Paris as an excuse for more useless surveillance

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, November 17th, 2015 - 67 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, Spying, us politics, war - Tags: , , , ,

I guess this was predictable:

NZ fear over secret communication following Paris attacks

The Government and security experts say they are concerned about the ease with which the Paris attackers were able to communicate without being detected.

Changes in technology, such as new encrypted message systems, is making it increasingly easy to speak without alerting authorities.

Encryption is the latest bugbear of the security state. Banning it is a bad idea, but that’s a post for another time. In any case, encryption wasn’t the issue with the Paris attacks:

Paris attacks: John Key says undetectable communication is increasing

Undetectable communication is closer to the truth.

The amount of “dark communications” which New Zealand spy agencies are unable to intercept is increasing, Prime Minister John Key says.

Mr Key made the comments in response to reports that French intelligence did not pick up any communications which foreshadowed the massive, co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris on Friday night.

More of that in the footnote below.

New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS) and Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) are now under review. Mr Key was asked whether the review could lead to changes which addressed technological advances.

He said the issue was not the spy agencies’ capacity, because the legislation which governed the SIS and GCSB was already “reasonably broad”.

Isn’t that an interesting comment – Key effectively acknowledging that our spy agencies can already take anything they want.

“The issue is that this technology is very difficult to break into, essentially. So you are seeing people doing things that are a lot more sophisticated than in the past.”

Off on the wrong track again. The communications used in the case of the Paris attacks were as sophisticated as – a PS4:

Paris terrorists suspected of using PlayStation 4 to communicate

It’s being suggested that the communication tool of choice was the PlayStation 4. While that may seem like a surprising choice, from a terrorist’s point of view it’s one of the safer options. The authorities have been able to monitor standard communication channels (land lines, cell phones, email, Internet browsing) easily for years, but the IP-based voice communication offered on the PS4 is much more difficult to listen in on, as is any peer-to-peer systems used.

No encryption. No deep web / dark net buzzwords, a PS4. (Update: Disputed.)

The problem of monitoring communication on games consoles gets worse when you consider how many games have communication methods built-in. You can voice chat, message each other, or even write temporary messages on walls in a game like Call of Duty. How do you even begin to track such a wide variety of communications methods split across tens or even hundreds of different games?

That’s before you even get in to Steganography and associated methods. Trying to monitor all the possibilities would be like trying to perform significantly time consuming analysis of every frame of every video uploaded to YouTube.

So we’re going to have an ill informed debate about effective surveillance (which is impossible) and encryption (which is necessary). The tools that governments want won’t address the communication channels that smart terrorists are actually using. They can be used very effectively to spy on you and me though.


Footnote

Effective surveillance is mathematically impossible. The Paris attacks are a case in point:

Iraq Says It Warned France of ‘Imminent’ Attacks

The Associated Press is reporting that one day before the Paris attacks, Iraqi intelligence officials warned France and other anti-ISIS coalition allies that they should expect “imminent” assaults by the militant group. According to those intelligence officials, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi had ordered attacks “through bombings or assassinations or hostage taking in the coming days.”

In response, a French security official pointed out to the AP that they receive warnings like this “every day.”

67 comments on “Paris as an excuse for more useless surveillance ”

  1. sabine 1

    Waleed Aly from Australia, says this life on TV

    http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/waleed-aly-hits-out-at-isis-over-paris-attacks-calls-them-weak/story-fn948wjf-1227611388541?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=News.com.au&utm_medium=Facebook

    Quote: He said this “evil organisation” believes if they can make Muslims the enemy of the West, then Muslims in France and England and America and here in Australia will have nowhere to turn but to ISIL.
    “That was exactly their strategy in Iraq,” he said. “And now they want it to go global.
    “Saying that out loud, it is both dumbfounding in its stupidity and bloodcurdling in its barbarity. “We are all feeling a million raging emotions right now. I am angry at these terrorists. I am sickened by the violence and I am crushed for the families that have been left behind, but, you know what, I will not be manipulated.
    “We all need to come together. I know how that sounds. I know it is a cliche, but it is also true because it is exactly what ISIL doesn’t want.
    “So, if you are a member of Parliament or a has-been member of Parliament preaching hate at a time when what we actually need is more love — you are helping ISIL. They have told us that. If you are a Muslim leader telling your community they have no place here or basically them saying the same thing — you are helping ISIL.
    “They have told us that. If you are just someone with a Facebook or Twitter account firing off misguided messages of hate, you are helping ISIL — They have told us that.
    “I am pretty sure that right now none of us wants to help these b*stards.”

    • RedLogix 1.1

      Yes I read that an hour or so ago, and was thinking of re-posting it myself. Thanks for beating me to it.

      While it’s not a cool cerebral analysis, Waleed has made his case with rigor and balance.

      I understand anger. It is part of the natural and necessary response to Paris. But do not let yourself be manipulated into letting a healthy anger transform into a corrosive hatred.

      Required reading – and the best response to all the war-mongers posting here.

      Your hatred is helping ISIL.

      • BLiP 1.1.1

        Hatred, love, fear . . . all emotions, in fact, stirred up by the Paris outrage are currently being exploited by governments in order to further clamp down.

      • Olwyn 1.1.2

        I have for some time thought that there is an element in the west that is at war on all fronts – that their geopolitical ambitions and their economic ambitions work at odds. In general, people who are treated as outcasts or enemies welcome ideas and movements that promise liberation. It seems inane to nurture division, hatred and privation within your own society, and then suppose that they will all come together to support you as you try to inflict the roughly same formula on other societies. And that other societies, having seen the divisions and privations in yours, will somehow welcome this.

    • Bill 1.2

      The problem with that take is that it assumes Isil to be some multi-tentacled strategic octopus. It isn’t. There is an ideology and there are conditions that make that ideology ‘appealing’ to people who may (and probably) have no contact with Isil.

      eg – Did a believer in state communisim have to have any dealings with Moscow? Did propaganda try to have us believe that IRA terrorists were in contact with the Vatican? Did suffragettes have some communication line to women’s central?

  2. Paul 2

    Benjamin Franklin

    “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

  3. BLiP 3

    Yeah, like terrorists didn’t work it out a wee while ago that communications had to go dark. Its not like ISIS is entirely uneducated about the use of computer technology.

    Trivia Question: when did the Director of the FBI say . . .

    . . . The looming spectre of the widespread use of robust, virtually uncrackable encryption is one of the most difficult problems confronting law enforcement . . . At stake are some of our most valuable and reliable investigative techniques, and the public safety of our citizens. We believe that unless a balanced approach to encryption is adopted that includes a viable key management infrastructure, the ability of law enforcement to investigate and sometimes prevent the most serious crimes and terrorism will be severely impaired . . .

    ^^^ 1997.

    The sniveling MSM parroting of the GCSB’s propaganda on this issue is brazen. Typically, the worst example was Mike Hosking who had the entirely unjustified temerity to suggest Edward Snowden was somehow a part of the problem and, by implication, had blood on his hands. Its as if Hosking has never even considered one of the prime messages Snowden delivered: total surveillance results in impending terrorist actions going unnoticed, total surveillance as we have now has actually put people at greater risk.

  4. Tracey 4

    They did not carry out the acts in Paris but it won’t stop Politicians and their neatly placed mouthpieces using them…

    Pushing the fear hot button

    “When a politician talks about almost everything in terms of terrorism, or communism, or crime, or threats to “national security” or “our way of life,” and so on, that politician is pushing the fear hot button. It’s very easy to push. Just use a few of the right trigger words, throw in a dash of plausibility, and the subconsciousness is automatically hoodwinked into a state of fear, or at least into wondering if there is something out there to fear. Whether or not an enemy actually is out there doesn’t matter—what matters is that we think there might be one. Fear clouds the judgment, making it all the harder to discern whether there really is an enemy out there. Because we cannot be sure, we play it safe and assume there is at least some risk. Since people are risk averse, the ploy works and we become believers. We have been influenced by statements of what might be lurking out there. Our fear hot button has been pushed and it worked.”

    Imagine what a powerful weapon fear becomes when people have just been killed in Paris…

    And then consider that some of these attackers were on a radar already, some were checked and let go after the event. Detain everyone on suspicion is the next step?

  5. Tracey 5

    I thought John Key gave up the post of Head of Spy Agencies?

    • Grindlebottom 5.1

      Yes he did. Chris Finlayson is Minister for Security Intelligence Services. But PMs frequently comment on other MInisters’ portfolio issues,

      • Tracey 5.1.1

        I know but its like Key knows more about our secret servces since he stopped being responsble for them.

      • Smilin 5.1.2

        He, Key just cant stay out of the limelight on any issue which makes you wonder what the rest of the caucus are doing -navel gazing possibly or just servants of the mighty one

  6. esoteric pineapples 6

    Isn’t one of the primary aims of a terrorist organisation who plants bombs etc to actually encourage states to repress their citizenry, so that the citizens actually rebel against the government?

    Also, if you were a government who wanted to spy on your own citizens, all you need is some sort of pretext such as a terrorist attack. When civil libertarians argue against the spying, they can be accused of supporting terrorists. Pretty much the same argument as the Prime Minister was using regarding Christmas Island in Parliament.

  7. Bill 8

    Sorry, but I’m not buying any of this. Why would the guys in Paris and Belgium have had to speak to anyone in Syria or Isis?

    From the post.

    …French intelligence did not pick up any communications which foreshadowed the massive, co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris…

    Occams Razor would suggest that was because there was no communication.

    It’s being suggested that the communication tool of choice was… assumes there was a need for communication – but why would there be?

    Let me put it by way of a shaky analogous example – shaky because it presents the propaganda of the time as real.

    Imagine terrorism in Ireland in the 80s. The news told us that it was all down to a religious divide and that the religion on the ‘other side’ was Catholicism. Catholicism was and is centred in the Vatican City. Now, lets imagine that some Irish person committed an act of terrorism on a genuinely religious basis. Are we to believe they could only have done so after receiving centralised instructions or having engaged in lengthy correspondence with either Buckingham Palace or the Vatican?

    Well no, of course not.

    And that’s given, that back in the 80s the need for wider and deeper communication with acknowledged authorities (to access bomb expertise, gun procurement, etc) would have been greater then given no internet loaded with info, sources and ideas.

    French and Belgium nationals, like our imaginary Irish example, hook their action to an ideology and then act in the name of that ideology. There is no need for central control or a huge volume of communication.

    • Anno1701 8.1

      “Are we to believe they could only have done so after receiving centralised instructions or having engaged in lengthy correspondence with either Buckingham Palace or the Vatican? ”

      There was actual proven collusion between UK security forces( “Buckingham palace” ) and Loyalist paramilitaries in Northen Ireland

      http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/london-told-it-must-face-up-to-fact-of-collusion-in-north-1.2250653

      http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/britains-secret-terror-deals-truly-disturbing-bbc-panorama-allegations-of-collusion-must-be-fully-investigated-says-amnesty-international-31261593.html

    • Colonial Viper 8.2

      …French intelligence did not pick up any communications which foreshadowed the massive, co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris…

      Occams Razor would suggest that was because there was no communication.

      Basic Op Sec would suggest that if there was any connection with ISIL Syrian leadership that it was all organised months ago and compartmentalised so that the tactical units in France never needed to talk to anyone in Syria again.

      • Bill 8.2.1

        I’m picking there was no contact, or at most, very minimal contact. Isil in Syria decided to hit cafe goers, a rock concert and a football match?

        I. don’t. think. so.

        • Colonial Viper 8.2.1.1

          I don’t think our comments necessarily preclude each other.

          A football match between France and Germany that senior politicians and officials from both countries were at.

          A concert by an American rock band.

          Final target selection could have been totally under local control, with the broad strokes of the op previously defined in Syria many months ago.

    • joe90 8.3

      Why would the guys in Paris and Belgium have had to speak to anyone in Syria or Isis?

      Indeed.

      Hit soft targets. “Diversify and widen the vexation strikes against the crusader-Zionist enemy in every place in the Islamic world, and even outside of it if possible, so as to disperse the efforts of the alliance of the enemy and thus drain it to the greatest extent possible.”

      Strike when potential victims have their guard down. Sow fear in general populations, damage economies. “If a tourist resort that the crusaders patronise … is hit, all of the tourist resorts in all of the states of the world will have to be secured by the work of additional forces, which are double the ordinary amount, and a huge increase in spending.”

      Consider reports suggesting a 15-year-old was involved in Friday’s atrocity. “Capture the rebelliousness of youth, their energy and idealism, and their readiness for self-sacrifice, while fools preach ‘moderation’ (wasatiyyah), security and avoidance of risk.”

      http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/15/terrorists-isis?

    • Mike the Savage One 8.4

      You raise some valid points, Bill, it is blinkered to think that these terrorists took their actions by reacting upon some “orders” from Raqqa in Syria, or that they had to communicate extensively via phone and/or internet to organise what they did. I fear there are enough “desperados” and fanatic extremists, and also some who genuinely believe they act in total righteousness, who are prepared to commit such attacks. Getting the guns and what else is needed takes a bit of an effort, but hey, how many stolen army, police and home based weapons are somewhere in circulation or storage in New Zealand?

      If seriously committed, any few or sole persons can get their hands at some automatic guns, on the black market or by burgling a place, and getting rental cars is hardly requiring much criminal energy, most certainly not dependent on some “instructions” from a faraway place in Syria. They can also easily find jihadist, black flags with some Arabic words by the Prophet on, or get them printed in any flat, house or garage with no problem.

      By that I do not rule out that there is some significant international communications via the “black web” and so, between like minded, who have plans to take certain actions.

      Even Bin Laden’s followers did all to avoid using the internet, after 9/11, and found ways to communicate, and much went on without detection.

      • Bill 8.4.1

        Manchester. 1980s. Want a gun. Who do I speak to? It’s backing up drug shit.

        Do I speak to a Columbian drug lord?

        Nope.

        Paris. 2015. I want a gun and some bomb material. Who do I speak to? It’s backing up some expreession of desperation/hopelessness.

        Do I speak to some Isil commander in Syria?

        Nope.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.5

      It’s being suggested that the communication tool of choice was… assumes there was a need for communication – but why would there be?

      A team always needs to communicate. The question is more how they communicated and if those communications could have been picked up which they probably couldn’t even with the mass surveillance that governments engage in now..

      You’re making the assumption that the authorities are assuming centralised control rather than a decentralised cell structure carrying out an operation. Unlikely that but the reporting is.

      • exkiwiforces 8.5.1

        It’s call safe hand/ dead letter drops, snail mail or need to know and enforcing strict comms silence. Just ask Pablo over Kiwipolitico or anybody who is ex-military

  8. alwyn 9

    The gist of this post appears to be the view that we shouldn’t carry out surveillance because it is completely useless.

    Try reading this article in the Dom/Post
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/paris-attacks/74097018/paris-attacks-belgian-man-abdelhamid-abaaoud-named-as-mastermind
    If the facts in this story are correct perhaps you would tell us how many other attacks would have gone ahead and how many people would have been killed if we had carried out no attempts to keep track of these people at all?
    We see such statements in the story as
    “Abaaoud was also believed to have been behind thwarted plans to attack a Paris-bound high-speed train and Paris area church, a French official said” Thwarted you will note.
    “Abaaoud was named as the head of a jihadi cell broken up by Belgian police in January, “hours or days” before a planned attack to kill police officers.” The attack appears to be have been prevented.

    I have seen other stories listing foiled attempts at terrorism. Should we do nothing because some attempts succeed?

