Author Archive
Spark vs Spooks
Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, February 13th, 2019 - 66 comments
Spark wants Huawei’s 5G technology because its the best and the cheapest. The GCSB spooks don’t want us to have it because 5Eyes and because the US has yanked their chain. The Prime Minister says no decision has been made – the media and the world think it is a goneburger. We should support New Zealand’s Spark, not US corporate interests.
Trump’s brilliant strategy to dismantle US dollar hegemony
Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, February 3rd, 2019 - 56 comments
Polymath economist Professor Michael Hudson’s latest article is a geopolitical panoramic masterpiece, sparked by outrage at a series of concurrent events on January 31 which he predicts means that 2019 will be the “year of global fracture.” Definitely worth a read.
Take the oil!
Written By: - Date published: 6:23 pm, January 28th, 2019 - 87 comments
Before he was elected President, Donald Trump’s approach to United States illegal attacks on Iraq and Libya was that their only mistake was that the US didn’t “take the oil.” After becoming President, his approach to oil-rich Venezuela was “can’t we just invade them?”
Update: John Bolton confirms its about the oil.
Peters to Pence on the Pacific – a return to colonialism?
Written By: - Date published: 9:38 pm, January 14th, 2019 - 120 comments
Winston Peters went to Washington last December to see US VP Mike Pence and invited the US to engage more in the South-West Pacific without informing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Patrick Smellie described this apparent oversight as “deeply worrying.” Even more worrying is what Peters said when he was there.
New Zealand First or America First?
Written By: - Date published: 9:41 pm, December 19th, 2018 - 37 comments
In Washington last week Winston Peters urged America to involve itself more in the Pacific, in a speech the Prime Minister was apparently unaware of. Referring to Africa, John Bolton outlined what that involvement would mean – American interests first and only. Dangerous with the neocons in charge of the playpen.
Safe from prying 5Eyes
Written By: - Date published: 10:22 pm, December 8th, 2018 - 62 comments
I like my Huawei phone. Apparently the US National Security Agency can’t break its encryption. That’s presumably the “security” issue why Spark is being blocked from using Huawei, and why Meng Wanzhou is held hostage in Canada at the behest of US neocons.
Yanking our chain
Written By: - Date published: 10:32 pm, December 3rd, 2018 - 46 comments
Tracy Watkins is in Korea paid for by the US to head off any support fro President Moon’s visit here. The US security chiefs are here in Wellington today with the 40-grit sandpaper. A high-ranking Russia “expert” from the UK was here last week because they thought Winston Peters wasn’t sufficiently outraged by the Skripal false flag affair. We’re in the gun in the information wars.
Spooked!
Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, November 29th, 2018 - 29 comments
The GCSB ban on Spark’s use of Huawei technology means this government has gone from “honest broker” to poodle in a very short time. Pressure has been applied by the US and others, apparently fearing we are the “soft underbelly” of the Five Eyes spy network. Maybe its time we got out of that too – it was designed for war.
Political interference
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 pm, November 20th, 2018 - 82 comments
China certainly has interfered in New Zealand politics, most notably by the offer of a free trade deal which delivered huge benefits to our economy. Party and government officials all stressed to us that they were grateful for New Zealand’s support for their accession to the World Trade Organisation, the rule-based trade body. The US and Australia in contrast want to build a military base on Manus Island north of Papua.
The Guns of November 2018
Written By: - Date published: 5:38 pm, November 10th, 2018 - 188 comments
On 11 November 1918 the guns fell silent across Europe’s slaughter. In the Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman described how that dreadful war started by accident. Daniel Ellsberg warns us now that accidents could happen again, this time in the nuclear age. Ellsberg says first strike is America’s policy, making accidental nuclear winter all the more likely.
Is Politik a propaganda mouthpiece for the UK Embassy?
Written By: - Date published: 8:46 pm, September 8th, 2018 - 29 comments
In Politik’s 7 September issue we are told that Western diplomats in Wellington are surprised that Winston Peters has not accused Russia of the Skripal poisoning or joined some other countries in taking reprisals. Editor Richard Harman quotes a source to tell us that the British in particular were “pissed” at Peters’ response. Well dearie me. I’m with Winston, a wise old owl.
“Creating quagmires” – US policy in Syria
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 5th, 2018 - 82 comments
Things are coming to a head in Syria, with a key meeting on 7 August between Syria, Turkey and Russia to discuss future strategy re the Idlib enclave where terrorist groups have been concentrated. The US and its allies want to retain influence, having lost it to Russia. A shooting war based on a false flag is a real albeit disastrous possibility to maintain US “quagmire” policy in the Middle East to date.
The future of the left
Written By: - Date published: 6:45 pm, July 1st, 2018 - 40 comments
Australian Guardian columnist Van Badham writes “the future of the left is bright if it looks like Jacinda Ardern and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes.” She concludes “We can hope the influence of Jacinda Ardern and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes spread, or we can ensure that it does. The stakes for the marginalised remain life and death.” Very worth a read.
Photoshop Wars?
Written By: - Date published: 4:03 pm, April 17th, 2018 - 56 comments
The Independent’s Robert Fisk reports from Douma, where he interviewed one of the clinic doctors who said that the images that outraged Trump, May and Macron were real, but the cause was oxygen starvation from dust, not poisonous gas. Could it be that misleading images started a bombing war? What might this say about Western values?
Evidence-based foreign policy
Written By: - Date published: 6:07 pm, April 2nd, 2018 - 99 comments
In the second stage of a false flag attack, facts go out the window and the sole issue becomes “are you for us or against us.” Our media and National Party politicians are well into this stage in the Skripal affair. But as questions mount and skeptics proliferate from all sides, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters may well be wiser than media advisers by not following blindly the western herd. 26 countries is not the whole world. Update: Porton Down unable to establish Novichok of Russian origin.
Underpants not Underarm
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 pm, March 25th, 2018 - 17 comments
In the days of the British Raj unsportsmanlike behaviour was condemned by saying “it isn’t cricket.” Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft hiding ball-tampering sandpaper in his trousers in a forlorn attempt to avoid the cameras showed that for Aussies “it is cricket.” We’ve seen it before of course with the Chappells. Heads must roll.
Russian to Judgment
Written By: - Date published: 5:55 pm, March 16th, 2018 - 517 comments
The possible poisoning of Sergei Skripal and the consequent hysteria have all the signs of another false flag operation, as we saw before the second American invasion of Iraq. The chain of circumstantial evidence has more holes in it than a swiss cheese, and while attempted murder (if that is what it is) is a criminal act Winston Peters and Jeremy Corbyn are sane voices calling for evidence before any attribution still less action.
Tax Haven Man in Town
Written By: - Date published: 10:08 pm, February 20th, 2018 - 11 comments
The Lord Mayor of the City of London is visiting New Zealand. Its not Sadiq Khan, Charles Bowman is a PwC partner leading London’s financial centre lobby. He’s here to talk to business and regulators. He’ll no doubt be talking up more deregulation.
The Dogs of War
Written By: - Date published: 9:12 pm, January 31st, 2018 - 20 comments
At a Union/NDP conference in March 2002 in Ottawa I saw wall-to-wall US TV attacking Iraq in my room. My caucus report that America was going to war was instinctive. Helen Clark stood up immediately and said that we wouldn’t be following. The US war dogs are barking again, this time over Korea. A recent […]
Jac-in-da-Box
Written By: - Date published: 6:58 pm, January 15th, 2018 - 48 comments
“Wedger Wayne” Mapp in todays’s Spinoff does his best to stuff Jacinda Ardern into a Tony Blair “Third Way” box. Too glib by far. True in 2002 Blair did promise to eliminate child poverty by 2020; but poverty’s now the highest in 20 years in Britain. I’d back Jacinda to do much better. Besides, instead of Mandy she’s got David Parker.
The Yellow Peril?
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, November 15th, 2017 - 338 comments
What’s with the academic panic epidemic about China? Two in our media in the same week, referencing each other with vague warnings about the Chinese bogey. It’s not quite Lionel Terry in Haining Street again; more likely in my view a case of singing to someones else’s geopolitical tune. No prizes for guessing whose.
800th Anniversary of Charter of the Forest
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 pm, November 5th, 2017 - 21 comments
Issued alongside the Magna Carta on November 6, 1217, the Charter of the Forest is among the first ecological charters in history and among the first to assert the rights of ordinary people to the right to subsistence. 800 years old tomorrow.
