Extraordinary day at the DNC

Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, July 27th, 2016 - 69 comments
Categories: us politics - Tags: , ,

Quite a day for the Democrats and their convention in Philadelphia.

Hillary Clinton made history, being confirmed as the first woman candidate (from a major party) for president – congratulations to her.

Unfortunately for Clinton, however, too many chickens are coming home to roost. Sanders supporters, despite Bernie himself committing support to Clinton, staged a walk-out in protest over the tactics revealed in the DNC email dump and aspects of the convention process. Up to 1000 delegates left the convention, and took part in various protests – see the very active Twitter hashtag #DNCWalkOut – (which for some reason never made the “trending” list).

Protestors recently converged in FDR park and were given a rousing impromptu address by Green presidential candidate Jill Stein. She will be the main beneficiary of this chaos – along with Trump of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO41AStCYPM


https://twitter.com/Twitrauma/status/758126959767326720

https://twitter.com/sci_solar/status/758117863441825792

un feel the bern

69 comments on “Extraordinary day at the DNC ”

  1. te reo putake 1

    It’s coming together nicely. Bill Clinton spoke as only he can, and with the fair-weather democrats not in the hall, the lasting impression will be of laughter, joy and rapturous applause. A great day for Hillary Clinton personally and for the campaign generally.

  2. dukeofurl 2

    1/2 empty ?

    Even if 1000 Berners walked out, that only makes 21%. They never could count

    • adam 2.1

      So it official then, you guys are going to run with the continued put downs then?

      • Nic the NZer 2.1.1

        Oh no, that would be like just planning a run a negative campaign because there is so little positive to say about the candidate. Te Reo has been listing all of Hilary’s political assets, so far that is (as best I can glean)
        1) She’s a woman.
        2) Her husband is Bill Clinton.
        If that’s not sufficient for you to make up your mind then I don’t know what is…

    • Colonial Viper 2.2

      Even if 1000 Berners walked out, that only makes 21%. They never could count

      21% of the Democratic Party’s youngest, most energetic, most innovative organisers and most promising future party leaders from each and every state.

      It would be typical of a Thorndon Bubble type like you to shrug and say “they could never count”.

  3. The Lone Haranguer 3

    Im sure they will fill the hall with suitable attired Hillary lovers and they will look like a 100% singing from the same songsheet.

    I cant really see too many of the walkout crowd and their friends voting Trump, but I can see Dr Stein getting a lot more votes.

    As I understand the US system, if no candidate gets to 50% in the POTUS election, the Congress get to choose who will be POTUS and Im not sure they are restricted to those standing.

    Congress is controlled by the Republicans, so I wouldnt assume that given unbridled power, that they would automatically choose Trump.

    Exciting times for sure. And maybe dangerous one too.

  4. mac1 4

    Bernie Sanders’ speech for me was extraordinary. I took notes as I was so impressed with his vision and by the detail with which he outlined the common cause which he had with Hillary Clinton.

    These are the notes I took. I hope they may inspire similar policies here.

    “Points of action outlined by Bernie Sanders in his address to the DNC.

    The political revolution for economic, social, racial, environmental justice must continue in America.

    The 40 year decline of the middle class must be arrested.. What must change is the fact that 47 million US citizens live in poverty while 85% of new income goes to the top 1%.

    $10.45 cents an hour not enough. Wages are inadequate. A person working for 40 hr a week should not be living in poverty. The minimum wage must be raised to equal a living wage- more than $7.25 as it is now.

    Millions of new jobs to rebuild infrastructure are needed.

    The Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing the wealthiest to threaten democracy in buying elections must be overturned. Justices will be elected to the Supreme Court to overturn this decision. The movement towards oligarchy must be ended.

    Women’s right to choose, workers’ rights ,LGBT rights, rights for minorities , immigrants and the environment must be enacted.

    Proposal to revolutionise higher education- guarantee children of family below $125,000 pa or less will go to public college or Uni free. 83% of the US population will benefit. Substantially reduce student debt.

    Environment change is needed. 100,000s jobs to be created, transforming the energy system.

    Work towards universal health care, reducing number of poorly insured or those uninsured. 55+ should be able to opt onto medicare. Millions are denied access to primary care, dental care lower cost prescriptions, health centres, mental counselling. This will change. The high cost of prescription drugs- highest prices in world- means 20 million unable to afford prescription drugs whilst companies make huge profits.

