Covid death rates have reached pandemic highs in New Zealand as the country battles another havoc-inducing Omicron wave.

Weekly virus fatalities hit 151 in the seven days ending July 16, compared to 115 in the worst week of the previous flare-up in March, according to Health Ministry data. It means the country's current mortality rate is twice as high as the UK's and four times higher than the US.

In the latest 24 hours, all 26 Covid deaths occurred among over-60s — the group known to be most vulnerable to the virus.

I've been looking again at Covid's origins and the start of the pandemic. Last time I wrote on it I argued that Italy brought in China-style lockdowns on March 8th and 10th 2020 mainly as a result of panic owing to the leap in the death rate, with it being clear from the hospital situation there were many more deaths to come. I still believe that that was the immediate trigger for imposing lockdowns at the time. However, I now recognise that that is far from the full story. What it leaves out is the backdrop of who was pushing for lockdowns throughout the preceding two months, and why.

Two key pieces of data have emerged in the last few months that help to bring the picture into clearer focus. The first is that with the arrival of Omicron the Chinese have continued fanatically to pursue lockdowns, crippling their economy as they do it. To my mind, this is convincing evidence that the Chinese are sincere about their belief in the radical new disease management strategy they inaugurated on January 23rd 2020 in Wuhan. I initially (in 2020) thought it may be an elaborate ruse to convince the world to do something monumentally and pointlessly self-destructive. But it appears they really do think lockdowns are highly effective and the right way to fight a disease like COVID-19. I'm aware some suggest it could just be a cunning strategy to strengthen the grip of the ruling party on the population, but all the evidence indicates to me that they actually are trying to fight the disease in this way.

If this is accepted then one of the key pieces of the puzzle snaps into place: the global Covid narrative has, both behind closed doors and in front of them, been driven in part by the Chinese Government's commitment to its extreme suppression strategy and its desire for other countries to adopt it as well. It's been suggested this derives from a sense of national pride and seeking vindication of their efforts and ideas, and is part of a wider aim of achieving global Chinese cultural supremacy, which sounds plausible to me.

You walk into a shopping centre to buy some groceries. Without your knowledge, an electronic scan of your face is taken by in-store surveillance cameras and stored in an online database. Each time you return to that store, your "faceprint" is compared with those of people wanted for shoplifting or violence.

This might sound like science fiction but it's the reality for many of us. By failing to take our digital privacy seriously - as former human rights commissioner Ed Santow has warned - Australia is "sleepwalking" its way into mass surveillance.

Privacy and the digital environment

Of course, companies have been collecting personal information for decades. If you've ever signed up to a loyalty program like FlyBuys then you've performed what marketing agencies call a "value exchange". In return for benefits from the company (like discounted prices or special offers), you've handed over details of who you are, what you buy, and how often you buy it.

Consumer data is big business. In 2019, a report from digital marketers WebFX showed that data from around 1,400 loyalty programs was routinely being traded across the globe as part of an industry worth around US$200 billion. That same year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's review of loyalty schemes revealed how many of these loyalty schemes lacked data transparency and even discriminated against vulnerable customers.

It all started with the complications at the airports. With the increased lack of personnel due to the pandemic, the airports became a real nightmare. Cancelled or delayed flights were common.

Then the passport offices got out of control, causing Canadian citizens to lose many travel opportunities. Now, it is the ArriveCAN application that is mandatory to enter Canada, regardless of citizenship. The application sometimes does not work, creating delays and flight cancellations. A hefty fine of $5,750 is given to people who refuse to comply with the application.


You've probably heard horror stories of Canadians trying to get back into the country, only to have a quarantine imposed on them due to difficulties with the application. Tickets of $5000 and more are given for not complying with border requirements, even for travellers who are quadruple vaccinated!

David Freiheit, also known as Viva Frei, speaks out about the forced quarantine on his 12-year-old daughter, as well as problems related to the new electronic pass imposed on Canadians as well as tourists.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says both Russia and Ukraine must avoid placing military bases in civilian areas during combat operations without relocating the residents first.

The New York-based rights group said in a report on July 21 that both sides in the war in Ukraine have put civilians at unnecessary risk by basing their forces in populated areas without removing civilians to safer areas despite international humanitarian law obligating parties to the conflict to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians.

HRW documented four cases of Russian forces establishing military bases in populated areas and three instances of the Ukrainian military taking similar action without moving civilians to safer areas. Subsequent attacks on these bases killed and wounded civilians, the watchdog said.

New York University's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice has issued a chilling warning about the potential dangers to human rights posed by the push for digital identity.

In mid-June, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, a "hub for human rights study" at New York University (NYU) School of Law, issued a 100-page report detailing the growing dangers of a reliance on digital identity around the world. The report, titled Paving a Digital Road to Hell?, examines the role of the world bank and other international networks which have been promoting the use if digital ID in recent years.

A ship carrying Australian iron ore docked in China's Shandong province last week. As Australia's biggest buyer, there's nothing unusual about that. What was remarkable was how that iron had been paid for.

The transaction had been in Chinese yuan. Not US dollars.

The Beijing-controlled Global Times saw this as a small - but significant - victory.

Multiple Border Patrol agents are pushing back against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' claim that the southern border is "secure" -- just as agents on the frontlines of the historic migrant crisis are struggling to cope with the overwhelming numbers facing them.

There were more than 207,000 migrant encounters in June alone, the fourth month in a row where the number of encounters breached the 200,000 mark. But Mayorkas, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday, dismissed claims about the border not being secure.

"Look, the border is secure," he said. "We are working to make the border more secure. That has been a historic challenge."

He then faulted lawmakers who have said they won't commit to broad immigration legislation until the situation is addressed.

British sex offenders were tracked going to refugee-laden Poland in the early weeks of war, seemingly to take advantage of the chaos unfolding on the border with Ukraine.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) yesterday revealed ten convicted paedophiles travelled east in the first six weeks after Vladimir Putin's invasion, under the guise of providing assistance to refugees.

All ten were interviewed by Polish authorities and removed from the country, said an NCA spokesman, adding: 'We have an international network that identifies these threats... we contact our partners and say you have a convicted sex offender on your patch.'

Effectively, the judges have ruled that Alex Jones is guilty before proven guilty and will instruct the jury to determine just how guilty he is.

In an unprecedented assault on due process and the rule of law, both a Texas and Connecticut judge have ruled that Alex Jones may not discuss the First Amendment, defend his innocence, or point out the rigged elements of the upcoming Sandy Hook defamation case against him.

Here is a limited breakdown of some of the most egregious constitutional violations of due process and the First Amendment as explained by a third-party legal adviser: