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Lefties on The Standard redux
Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, November 29th, 2019 - 66 comments
A dedicated post on The Standard providing a discussion space for left-wing people only.
The Race to be the Democratic Party’s Presidential nominee
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, September 17th, 2019 - 38 comments
Breaking it down.
“For the good of all, the poor come first.”
Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, December 3rd, 2018 - 23 comments
Those were the words spoken by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) during yesterday’s Presidential inauguration where he promised to end Mexico’s disastrous neo-liberalism.
Disestablish the establishment.
Written By: - Date published: 6:04 pm, November 9th, 2018 - 29 comments
Politics can be soap, or politics can be real. This post comments on some of the soap and offers an example of something that’s real
A Democratic Cakewalk.
Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, November 5th, 2018 - 48 comments
Cenk Uygur might be said to have “skin in the game” when it comes to the US Mid-terms, and given that much of this post revolves around, or bounces from his commentary and analysis – which may not be quite as objective as he thinks – that should be borne in mind when reading this post.
Brazil, Brexit, Trump…with more to come.
Written By: - Date published: 5:17 pm, October 30th, 2018 - 97 comments
When orders collapse, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We’re making it a bad thing.
Will there be a Brexit?
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, September 19th, 2018 - 33 comments
In short, I think not.
Enough Bullshit!
Written By: - Date published: 3:11 pm, September 3rd, 2018 - 129 comments
White South African farm murders.
Period. End. Done.
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, August 26th, 2018 - 42 comments
The Scottish government has just taken a massive step to eradicate period poverty. Why not here?
Censorship
Written By: - Date published: 2:07 pm, August 23rd, 2018 - 13 comments
It seems that if you’re the right person, harbour the correct thoughts, have the right connections, and you don’t like whatever the political opinion, news or information that’s floating about is, then you can get it banned.
Propaganda Wars.
Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, August 10th, 2018 - 30 comments
No-one reading this blog would willfully offer support to an ideology that’s killing people, right?
We need more radicals coming here
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, August 9th, 2018 - 68 comments
We need more radical voices again here. But it’s like MMP has turned us once again into the passionless people. It always looks like “hate speech” when you hate it.
Guest post: The end of Neoliberalism – What went wrong?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, August 7th, 2018 - 172 comments
The Left predicted the death of neoliberalism after the global financial crisis of 2008. But since then inequality has increased and new right nationalism is on the ascendancy. How should the left respond?
The Pied Piper
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, August 6th, 2018 - 32 comments
If we’re living in a global village, is the name of the village Hamelin?
Corporatism.
Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, August 1st, 2018 - 44 comments
Hand in hand with “compassionate liberalism”.
Just a quick thought…
Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, July 30th, 2018 - 109 comments
Yeah, okay, it’s a couple of thoughts on the Canadian jokers and what is and isn’t happening in response to their stuff.
A right, Left problem
Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, July 24th, 2018 - 78 comments
A post suggesting that the traditional descriptive lens of “left and right” isn’t up to capturing current political realities.
Free Speech Coalition’s litigation strikes a major snag
Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, July 17th, 2018 - 138 comments
The free speech coalition’s desire to get the High Court to enforce the rights of Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux has struck a potential snag. A rather major snag.
Smile!
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, July 7th, 2018 - 98 comments
The extent and limits of current politics.
Mexico turns left
Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, July 3rd, 2018 - 53 comments
In Mexico a leftist Bernie Sanders like friend of Jeremy Corbyn has been elected as President in a landslide.
Socialist candidate rolls Democrat heavyweight in primary
Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, June 28th, 2018 - 44 comments
In a major upset the fourth ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives has lost a New York primary to a young latino woman who is a self described socialist as well as a Bernie Sanders supporter.
Where have our rights gone?
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, June 20th, 2018 - 49 comments
Great to see that the State Services Commissioner has widened the investigation into the use of private investigators hired by the state against its citizens. But. They should go further.