    Immigration reform. Broken criminal justice system reformed. For young, good school and good jobs- invest in jobs and education, not more cells to rot in.

    Diversity is one of the US’s greatest strengths- diversity is strength, standing together to create a country we all know that we can become. Realise that democracy is about different opinions, even within the Party.

    Break up Wall St financial institutions. Pass a new 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act.

    TPP trade killing agreements should not to be passed.”

    Not a bad blueprint for any left of centre party.

  5. Anne 5

    I’m not afraid to stick my neck out on this one.

    First, I concede I don’t know the details of these email leaks, but as far as I can gather -and in a nutshell – a very senior Democrat employee ( a woman I know that much) suggested a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign to discredit Bernie Sanders. We know all about Dirty Tricks campaigns but there’s one big difference. In NZ the perpetrators carried it out. In the US Democratic party, as far as I can see it didn’t happen. There was bias towards Hillary Clinton but did anyone imagine there wouldn’t be? There isn’t a major political party anywhere where the Party elite don’t have a preferred candidate in mind.

    I noted on the opening night that the vast majority of Bernie supporters were under the age of 25. I say to them it’s time they grew up and started thinking with their heads. Has there been any evidence that Hillary Clinton was a part of the suggested campaign and approved of it’s usage? Not as far as I can tell. As the actress said to the…..

    STOP BEING RIDICULOUS.

    • GregJ 5.1

      I think you may be underplaying it a little Anne.

      Here’s the Wikipedia summary of what has been revealed so far:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Democratic_National_Committee_email_leak

      Wikileaks has indicated there is more to come.

      The essential point was the DNC was meant to be neutral with regards to the process and it clearly wasn’t. There appears to be systemic bias towards Clinton and attempts to influence media by smearing Sanders campaign and campaign personnel. No direct evidence of outright manipulation of the voting process in the Primaries & Caucuses but certainly obstruction and hinderance placed in the way of the Sanders campaign. It is certainly not a good look.

    • Lanthanide 5.2

      “a very senior Democrat employee ( a woman I know that much) suggested a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign to discredit Bernie Sanders.”

      She didn’t suggest it herself, actually. She wasn’t directly involved in it, but set up the culture where this was discussed.

    • Colonial Viper 5.3

      I noted on the opening night that the vast majority of Bernie supporters were under the age of 25. Has there been any evidence that Hillary Clinton was a part of the suggested campaign and approved of it’s usage? Not as far as I can tell. As the actress said to the
..STOP BEING RIDICULOUS.

      I cannot describe how annoyed I am at your statement Anne. OK, I admit you are a veteran political activist. But any 25 year old can tell when they are being royally screwed, and they don’t need you to provide cover for the a**holes doing the screwing.

      Clinton Rewards Wasserman Schultz’s Shady Behavior With a New Job

      DWS will continue to push the corrupt brand of politics she perfected as DNC chair.

      On July 22, Wikileaks released 20,000 DNC emails, exposing DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC staff of sabotaging Bernie Sanders’ campaign. In the wake of the fallout, Wasserman Schultz formally resigned from her position as DNC chair, only to be replaced by another Clinton surrogate, DNC vice chair Donna Brazile.

      Rather than allowing Wasserman Schultz’s career to go down with her resignation, Clinton has awarded Wasserman Schultz a new role as honorary chair to the Clinton campaign’s 50-state program.

      “There’s simply no one better at taking the fight to Republicans than Debbie—which is why I am glad that she has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign’s 50-state program to gain ground and elect democrats in every part of the country, and will continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign nationally, in Florida, and other key states,” Clinton announced.

      Does that answer your question of whether or not Hillary Clinton approved (and probably collaborated with) Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s corrupt and underhanded behaviour?

      And if Clinton wins, what’s the bet that Wasserman Schultz gets a nice political posting in her new administration.

      http://observer.com/2016/07/clinton-rewards-wasserman-schultzs-shady-behavior-with-new-job/

      • Anne 5.3.1

        … any 25 year old can tell when they are being royally screwed, and they don’t need you to provide cover for the a**holes doing the screwing.

        To begin with I said the supporters were under the age of 25 – quite different. And good on them. Reminds me of ‘me’ 40 plus years ago. They will grow wiser over time just as I did.

        I don’t provide cover for “arseholes” and I never suggested as much. I’m a Sanders fan not a Clinton fan, but I do care about what will happen to the world if a megalomaniac is elected president of America.

  6. Ad 6

    Great 2 weeks for US democracy.

