Post by fish on Sept 22, 2022 13:31:05 GMT 12
We all know Stuff are working towards an industry award in creative writing. There content is so far from actual journalism it is amusing to read.
This below story is a really good example.
"What would NZ be like in a Nuclear War"
The second paragraph, copied below, gets straight into the scare mongerying:
But it’s not weapons that would pose the biggest threat. No, it’s possible the poor souls fleeing the collapse of civilisation could arrive carrying a plethora of now absent diseases: plague, cholera, typhoid and even leprosy.
Now, cholera and typhoid are both water borne diseases. I'm not sure which plague they are talking about, but the main plague (The Black Plague) is also caused by bacteria but is spread by fleas instead of water.
So, it is common and almost normal to get water borne disease outbreaks in natural disaster zones. Cholera and Typhoid are likely candidates. But you need to have no safe drinking water, and no wastewater services. Effectively you need to be drinking from a stream your neighbour is shitting it. Situations that are implausible in NZ in the given scenario. (Possibly plausible if Mahuta is left in charge of 3 Waters, but that is a different topic).
And I've no idea what leprosy has to do with nuclear war. I think its just a scary disease chucked in for a laugh.
Basically it is entirely implausible that these diseases would even reach NZ, and if they did, they would not be a problem for us. I.e. stuff are chucking in some twaddlebollocks to scare everyone.
There are some interesting facts in the story (if they can be relied upon).
1) Radiation wont be a problem
2) Global cooling will occur, impacting food production. Noting that NZ should be well placed to actually produce enough food for ourselves.
3) Global cooling will occur, meaning we can stick climate change up the arse and burn as much fossil fuels as we want, especially to heat our comes and greenhouses so we can grow veges in the global cooling phase.
But the absolute Gold Medal, top shelf clincher is the footnote:
Correction: This story initially stated Wren’s work occurred at the behest of the Muldoon administration. It occurred during the Lange government’s time in office and was commissioned and overseen by the New Zealand Planning Council.
So the original article Stuffed are quoting was a propaganda piece commissioned by David Lange when we was running the nuclear free movement and pulling out of ANZUS. The guy that wrote it is an ecologist, i.e. an academic, and with bugger all technical knowledge of anything related to what he is talking about.
Short story: Stuff is doing a scare piece based on 40 year old propaganda. Whatever next?
www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/127945417/what-would-life-be-like-in-new-zealand-in-the-event-of-major-nuclear-war
This below story is a really good example.
"What would NZ be like in a Nuclear War"
The second paragraph, copied below, gets straight into the scare mongerying:
But it’s not weapons that would pose the biggest threat. No, it’s possible the poor souls fleeing the collapse of civilisation could arrive carrying a plethora of now absent diseases: plague, cholera, typhoid and even leprosy.
Now, cholera and typhoid are both water borne diseases. I'm not sure which plague they are talking about, but the main plague (The Black Plague) is also caused by bacteria but is spread by fleas instead of water.
So, it is common and almost normal to get water borne disease outbreaks in natural disaster zones. Cholera and Typhoid are likely candidates. But you need to have no safe drinking water, and no wastewater services. Effectively you need to be drinking from a stream your neighbour is shitting it. Situations that are implausible in NZ in the given scenario. (Possibly plausible if Mahuta is left in charge of 3 Waters, but that is a different topic).
And I've no idea what leprosy has to do with nuclear war. I think its just a scary disease chucked in for a laugh.
Basically it is entirely implausible that these diseases would even reach NZ, and if they did, they would not be a problem for us. I.e. stuff are chucking in some twaddlebollocks to scare everyone.
There are some interesting facts in the story (if they can be relied upon).
1) Radiation wont be a problem
2) Global cooling will occur, impacting food production. Noting that NZ should be well placed to actually produce enough food for ourselves.
3) Global cooling will occur, meaning we can stick climate change up the arse and burn as much fossil fuels as we want, especially to heat our comes and greenhouses so we can grow veges in the global cooling phase.
But the absolute Gold Medal, top shelf clincher is the footnote:
Correction: This story initially stated Wren’s work occurred at the behest of the Muldoon administration. It occurred during the Lange government’s time in office and was commissioned and overseen by the New Zealand Planning Council.
So the original article Stuffed are quoting was a propaganda piece commissioned by David Lange when we was running the nuclear free movement and pulling out of ANZUS. The guy that wrote it is an ecologist, i.e. an academic, and with bugger all technical knowledge of anything related to what he is talking about.
Short story: Stuff is doing a scare piece based on 40 year old propaganda. Whatever next?
www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/127945417/what-would-life-be-like-in-new-zealand-in-the-event-of-major-nuclear-war