The law and order debate and the grade one tosser
Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, May 22nd, 2018 - 36 comments
The Government has announced it will not proceed with the Waikeria mega prison as part of its policy to decrease the prison muster by 30%. And the called for public debate starts off with one of the major players using a study the author of which subsequently retracted because the data he relied on was wrong.
Rogue Nation(s)
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, May 9th, 2018 - 30 comments
Just some thoughts that kind of meandered down to the ocean.
The Centre, the Left and UK local elections
Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, May 4th, 2018 - 14 comments
Thoughts on a resurgent left and a collapsing centre.
Radical Socialism
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 2nd, 2018 - 43 comments
‘nother guest post by Nick Kelly (Upper Hutt boy in London)
New Zealand Is all right, at the end
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, April 28th, 2018 - 27 comments
Democracy’s permanence is not inevitable. Its imagining is not beyond imagining. And New Zealand is one of the shrinking number of democracies who really have it.
What did we want from Marama Davidson?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, April 10th, 2018 - 68 comments
While there has been some informed commentary on Marama Davidson’s ascension as co-leader of the Green Party, some of the more right-wing outfits have failed to understand the dynamics within the party right now. What did Marama promise, and what were Greens expecting of her?
Democracy, Faux Democracy and Terror.
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, March 19th, 2018 - 37 comments
Facebook, Putin, poisoning and Ghouta have all given fairly extensive media coverage of late. Nothing much on Afrin. Afrin has just fallen to terrorists backed by Turkey.
Update: the photo used for this post is of the The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA), who are part of the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces fighting in Syria.
Sanctions. Weapons of War.
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, March 18th, 2018 - 53 comments
When elite’s tussle, shouldn’t we look after us and ours?
States United.
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, January 20th, 2018 - 12 comments
On how states in conflict, have seemingly and nevertheless, managed to share in the likely or possible creation of one common goal.
- Economic Bulletin April/May 2025
Welcome to the April/May 2025 Economic Bulletin. The Minister of Finance has made it clear Budget 2025 will bring further cuts to public investment. She has chopped the operating allowance almost in half, said most government departments will not receive any additional funding, and signalled that numerous government programmes are ...6 days ago - The video sums things up.
Let me make this short and sweet (taken from my other social media): Seeing some of the world’s richest men shaking the blood-stained hand of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin-Salman while being warmly introduced by US president Donald Trump pretty much sums up the era we live in. It was ...6 days ago - 191 NZers now emigrating each day, including 15 babies & toddlers
The exodus of New Zealanders goes on at a rate of one A320-plane load a day, including 15 babies and toddlers on each plane, every day of the year. Photo: SuppliedBriefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, May 15:Statistics NZ reported yesterday ...6 days ago - The writing of Joseph S Nye Jr: highlights from The Strategist
Joseph S Nye Jr, who co-founded neoliberalism and identified the concept of soft power, died at the age of 88 on 6 May. Here are links to a selection from the 100 columns by Nye ...6 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Thursday, May 15
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, May 15:Staffing shortages mean 60 patients in Palmerston North deemed high risk of getting bowel cancer have not been tested because of staffing shortages last year, Isaac Davison reports this morning for NZ Herald-$. See ...6 days ago - Australia must stop overlooking misogynistic youth extremism
Australia’s young people are being radicalised to violence more frequently, more quickly, and for increasingly complicated reasons—including the spread of misogynistic ideology. It’s time we better understand the relationship between misogyny and violent extremism, and ...6 days ago
- Brownlee’s Bias: Māori MPs Punished, van Velden Spared
In a Parliament that’s supposed to uphold fairness, the recent punishments meted out to Te Pāti Māori MPs for their haka protest compared to Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden for her use of the C-word expose a glaring double standard. Speaker Gerry Brownlee and the Privileges Committee have once ...6 days ago - A Four-Letter Word