    And fantastic mobilization for Hillary.
    Loved Michelle and Bill.

    • One Two 6.1

      Supporting lifetime criminals The Clintons, while openly ‘loving’ the performance of an impeached and disgraced former POTUS, who is, at best, a womanizer extraordinaire

      There are some low levels of consciousness on this site

      • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1

        A little dog known for its yappin’,
        And snappin’ and flappin’ and crappin’,
        Scratching at fleas,
        Spreading dis-ease,
        Pot howling at kettles to blacken.

    • Paul 6.2

      Have you read this?
      I recommend it.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ6oY4dMeYo

  7. adam 7

    Good to see the left going to the Greens.

    About time too.

    For too long the liberal elites in the democratic party have swooned at the altar of the corporations.

    This is not so much burn, as the a new dawn of left and finally some hope for a better future.

    Don’t play the card trump, the democrats brought this on themselves.

    Plus, the right have had their own democracy spring as well. Just look how well the Libertarians are doing.

  8. Slippery 8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOL0REJmgRQ

    Protests getting more Dangerous Outside the DNC. Cops Get Pushed back.
    footage from 3 hours ago from posting

    • Colonial Viper 8.1

      They were arresting Bernie supporting 8 foot fence jumpers today. (The fence was 8 feet high not the Bernie supporters…)

  9. Ad 9

    I saw Nate Silver have a little wobble about a poll saying Trump was in the lead this week.

    Convention bumps are common: even Walter Mondale caught Ronald Reagan in the polls following the 1984 Democratic – before getting smashed like a month-old apple against a brick house.

    • swordfish 9.1

      Yeah, but you also need to look at things on a Pollster-by-Pollster basis.

      Here’s CNN’s overview of its post-GOP Convention Poll published a couple of days ago:

      Donald Trump comes out of his convention ahead of Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, topping her 44% to 39% in a four-way matchup including Gary Johnson (9%) and Jill Stein (3%) and by three points in a two-way head-to-head, 48% to 45%. That latter finding represents a 6-point convention bounce for Trump 
 There hasn’t been a significant post-convention bounce in CNN’s polling since 2000 


      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1

        It’s at this stage that for the record, I would like everyone to note that the Democratic establishment had the option of going with a democratic socialist candidate who would slaughter Trump in November by double digits.

        And they went with the far weaker ‘glass ceiling’ breaking candidate instead.

      • Grantoc 9.1.2

        “You also need to look at things on a Pollster-by Pollster basis”

        Which is what Nate Silver does – to a much greater extent that any other polling organisation in the States; using mathematical modelling techniques that are considerably more sophisticated than the other pollsters.

      • Ad 9.1.3

        Hold your breath until they’ve both had conventions.
        Your match ups are otherwise meaningless.

        • Colonial Viper 9.1.3.1

          I’m betting that Clinton’s numbers are going to go down lol

        • Chris 9.1.3.2

          It’s diabolical that the presidency is likely to be decided on the timing of respective gaffes / exposition of faux or mini-scandal etc. That’s what happens when both candidates are so divisive. That wouldn’t be the case if Sanders were one of them.

      • Lanthanide 9.1.4

        “
 There hasn’t been a significant post-convention bounce in CNN’s polling since 2000 
”

        Which actually doesn’t mean much. In 2014 I was sure the polling for National would overstate their result by 2-3% as it had done for the previous 3 elections, giving Labour a slim chance to form a coalition.

        But as it turned out, the polling was very accurate for National. The track record of the prior 3 elections didn’t play out again in 2014.

        So just because CNN’s polling methodology in the past didn’t show convention bumps, doesn’t mean the fact that it is showing one now should be particularly important, given how much time has passed since those other elections.

        • swordfish 9.1.4.1

          “In 2014 I was sure the polling for National would overstate their result by 2-3% as it had done for the previous 3 elections, giving Labour a slim chance to form a coalition.

          But as it turned out, the polling was very accurate for National. The track record of the prior 3 elections didn’t play out again in 2014.”

          True. Although bare in mind that both National’s pollster, Curia, and Labour’s pollster, UMR, recorded a roughly 2 point swing to the Nats in the final few days. As Farrar has said – the National hierarchy attributes that crucial late boost to Dotcom’s Big Reveal. Without that, you may well have seen the same over-estimation. (one-way swings to that degree are fairly rare in the final week of the campaign … the 1993 “Bugger the Pollsters” Election being one of the few other examples in recent times).