    • r0b 9.1

      Targeted surveillance of known threats makes sense. Mass surveillance of everyone does not. Did you read the linked piece?

      http://thestandard.org.nz/the-mathematics-of-surveillance/

    • One Anonymous Bloke 9.2

      Clearly the only alternative to spying on everyone is to spy on no-one. No, wait, this just in: Alwyn’s false dichotomy is very very stupid.

    • Colonial Viper 9.3

      If the facts in this story are correct perhaps you would tell us how many other attacks would have gone ahead and how many people would have been killed if we had carried out no attempts to keep track of these people at all?

      In Congressional hearings in 2012 or 2013 the answer to your question was pretty clear: NSA mass surveillance had prevented zero terrorist attacks.

      This is not a surprise because NSA mass surveillance is designed as a tool of local population control (and building up security state fiefdoms), not as an anti-terrorist measure.

  9. theDude 10

    By Armstrong;
    “It Is Time to Knock off the Bullshit About Surveillance for Terrorism”

    http://www.armstrongeconomics.com/archives/39316

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-15/martin-armstrong-rages-its-time-knock-bs-about-surveillance-terrorism

    I guess we ill have to wait and see.

  10. infused 11

    First, PS4 was a load of shit, second, anyone can intercept encrypted data, but decrypting it is another story.

    You are confusing two different things here with your interpenetration of Key’s comments.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1

      Interpenetration? Is that like defeating extremism by winning hearts and minds rather than relying on mass-murder and panty-sniffing?

      • infused 11.1.1

        You’d know.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1.1.1

          I wouldn’t go that far: I just think that after a decade of deranged wingnut vengeance fantasies it’s past time to try something sane instead.

          Oh, and we have always been at war with North Korea 😆

          • infused 11.1.1.1.1

            I don’t think you quite grasp what I said originally. I was specifically talking about encryption.

            One interesting thing to note: If you do use strong encryption, expect to be monitored.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1.1.1.1.1

              Oh I grasped it perfectly thanks.

              As for being monitored, chicken, meet egg. How do the curtain-twitching department know I’m using (say) email encryption over and above that provided by ISPs, unless they’re already watching?

              • infused

                No ISP has any type of encryption as far as I know. Unless you are talking about SSL for email? Mail stored on the DB is most likely unencrypted.

                And of course they are watching. GCSB has monitoring at most gateways and exchanges in NZ.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  Apart from SSL, Google said that about 65 per cent of the messages sent by its Gmail users are encrypted…

                  So, assuming you’re right, and the GCSB is illegally hoovering up everything in direct contradiction of the Prime Minister’s craven mendacity, that’s an awful lot of “monitoring”. I expect the courts are flat our processing all the warrants 🙄

                  • infused

                    Yeah, again, you are confusing things. Hence my original post.

                    1) They only encrypt the transport, not the storage.
                    2) The gateway monitoring is only active when triggered by an alert, or they are actively searching for something. IE, pass-through mode.

                    They don’t just mass store data, as it’s physically impossible for a small country like NZ.

                    Encrypting storage is a whole different ball game and very few companies are going to do that. The biggest issue is you generally can never restore any data unless you have the key pairs. So it makes data recovery etc impossible.

          • alwyn 11.1.1.1.2

            “Oh, and we have always been at war with North Korea”

            Actually we have never been at war with North Korea.
            Although it is called the Korean War, and we are still in an armistice, no war was ever actually declared. It was a UN Police Action to which we contributed troops, not an official war.
            I doubt if the people who served there could tell the difference.

  11. Colonial Viper 12

    There is a very odd thing about the Paris attacks – up to 7 suicide bombers exploded their suicide vests…but the explosions themselves resulted in very few casualties. Compare that to the pre-election political rally in Ankara where two suicide bombs killed just over 100 people.

    • infused 12.1

      Feel free to go watch the liveleak videos if you’d like to see limbs etc in-case you are one of those people who though this was a conspiracy (there are a few).