To me, coming from you,Friend is a four-letter word.End is the only part of the wordThat I heard.Call me morbid or absurd.But to me, coming from you,Friend is a four-letter word.Writer: John McCrea.The dilemma.The c-word! Brooke said it, loud and clear. You know the one. We all do, even if ...6 days ago - Trading in Tomorrow for Today
See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeansWearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smileOnce he had a future full of money, love, and dreamsWhich he spent like they was goin' outta styleKris Kristofferson, The Pilgrim, Chapter 33Luxon’s austerity reforms have objectively increased the country’s national debt, put ...6 days ago - How climate change is raising your electricity bill
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In August 2023, during an especially brutal Texas heat wave, I opened my electricity bill and was stunned by the total. As someone who studies climate change, I couldn’t help but connect the dots: global warming had made the heat wave ...6 days ago - The Telepathy Tapes is a Trojan Horse
Hi,This week The Telepathy Tapes won “Best Indie Podcast” at the Webby Awards.“For the voiceless, thank you!” said documentary maker and creator Dickens on Instagram, surrounded by some children in Telepathy Tapes t-shirts.Ky Dickens with her hands around some children in Telepathy Tapes t-shirts.The podcast continues to grow in audience ...6 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Mock Horror Over Political Profanity
Heavens to Betsy. Let me get this right. In her own opinion column, a female journalist (the fearsome Angela Vance) used a bad word to refer to female politicians who had just extinguished the ability of about 150,000 women to get fair pay for the work they do. The nation ...6 days ago - Outrageous and antidemocratic
That is the only way to describe the Privileges Committee's recommendation to suspend the leadership of Te Pāti Māori for 21 sitting days for their haka protest against the racist Treaty Principles Bill (the haka's leader, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, gets only 7 days). Outrageous because this is the harshest penalty ever ...6 days ago - Government Blames Labour For Andrea Vance’s Article
The National-led government, flailing like a fish out of water, is now pointing fingers at Labour for Andrea Vance’s critical column in The Post. Finance Minister Nicola Willis, in a display that can only be described as unhinged, has tried to pin the blame for Vance’s blistering critique on the ...7 days ago
- AUKUS and deterrence: what, exactly, are we trying to deter?
AUKUS is one of the most ambitious allied defence undertakings in decades. But for all the high-end platforms and advanced capabilities it promises, a fundamental question remains underexplored: what, exactly, is AUKUS seeking to deter? ...7 days ago
- Editors’ pick: Australia’s security architecture must evolve, not regress
Alongside Monday’s cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returned responsibility for the Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation to the Home Affairs portfolio. ASPI executive director Justin Bassi outlined reasons for such a ...7 days ago
- When A Pay Cut Isn’t
7 days ago - Ministers of Finance
No, nothing so serious as fiscal policy. I saw this morning this chart in a tweet from a Canadian economics professor (prompted by the new ministerial appointments in Canada). I was digging around in the list of former New Zealand Ministers of Finance anyway, and thought it might be ...7 days ago - Into the gloopy quicksand
Item OneHere's something my erstwhile fellow blogger Emma Hart wrote today that I've remade into a riddle:There's a bunch of jobs in this country that require tertiary qualifications and pay only just over minimum wage. What do they all have in common?Ten points and a chocolate fish to everyone who ...7 days ago - Chinese pressure is a part of Solomon Islands’ politics. Other Pacific countries should take note
The Chinese embassy in Solomon Islands has reportedly pressured newly appointed Minister of Rural Development Daniel Waneoroa to quit an international group that challenges China’s authoritarian regime. This incident highlights Beijing’s increased tendency to pressure ...7 days ago
- An alternative vision for Aotearoa
Its the budget next week, where National will inflict another round of cuts on kiwis in order to keep funding handouts to landlords and rich people. And while Labour is doing nothing (sorry, "keeping its powder dry"), the Greens are acting as the main opposition, releasing an alternative budget to ...7 days ago
- To Play the Queen of Hearts: Accepted (again!)