          Bare in mind, too, that the Nats were polling 50% or more in quite a few polls from May right through to August and even three (50% / 53% / 54%) in early September, just 2-3 weeks out from Election Day.

  10. mauī 10

    If you want to see more of Jill Stein, here’s a great interview, done straight after she did another rousing speech a couple of days ago. That’s probably why it’s so good. Starts at 6:15
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTG67z0yUag

  11. Colonial Viper 11

    Sabine said that 150 sour faced Bernie die hards walked out and they didn’t count for shit.

    I imagine that the repercussions of today’s DNC Convention are going to reverberate, and reverberate loud.

    As for Trump’s polling.

    The electorate absolutely hates disunity. A week a go that was the Republican’s problem. No one remembers that any more.

    • Paul 11.1

      150?
      Nonsense.

      Angry over allegations of widespread voter fraud and orders to stay quiet during Tuesday night’s proceedings, an estimated 1,800 hard-core Sanders voters staged a spontaneous walkout Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Many said they felt disrespected and silenced.

      http://www.cleveland.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/07/dnc_2016_bernie_sanders_suppor.html

    • swordfish 11.2

      4 brutal poll numbers that greet Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention

      Washington Post story before the latest turmoil …

      It’s common for presidential candidates to get a bump from their conventions, and two new polls Monday suggest Donald Trump did indeed get that.

      But the new polls don’t just show Trump’s stock rising (however temporarily that may be); they also have some very bad news for Hillary Clinton and her already-declining personal image. Indeed, politically, she’s doing as bad as she ever has — if not worse …

      Below, four key points:

      1) 68 percent say Clinton isn’t honest and trustworthy

      That’s according to the CNN poll, and it’s her worst number on-record. It’s also up from 65 percent earlier this month and 59 percent in May. The 30 percent who see Clinton as honest and trustworthy is now well shy of the number who say the same of Trump: 43 percent … The CBS poll, for what it’s worth, has a similar number saying Clinton is dishonest: 67 percent.

      2) Her image has never been worse

      CBS showed just 31 percent have favorable views of Clinton and 56 percent have unfavorable ones. Even in Trump’s worst days on the campaign trail, he has rarely dipped below a 31 percent favorable rating … In the CNN poll, the 39 percent who say they have a favorable view of Clinton is lower than at any point in CNN’s regular polling since April 1992 … Clinton’s favorable rating in the CNN poll is currently 16 points net-negative. That’s unprecedented in the dozens of CNN polls on her since 1992 … Gallup’s new numbers on Monday — 38 percent favorable and 57 percent unfavorable — are also unprecedented over the course of Clinton’s political career.

      3) Just 38 percent would be “proud” to have her as president

      That’s down from 55 percent in March 2015. Sixty percent say they would not be proud.

      4) Nearly half of Democratic primary voters still want Bernie Sanders

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/25/4-brutal-poll-numbers-that-greet-hillary-clinton-at-the-democratic-national-convention/

      • GregJ 11.2.1

        I read something somewhere (it may even have been a link from something posted here – perhaps 538?) that said Trump & Clinton are the 2 most unpopular Presidential candidates in decades.

        It really does seem a case of holding your nose when you vote!

        Of course the US should ditch it’s antiquated system and elect a President on a popular vote with runoff elections to get a candidate over 50% – perhaps like, oh I dunno, Russia! 👿

        • Colonial Viper 11.2.1.1

          I am predicting that by the end of August, Trump will smell like roses (relatively) in terms of disapproval ratings.

        • DoublePlusGood 11.2.1.2

          Perhaps a Preferential Vote election. Would also help their democracy greatly if they did STV or MMP for Senate and Congress.

      • red-blooded 11.2.2

        “Untrustworthy and dishonest”? That’s not what Politifact says. In fact, they currently have Clinton rating at 71% true(ish). http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/

        Please note that Sanders is 72% (an improvement on his previous rating).
        http://www.politifact.com/personalities/bernie-s/

        And our beloeved Mr Trump? A whopping 29%! http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/

        • Colonial Viper 11.2.2.1

          Let’s look at some real polling results from a few days ago shall we, instead of some synthetic metric which ignores what actual people think?