Books but no beds
Written By: - Date published: 6:11 pm, October 18th, 2017 - 19 comments
Most viewed story on the Guardian website today: “New Zealand library cracks case of missing books.” Turns out some of Auckland’s 23,000 homeless were hiding bookmarked books in odd places so they wouldn’t lose their place. The library will now keep their books safe. Good on them. Finding homes for homeless must be a high priority for Aotearoa’s next government.
Passchendaele and Pyongyang
Written By: - Date published: 3:14 pm, October 12th, 2017 - 19 comments
The massive artillery barrage at Passchendaele was supposed to cut the German wire and make advance easy. All it did was churn up the mud though which so many doomed New Zealanders slogged and died. A monument to military incompetence and political disaster. These days they prefer bombs, which are equally deadly and equally futile. Its time we said no more.
Politics or Policy?
Written By: - Date published: 5:46 pm, October 9th, 2017 - 56 comments
Policy is everything, Winston Peters said today. This should not be a surprise. Before every election, he has refused to give any hint of Party support preference until after the vote. But he will have thought a lot about what he might want, as it has long been clear that his Party would decide the outcome. So what are his policies?
She’s got what it takes
Written By: - Date published: 12:23 am, September 17th, 2017 - 73 comments
Great read in London today – full page Guardian article headlined “I’ve got what it takes, says the charismatic Labour leader taking New Zealand by storm.” Send it far and wide.
Fire and Fury over North Korea
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, August 12th, 2017 - 60 comments
Donald Trump may not know it but Koreans certainly remember the last time the United States unleashed fire and fury over North Korea. In the 1950s, B-29s used bombs and napalm to flatten every North Korean city. Gen Curtis Lemay boasted that the USAF killed off 20% of the population. That’s why this time they have nuclear weapons.
Politics in the Age of Populism
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 pm, July 6th, 2017 - 3 comments
Bryce Edwards, Stephanie Rodgers and Rob Egan. Connolly Hall, Guildford Street, Wellington, 5:30 pm Friday 7th July.Fabian society, all welcome.
New information on Glenda Hughes?
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, June 28th, 2017 - 43 comments
On 20 June after Melanie Read’s Newsroom interview Andrew Geddis blogged about possible obstruction of justice by a National Party Board member. That was based on new information in the Barclay case, and may be why the Police have since re-interviewed Glenys Dickson.
Follow the money
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 pm, June 22nd, 2017 - 49 comments
Bill English’s texted electorate chair Stuart Davie on 21st February 2016 saying Glenys Dickson was given an extra payout from the Leader’s fund “to avoid potential legal action.” It was the only source available for an extra payout for confidentiality. English said today no-one in February knew there was any issue of illegality. Then what legal action and why an extra payment?
Dirty Politics 2017 style
Written By: - Date published: 4:05 pm, June 8th, 2017 - 27 comments
Latest polls and some anecdotal evidence from the doorstep are showing a move back to the Tories in Britain. If so it may in part be due to last-minute dark and dirty personally targeted Facebook advertising to voters in marginal seats. They cost so will need to be watched later on here.
- Growing skills, building community: Inside South Auckland’s teaching gardens
From Middlemore to Papatoetoe, seven teaching gardens are empowering communities to produce their own food. Here’s how. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings, a stream of people drag wheeled shoppings bags past the historic school house on the corner of Kirkbride Road and Naylors Drive in Māngere. They continue down ...3 days ago - The remarkable story of Willowbank, Christchurch’s first zoo
Alex Casey visits Willowbank and chats to co-director Mark Willis as the iconic wildlife reserve celebrates its 50th birthday. One does not simply walk into Willowbank without encountering its infamous slithering pile of ravenous eels. Kids in dinosaur onesies and Warriors kit cackle from the feeding platform as the slippery ...3 days ago
- Peters urges France to keep ‘open mind’ on new path for New Caledonia
By Russell Palmer, RNZ News political reporter New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters has used a speech in Paris to urge France to keep an open mind about a new path forward for New Caledonia. He also wants to deepen New Zealand’s relationship with France, and wants a stronger focus ...3 days ago - Nusra Latif Qureshi’s art invites us to confront colonial histories – and the messy threads that...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ariel Kline, Casual Lecturer in Art History, University of Sydney Nusra Latif Qureshi ‘The room with red tiles’ 2023, mixed media on illustration board, 48 × 34.5 cm, collection of the artist © Nusra Latif Qureshi At the Art Gallery of ...3 days ago
- Why (and how) I’m not going to be a Christmas grinch this year
Food, drink, shiny things and being merry – Gabi Lardies has decided to enjoy her 34th Christmas. The thing about Christmas is that much of it hurts me. The social obligations, the consumerism, all the eating of things that upset my stomach. It looms over December and November, when devilled ...3 days ago