No, I haven’t disappeared from the internet, and I still intend to get around to finishing off that Narnia analysis. It’s just I’ve been doing what I am actually supposed to be doing. Specifically, writing original fiction – let’s just say May 2025 has been fairly productive thus far. Oh, ...7 days ago - No, Australian trade isn’t diversifying away from China
Australia’s free-trade agreements with nations other than China have delivered diversification in neither exports nor imports over the past decade, leaving Australia more tightly bound by trade to China than any other advanced nation. While ...7 days ago
- Outsourcing Operations
Well, we know where we're goin'But we don't know where we've beenAnd we know what we're knowin'But we can't say what we've seenAnd we're not little childrenAnd we know what we wantAnd the future is certainGive us time to work it outSongwriters: David Byrne / Tina Weymouth / Jerry Harrison ...7 days ago - Localising northern supply chains will strengthen national resilience
Coming off the back of a successful NT Defence Week, one thing is clearer than ever: the Northern Territory is not just remote outpost—it is an asset central to our national security, economic resilience and ...7 days ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Wednesday, May 14
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, May 14:The Government is diverting its NZ Superannuation Fund (NZSF) contribution for 2025/26 of $39 $61 million to the NZSF-managed venture capital fund Elevate. Nicola Willis says NZSF will start sending money back to the ...1 week ago - The Lai Ching-te government shifts gears
Complex developments in Taiwan’s domestic legislative politics may affect the regional security outlook over the next 12 months. Since his election in 2024, Taiwan president Lai Ching-te has upheld the disciplined foreign policy of his ...1 week ago
- National’s Law and Order Fiasco
The National-led coalition, which came to power in 2023 with grand promises of restoring law and order, has entirely failed to deliver. Along with help from the mainstream media, they painted a grim picture of a crime-ridden New Zealand, vowing to crack down on gangs, bolster police numbers, and make ...1 week ago
- Killing Kiwi Thoughtlessly
Reprinted from an earlier post by Mountain TūīOPINION AND ANALYSISLast week, on the same day the Government tore through Pay Equity under urgency, they passed another law under urgency.The government called it the “Wildlife (Authorisations) Amendment Bill”. Greenpeace called it the “Kiwi Killing Bill”.Now this topic has a number of ...1 week ago - Trump’s science cuts threaten public research data
US President Donald Trump’s cuts to scientific research create anxieties about the accessibility of research data. Scientists worldwide fear websites and data sets hosted in the United States will be deleted or decommissioned. While private ...1 week ago
- Government Shouldn’t Ignore Courts Over Voting Rights
Under Chris Luxon’s "leadership", the coalition of chaos government is doubling down on policies that undermine democratic principles, particularly on prisoner voting rights and the voting age. The kicker here is that these issues should have already been settled.Two landmark cases that have already gone through the courts expose the ...1 week ago
- We’re all for change as long as it doesn’t change anything
My favourite bit of Gough Whitlam rhetoric is a three word retort he gave in a rowdy parliamentary debate.After all, declared Sir Winton Turnbull pompously, I am a country member.Yes, Whitlam called out, We remember.Gough, ages ago, with Bob HawkeOf all our four letter words, the C one packs the ...1 week ago - Stress-testing US soft power
The father of soft power and smart power has died, just as the United States has been giving those concepts a deathly stress test. Whereas US President Donald Trump thinks hard power is all he ...1 week ago
- Copy of Budget 2025: delivering for whom?
On 22 May, the coalition government will release its budget for 2025, which it says will focus on "boosting economic growth, improving social outcomes, controlling government spending, and investing in long-term infrastructure.” But who, really, is this budget designed to serve? What values and visions for Aotearoa New Zealand lie ...1 week ago - One year on: no agreement for New Caledonia despite serious negotiations
It’s been a year since massive riots shook New Caledonia, but progress towards a long-term agreement on the territory’s status has been slow. Last week, intense closed-door talks failed to reach concensus. The discussions centred ...1 week ago
- Pay Equity Changes Bad For The Economy
The Coalition of Chaos has done it again, proving their knack for prioritising the wealthy over the workers. The Pay Equity Amendment Bill, rammed through Parliament under urgency, is a kick in the guts for low-waged women, and obliterating decades of progress on pay equity reform in New Zealand.Workplace Relations ...1 week ago
- Luxon’s Ladies.