          The convention also helped Trump make strides in his personal image. A majority (52%) now say Trump is running for president for the good of the country rather than personal gain, just 44% say the same about Clinton. He’s increased the share who call him honest and trustworthy (from 38% to 43%), and who would be proud to have him as president (from 32% to 39%). And nearly half now say he’s in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives (46% say so, 37% did before the convention)…

          Perhaps most troubling for the Clinton supporters gathering in Philadelphia this week: 68% now say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, her worst rating on that measure in CNN/ORC polling.

          http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/25/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-poll/index.html

          • Macro 11.2.2.1.1

            But then only 70% of the citizens of the USA think CC is real. Admittedly an improvement following the massive droughts they have been suffering this past year, but still 30% deny, and that is enough for the 80 odd republican senators to hold up any real intergovernmental policy on climate change.

  12. Tiger Mountain 12

    Bernie is trying to extract the max policy concessions from the DNC on various issues; but really if he could not be VP nominee he should then have run Green or independent, and all you political geniuses that follow US politics intimately can squeal at me but Bernie was the more likely to be able to defeat Trump

    • GregJ 12.1

      Strategically he was probably better off being inside the tent and trying to drag the Democrats as far left as he could (and let’s not forget he got very close to winning the nomination).

      The only way he could have run as a Green or Independent and had a shot would be if the US reformed its Presidential voting system away from the antiquated one it has now.

      Perhaps his legacy may be a slate of new Democrats who move the party to the left.

  13. Paul 13

    Chris Hedges.
    Saying it as it is.
    Listen from 2:30 to 7:10, from 11:35 to 14:45, from 25:00 to 28:05 and from 29:15.

    We do not live in a functioning democracy and we have to stop pretending that we do.

    When you eviscerate privacy, you can’t use the word liberty. That is the relation between a master and a slave.

    You can’t build movements in a political system where money has replaced the vote.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr4cXH3Fil8

    • Anne 13.1

      Nope. Imo, Robert Reich is right on the button. Sane and sensible reasoning.

    • swordfish 13.2

      Chris Hedges:

      And the Democrats, you know, their bedside manner is different from the Republicans. You know, Trump is this kind of grotesque figure. He’s like the used car salesman who rolls back the speedometer. But Hillary Clinton is like, you know, the managers of Goldman Sachs. They both engage in criminal activities that have—and Clinton’s record, like Trump, exposes this—that have preyed upon the most vulnerable within this country and are now destroying the middle class. And to somehow speak as if we are in a functioning democracy, or speak as if there are any restraints on capitalism, or speak as if the Democratic Party has not pushed forward this agenda—I mean, Obama has done this. You know, he has been as obsequious to Wall Street as the Bush administration. There’s no difference.

  14. Colonial Viper 14

    An interesting counterfactual – what if Trump was knocked out earlier on by the Elephant Establishment (as everyone expected) and Jeb Bush was now the Republican candidate, giving the distressed working class vote truly nowhere to go for.

  15. Stuart Munro 15

    Leaving aside the emails and other dirt, the Clinton brand is pretty tired. The public know to expect more of the same from Hillary – but the same hasn’t worked for them at all. Hope the system gets reformed – I’m expecting a Trump win.

    • Colonial Viper 15.1

      Concur. The writing has been on the wall for a Trump win for awhile, particularly with a Clinton nomination.

      • Stuart Munro 15.1.1

        Yeah – I think too that Jeb Bush’s chances were killed by his brother as much as anything. There hasn’t been a credible GOP candidate since McCain. There’ll be a lot of protest non-votes from both sides. Russia and China will make hay while the US is paralysed with a surfeit of stupid.

        • Phil 15.1.1.1

          There hasn’t been a credible GOP candidate since McCain

          Romney got closer to beating Obama in ’12 than McCain did in ’08.

          • Stuart Munro 15.1.1.1.1

            Not everything worth measuring comes down to numbers. Numerically Key could be mistaken for something other than a lying white collar criminal.

            • Phil 15.1.1.1.1.1

              I tend to believe numerical results are, as a way of assessing political credibility, a far superior method when compared to relying on a political partisan of the left (right) having a balanced view of a candidate of the right (left).

  16. red-blooded 16

    Like they “truly” have reason to hope with Trump! You truly do continue to amaze, CV. Even if you don’t like Clinton, “My friend’s enemy is my friend” doesn’t hold, here.
    Sanders knows damn well that Trump and all that he represents is the real worry. He’s endorsed Clinton and spoken with real passion about the need to reject Trump. They were in competition for the leadership of the Democrats (a party he’s only belonged to for a couple of years) and it’s common in the US for competitors in the primaries to vilify each other, but now’s the time to pull together. He knows this, but it seems his supporters don’t. I really hope they (and we) don’t have to live with the outcome of their (and your) immaturity.

