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newsletter #52 for Thursday, November 16th, 2023

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We are not making excuses for the people who were nasty, but didn’t Siouxsie Wiles provoke them?

Dr Siouxsie Wiles, a COVID communicator, says her university employer did not protect her from harassment. How much of the public backlash against her was because she chose to champion her personal beliefs, instead of just providing balanced comment? Wiles is also linked to Te Pūnaha Matatini and The Disinformation Project, organisations accused of being very political. She was never actually personally confronted, just scared.

Contradictory claims and legal actions cast doubt on AstraZeneca vaccine

AstraZeneca faces lawsuits overseas regarding the COVID vaccine, and (gasp!) the story is in the NZ Herald. Marketing of the vaccine emphasised a very significant relative risk reduction despite only a very small absolute risk reduction. Governments, including New Zealand, have ceased or curtailed using this vaccine. Claims the AZ vaccine saved six million lives in its first year are just claims by vaccine cheerleaders.

Chlöe Swarbrick and the challenges of supporting Palestine without endorsing extremism

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick, known for accusing others of divisiveness, now faces anti-Semitism allegations for a pro-Palestinian Auckland rally chant. “From the river to the sea” is linked to Palestinian nationalism and Hamas. The accusations against Swarbrick for her grandstanding in this case is, hopefully, a lesson that foreign conflicts are contentious.

Safe speeds study claims savings, but are they imaginary?

A draft study of Auckland’s Safe Speeds programme claims Aucklanders save about $10M yearly. Benefits like public health improvements and journey time predictability are impossible to quantify. Researchers admit small changes in methodology can have significant impacts on estimates. Why do governments in NZ pay for these useless studies and why does NZ media not criticise the exercise?

“A nation of sheep will beget a Government of wolves.”

-Edward R. Murrow

NZ News Essentials Ltd.

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