Sisters are doin' it for themselvesStandin' on their own two feetAnd ringin' on their own bellsSaid, sisters are doin' it for themselvesSongwriters: Annie Lennox / Dave Stewart.Did you ever fancy the idea of protesting? Of taking to the streets with your fellows and standing up to the system? Is there ...1 week ago - Electricity inflation fears growing as Z Energy shuts Flick
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, May 13:Monopoly nation just struck again. Flick Electric is shutting, making the electricity market even more dominated by the big four gentailers: the 51% state-owned Meridian, Genesis and Mercury, and the privately owned Contact.Consumers increasingly fear another winter ...1 week ago - Taiwan lacks clarity on energy security
Anyone would think that Taiwan, faced with a risk of blockade from China, would be doing all it could to ensure self-sufficiency or at least long endurance without supplies. But in energy security, it is going ...1 week ago
- How to deny climate change using the IPCC report
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters The new Department of Energy secretary, Chris Wright, until recently was the CEO of Liberty Energy, the nation’s second-largest fracking firm. In 2024, the firm published a manifesto called “Bettering Human Lives,” in which Wright makes a provocative statement that would ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Parental Panic Over Young Kids Online
Creating a policy group to investigate a R16 ban on social media provides the government with a perfectly designed soapbox. The findings don’t have to end up suggesting anything useful, let alone a practical course of action. Yet in the meantime, the issue enables the government to connect with anxious ...1 week ago - Beyond the percentage: Australia’s defence debate needs a smarter metric
The global strategic landscape is undeniably shifting. Great power competition is reasserting itself, technological disruption is accelerating, and the familiar certainties of decades past are eroding. For a trading nation such as Australia, deeply connected ...1 week ago
- Far from responsible and anything but gutsy
Back home to the seaside village, back home to a waterlogged and gobsmacked New Zealand.Waterlogged by the most April rain in April for half a century.Gobsmacked by this dismal government managing to set a new low in its disregard for anyone who isn’t white, wealthy or a man.Fair-minded and right-thinking ...1 week ago - Albanese’s visit shows Indonesia is still a foreign policy priority
As Anthony Albanese prepares to travel to Jakarta for his first state visit in his second term, the symbolism is clear: Indonesia remains a cornerstone of Australia’s foreign policy. Since taking office, the Albanese government ...1 week ago
- Monday 12 May
Opposition to the Government’s attacks on pay equity are gathering steam, with protests around the country and more than 65,000 people already signed on to a petition calling on the Government to reverse the changes. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Cabinet will consider a social media ban on under-16s, despite ...1 week ago
- Naked corruption
When National passed its corrupt, Muldoonist fast-track law, they were criticised for accepting donations from fast-track applicants. You'd think that after such criticism, and the consequent effect on the reputation of our state, they might have ceased the practice - but of course not. Instead, they're still taking money from ...1 week ago
- Nicola Willis Calls Pay Equity “A Grievance Industry”
Nicola Willis pulled the sympathy and sexism card this morning in an opinion piece for Stuff/The Post.In it, claimed she had been much maligned by, well, everyone, on pay equity, and “mainstream” journalists were guilty of “sexist slurs” and misinformation against her.The offending piece was Andrea Vance’s “The girl-math budget ...1 week ago
- Rhys Williams – Arsehole of the Week
It’s time to shine the spotlight on a particularly vile specimen slithering through New Zealand’s political underbelly: Rhys Williams, this week’s Arsehole Award winner. Williams is a NZ First party activist (who didn’t renew his membership), and has carved out a niche as a homophobic, defamatory troll, hiding behind the ...1 week ago
- Bookshelf: Australia in a fragmenting and deglobalising world
Elisabeth Braw’s insightful 2024 book, Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World, has proven remarkably prescient in understanding the turbulent global landscape of 2025. While the era of globalisation promised unprecedented interconnectedness and prosperity, ...1 week ago
- Announcing Law & Order
Poets, priests and politiciansHave words to thank for their positionsWords that scream for your submissionAnd no one's jamming their transmissionAnd when their eloquence escapes youTheir logic ties you up and rapes you!Songwriter: Sting. Read more ...1 week ago - A counter to drone swarms: high-power microwave weapons