    • Colonial Viper 16.1

      I hope you and your ilk keep demonising ordinary people as being tantrum throwing kids.

      It really helps your likability numbers.

      PS if the Democratic Party hierarchy had been serious about nominating a candidate who by all the polls would smash Trump in November, they would have picked Sanders.

      So please don’t have the gall to blame the rest of us for their shitty short sighted judgement.

      • Liberal Realist 16.1.1

        They will keep at it CV. Beltway types just don’t seem to get it.

        I’ve shared this before (in reply to yourself if I can recall), it still stands. Quote from John Pilger (my emphasis):

        ” Trump is a media hate figure. That alone should arouse
        our scepticism. Trump’s views on migration are grotesque, but
        no more grotesque than David Cameron. It is not Trump who
        is the Great Deporter from the United States, but the Nobel
        Peace Prize winner Barack Obama … The danger to the rest of
        us is not Trump, but Hillary Clinton. She is no maverick. She
        embodies the resilience and violence of a system…
        As
        presidential election day draws near, Clinton will be hailed as
        the first female president, regardless of her crimes and lies
        – just as Barack Obama was lauded as the first black president
        and liberals swallowed his nonsense about “hope”.”

        http://johnpilger.com/articles/trump-and-clinton-censoring-the-unpalatable

        While Trump represents a worldview that I generally don’t agree with he’s unlikely to start WW3. Clinton on the other hand…

        Also worth referencing:

        “The equivalent in the US are the politically correct warmongers on the New York Times, the Washington Post and network TV who dominate political debate. I watched a furious debate on CNN about Trump’s infidelities. It was clear, they said, a man like that could not be trusted in the White House. No issues were raised. Nothing on the 80 per cent of Americans whose income has collapsed to 1970s levels. Nothing on the drift to war. The received wisdom seems to be “hold your nose” and vote for Clinton: anyone but Trump. That way, you stop the monster and preserve a system gagging for another war.

        http://johnpilger.com/articles/silencing-america-as-it-prepares-for-war

        IMO Clinton represents the system that is ‘Gagging for another war’. In order to prevent another major or world war Trump must be elected.

        • Stuart Munro 16.1.1.1

          While I concur that Hillary has little to offer, the Donald may make concessions to Putin in Europe that allow whole countries to be re-enSlaved by Putinic militarism. The wheels have pretty clearly fallen off Dahlian polyarchy, America looks set for a despotic period.

          • Liberal Realist 16.1.1.1.1

            I do not agree that Putin has any intention of enslaving anyone. IMO Putin is doing what an intelligent elite in his position does and he does it well. Putin is a remarkable politician in that he has maintained popularity whilst holding the hawks + neocons in his own government at bay. Who know’s Russia could end up with a reactive hawk at the helm. Putin isn’t an angel by any mark but he’s no comparison to Clinton.

            I believe Putin is a major reason why there hasn’t yet been a major escalation in the US / Russian conflict even though the US and its vassals / proxies have been agitating and inciting Russian responses via encroachment of its interests, overt or otherwise, for years. For example Putin brokered the deal with Syria when Assad was falsely accused of using chemical weapons, for Assad to dispose of his stockpile, averting direct US / NATO intervention (bombing). Ukraine was not invaded after an illegal and overt hostile takeover with swift insertion of delegated quisling and their neo-nazi thugs. Russia has no interest in any conflict with Europe, while recently NATO runs the largest maneuvers since the end of the cold war, near Russia’s border. Who’s the aggressor?

            Eventually Putin will run out of political capital and or buckle to internal pressure to respond more forcefully to the US and its NATO quislings. My bet is that should this come to pass, it will be under Clinton. Giving how the US behaves, that means WW3 just got hot.

            As for America being set for a despotic period, they’ve already developed a fairly advanced form of Oligarchic Plutocracy masquerading as a Republic, so we’re already there.

            • Colonial Viper 16.1.1.1.1.1

              Russia has no interest in any conflict with Europe, while recently NATO runs the largest maneuvers since the end of the cold war, near Russia’s border. Who’s the aggressor?

              While western media parrots blame Russia for warmongering if Moscow conducts military exercises within its own borders.

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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    3 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grĂące of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    10 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology â€“ the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of DĂ©jĂ  Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today
? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
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