  12. Colonial Viper 13

    Also – the Labour Party voted for John Key’s anti-terrorism/spying legislation earlier this year.

    They’re all on the same side.

    • infused 13.1

      Once you actually see what these guys collect, you’d probably change your mind.

      • Colonial Viper 13.1.1

        yeah, underwear pics and details of peoples affairs, who their ex-spouses are sleeping with, your blood test results and latest CV, stored into perpetuity.

  13. Colonial Viper 14

    ISPs have to install whatever surveillance devices required by the intelligence services. If the US example is anything to go by, the ISPs don’t complain because they are well paid to do so.

    • infused 14.1

      Well they aren’t paid well at all actually… And they are not generally installed at the ISP level. All ISPs connect to exchanges, like WIX. That’s where they are placed, and the international gateways like Southern Cross.

  14. Mike the Savage One 15

    So after passing GCSB law amendments to give the agency more powers to gather information on ordinary New Zealanders, and to also justify that they cooperate even more with other agencies under the 5 Eyes network, such as the US NSA, which has gathered huge amounts of metadata on ordinary people’s phone and internet use, we are now told by the PM, all that does not do what they claimed it should do.

    So yet again, the Prime Minister has revealed that he is a total hypocrite if not a blatant liar, and the media just reports on it, and does not raise further questions.

    And the people are fed endless media reports on the terror attacks in Paris, and their consequences, now the bulk of news on TV every evening, so they think, we need more surveillance.

    I feel treated like an ass that has been kicked too many times, when do others, and when do the casual, ignorant, silent majority finally get it, wake up, and vote this “criminal” lot out? We should not even wait that long, in any society where people used their brains, bothered to care, and stood up for their rights, there should by now be mass protests out in the streets, but I see none here in NZ.

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11546206

  15. Ad 16

    I think the post is arguing too much from a position of global safety and of having not been touched by the damage on New Zealand soil from non-state terrorism. Australia has had too many dead in Bali, Sydney and elsewhere for it to be simply a principle to argue over.

    We have rightly rounded on our grossly under-regulated security apparatus, and its ridiculous new legal powers. SIS and GCSB leaders and their performance should have full scrutiny to a fully open Select Committee, with the media right there.

    But the left need to deal with the necessity of a security apparatus for New Zealand.

    If the ISIS threat continues to escalate globally, as it seems to be, we are going to have to prepare for state-licensed mosques at a minimum. We have state-regulated schools here so it’s not a great leap.

    The price of freedom in a society is regulation.

  16. Draco T Bastard 17

    Off on the wrong track again. The communications used in the case of the Paris attacks were as sophisticated as – a PS4:

    LOL

    There was concern when Apple first launched it’s G4 computer back 1999 that could do 1 giga FLOPS because of it’s potential to do real time encryption and thus it’s potential to help rogue nations to build up their military potential. Apple’s marketing department had a great time but:

    A final note on how far we’ve come: while I couldn’t find listed MTOPS ratings for the iPhone 5s, a cursory calculation using comparable Geekbench scores coupled with this chart from Intel suggests that the current iPhone has a rating of around 40,000 MTOPS.

    The average run of the mill phone makes the G4 look like a friggen calculator and yet that was all that was needed to ensure communications that couldn’t be listened to.

    The PS4’s computing power is far beyond what a phone is capable of.

  17. John Schmidt 18

    Not mentioned because it’s inconvenient is the number of terrorist events that have been thwarted that has been mentioned briefly in the public domain, some of these events would have been bigger than Paris had they been succesful. Briefly because it appears no one wants to dwell on good news or if it does not fit with one’s ideology. Would not surprise me if there are other events that never made it to the public domain. If you look at what has happened the rush to encryption began with wiki leaks and accelerated with Snowden revelations. So yes those who wish society harm have learnt a lot from all the revelations so it could be argued wiki leaks and Snowden now have blood on their hands.
    The question for society now is how many deaths are acceptable because while many threats are thwarted some are succesful. It’s impossible to be 100% safe. To eliminate the threat entirely means losing an unacceptable level of personal privacy. So the question remains are we happy as a society to accept the current level of deaths or do we reduce this through loss of personal freedom or do we accept an increasing loss by reducing the ability of the state in keeping us safe.