Military forces must prioritise a counter to drone swarming tactics with which inexpensive, mass-produced drones can overwhelm defences. What is needed is a layered defensive system that includes systems that can neutralise many threats within ...1 week ago
- Pay equity shock to have unintended consequences
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, May 12:The gutting of pay equity laws may force hospices to close, pushing extra patients and extra cost into hospitals, the sector says at the start of Hospice Awareness Week. Barnados’ CEO says the law change will hit ...1 week ago - The Death of a Deer
Edit: This stuff is fascinating - and for the record you are definitely OK to disagree with me on any of this in the comments. This community rules, and you’re respectful and great even when disagreeing.With that said — this email just landed in my inbox from a Webworm subscriber ...1 week ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #19
A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 4, 2025 thru Sat, May 10, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...1 week ago
- India-Pakistan crisis: military operations intensify before ceasefire
The past 36 hours on the India-Pakistan front have been tumultuous. Where the confrontation is headed is unclear. Although things seemed to be calming down early on Friday, May 9, intense developments followed. A series ...1 week ago
- NZ First Resorts To Dirty Politics 2.0
1 week ago
- Mother’s Day
My mama saidThat it's good to be fruitfulBut my mama saidDon't take more than a mouthfulAnd my mama saidThat it's good to be naturalAnd my mama saidThat it's good to be factualAlways on the Run, by Lenny Kravitz & Slash.Morena folks, let me begin by acknowledging that Mother’s Day can ...1 week ago - Dunedin Mayor Calls On Government To Help Homeless
Last week, a fire tore through a homeless camp at Dunedin’s Oval, destroying tents and makeshift shelters in a stark reminder of New Zealand’s soul-destroying housing crisis. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a predictable outcome of the Coalition of Chaos’s reckless policies, which have gutted funding for emergency accommodation ...1 week ago
- Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to May 11
Brooke van Velden says she had proposed the repeal of the Pay Equity Act in a letter to PM Christopher Luxon as soon as she became Workplace Relations and Safety Minister in late 2023. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesBriefly in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to Sunday, May 11:PM Christopher ...1 week ago - Mothers’ Day
In honour of those who have come, those who are, and those who will come to be.Kate SheppardKate Sheppard is famous for leading the successful campaign that made New Zealand the first self-governing nation to grant women the right to vote in 1893. CorrespondenceMarilyn WaringDame Marilyn Joy Waring DNZM is ...1 week ago - Fact brief – Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather? Climate predictions are more reliable than weather forecasts because they model long-term trends driven by ...2 weeks ago
- Fact brief – Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather? Climate predictions are more reliable than weather forecasts because they model long-term trends driven by ...2 weeks ago
- Watch Ozzy Man Destroy Some White Supremacist
Gather round, you bloody legends, and let’s talk about a true Aussie icon who’s taken a wild detour from his usual topics. Ethan Marrell, better known as Ozzy Man, has been a YouTube juggernaut since 2014, dishing out side-splitting commentary with that larrikin charm and a voice that could make ...2 weeks ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, May 10
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy on Saturday, May 10: Protests have erupted over the Government’s pay equity betrayal this week. Abuse in care survivors are shocked the Government ignored the Royal Commission’s main recommendation.The Government has launched a review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s ‘activism,’ late on a Friday afternoon.Food poverty ...2 weeks ago - Cold as Ice
I've seen it before; it happens all the timeYou're closing the door, you leave the world behindYou're digging for gold, you're throwing awayA fortune in feelings, but someday you'll payYou know that you are(Cold as ice) As cold as ice to me(Cold as ice)Songwriters: Mick Jones / Lou Gramm.“My suffragette ...2 weeks ago - Seeking Fiscal Balance
Should we pursue a ‘Golden Rule’ where any public borrowing for consumption is temporary?This columnist is a fiscal conservative who is cautious about government borrowing for public consumption. I was not originally. The Keynesian model I first studied said borrow as much as is necessary to sustain demand. But the ...2 weeks ago - Taiwan’s polarised politics risks undermining its resilience and security
