“They have said the quiet part out loud.”

That’s the summation of Winston Peters regarding revelations that senior editorial figures discussed withholding coverage of the Deputy PM’s criticisms of the media.

The revelations came from the co-editor of Newsroom, Mark Jennings, in an RNZ podcast. Jennings admitted to “quite a lot of talk in the media – particularly among senior editorial people” to silence Peters due to disagreement with his views.

“It is a glimpse behind the curtain with this astonishing admission that exposes the deep-seated planning and narrative of some ‘senior editorial people’ in the media,” Peters wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

24 February 2024

The WHO Pandemic Agreement – A stupid monstrosity

“The Pandemic Agreement is above all concerned with expanding and enhancing the prerogatives of the WHO bureaucracy. That is not great, but it is also not world hygiene totalitarianism.” That’s the scathing conclusion of blogger Eugyppius on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which he says is full of inherent flaws and misguided intentions.

21 February 2024

Gone By Lunchtime, Thursday: The rise and fall of the 4-day work week in one of the world’s longest trials

Magyar Telekom, the Hungarian subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, embarked on a nearly 2-year trial of the 4-day work week, involving 300 employees, spanning various departments. But what started with a bang, ended with a whimper and the company will be returning to a 5-day work week in March 2024.

24 February 2024

Highly cited early COVID research is of a generally low quality

Professor Dennis M. Gorman’s recent review of 74 COVID papers published in 2020, during the pandemic, revealed that the surge of COVID research was generally of a lower quality.

Despite high citation rates (one study was cited over 11,000 times), many studies relied on poor research methods, raising doubts about the reliability of evidence guiding policies.

26 February 2024

MacCulloch – Former NZ leaders should be held accountable for COVID stats shown to be wrong

According to economist Robert MacCulloch, former PM Hipkins, Professors Bloomfield and Baker, referenced inaccurate statistics in their assessment of NZ’s COVID response.

MacCulloch says that, despite initial commendation, NZ’s pandemic strategy in 2021-22 morphed into a “full-blown disaster.” The result, economically and socially, has been enormous.

20 February 2024

Buried In The Backyard: How a wild claim slipped past Canadian scepticism of all things woke…

In a polarised cultural landscape, a survey by Maru Voice Canada reveals Canadian scepticism towards “cultural socialist” (i.e. woke) ideologies, with most opposing concepts like racial segregation in schools and extreme political correctness.

25 February 2024

2023’s Southern Europe Wildfires – Sensationalism vs data

Chris Morrison, environmental editor of the Daily Sceptic, writes “Fire ‘weather’ is a potent tool in stoking up general climate anxiety and helps promote the need for a collectivist Net Zero political solution.”

EU stats over four decades indicate that it was an average year for wildfires in Southern Europe in 2023, which is contrary to the narrative of increasing severity due to climate change.