- Track your spending, use cash and DIY gifts: how to keep your costs down this Christmas
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angelique Nadia Sweetman McInnes, Academic in Financial Planning, CQUniversity Australia Vitali Stock/Shutterstock Australians are expected to spend more this Christmas than last, with spending projected to rise to A$69.7 billion. This is a 2.7% increase on what we spent last year ...3 days ago
- Counting people and pay: The ministry with one senior Asian manager
Meanwhile, none of the 600 Asian staff at another 5000-person ministry are managers. ...3 days ago - Greenpeace Gives Christopher Luxon An F On Its First Year In Govt Waging A War On Nature
Greenpeace has kept track of this in an article published on the organisation’s website, where the coalition government’s so-called War on Nature is documented in detail. ...3 days ago - Who can access abortion in Australia?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erica Millar, Senior Research Fellow, Social Inquiry, La Trobe University Betzy Arosemena/Unsplash Abortion is legal in all Australian states and territories. Women, trans men and gender diverse people with a uterus have the option of taking medication to end a pregnancy, ...3 days ago
- Live in an apartment and want to charge an electric car at home? Here are 4 ways to help that happen
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Longden, Senior Researcher, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Shutterstock Being able to charge your car at home is a big drawcard for many electric vehicle buyers. But it’s rare to find chargers installed at apartment complexes in Australia. ...3 days ago
- KiwiSaver provider suggests saving no less than $1 million for retirement
Here's why one KiwiSaver provider says anything less won't do. ...3 days ago
- Most NZ dairy farmers put profitability first – but some are planting native trees anyway
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Postdoctoral Fellow in Biodiversity, Lincoln University, New Zealand Phil Walter/Getty Images Globally, about 40% of ice-free land is used for agriculture, managed by farmers and herders. In Aotearoa New Zealand, this share is even higher, with 51% ...3 days ago
- Greens call for bigger rest home subsidy
Rising property prices mean limit for help is out of date, financial adviser says. ...3 days ago
- Community housing providers calling for a change to no longer rely on private developers
Community Housing Aotearoa says developers could sell the homes at the end of a lease contract, removing them from the social housing pool. ...3 days ago
- Plans to build rocket launchpads at Kaitorete Spit fail to get off the ground
The government is backing off plans to build rocket launchpads south of Christchurch despite receiving no written advice on the issue. ...3 days ago
- Treaty Principles Bill: David Seymour’s acknowledgement of rangatiratanga raises ‘a whol...
The ACT leader's position on the South Island shows his bill is "unworkable", says a legal expert. ...3 days ago
- Foreign Minister Winston Peters urges France to keep open mind on New Caledonia
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has urged the French to keep an open mind about a new path forward for New Caledonia. ...3 days ago
- Health funding changes more a ‘sticking plaster’ than a real cure – doctors
Some doctors say the government's re-allocation of $30 million towards more senior doctors and nurses is welcome, but falls short of the systemic change that is needed. ...3 days ago
- Chinese ambassador to NZ warns that joining AUKUS could erode China’s trust
Asked about the consequences for NZ-China relations, Wang Xiaolong said: "Trust is one of the most fragile commodities. It may take years to build up; it just might take seconds to be destroyed." ...3 days ago
- The hidden problem when ‘news’ isn’t popular
Longform current affairs content has an expiry date on TVNZ+. What does that mean for our collective archive? In July, TVNZ released the four-part documentary series Gang Mums on its TVNZ+ platforms and Youtube. Gang Mums explored the lives of women who are family to active gang members, and their ...3 days ago
- Privatisation lost: How the Wellington Airport saga split the left
An attempt to sell the Wellington City Council’s shares in Wellington Airport divided the city’s political left and created a dramatic showdown between councillors and activists. It led to an unwinding of the council’s 10-year plan and central government intervention. In the first of a three-part series running this week, ...3 days ago
- Nothin’ but blue skies from now on
Opinion: You may be aware there is a new social media platform in town that goes by the name of Bluesky. You may also have heard that people are joining at a rate of a million a day as people exit Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. You may ...3 days ago - Daily crossword, Wednesday 27 November
The post Daily crossword, Wednesday 27 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 27 November
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title { font-size: 1.2em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; margin-top: 0.5em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta { font-size: 0.8em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar { height: 25px; width: ...3 days ago