Taiwan’s opposition parties—including the once-dominant Kuomintang (KMT)—now wield real power in the legislature for the first time since 2012. But their recent actions have cast serious doubt on their commitment to Taiwan’s long-term security and ...2 weeks ago
- US Defense Secretary cancels Women, Peace and Security programs
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the cancellation of his department’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program. In doing so, he ignored the well-established overlap of insecurity and gender inequality. When announcing ...2 weeks ago
- PHOTOS: NZ Protests – Again
Kiwis around the country protest: RNZ reports more than 1000 descended on Brooke Van Velden’s officeNote:The government started this pay equity process in April 2024.That’s over a year ago.Cabinet signed it off two months ago.There was no reason for urgency - and never was.The Minister for Woman was left with ...2 weeks ago - More constitutional vandalism
Since the national government embarked on its racist campaign against Māori, the Waitangi Tribunal has emerged as one of its chief adversaries, putting the impacts of its racist policies formally on the record so they can not be denied. National has responded by sabotaging it, replacing almost the entire membership ...2 weeks ago
- Nicola Grigg’s Video A Tale Of Two Women
Nicola Grigg1 was given one of the safest blue seats in the country - Selwyn, Christchurch.She holds multiple ministerial portfolios including Trade & Investment, Women, Agriculture, and ACC. Not a bad role.Last year, Grigg said she entered Parliament with Luxon and developed a strong friendship with him.This week she affirmed ...2 weeks ago
- Are New Zealanders Really Living Beyond Our Means?
The National-led government has been banging the drum of fiscal restraint again, claiming New Zealanders have been “living beyond our means” in another Luxon hates "wet and whiny New Zealanders" standup that is likely to tank his approval rating even further. Yet, the Coalition of Chaos' actions tell a different ...2 weeks ago
- Drawing Parallels.
The April 22 attacks by Kashmir Resistance (KR), a (at least tacitly) Pakistani-backed irredentist group in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in which 26 people were murdered, has some unfortunate parallels with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Although many more Israelis died in the latter (nearly 2000) and the costs ...2 weeks ago
- It’s a wrap: NT Defence Week 2025
Australia’s future security will be decided as much in Darwin as in Canberra. NT Defence Week 2025 made that reality unmistakably clear, showcasing the Northern Territory not as a remote outpost, but as the operational ...2 weeks ago
- Huge Increase In Part Time Workers Earning Nothing
New Zealand’s part-time workers are caught in a vicious cycle, ground down by a system that punishes ambition and rewards poverty. Work and Income’s draconian deductions regime ensure that every extra dollar earned by part time workers is clawed back, leaving many with nothing to show for their efforts. Add ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour welcomes inquiry into school lunches
Labour welcomes the Auditor-General’s inquiry into the Government’s school lunches programme. ...2 weeks ago - Release: Women will keep being paid less under National
This Government is taking the women’s movement backwards, ensuring women will continue to be paid less into the future. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt takes workplace equity efforts backwards
The Green Party has called out the Government’s latest attack on workers with the announcement that it is halting all pay equity claims. ...2 weeks ago - Release: Questions over Erica Stanford’s personal email use
Erica Stanford has been misusing her personal email address to manage sensitive information relating to Budget and visa changes prior to their public release. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens launch Member’s Bill to close loophole allowing animal cruelty in imports
Today, Green Party MP Steve Abel has added a new Member’s Bill to the biscuit tin to ensure any product sold in New Zealand meets New Zealand’s animal welfare standards, even if it’s produced overseas. ...2 weeks ago
- Iwi Rights Under Attack in Government Treaty Clause Purge
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Privileges Committee chair Judith Collins (National)Mr Speaker, I move: That Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke be suspended from the House for seven days for acting in a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House in the discharge of their duty; and that Debbie Ngarewa-Packer be severely censured by ...16 hours ago - Ministry Of Education Workers Will Walk Off The Job For The First Time In Over 20 Years