  18. RichardK 19

    Couple things i’d like to say n this.

    As far as i am aware military hardware is about 20 years more advanced than civilian.

    Bearing that in mind if the military have already a well functioning quantum computer even at it’s basist, there will be no encryption it could not crack in almost realtime.

    Quantum computers = scary in the wrong hands and the likelihood of the military having this is high, or if not now, within the next few years.

    and as of today when our gov and media seem complacent in not even reporting the sneaky antics and laws being passed under ugency, making laws again to cover their errors, with more lack of media coverage to hide it from the public.

    The fear i have is when governments become this powerful and agenda driven guerilla wars break out, terrorism becomes a national problem not international.

    The whole system currently under national and everything they do is crazy as batshit we do as we please, fuck you, batshit crazy..

    They really need to go before their is civil disorder

  19. greywarshark 20

    Vladimir Putin has been doing some noteworthy surveillance.
    16 November 2015
    Putin: ISIS financed from 40 countries, including G20 members
    https://www.rt.com/news/322305-isis-financed-40-countries/

    “Putin also spoke of the urgent need to curb the illegal oil trade by IS”.
    “I’ve shown our colleagues photos taken from space and from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil and petroleum products,” he said.
    “The motorcade of refueling vehicles stretched for dozens of kilometers, so that from a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters they stretch beyond the horizon,” Putin added, comparing the convoy to gas and oil pipeline systems…..

    President Vladimir Putin says he’s shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues: the terrorists appear to be financed from 40 countries, including some G20 member states.
    During the summit, “I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them,” Putin told the journalists….

    Putin reiterated Russia’s readiness to support armed opposition in Syria in its efforts to fight Islamic State.
    “Some armed opposition groups consider it possible to begin active operations against IS with Russia’s support. And we are ready to provide such support from the air. If it happens it could become a good basis for the subsequent work on a political settlement,” he said.
    “We really need support from the US, European nations, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran,” the president added.”

  20. Gabby 21

    You’ve got to wonder how these convoys have escaped the attention of the yankers.

  21. Liberal Realist 22

    Read an article yesterday that suggests there was a massive cyber attack on Paris infrastructure 48 hours before the attacks which blinded police surveillance.

    “French Security Left Blind During Paris Attacks

    Paul Craig Roberts

    I have received a report from European security that there was a massive cyber attack on French systems 48 hours prior to and during the Paris attacks. Among other things, the attack took down the French mobile data network and blinded police surveillance The attack was not a straightforward DDOS attack but a sophisticated attack that targeted a weakness in infrastructure hardware.

    Such an attack is beyond the capability of most organizations and requires capability that is unlikely to be in ISIL’s arsenal. An attack on this scale is difficult to pull off without authorities getting wind of it. The coordination required suggests state involvement.”

    The article does state that it is unknown if this information is credible. I’m not familiar with this author however his resume (in the about section) looks to have credibility.

    If a cyber attack did happen as this article suggest there are some very big questions to ask. We’ll probably never know.

    From here:
    https://tinyurl.com/ngqehdc

  22. sabine 23

    considering that all the terrorists were from France or Belgium, one wonders when they are starting to rain down bombs on the poor ghettos outside of Paris and Brussels. Cause clearly the terrorism is home grown.
    The ideology is stolen from Daesh, but the executioners were not Syrian Refugees.

  23. Reminds me to reinstall my Encryption software again!

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  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    3 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    6 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 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 ...
    7 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
    7 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
    8 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
    11 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
    11 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
    12 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
    12 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
    13 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 grâce 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
    14 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
    16 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
    1 day 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 KōreroBy 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 ...
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 KōreroBy 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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 – 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 Déjà 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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 KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 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 KōreroBy 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours 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
    10 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
    12 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
    12 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
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
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