- Holmes
Many people you write about in television are just passing through on their way to another destination. Then there are the ones you end up writing about for decades. Like Paul Holmes. I hadn’t long been reviewing when, in 1989, he started remaking local television in his own image. He’d ...3 days ago
- Fears for university independence – who decides what is taught
Opinion: Earlier this month, the University of Wollongong announced the potential disestablishment of multiple teaching programmes. Faced with a $35 million drop in revenue for 2024, it is looking to save A$15-20m annually by cutting the equivalent of 90 full-time jobs.Interviewed by the ABC, interim Vice Chancellor John Dewar referred ...3 days ago
- Official concerns about haste and dearth of evidence in Govt’s first year
Analysis of official advice to ministers shows that fast, ambitious lawmaking comes at a cost The post Official concerns about haste and dearth of evidence in Govt’s first year appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- How rough sex and strangulation entered the nation’s conversations, and bedrooms
On Friday, experts from fields across medical, justice and psychology will meet in Wellington to discuss a rising concern: the normalisation of strangulation and rough sex in New Zealand.“Rough sex seems to be experiencing a bit of a cultural moment,” says Dr Samantha Keene, a senior lecturer at the Institute ...3 days ago
- Kmart NZ nears billion dollar revenue as Warehouse flounders
Growing competition with Kmart and online retailers puts pressure on already thin margins at The Warehouse The post Kmart NZ nears billion dollar revenue as Warehouse flounders appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Short sprint from horse trainer to bowls champion
If there’s anything Leeane Poulson has learned from a lifetime of training racehorses, it’s not being scared of hard work.From the time she left high school to just a few years ago, Poulson (now 63) would rise at 4.15am every morning to work all day with her stable of thoroughbred ...3 days ago
- SolarZero’s final outage: Inside the collapse of publicly financed solar firm
“This has come as a big shock to me and the leadership team,” says SolarZero chief executive Matt Ward. “We felt like we’d tackled a lot of the big rocks. It’s quite hard to see the finishing line in sight and not quite get there.”The 50-year-old firm’s staff were called ...3 days ago
- NZ-India trade: ‘Step, don’t jump’
New Delhi’s representative in NZ provides further reason to doubt an India FTA can be signed this term The post NZ-India trade: ‘Step, don’t jump’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Five ways you might already encounter AI in cities (and not realise it)
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noortje Marres, Professor in Science, Technology and Society, University of Warwick Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock You’d probably notice if the car that cut you off or pulled up beside you at a light didn’t have a driver. In the UK, self-driving cars are still ...3 days ago
- Australia on track to meet 2030 43% emission’s reduction target, on latest figures
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australia is on track to reach the Albanese government’s 43% emissions reduction target by 2030, according to the most recent analysis by the Climate Change department. The analysis shows Australian emissions are projected to ...3 days ago
- Social media companies won’t be able to compel people to provide digital or government-issued ID t...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Big tech platforms won’t be able to compel people to provide digital ID or government-issued identification documents such as a passport, when verifying age for social media accounts. The government is inserting this prohibition, ...4 days ago
- ‘Delusional’: Emergency Department head slams funding for specialist doctors and nurses
Dr Norman Gray said it only added up to $4 per New Zealander. ...4 days ago
- The Senate has passed the Help to Buy housing scheme. It will help, but not much
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Having finally stared down Greens resistance in the final sitting week of the year, the Albanese government looks set to tick off the last of ...4 days ago
- 3000 Join Māori Electoral Roll After Treaty Principles Bill Hīkoi
New Electoral Commission data shows 2262 people changed from the general roll to the Māori roll, and there were 862 new enrolments. ...4 days ago
- After a disappointing COP29, here’s how to design global climate talks that might actually work
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Howard Bamsey, Honorary Professor, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University Many people long involved in global climate negotiations see the annual United Nations COP climate talks as fundamentally flawed. That includes me. On Sunday, the 29th round of ...4 days ago
- ‘Asleep at the wheel’: Science group calls on Minister to step up over issues in sector
The Save Science Coalition says political parties agree there are "big issues" within the science sector but Judith Collins is yet to do anything about it. ...4 days ago
The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.
Recent Comments