

linger

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 10:16:27 +1200

I imagine Pfizer and other drug companies are wary about dealing with India because of that country's history of successfully undercutting Big Pharma's price-gouging with generics. To meet the demand, there's going to have to be some vaccine production within India under license as part of the deal, and that…

Sacha

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:28:46 +1200

That does not seem to have much relation to this thread. Are you OK?

Sacha

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 00:07:22 +1300

made no difference to me

Farmer Green

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 17:10:19 +1300

“I have always been non-essential. ”

Naturally.
But being declared “essential” , by government decree , meant that one’s freedoms were practically undiminished .
I suspect that this was not the case for those decreed “non-essential”.
I take it that you found the decree to be reinforcing.
Or irrelevant.

GIS Infomedia

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 21:28:33 +1300

I want to thank YOU for your posts, both incidental on social and long form, like here. The community that social media provides, the voices we trust who can articulate better than us how we feel and what we can do, have been so very important this year. You are…

Sacha

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 10:21:52 +1300

I have always been non-essential.

Michael Brennan

Sun, 07 Mar 2021 19:05:49 +1300

Thanks for the article Russell. "Rediscovered" Hard News as I was cleaning up an old domain I no longer will use – well, I'm finding it hard to let go. I'm also usually not someone who posts, but I wanted to say it's great to see you haven't lost anything.…

Farmer Green

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 08:48:33 +1300

Just wondering how many of the folk here found themselves decreed non-essential at the outset.
Was that a concern to anyone ?
Asking for a "conspiracy theorist" :-)

Craig Young

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 14:16:33 +1300

In some ways, not others. Clearly, we could have done without the pandemic and negative cannabis referendum outcome, but on the positive side, abortion and euthanasia have both been decriminalised, the Ardern government was elected for a second term, New Zealand First disappeared, and we finally saw the (elderly, flabby…

Brent Jackson

Sun, 21 Feb 2021 11:42:28 +1300

That's a nice sentiment. It's a shame that PA is no longer the discussion forum it once was, but I am glad that I was (am?) part of it.

BenWilson

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 12:41:13 +1300

Maybe. Could also just be the passage of time on any group of people. Eventually they drift apart unless strong efforts are made to keep them together. Russell made those efforts for many years, well over and above any call of duty. I'm glad to remember the good times fondly…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 01:36:06 +1300

Same. I remember that episode of Mythbusters where they did myths suggested from reddit users and I learned that Reddit was considered – or described itself as – “the front page of the internet”.

For me, PA was the front page of the internet, at least in New Zealand.

Not…

Steve Parks

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 23:29:09 +1300

I rather regret that I have drifted away from PA,

Same. I remember that episode of Mythbusters where they did myths suggested from reddit users and I learned that Reddit was considered – or described itself as – "the front page of the internet".

For me, PA was the front…

Geoff Lealand

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 21:00:17 +1300

Thank you for these thoughts, Russell. I rather regret that I have drifted away from PA, when it once used to be an important part of my online life. I recently read an interesting book ‘Online Afterlife’ and I must not let this site become one of my digital ghosts.…

linger

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 16:02:58 +1300

Meanwhile in Japan, Suga is continuing to deny the need for a lockdown as the third wave continues to spike out of control at levels that will overwhelm the healthcare system within a few weeks. Vaccination may start for healthcare workers in February, but at projected rates of rollout, won't…

Ben Austin

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 06:52:34 +1300

Certainly a mad time for everyone, although great to see life returning to NZ media that looked down for the count.

It is quite weird, still, to see how widely NZ/Aus/Taiwan have diverged from everywhere else. In London we are once again under a stay at home order and presumably…

Rob Stowell

Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:36:31 +1300

It’s been a year for the history books, eh? Hoping your mum is ok and things settle down, for all of us personally and collectively. Lots of bad, but one or two good things from 2020 too. NZ publications crawling out of the hole, the dark leveraged shadow of international…

Pharmachick

Fri, 25 Dec 2020 15:58:52 +1300

I have had an account here forever, and although I scan the content semi-regularly I haven't commented in, well, ages. Russell, I know this was a deeply personal post, but also found it outwardly looking and very helpful for others. Also wanted to let you know, that NZ has its…

Fiona Mckenzie

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 08:28:24 +1300

Sacha

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:31:23 +1300

an OIA request

Then do a follow-up one about the process of creating their response. Nippert's M.O. I think.

Russell Brown

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 17:48:59 +1300

Kia kaha, Russell and Fiona, and Sunset Sam – oops, I mean James and The One Who Does Not Like Being Discussed.

Heh! He did once discover I'd written a blog post about him. He was okay about it :-)

nzlemming

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 17:16:08 +1300

I guess I’ve been a little insulated from the (justified) existential angst many have been feeling this year. This is how I normally live. Apart from having to queue 2 metres apart to get into the supermarket, Level 4 was barely noticeable for me. I’m not the social type, preferring…

Russell Brown

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 16:25:09 +1300

Russell, I really feel for what you have gone through advocating for your mum. Nobody should have to do that, and certainly not this year. Thank goodness for family.

Thanks buddy. I pondered one more complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner for a bit too long, but I realised…

Sacha

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:54:42 +1300

NZ had to respond that way we did because we simply had fewer ICU beds and fewer trained staff than most of the developed world.

Amazing what got us here, eh. Hoping the new Minister Andrew Little does not squander the opportunity to reshape our health system now in ways…

Bart Janssen

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:04:19 +1300

I think Soon is right – the pandemic revealed people.

As a scientist doomscrolling the scientific literature I was aware of the pandemic a couple of months before it really hit us here. It revealed my own low tolerance for folks who were ignoring the coming problem or pretending they…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:47:17 +1300

David Farrier has done some sterling work in this area this year...

Russell Brown

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:22:13 +1300

It revealed the strengths & weaknesses we have as a society.

There wasn't really room for it in this post, but I've been thinking about that in terms of the people who've succumbed to conspiracy theories. We reveal our individual vulnerabilities too.

Soon Lee

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:15:12 +1300

2020 has been a shit year. What I have learned is that a pandemic crisis is a revealer and amplifier. It revealed the strengths & weaknesses we have as a society. Can't paper over the cracks during a crisis; you'll get found out real quick. The kindness and compassion got amplified.…

Public Address

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:15:12 +1300

Discussion from blog post.