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudia Sandberg, Senior Lecturer, Technology in Culture and Society, The University of Melbourne Netflix It all starts when a group of old friends in Buenos Aires meet for a round of the card game truco on a hot summer night. Suddenly ...18 hours ago
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NZ First leader removed before debate surrounding Te Pāti Māori MPs' punishments has even begun. ...19 hours ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Nationals have broken the Coalition, for the first time in nearly four decades, because new Liberal leader Sussan Ley would not agree to their policy demands being part of a new agreement between the ...19 hours ago
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- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 20, 2025
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Dozens at Parliament are calling for a lowering of the age of eligibility for free bowel screening tests to 45. ...21 hours ago
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- Speight’s Fiji coup had more to do with power, greed than iTaukei rights, says Chaudhry
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- Auckland Writers Festival 2025: A selection of reviews
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- Celebration on court, censure in the House: Te Pāti Māori MPs’ suspension sparks kōrero
While tikanga Māori is being sanctioned in Te Whare Pāremata, te reo Māori is alive and thriving on the netball courts of Tāmaki Makaurau. ...23 hours ago
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Peters was discussing the potential punishment for Te Pāti Māori MPs when the heckler interrupted, prompting Peters to tell him he "looked like bollocks". ...23 hours ago
- Budget Day 2025: What you need to know
Explainer - Budget Day is coming on Thursday, but what does it all mean? RNZ is here to tell you what you need to know. ...23 hours ago
- Winston Peters is right about parliament’s declining standards
Winston Peters is right about parliament’s declining standards of decorum. But the rot didn’t set in last week. This has been a years-long process, and one MP in particular has been at the heart of the decline. Winston Peters couldn’t hide his distress as he heard the word “cunts” being ...1 day ago
- Coalition Government Is Misleading Survivors Of Abuse
The announcement itself was disappointing enough for survivors. Now they are being told parts of the announcement were just smoke and mirrors. Quite frankly, it’s shocking, but it is nothing less than we have come to expect. ...1 day ago
- NZ joins call for Israel to allow full resumption of aid to Gaza
The joint statement said food, medicines and essential supplies were exhausted and the population faced starvation. ...1 day ago
- NZME agitator wants Herald’s ‘political leaning’ measured, maybe by AI
Comment: The Canadian-NZ investor who tried but failed to take board control of media firm NZME still believes its New Zealand Herald needs to “measure its articles for political leaning” and suggests artificial intelligence can help.Jim Grenon, who previously formed the right-leaning Centrist site and newsletter, will likely win just ...1 day ago
- Te Pāti Māori’s haka punishment labelled extreme, but Labour unlikely to filibuster
Labour's not keen on a filibuster, while Te Pāti Māori's president says more tikanga Māori should be incorporated in the House. ...1 day ago
- The cost of being: A restaurant owner working three jobs to pay the bills
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a restaurant owner describes the financial pressures of owning a hospitality business right now. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 34. Ethnicity: South-Asian born in ...1 day ago
- The federal government wants to boost productivity. Science can help
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & Director, Net Zero Institute, University of Sydney Daniel Sone/National Cancer Institute In the wake of Labor’s resounding victory in Australia’s federal election earlier this month, there has been much talk about flailing productivity in Australia. In ...1 day ago
- Fish driving cars and chimps doing maths: what teaching animals ‘irrelevant’ skills reveals abou...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scarlett Howard, Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University VixtorPhoto / Shutterstock Did you know goldfish can learn to drive cars? Have you heard bumblebees can learn to pull on a string? Would you believe some primates can perform calculations ...1 day ago
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